University of Dayton Chautauqua Course
Back to Site Map
Chautauqua
Course DAY-12
Ecology of South‑Central
Alaska
BJARTMAR SVEINBJöRNSSON and DONALD SPALINGER,
Department
of Biological Sciences, University of Alaska Anchorage
June 21-23,
2008 in and near Anchorage, AK --- Apply to the Dayton Center --- To apply for this course now - click here
Note: This course is cosponsored by and offered at
the University of
Alaska Anchorage. Applications should be sent to the DAY Field
Center.
Optional reduced rate lodging will be available to early applicants.
This course is a three‑day field study of
plants and animals and their environments in south‑central Alaska. The area is particularly interesting because
of its floristic and habitat diversity: here the coastal rainforest meets the
boreal forest and it is a short distance between coastal wetlands and alpine
tundra. The forces shaping the plant and
animal communities will be demonstrated on field trips to recent wildfire
areas, alpine treeline, tundra, boreal forest, and coastal rainforest sites.
The first day will start with a briefing on the
general distribution of topography, physiography, climate, and plant
communities of the region. It will be
followed by a visit to wetlands and boreal forest sites around Anchorage.
During the second day there will be a field trip to Turnagain Pass
and the Kenai Peninsula south of Anchorage
to study boreal forest succession, fire ecology, moose, bears, and salmon, and
on the return trip a visit to a coastal rainforest site. On the third day, the group will visit Hatcher Pass, where the alpine tundra rises
above the boreal forest and the Palmer Hayflat wetlands. Each field trip will require light to
moderate hiking. The above schedule may
be modified to suit weather and conditions.
Those interested in an optional fourth day can take
a commercial trip from Anchorage to Resurrection Bay
and Kenai Fjords National Park
with other members of the course on the day following the course. Details of this trip will be discussed with
participants prior to the course.
For college teachers of: any discipline. Prerequisites: an interest in the natural sciences.
Costs for 2008
Application fee: $100 [$50 if
received by February 29, 2008]
Course fee: $595 [Due in March
2008]
Optional campus lodging: $40
per person per night in a single
Dr. Sveinbjörnsson is a Professor of the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alaska Anchorage. He teaches courses in plant ecology and
ecosystems. His research involves
controls on treeline dynamics and global change as well as the ecology of
mosses and lichens. Dr. Spalinger is an Associate Professor in the Department of
Biological Sciences at UAA where he teaches courses in zoology and animal
ecology. His research is primarily in
grazing and browsing ecology of mammals.
Back to Site Map
University of Dayton Chautauqua Course