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 16-18,
2010 in and near Anchorage,
AK
Apply: DAY
Note: This course is cosponsored by and offered at
the University of
Alaska Anchorage. Applications should be sent to the DAY Field
Center. This course has a course fee of $395 (in
addition to the $100 application fee), which covers van travel on field trips, and
other course‑related expenses.
Optional reduced rate lodging, $40 per night in a single, will be available to early applicants. Also see course DAY-8 on Glaciers just after this one.
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 2010
Application fee: $100
Course fee: $395 [Due in March
2010]
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