Regional ecology of the St. Elias Mountain Parks: A synthesis with management implications
Dates
Year
1999
Citation
Danby, Ryan Kenneth, 1999, Regional ecology of the St. Elias Mountain Parks: A synthesis with management implications: Wilfrid Laurier University (Canada).
Summary
The St. Elias region of North America occupies portions of British Columbia, Alaska, and the Yukon Territory and comprises a network of public lands and protected areas managed by a variety of agencies. This thesis characterizes and analyzes the broadscale, or regional, ecology of these lands and provides an assessment of the implications this has for ecosystem-based management--particularly as it relates to intergovernmental cooperation. A multi-stage, map-based, multidisciplinary process is used to synthesize information on the region's physical, biological, and institutional environments. The fields of conservation biology and landscape ecology provide theoretical foundations for analysis. The ecological synthesis and analysis illustrates [...]
Summary
The St. Elias region of North America occupies portions of British Columbia, Alaska, and the Yukon Territory and comprises a network of public lands and protected areas managed by a variety of agencies. This thesis characterizes and analyzes the broadscale, or regional, ecology of these lands and provides an assessment of the implications this has for ecosystem-based management--particularly as it relates to intergovernmental cooperation. A multi-stage, map-based, multidisciplinary process is used to synthesize information on the region's physical, biological, and institutional environments. The fields of conservation biology and landscape ecology provide theoretical foundations for analysis. The ecological synthesis and analysis illustrates numerous ecosystem components that are shared throughout the entire St. Elias region as well as physical and biological features and processes that serve as linkages between the region's parks and protected areas. Yet the synthesis and analysis also indicate that there are equally as many differences between the parks and protected areas, and that these areas are just as closely linked with surrounding unprotected areas. In combination, these results indicate that the greater St. Elias region actually represents the point at which several different regional-scale ecosystems converge, rather than a single, coherent ecological unit. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
