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Abstract
The 2412-hectare Mount Prindle Research Natural Area is located in central Alaska on the border of the Steese National Conservation Area and White Mountains National Recreation Area. It is managed by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Steese-White Mountains District. Mount Prindle was selected as a Research Natural Area (RNA) because it contains outstanding examples of solifluction lobes; habitat for wheatear (a small thrushlike bird), caribou, and Dall sheep; the yellow-flowered mustard Draba paysonii, which is uncommon in Alaska; a diversity of alpine plant communities; and examples of both glaciated and unglaciated subarctic landforms. Other features of scientific interest, including two debris torrent channels and the rare moss Oligotrichum falcarum Steere, were discovered during site documentation. The highland region centered on Mount Prindle was once the heart of the calving area for the Steese-Fortymile caribou herd but was mainly abandoned in the early 1960's; the reason it was abandoned is not known. Mount Prindle RNA is characterized by an unusually high number of scientifically and educationally interesting natural features, typical of this portion of the Yukon-Tanana uplands, within a compact area. The area has high potential for public education and research use.
Keywords
Alaska,
alpine tundra,
caribou (Rangifer tarandus),
cryoplanation terrace,
Dall sheep (Ovis dam),
debris torrent,
Draba paysonii,
ecosystems,
glaciations,
granite,
Natural Areas (Research),
Research Natural Area,
scientific reserves,
solifluction lobe,
tors,
treeline
Citation
Juday, G.P. 1988. Alaska research natural areas: 1. Mount Prindle. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-224. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 34 p
