Trees and Plants

The park contains many plant communities that have thrived since the ice last retreated from this land.

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Trees and Plants Details

The plant communities in the park tell the story of how this land has changed during the past 300 years, when the ice covering this region began to retreat. The park's major plant ecosystems include salt marsh, beach meadow, lowland forest, upland forest, shrub, bog, sub-alpine meadow, and alpine tundra. Temperate rainforests cover much of the southern part of the park. The mild, moist climate fosters the growth of many plants. The temperate rainforest is old-growth; western hemlock and Sitka spruce dominate the canopy. Lichens and mosses thrive in the wet environment, and shrubs like blueberries and an array of wildflowers make up the understory. Some areas of the forest are too wet to support enormous trees. These peatlands are home to sedges, willows, and alders, making up a more wide-open habitat. In areas of old growth where there are no major disturbances, the forest will continue to mature and natural thinning in some areas will provide the sunlight for young vegetation to fill in the gaps left by the old. In areas along the park's coastline, forces such as erosion, deposition, and glaciation dictate the vegetative landscape. Forests don't reach maturity before a disturbance interrupts this process, and the young forest must start from scratch again. First, lichens and mosses move in, establishing a meadow or in some areas q tundra-like landscape that will eventually give way to shrubs, alder, cottonwood, and other deciduous plants. The dynamic ecosystems of the park are still evolving dramatically, and offer a living example of how our environment changes in response to a multitude of factors.

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