REGIONAL ECOLOGY, ECOSYSTEM GEOGRAPHY, AND TRANSBOUNDARY PROTECTED AREAS IN THE ST. ELIAS MOUNTAINS

This study characterizes the broad-scale ecology of the St. Elias region of Yukon, Alaska, and British Columbia and assesses the implications for ecosystem-based management of the region's protected areas, including Kluane, Wrangell-St. Elias, and Glacier Bay National Parks, and Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park. An interdisciplinary, map-based process was used to synthesize information, and the fields of regional ecology and ecosystem geography provided the foundation for analysis. Results illustrate that the protected areas share several regional-scale ecosystem components with each other and with surrounding areas, including globally significant populations of large mammals and other wildlife species as well as vegetation communities that experience a full suite of natural disturbances with little human intervention. The valleys of the Tatshenshini, Alsek, and Copper Rivers serve as important links between coastal and interior areas as well as conduits for the movement of biota. However, connectivity is not distributed equally across the region, and the four core national parks have linkages with adjacent areas that are as strong, and in many cases stronger, than among themselves. The management challenge is not a matter of linking separate protected areas to create networks. Instead, it lies in integrating existing protected areas with each other and with surrounding areas and resisting small changes that have incremental and cumulative impacts. Interagency cooperation is seen as a key component in facilitating this, and some success has been achieved on the scale of single issues and specific resources. The challenge ahead is to build on this success by strengthening existing institutional frameworks and working toward more comprehensive efforts. Similar lessons can be derived for other complex mountain landscapes and northern regions where large protected areas and multiple land management agencies exist.