Friday, May 6, 2016

Today was dedicated to giving back a little to the Alaskan community. A majority of our morning and afternoon was spent working with Moore’s Landscaping on a restoration project located on the Kenai River. The main purpose of this project was to better the river’s condition by fighting against erosion created by boat traffic. However, secondary benefits such as new habitat for juvenile/small fish species were created as well as better suited locations for recreational fishing. The project itself involved creating a bed of dead spruce branches, digging a small trench along its edge, inserting “logs” followed by willow twigs, and finally sealing the twigs in with a thick layer of dirt. This project is expected to last up to 30 years with regular maintenance and will play a role is preserving the wildlife seen in the beautiful rivers of Alaska.



Worry not, the day was not all sweat and tears! We were graciously treated with pizza and cookies by the workers of Moore’s Landscaping before returning to the cabins and learning some general information about climate and the characteristics of each biome type.
Dr. Smith briefly spoke about many factors influencing climate including the earth’s energy balance, effects of plant life, tilt of the earths’ axis, and the general movement of air based on temperature. We then spoke in depth of the characteristics of each biome type. There are 9 biome types in total which are classified by plant life, temperature, and precipitation.

Tundra
·       Temperature: Below freezing most of the year
·       Precipitation: Low overall, slightly higher in the summer
·       Vegetation: Small plants rather than trees

Boreal Forest/Taiga
·       Temperature: Below freezing most of the year
·       Precipitation: Low to medium, higher in summer
·       Vegetation: Mostly evergreen, fires are common

Temperate coniferous forest
·       Temperature: distinct season
·       Precipitation: medium overall, highly variable, higher in summer
·       Vegetation: mostly evergreen trees, fire are common

Temperate deciduous forest
·       Temperature: distinct season
·       Precipitation: medium overall, slightly higher in summer
·       Vegetation: mostly deciduous trees, losing leaves saves energy in winter

Temperate scrubland
·       Temperature: distinct season
·       Precipitation: medium overall, higher in winter
·       Vegetation: shrubs that survive hot dry summer, evergreen

Temperate grassland
·       Temperature: distinct season
·       Precipitation: high in summer, lower in winter than other temperate biome
·       Vegetation: few trees or shrubs grasses

Tropical Rainforest
·       Temperature : high year around
·       Precipitation: high overall, may vary or be constantly high
·       Vegetation: mix of trees, often varies height

Tropical seasonal forest
·       Temperature : High around year
·       Precipitation: wet and dry season
·       Vegetation: varies widely- forest, scrublands, savannas

Desert
·       Temperature: distinct season, but rarely below freezing
·       Precipitation: low overall

·       Vegetation: small, spark plants, often succulent 






   Leslie Hixon and Chandra Chamalagai

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