of parts of Scotland, the Aleutian Islands, Iceland, and Tierra del Fuego. Flora and fauna The Alaska Peninsula is home to some of the largest populations of native and undisturbed wildlife in the United States. Besides the famous McNeil River and Katmai Alaskan brown bear populations, large herds of caribou, moose, wolves waterfowl, and willow ptarmigan inhabit the area. The bears of the peninsula and Bristol Bay are so numerous because they feed on the world's largest sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) runs, which occur here in large part because the many large lakes of the peninsula are an important element in their lifecycle. These salmon, after returning from their short time at sea, swim into the lakes and their contributing streams to spawn. Their offspring, or fry, overwinter in the deep and food-abundant depths of these lakes until their migration to the sea in one or two years. Exceptionally large seabird colonies exist along the coast. Additionally, there are large populations of sea mammals in the North Pacific Ocean between the Alaska Peninsula and Kamchatka. This includes harbor seals, ringed seals, northern fur seals, whales, porpoises, sea otters and sea lions. The rugged southern half of the peninsula, and also the Kodiak Archipelago which lie off the south coast of the peninsula and are home to even more bears, constitute the Alaska Peninsula montane taiga ecoregion and contain a number of protected areas such as Katmai National Park. Vegetation on the Peninsula consists mostly of shrub-lands, grassy meadows, or wet tundra. Demographics Besides the communities on the coast (see: Bristol Bay), the Alaska Peninsula also is home to several well-known villages: Cold Bay, King Cove, Perryville, Chignik, Chignik Lake, Chignik Lagoon, and Port Moller. Each is primarily inhabited by Alaska Natives and each, likewise, is mostly dependent on the fishing industry for sustenance. The village of Sand Point should be included here, despite its location on Popof Island, an island of the Shumagin Islands, just off the southern coast of the Peninsula. References External links Ugashik Area website Lake & Peninsula Borough Lake and Peninsula School District Alaska Peninsula Trek Trawl survey of shrimp and forage fish in Alaska's Westward region, 2006 / by David R. Jackson. Hosted by Alaska State Publications Program. Landforms of Aleutians East Borough, Alaska Landforms of Bristol Bay Borough, Alaska Landforms of Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska Landforms of Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska Landforms of Lake