Kodiak Island Biota— -VINCENT 
125 
ness of this barrier is suggested by the number 
of plant species (13) found in all regions of 
Alaska (including Kodiak) except the Kenai- 
Cook Inlet area and the marked individuality 
of the coastal forest. In the absence of boreal 
expression, coastal forests elements extend far- 
ther north into arctic situations in order to 
occupy this habitat. In addition, approximately 
20 common boreal mammals that have not made 
their way by natural means to the Islands are 
found on the nearby Alaska mainland. This 
again indicates late arrival of this group of 
mammals in southwestern Alaska. 
Abundance of arctic plant elements may be 
the result of the archipelago being closer to the 
Beringian refuge than it was to the more con- 
tinental boreal region. A reservoir of arctic plant 
species was available to invade the denuded 
temperate islands (Hulten [1937] said that 
nearly all plants west of Prince William Sound 
originated in Beringia ) , whereas many boreal 
plant and animal species had to migrate from 
southern refuges, occupying much of the present 
Boreal Zone before reaching Kodiak. In place 
of a mountain barrier to surmount, arctic species 
could follow the Bering Sea coastal plain. This 
same mountain complex, which is a barrier to 
boreal species, probably accounts for the prev- 
alence of Petran tundra species. Coastal forest 
species, on the other hand, could utilize the 
exposed coastal plain as a migration route from 
the W ashington-Oregon refuge area. 
The information presented in this paper es- 
tablishes that the Kodiak Archipelago is drawing 
members for its youthful biota from several 
sources, namely, Asia via the Aleutians and 
Bering Strait, interior and arctic Alaska, and 
southeastern Alaska. Boreal biota is largely lack- 
ing due to mountain barriers and distance to 
late Pleistocene refuges utilized by boreal spe- 
cies. Favored by the prevailing climate, coastal 
forest elements are expanding over the archi- 
pelago. There is little evidence to suggest that 
the refuge area on southwestern Kodiak Island 
was an important center of dispersal. 
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