OBSERVATION - BOTANICAL AND OTHER CHARACTERISTICS IN ARCTIC SALT-AFFECTED COASTAL AREAS

This study was designed to provide information on cover, botanical com position, and frequency of major plant species in a brood-rearing area used by migratory geese south of Howe Island on the Sagavanirktok Riv er Delta near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. The area is split by the Endicott r oad and the information was also used to gain preliminary information concerning the effect of the road on goose and caribou activity. Trans ects on the east and west sides of the access road at the base of the Endicott causeway were established to evaluate occurrences of vegetati on, goose fecal pellets, caribou tracks, and coastal debris. The point intercept method characterized plant cover, species frequency, and bo tanical composition. The recorded occurrence of fecal pellets and trac ks on the transects were used as estimates of the presence of geese an d caribou. Vegetative cover was 21% west and 38% east of the road near the Endicott causeway base in 1991. The 3 species most prominent west of the road were Carer subspathacea Wormsk., Salix spp., and Puccinel lia phryganodes (Trin.) Scribn. & Merr. (botanical composition of 26, 23, and 21%, respectively). East of the road, Salix spp. (43%) dominat ed botanical composition followed by Carer aquatilis Wahlenb. (13%) an d Dyras integrifolia M. Vahl (11%). The west and east sides differed b otanically. Caribou tracks were observed in 60% of the transects on bo th sides of the road and goose fecal pellets were more prevalent on th e west side (86%) than on the east side (48%). Geese pellets and carib ou tracks occurred in different locations in the study area. Goose fec al pellets were from all goose species and may have included more than 1 year.