What Causes Boreal Forest?
The many faces of Alaska’s boreal forest are made possible by ice, fire, and water. Ice-in the form of the most severe winters on Earth-sets the parameters for plant growth and animal survival, limiting the species that can thrive here. Fires-frequent but dispersed-renew the forest patch by patch, maintaining its diversity. Water, in the form of thousands of ponds, lakes, streams, and rivers, shapes the land and provides critical habitat for plants and animals. Ice Boreal forest is Earth’s coldest ecosystem-colder even than the arctic tundra. Winter temperatures in Alaska’s boreal forest regularly drop to -40°F or lower. The coldest recorded temperature in Alaska history was measured in the heart of the boreal forest: -80°F, January, 1971 at Prospect Creek Camp in the Brooks Range. But it’s not just extreme winter temperatures that shape the life of the boreal forest-the length of the winter plays a part as well. Despite summer temperatures that regularly reach 80°F, average annual tem
