Extensive, strategic assessment of southeast Alaskaʹs vegetative resources

Effective natural resources management requires knowledge of the character of resources and of interactions between resource components. Estimates of forest and other vegetation resources are presented to provide managers with information about the character of the resource. Slightly less than half (48%) of southeast Alaska has some type of forest land cover, about 29% has nonforest vegetation, and the remaining 33% is barren or water. Most forest land (85%) and nonforest vegetation (77%) is managed by the U.S. Forest Service, Alaska Region (Region 10), Tongass National Forest. Estimates of change (excluding timber harvest) are presented for the forest component of the resource base. In general, forest growth exceeds mortality by a ratio of roughly 3 to 2. With the framework of the Alaska vegetation classification system (AVCS) as a basis, vegetation types were described and species richness and diversity values among the modified AVCS types were estimated. The highest species richness of vascular plants in closed forest occurs in the western hemlock-Alaska cedar type, the lowest in the Sitka spruce type. In the open forest category, the highest species richness is in the mixed conifer type and the lowest is again in the Sitka spruce type.