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Wetland Classification and Mapping of the Kenai Lowland, Alaska
Map Unit Descriptions Ecosystem: Discharge Slope Map Units: SLA; SAL
Extent: SLA: 59 wetland polygons; 671.5 ha; 0.47% of wetland area; 0.36% of wetland polygons. SAL: 43 wetland polygons; 611.0 ha; 0.43% of wetland area; 0.26% of wetland polygons. |
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An SAL unit adjacent to Clam Creek between the 125' and 275' strandlines, see text (polygon 2400).
An SLA unit near Starisky Creek between the 275' and 500' strandlines, see text (polygon 2736). |
Wetland Indicators Type: Mineral or Peat Average depth to water table: SA: 24.2 cm; n=5 SL: 35.0 cm; n=113 Organic layer thickness: SA: 105.3 cm; n=6 sites. SL: 34.8 cm; n=126 Average depth to redoximorphic features: SA: 30.8 cm; n=4 SL: 26.3 cm; n=78 Common Soils: SA: STARICHKOF, SPENARD, NIKOLAI, BELUGA SL: CHUNILNA, SPENARD, COAL CREEK, NIKOLAI, TRUULI, DOROSHIN Common Plant communities: SA component: SL component: Lutz spruce / Barclay willow / Bluejoint Lutz spruce / Field horsetail – Bluejoint Lutz spruce / Sitka alder / Field horsetail Lutz spruce / Barclay willow / Field horsetail / Crowberry Lutz spruce / Rusty menziesia / Field horsetail |
| Accuracy assessment: 4 polygons interpreted as SLA on aerial photographs were field checked. 2 remained SLA; 1each was revised to SAL and SLS. | |
Alder (usually Alnus incana ssp tenuifolia) / Lutz spruce (Picea X lutzii) complexes are relatively common. They are named SLA or SAL, depending on whether spruce or alder is dominant, respectively. They are most extensive along toeslopes at the western edge of the Caribou Hills, both at the 275' and 500' relict lakebed strandlines mapped by Karlstrom (1964); and at the base of the bluffs along the Fox River and Kachemak Bay..
A uniform spruce forest or woodland (greater than 10% spruce cover) with an alder understory is mapped as SL, and is also common in those same toeslope positions.
