81 
Vegetation and Landscape Analysis 
at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska: 
A Vegetation Map of the Tundra Biome Study Area 
PATRICK J. WEBBER and DONALD A. WALKER 
Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research and 
Department of Environmental, Population and Organismic Biology 
University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80302 
Introduction 
The goal of this project is to produce a series 
of vegetation maps at a scale of 1:6,000 of the 
immediate operating areas of the Prudhoe Bay 
region. These maps will provide a baseline inven- 
tory for the area, and analysis of them can direct 
the future development and management of this 
and similar areas. In this report we will present 
the first map of the series which is confined to 
the region bordering 6 km of road in the vicinity 
of the Tundra Biome study area (Plate |). The 
map is based on a simple classification which can 
be constructed and interpreted by non-botanists 
with only a few days of training. Concomitant 
with the construction of the vegetation map, a 
soils map of the same area was made (Everett, 
this volume) to contribute to the same objectives 
as those of the present study. The soils map is 
also presented on Plate |. 
Vegetation types 
The vegetation of the Tundra Biome area is 
fairly representative of the Prudhoe Bay roadnet 
system. Sand dune and seashore habitats and 
their plant communities are, however, absent. 
We have recognized 13 vegetation types within 
the mapped area. A list of these, with brief 
descriptions of their characteristic species con- 
tent and microsite preference, is presented in 
Table 1. Some of these types, for example types 
10 (pingos) and 11 (river bluffs), are rather 
broad or mixed and may need to be subdivided 
at a later date. The vegetation types can be 
described in simple terms so that they can be 
readily identified by non-botanists using only a 
few characteristics. For example, the six most 
common vegetation types can be identified with 
the knowledge of a few simple plant life torms 
(herb, shrub, moss, crust lichen, and fruticose 
lichen) and a few plant genera (Dryas, Salix, 
Drepanocladus, and Scorpidium). The species 
composition and cover of all 13 types are given 
in Table 2, and all 13 types are illustrated in 
Fig. 1. Murray and Murray (this volume) report 
the plant species for the Prudhoe area as of Fall 
1974. Rastorfer et al. (1973) report a partial 
bryophyte composition of select Prudhoe areas. 
