Habitat is home for wildlife. Habitat provides the
food, water, shelter and space that animals need to live.
Understanding a little about the varied habitats of the Kenai
Peninsula makes it easier to find and watch animals, and to appreciate
Peninsula lies at the junction of two major ecosystems: temperate
rainforest and boreal forest. On the rainy east and south coasts, the
shorelines are lined with mossy rainforest and wetlands. On the drier
north and west sides of the peninsula, shrub lands, wetlands, and
boreal forest dominate. In between rise the rugged Kenai Mountains,
with peaks that reach 5,000 and 6,000 feet—where higher elevations and
huge snowfalls create glacial and cold tundra habitats.
The fringe of dense, dripping
evergreen forest along the eastern side of the Kenai Peninsula is the
northernmost reach of the largest temperate rainforest on Earth, a
band of habitat that stretches from South-central Alaska to Northern
California. And it does rain! Whittier, in the heart of this wet zone,
gets 200 inches of precipitation (rain and snow) each year. In the
coastal rainforest, September and October are the wettest months, and
April and May are the driest. That rainfall supports a forest of
predominantly Sitka spruce trees with some western hemlock.
A walk in the
temperate rainforest on a summer day is a rich experience. The shady
forest floor is dappled by patches of sunlight, or splashed by
dripping rain, and it seems that every inch of ground, every stump and
decaying, fallen tree is covered with moss and vegetation. Enormous
leaves of skunk cabbage rise from damp areas. Platter-size devil’s
club leaves, studded with splinter-like thorns, spread above blueberry
and highbush cranberry bushes. Mosses and lichens hang from trees.
Fire is rare in the rainforest, and wind storms take
out far more trees than do wildland fires. Many trees in this region
grow in thin, poorly drained soil and have shallow root systems.
Winter storms can set up a chain reaction where falling trees topple
their poorly anchored neighbors. This opens up the forest canopy and
allows sunlight to pour in, accelerating the growth of adjacent trees
The rainforest is home
to a number of forest-loving bird species, such as Townsend’s
warblers, chestnut- backed chickadees, flycatchers, and crossbills.
Porcupines feed on bark, needles, and tender understory plants. In
summer, bears bed down among the roots of streamside trees. Red
squirrels are masters of this habitat, dashing and chattering among
the branches overhead.
Here and there within
the rainforest, you’ll come across openings that look like meadows
dotted with tiny dark pools. The wet "soil" in these bogs is largely
an accumulation of dead moss and other organic matter, which creates
an acidic, low-nutrient environment that few forest plants can
tolerate. Tannins leached from vegetation color the water brown. Tiny
insect-eating sundew plants trap bugs with sticky hairs. Aromatic
heath-family plants such as Labrador tea grow as low bushes, and hardy
conifers known as shore pines (a variety of lodgepole pine) grow into
fascinating bonsai-like stunted forms. Few animals rely completely on
these bog habitats, but ground-nesting birds such as juncos often
raise their broods in hollows in the moss, and bears and other animals
make frequent visits.
the northwest side of the Kenai Peninsula, across the mountains from
the rainforests that fringe Prince William Sound, the climate is
colder and drier, producing a forest very different from the wet
coastal one. This boreal forest (sometimes called "taiga") is part of
one of the world’s largest biomes, extending across North America from
Alaska to Newfoundland and across Eurasia from Norway to Siberia. It
consists of mixed evergreens and hardwoods, interspersed with wetlands
Climate, water, fire and
insects shape the boreal forest. Trees are adapted to cold
temperatures, low sun angles, low precipitation, wet soils, and short
growing seasons. Periodic fires and large insect infestations kill
most of the overstory spruce trees, allowing deciduous trees such as
aspen and birch to remain a significant part of the forest.
Climate, water, fire
and insects shape
the boreal forest.
Trees are adapted to
low sun angles, low
soils, and short
|In the Kenai
Peninsula’s boreal forest lands, well-drained uplands are dominated by
white spruce and birch stands. Dead snags—the results
fire and insect damage—form gray pillars, mined by woodpeckers.
Willow, cranberry, currant, rose, and bearberry shrubs grow in patches
on the forest floor. As you walk, thick mosses and lichens crackle
underfoot, and jays and red squirrels announce there passing.
In wet areas such as
valley bottoms and glacial plains, where soils are soggy, acidic and
cold, the primary overstory trees tend to be Lutz and black spruce.
These slender, scruffy-looking trees rarely exceed a foot in diameter.
The Lutz spruce, a hybrid between white and Sitka spruce, occupies
small hills left by glaciers and other relatively drier areas. Willows
and alders form thickets, and many areas have lush grass understories.
