Soil conditions are poor, being marshy and waterlogged. Little plant life can survive. Only grasses, mosses, lichens and dwarf shrubs exist in this area. Obviously this significantly restricts plant growth and limits the diversiy of living creatures. All of the plants are adapted to sweeping winds and disturbances of the soil.
Plants are short and group together to resist the cold temperature.
Rich oil deposits was one of the many natural resources found in this vast area causing a new breed of fortune hunters to come to Alaska. This spill affected all of the wildlife greatly, tens of thousands of seabirds, salmon, herring, and halbut were killed from a disaster that wouldn't have happened except for the intervention of man. An estimate was made that 100,000 birds died in the oil spill, something that could have been avoided. Even though the bulk of the oil was finally cleaned up, some of it still lingers there.