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Type: Journal Article
Author(s): Leslie A. Viereck
Publication Date: 1970

Four stands on varying aged river deposits were compared with a climax stand on a higher and older terrace to show changes in soil and vegetation with time on the flood plain at the Chena River near Fairbanks, Alaska. The stands were a 15-year-old willow stand on a newly formed gravel bar, a 50-year-old balsam poplar stand, a 120-year-old white spruce stand, a 220-year-old white spruce/black spruce stand, and a climax black spruce/sphagnum stand. The vegetation characteristics of each stand are given. Soil temperature and moisture were taken to depths of 150 cm in each of the successional stands for a period of two years. In the early successional stands of willow and balsam poplar, the soil froze quicker and deeper and reached lower temperatures than in the later successional stages. In the willow stand, thawing was completed by the end of May, whereas in the white spruce/black spruce stand, thawing did not begin until the end of May and was never completed-a continuously frozen layer being present at a depth of 40 to 80 cm. The insulating effects of a thick moss layer under the spruce and the deposit of fine river alluvium during flooding account for delayed thawing and colder soil temperatures. The soil moisture regime changes from a xeric situation on the gravel bar to a mesic one in the poplar and white spruce stands to a hydric situation in the climax stand.

Online Links
Citation: Viereck, Leslie A. 1970. Forest succession and soil development adjacent to the Chena River in interior Alaska. Arctic and Alpine Research 2(1):1-26.

Cataloging Information

Topics:
Regions:
Keywords:
  • boreal forest
  • chemistry
  • Chena River
  • climax vegetation
  • distribution
  • disturbance
  • drought
  • Equisetum spp.
  • herbaceous vegetation
  • lichens
  • litter
  • mesic soils
  • microclimate
  • mineral soil
  • minerals
  • mosses
  • nitrogen
  • organic matter
  • pH
  • Picea glauca
  • Picea mariana
  • Populus balsamifera
  • precipitation
  • rivers
  • Rosa acicularis
  • Salix
  • seasonal activities
  • seedlings
  • shrubs
  • soil moisture
  • soil temperature
  • soils
  • sphagnum
  • statistical analysis
  • subalpine forests
  • succession
  • temperature
  • trees
  • Viburnum edule
  • xeric soils
Tall Timbers Record Number: 4582Location Status: In-fileCall Number: Fire FileAbstract Status: Okay, Fair use, Reproduced by permission
Record Last Modified:
Record Maintained By: FRAMES Staff (https://www.frames.gov/contact)
FRAMES Record Number: 5329

This bibliographic record was either created or modified by Tall Timbers and is provided without charge to promote research and education in Fire Ecology. The E.V. Komarek Fire Ecology Database is the intellectual property of Tall Timbers.