The landscape is sprinkled with bogs, ponds, and small lakes.
the boreal forest include mice and voles, snowshoe hares, red
squirrels, lynx, martens, and short-tailed weasels (ermine). Moose,
and occasionally caribou, wander between forest and nearby wetlands to
forage. Wolves, coyotes and wolverines follow prey into the trees.
Gray jays, blackbilled magpies, spruce grouse, boreal chickadees,
woodpeckers, and owls are among the birds that nest and forage in the
The boreal forest is a
land of dramatic seasons. In autumn, brilliant orange-and-gold
deciduous trees burn like cool fires among the somber spruces. In
winter, lakes and ponds are locked in ice, and the movements of lynx
and hares, ermines and mice are revealed in tidy tracks across the
snow. Spring brings a burst of bird songs and the smell of budding
trees, and summer is a season of long daylight hours and intense
LAKES AND FRESHWATER WETLANDS
ponds—shallow or deep, large or small, cold, glacial and silty or
black as strong tea—serve as important habitat for many of the Kenai
Peninsula’s animals. Wetland birds such as grebes, loons, swans and
ducks nest on lake fringes and rear their chicks on the lakes. Beavers
and muskrats make their homes in and alongside lakes and wetlands.
Moose forage heavily on aquatic plants in the summer months.
ponds are particularly abundant in the flat glacial plains of the
western side of the peninsula, where thousands checkerboard the
landscape. Most of these water bodies are dark with tannins and
lignins leached from slowly-decomposing plant material in nearby
forests and wetlands. Many are surrounded by thick mats of waterlogged
moss that quake as you walk across them.
wetlands are among the most widespread of Kenai Peninsula habitats.
They’re incredibly important ecosystems, buffering floodwaters,
filtering runoff, and providing shelter for nesting birds and wetland
mammals such as beavers, muskrat, mink, and voles. Moose forage in
wetlands during both summer and winter. Juvenile salmon shelter and
grow in wetland channels. Wetlands in the Kenai River area are
important summer feeding and calving grounds for the Kenai Lowlands
many different types of wetlands on the peninsula. Depending on water
flow, a wetland may look like a lush meadow, a moss blanket, or a
shrub thicket. Some wetlands are easy to traverse on foot, while
others are downright treacherous. Some are tiny openings within thick
forest, while others are enormous, tundra-like expanses.
Characteristic plants vary with the site, but some common wetland
plants on the peninsula are sphagnum mosses, grasses, sedges
(including the puffball-topped "Alaska cotton"), horsetail, pond lily,
dwarf birch, and sweetgale.
Peninsula has thousands of small rivers and streams that collectively
produce millions of salmon. Some rivers are crystal clear; others are
milky, tan or gray with glacial silt; and others are brown.
Different types of rivers
support different species of wildlife. Tumbling mountain streams are
the homes of American dippers and harlequin ducks, while slow, placid
oxbows shelter trumpeter swans and bank-nesting beavers. Bears patrol
shallow streams where spawning salmon mill. The different species of
salmon rely on different types of rivers for spawning and rearing.
Chinook lay eggs in the gravels of fast-moving, large rivers. Pink and
chum salmon spawn in small coastal streams. Sockeye rely on rivers
that flow from lake systems. Coho use a wide variety of river types,
from tiny side channels to beaver ponds to lakes.
Rivers shape terrestrial
habitats. Glacial rivers
carry large amounts
of sediment, which is
deposited as the water
slows, forming shifting
patterns of braided
channels and islands
willow, and alder
Rivers also shape terrestrial habitats. Glacial rivers carry large
amounts of sediment, which is deposited as the water slows, forming
shifting patterns of braided channels and islands where cottonwood,
willow, and alder dominate. Migratory and resident birds are drawn to
these riparian forests and thickets to nest and forage, and bears
sleep off big meals of salmon in the shelter of the leaves. In winter,
moose clip riparian willow thickets into stunted hedges.
rivers and streams join the sea, estuaries are created. Flooded by the
twice-daily high tides, estuaries are mixing areas where fresh and
salt water meet.
Life is abundant in
estuaries. Marine worms, small crabs, insects, small clams and
shrimp-like crustaceans thrive in the mud and silt, and are eaten by
birds, fish and other wildlife. Kelp, green algae, eelgrass and other
aquatic vegetation feed waterfowl and serve as rearing areas for young
salmon. The meadow-like areas above all except the highest tides are
characterized by salt-tolerant plants such as sedges, beach rye and
goose-tongue. Sloughs meander through these wetland meadows, filling
and draining as the tides change. Sculpin and flounder share these
sloughs with salmon fry and threespine sticklebacks, small fish
tolerant of fresh and salt water. Estuaries are important feeding
areas for migrating waterfowl and shorebirds, and are year-round home
to a variety of birds and animals. Estuaries are so fertile and
productive that they export nutrients to the surrounding areas,
enriching the ocean.
