SEAN Inventories

Natural resource inventories are extensive point-in-time surveys that determine the location or condition of a resource. Surveys record the presence, class, distribution, and status of biological resources (such as plants and animals) as well as of abiotic resources (such as air, water, soils, landforms, and climate). The primary purpose of natural resource inventories is to assess and document the current condition and knowledge of natural resources in the parks. Inventories allow comparison of existing conditions to the natural or desired state of parks. From this, managers can establish a solid baseline for making scientifically sound decisions and long-term monitoring plans that ensure the future health of the parks.

The SEAN Weather and Climate Inventory provides: • Inventory of weather and climate station locations in and near SEAN park units relevant to the NPS I&M Program. • Results of an inventory of metadata on each weather station, including affiliations for weather-monitoring networks, types of measurements recorded at these stations, and information about the actual measurements. • Initial evaluation of the adequacy of coverage for existing weather stations and recommendations for improvements in monitoring weather and climate.

KLGO

SITK

Natural Resource Condition Assessment reports have been done for both Sitka and Klondike Gold Rush parks. They document the condition of important park resources through spatially-explicit multi-disciplinary synthesis of existing scientific data and knowledge.

GLBA

KLGO

SITK

Three Coastal Watershed Assessments provide a comprehensive inventory and assessment of the condition and possible impairments, both natural and anthropogenic, of water resources in each park as of 2004.

Klondike Gold Rush Park Waterbird and Breeding Landbird Inventories were conducted in 2003. The breeding landbird survey protocol followed the Alaska Landbird Monitoring System (ALMS) methodology developed USGS. Waterbird surveys were conducted weekly in the spring and biweekly during fall. Results of this study were used to develop a strategy for long-term monitoring of landbird and waterbird population trends and habitat associations.

An Inventory of Marine and Estuarine Fishes in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Sitka National Historical Park, and Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park was performed in 2001 and 2002. In addition, marine fish data from a previous project that focused on forage fishes and marine predators during 1999 and 2000 in Glacier Bay proper were compiled for this May 2003 report.

GLBA

KLGO

SITK

Between 2001 and 2003 the Alaska Natural Heritage Program conducted Vascular Plant Field Inventories in the three SEAN parks. The primary goal was to document greater than 90% of the vascular plant species expected to occur within the park and significantly improve our understanding of current species distributions. The inventories attempted to target diverse habitat types and poorly-sampled areas.

In 2008 NPS released a Landcover Mapping GIS Dataset covering Glacier Bay National Park. The mapping was derived from 1996 aerial photography of the park. It is catalogued in the NPS information portal. The link on the left brings up its reference. The zipped geodatabase file may be downloaded from the Holdings section of the the reference. ArcMap or similar GIS software is required on your workstation in order to visualize the geodatabase files.

The 2007 companion Landcover Classes and Plant Associations of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve details the landcover inventory methodologies and classifications, as well as plant associations. [21MB size]

The Inventory & Monitoring Program developed an Opportunistic Amphibian Inventory to gather baseline information. Between 2001 and 2003, 40 observers recorded 79 observations, and approximately 1600 individual amphibians were recorded at 65 distinct sites. Species found included the western toad Bufo boreas (40 observations), wood frog Rana sylvatica (24), Columbia spotted frog Rana luteiventris (2), rough-skinned newt Taricha granulosa (1), and northwestern salamander Ambystoma gracile (1).

The surficial sediment Geologic Resources Inventory for Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve was completed in 2012. This item consists of GIS datasets compatible with both ArcGIS and GoogleEarth tools. The complete package, including extensive metadata, is made available through a link to the IRMA repository.

A 1:100,000-Scale Map of Surficial Deposits in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Southeast Alaska, published in October 2012 is a user guide that documents the methodology used in developing the map and geodatabase.

Final publication-quality surficial sediment map. [32MB size]

This report documents the Bryophyte Inventory for Sitka National Historical Park that was conducted during 2004 and 2005.

Park Species Lists

Between 1999 and 2003, SEAN conducted fieldwork and searched existing observation records to complete inventories for nearshore marine fish, vascular plants, landbirds, mammals, and amphibians. The species inventories – cooperatively led by park staff and subject matter experts associated with the University of Alaska Southeast – have been certified and their data made available through the IRMA Portal. SEAN has extracted park-specific species lists from the portal and made them available for quick access below.

Glacier Bay:	Birds	Fish	Herps	Mammals	Vascular Plants
Klondike Gold Rush:	Birds	Fish	Herps	Mammals	Vascular Plants
Sitka:	Birds	Fish	Herps	Mammals	Vascular Plants

Source: National Park Service. NPSpecies/IRMA. Accessed August 8, 2008.

Regional Inventory Web Pages

The Alaska Region is compiling additional statewide resource inventories, making them available on the web as segments are completed. These cover SEAN plus three other networks in the state. The program is described in Alaska Regional Inventories. Of particular use are those linked below.

Base Cartography

Soils

Landcover

Southeast Alaska Network

SEAN Inventories

Park Species Lists

Regional Inventory Web Pages

The Alaska Region is compiling additional statewide resource inventories, making them available on the web as segments are completed. These cover SEAN plus three other networks in the state. The program is described in Alaska Regional Inventories. Of particular use are those linked below.