Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
characterized by its cool, moderate, and very humid climate. The influence of the
ocean considerably softens winter at low altitudes. A thick, coniferous forest, full of
Sitka spruce, lends itself to the logging industry. Fishing and salmon harvesting are
other forms of development in this ecoregion. The rare arable land found in Alaska
is found in this region. This ecological region only covers 20% of the territory of
Alaska.
Most of Alaska's landscapes are still wild. The state's situation is very different
from that of the conterminous states, in which human activity has profoundly
changed the environment. The main classes mentioned hereafter describe the
country's environment as it probably was in the early seventeenth century, prior to
European colonization.
When Europeans first arrived, it is probable that half of the territory was covered
with forests. The largest biome would have been the vast temperate mixed forest in
the East which occupied most of the territory east of the Mississippi, spanning more
than 2.5 million kmĀ², or one third (32%) of the surface area of the conterminous
states. This ecosystem corresponded to the range of humid, temperate, continental
climates of the east coast and of the continent. The composition of the primary forest
could vary considerably depending on the type of soil, the humidity, the altitude, and
the relative harshness of winter. Nevertheless, the continuum from tropical forest
regions in Florida to boreal regions provided a biodiversity that far exceeded that of
European forests. Forest clearing severely reduced the surface area of these forests,
except in the highlands (Uplands), the Appalachians, Ozarks, and the southern
Lowlands. These were areas of secondary, coniferous forest which, having been
abandoned by farmers, were replanted as part of a program in the 1930s to fight soil
erosion in the southern Appalachians. The landscapes of the eastern United States
are the most populated by humans. The forest remains, nonetheless, omnipresent,
with the exception of Midwestern states (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois), where intensive
agriculture dominates a territory divided geometrically according to the system of
townships.
The forest landscape changes in the north, in the region around Lake Superior,
and in the highlands of the northern Appalachian Mountains, Adirondacks, and New
England. This is the region of northern forests which are characteristic of eastern
Canada, but which cover only 5% of the conterminous states of the US. These
forests developed because of the acid soils of the Precambrian rock as well as the
colder climate, with long, snowy winters and short, cool summers. The forest
landscape is dominated by conifers and maples, the unique combination of which
explains the splendor of fall colors. Land clearing for agriculture is limited by the
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