WORLD BETWEEN THE TIDES
On the shores of the Kenai
Peninsula, there’s wildlife viewing at your feet! The region’s
dramatic tides and nutrient-rich waters create productive, beautiful,
and fascinating intertidal zones—the regions between the low and high
tide lines. As you explore the shore, you’ll discover hermit crabs
with chili pepper-red claws, graceful anemones, weird armored worms,
and much more.
Intertidal animals are
adapted to a world that changes twice every 24 hours, as a saltwater
blanket of tide moves back and forth across their home. When the tide
is in, animals are bathed in a nutritious soup. When it’s out, they’re
exposed to air. Those that are most capable of withstanding exposure
live highest on the beach, and those that can stand only a short
period of exposure live lower down. This often produces a series of
distinct intertidal zones that, from a distance, appear as bands of
color and texture on the shore.
The upper level of the
intertidal zone is home to the hardier creatures—barnacles, snails and
limpets—which can withstand the longer twice-daily exposure to air.
Limpets are mollusks with a single, coneshaped shell they pull tight
against the rock when the tide is out. The familiar crusty white shell
of the barnacle protects a tiny crustacean that filter-feeds when the
tide is up, combing the water with a feathery appendage.
The mid-level abounds with
mussels—filter feeders that siphon the water when the tide is in and
close up tight when the tide is out. Chitons (small, flat mollusks
with shells of eight overlapping plates) slowly creep through the zone
rasping algae off the rocks. Sea slugs and anemones find shelter in
cracks and puddles.
The lower intertidal level
supports the greatest variety of life. This is where brightly colored
sea stars prowl. These "starfish" prey on mussels, snails and
slow-moving intertidal creatures. Sea urchins, polycheates (segmented
marine worms), snails, clams and mussels, and a myriad of more mobile
creatures such as fish, shrimp, crabs and octopus thrive here. Kelp
and other seaweeds flourish at this level as well.
The most important and abundant life forms in the sea are plankton,
tiny, free- floating plants and animals that form the basis of the
food web for virtually all life in the ocean.
UNDERSEA REALM The
glacial fjords of the Kenai Peninsula are deep watery valleys
inhabited by a vast array of marine life. Sharks, whales,
and teeming schools of herring swim in these waters. Crabs, octopus
and shrimps live on the sea floor, a murky realm also inhabited by
rockfishes, cods, skates and halibut. But the most important and
abundant life forms in the sea are plankton, tiny, free-floating
plants and animals that form the basis of the food web for virtually
all life in the ocean.
Phytoplankton are, basically,
plants—tiny algae that make food from sunlight. Zooplankton are tiny
animals; some are singlecelled, and others are larval forms of crabs,
sea stars and fish that eventually transform into free swimming or
seafloor-dwelling creatures. Zooplankton feed on each other, bacteria,
phytoplankton, fish waste and dead animals. Some plankton are
phosphorescent and can make the water glow at night, especially when
agitated by a boat wake or wave action.
feed copepods, tiny, incredibly abundant crustaceans, which in turn
feed euphausiids— shrimplike crustaceans often called krill. They also
feed small fish such as herring, smelt, sticklebacks and sand lance.
Juvenile salmon, cod, hake, and pollock feed on the herring and krill,
and giant humpback whales filter krill—and any fish that happen to be
nearby—from the water by the ton.
Much of the life in the
sea makes daily (and seasonal) migrations up and down through the
water column. Zooplankton tend to be deeper by day than at night. Some
animals, like sleeper sharks, hunt and swim in an oscillating pattern,
ranging between the sea floor and the surface.
The sea floor can be
rocky, sandy or muddy. Corals, sponges, shellfish, sea pens and other
life grow on the bottom. Many sea floor dwellers feed on the rain of
detritus (sinking plankton, dead animals and waste) that falls from
affect the fertility of the ocean waters: the salinity, depth and
temperature of the water, the season of the year, silt content and the
proximity to the open ocean, rivers, glaciers and wetlands. Currents
and upwelling mix water and create places, such as Kachemak Bay, that
are especially productive. These can be hot spots for fishing and
get the most out of your beach trips—and to respect and protect
intertidal animals—keep the following in mind:
• If possible, visit the intertidal zone on a
minus tide (check your tide table to find one). This way you’ll
have a rare opportunity to see some of the deeper-dwelling
• You can see a good diversity of life by visiting
a rocky shoreline. Look for places where ocean water remains in
pools among the rocks at low tide, forming small marine refuges.
Take time to wait and watch at the edges of these tidepools—with
patience, you’ll see dozens of tiny dramas playing themselves out
among the animals of the pool.
• Start your explorations as the tide descends,
and follow the water’s edge as it reveals lower and lower zones.
• Every once in a while, scan the ocean for seals,
whales, and birds.
• Walk with care. As much as possible, avoid
stepping on intertidal life.
• Try gently turning over a couple of rocks to
discover animals sheltered below. Choose medium-sized to small
rocks, as larger boulders can crush animals when you turn them
• Return overturned rocks to where you found them.
Leaving them "belly-up" will kill animals both on top of the rocks
and underneath them.
• Pick up animals gently. If an animal clings
tightly to the surface, don’t force it loose.
• If you do pick up an animal, make sure you
return it to the place you found it. Intertidal animals are
adapted to specific zones and sites, and if put back in the wrong
spot may die.
• Don’t take live animals or seaweed from the
beach unless they can be legally harvested. Permits are required
from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game for scientific and
• Avoid the temptation to remove shells or rocks
from the intertidal zone. A seemingly empty shell or rock may
shelter a hidden animal, and even a truly empty shell could
provide a home for an animal in the future.
Stop Invasives - You Can Help
Invasive plants can alter habitat and displace the
native plants that wildlife depend upon for survival. More than 20
species of invasive plants have been found on the Kenai Peninsula.
The most invasive of these are Canada thistle, bird vetch,
brittlestem hempnettle, spotted knapweed, oxeye daisy, white
sweetclover, yellow sweetclover, purple loosestrife, narrow-leaf
hawkweed, common tansy, Western salsify, butter and eggs, orange
hawkweed, and reed canary grass. Many of these plants have showy
flowers and invite picking. This can lead to the spreading of
seeds into areas previously unaffected by invasive species. Please
do not contribute the spread of invasive plants to the Kenai
Peninsula. Leave all plants where you find them. Clean your shoes
and clothes of seeds before leaving an area where you’ve hiked,
and avoid walking through flowering invasives. For more
www.fs.fed.us/r10/spf/fhp/weed_book or stop at a Forest
Service office for a free guide to invasive species.
If you’re visiting the Kenai Peninsula in summer,
you may encounter a hatch of biting insects. Although the Kenai
isn’t notoriously buggy, a swarm of bloodthirsty mosquitoes,
no-see-ums or blackflies can make misery out of any pause and get
in the way of enjoying scenery and wildlife. Carry repellent or,
better yet, bug-deterrent clothing. This can simply be loose
fitting tight woven long-sleeve pants and shirts or include head
nets and bug jackets. These materials will help you stop to view
wildlife, eat lunch, or take a breather in peace.
The temperate rainforests and
boreal forests of the Kenai Peninsula climb from sea level to an
elevation of about 2,500 feet, although the treeline varies depending
on the aspect or direction of slope. At about 1,500 feet, subalpine
trees such as mountain hemlock begin to appear in the forest. At about
2,500 feet, trees thin out and become scraggly, and the forest gives
way to sub-alpine meadows, and then open alpine tundra.
Just above the treeline,
patches of ferns and stands of scrubby mountain hemlock and spruce are
interspersed with lush meadows. Bear, ptarmigan and others visit this
sub-alpine habitat, feeding on the abundant and nutritious herbs,
flowers and forbs. Crystal-clear streams course through the meadows,
and lakes and shallow ponds are nestled into pockets.
Above the sub-alpine zone,
a rocky, green-gray landscape stretches across the upper slopes and
runs along the ridges. This is referred to as alpine, or alpine
tundra. In winter, the alpine is a cold, windy and inhospitable place,
but in summer it is visited by a number of birds and mammals. Alpine
tundra features a ground cover of hardy, low-lying plants such as
heather, moss campion and crowberry. Lichens cling to the rocks.
Golden eagles, which favor
open environments, are sometimes seen in the alpine zone. Ravens and
bald eagles ride thermal air currents three and four thousand feet
upslope and circle and soar along the ridges. Wolves, bears, and
wolverines visit this high country and cross over passes or follow
ridges as they move to different areas.
A few animals make their
homes on these open ridges and slopes. Flocks of ptarmigan—hardy,
chicken-like birds—are fairly common in this high country and nest on
the ground in early summer. Marmots dig their dens in talus slopes and
under rock outcrops, fattening on the summer vegetation and
hibernating during the winter. Mountain goats and Dall sheep are the
masters of this realm, and their white coats may be spotted against
the green slopes or dark cliffs. Winter storms may force them down to
the shelter of the upper treeline (and occasionally even farther
downslope), but otherwise they generally prefer the exposed, open,
high country, where their agility helps them outmaneuver predators.
you explore the Kenai Peninsula, you may notice open slopes on the
mountainsides extending downhill from the alpine. Brushy deciduous
vegetation such as alder and berry bushes, and clumps of fern cover
these bright green slopes, but there are no large spruce and hemlock
trees. These are avalanche slopes, swaths of the mountainsides that
are bulldozed in late winter and early spring by tons of moving snow.
The mountains of this
region are buried in dozens of feet of snow each winter. Some areas
with just the right slope are especially conducive to avalanches. The
likelihood of an avalanche any given year varies. The condition of the
snow when it falls and weather between snowfalls are as important as
The likelihood of
an avalanche any
given year varies.
The condition of
the snow when it
falls and weather
are as important as
A typical avalanche
buries the slope under tons of snow. But life is waiting to
emerge. Flexible alders, bent over and pinned to the ground, will
leaf out and thrive as soon as the melting snow exposes them to
the sun. Fern root balls, torn up and transported down hill, will
sprout fiddleheads. Blueberry and salmonberry bushes will leaf out
In early summer,
wildlife watchers scanning avalanche slopes are rewarded with
views of bear and porcupine, which are drawn to the slopes to feed
on emerging vegetation. Bears, hungry after their winter
hibernation, are especially fond of the lower reaches, and
mountain goats and Dall sheep work the edges of the slopes at the
higher elevations. Ravens flock to these areas, and the air is
filled with the courtship songs of thrushes, flycatchers and
By midsummer avalanche
slopes have dense thickets of vegetation. The warm, 18-hour days
trigger explosive growth. The slopes are tangled mazes of branches
and prickles, where game trails have become tunnels, often teeming
with mosquitoes and biting gnats called "no-see-ums.
Spend any time in this land of glaciers and you
can’t help but think about ice ages. In particular, you’ll hear
about two of these: the Wisconsin Ice Age and the "Little Ice
Age." The Wisconsin Ice Age was a massive ice advance that covered
much of North America, from Alaska to Nova Scotia. It reached its
maximum about 18,000 years ago, at the end of the Pleistocene era.
As the massive ice sheets melted, plants and wildlife began
colonizing the land. Here on the Kenai Peninsula, a few pockets of
land were not overrun by glaciers and served as "refugia,"
harboring life that later dispersed throughout the region. After
the Wisconsin Ice Age waned, the Kenai Peninsula gradually became
covered with coastal forest, boreal forest, tundra and wetlands
much like we see today. Then, 3,000 years ago, cooling climate
resulted in the advance of many Alaska glaciers. This small,
recent advance, called the "Little Ice Age," occurred also in
Canada and Europe. Little Ice Age glaciers reached their greatest
extents in the mid-1 00s, and since that time have been mostly
GLACIERS AND ICE FIELDS
worked like carving tools on the landscape of the Kenai Peninsula,
profoundly shaping the area. They are the scenic jewels of the region,
and hundreds of glaciers can be counted in the mountains and valleys.
Many of these glaciers spill from the Harding Icefield. This vast
plain of ice and its tendrils of glacier cover 1,100 square miles of
the ice-chiseled Kenai Mountains.
The higher reaches of this
region accumulate snow each year. Successive layers of snow weigh down
on lower layers, and the compressed snow gradually forms glacial ice,
which oozes down valleys. The Harding Ice- field, which is thousands
of feet thick in places, feeds more than 35 glaciers, including the
tidewater glaciers of Kenai Fjords National Park and the enormous
Tustumena Glacier at the head of Tustumena Lake.
Most of the Kenai
Peninsula’s glaciers are receding— melting back faster than they flow
forward. As they recede, glaciers leave behind scoured, rocky
landscapes, scraped bare by ice and rocks imbedded in the bottom of
the glacier. Patches of rubble, sand and silt offer a foothold to
wind-borne seeds and spores. Moss and lichens are the first plants to
grow on the landscape, and produce acids that help to break down the
rocks. Over the course of a few years, other plants begin to sprout.
Plants such as lupine and alder help "fix" atmospheric nitrogen to the
mineral soil, making it more fertile. Decomposing leaves contribute to
the developing soil, and shrubs or trees become established. Over
time, this succession of colonizing plants transforms the landscape.
Depending on the location, the area may develop into a temperate
rainforest, boreal forest, tundra, or bog.
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