Experimental evidence of vocal recognition in young and adult black-legged kittiwakes
Herve Mulard, T. Aubin, J.F. White, Scott A. Hatch, E. Danchin
2008, Animal Behaviour (76) 1855-1861
Individual recognition is required in most social interactions, and its presence has been confirmed in many species. In birds, vocal cues appear to be a major component of recognition. Curiously, vocal recognition seems absent or limited in some highly social species such as the black-legged <a title="Learn more about Kittiwake from...
Monitoring lingering oil from the Exxon Valdez spill on Gulf of Alaska armored beaches and mussel beds sixteen years post-spill
G.V. Irvine, D.H. Mann, J.W. Short
2008, Report, TOXLINE
Final Rept. ; Prepared in Cooperation With Alaska Univ., Fairbanks. Inst. of Arctic Biology. Sponsored By National Marine Fisheries Service, Juneau, Ak. AlaskaFisheries Science Center. ; Stranded Exxon Valdez Oil Has Persisted for 16 Years At Boulder-Armored Beach Sites Along National Park Coastlines Bordering the Gulf of Alaska. These Sites Are Up to...
Pollen evidence for late pleistocene bering land bridge environments from Norton Sound, Northeastern Bering Sea, Alaska
T. A. Ager, R. L. Phillips
2008, Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research (40) 451-461
After more than half a century of paleoenvironmental investigations, disagreements persist as to the nature of vegetation type and climate of the Bering land bridge (BLB) during the late Wisconsin (Sartan) glacial interval. Few data exist from sites on the former land bridge, now submerged under the Bering and Chukchi...
Genetic evidence of intercontinental movement of avian influenza in a migratory bird: The northern pintail (Anas acuta)
A.V. Koehler, John M. Pearce, Paul L. Flint, J. C. Franson, S. Ip
2008, Molecular Ecology (17) 4754-4762
The role of migratory birds in the movement of the highly pathogenic (HP) avian influenza H5N1 remains a subject of debate. Testing hypotheses regarding intercontinental movement of low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) viruses will help evaluate the potential that wild birds could carry Asian-origin strains of HP avian influenza to...
The 2005 catastrophic acid crater lake drainage, lahar, and acidic aerosol formation at Mount Chiginagak volcano, Alaska, USA: Field observations and preliminary water and vegetation chemistry results
J.R. Schaefer, W. E. Scott, William C. Evans, J. Jorgenson, R. G. McGimsey, B. Wang
2008, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (9)
A mass of snow and ice 400-m-wide and 105-m-thick began melting in the summit crater of Mount Chiginagak volcano sometime between November 2004 and early May 2005, presumably owing to increased heat flux from the hydrothermal system, or possibly from magma intrusion and degassing. In early May 2005, an estimated...
Nesting biology of Lesser Canada Geese, Branta canadensis parvipes, along the Tanana River, Alaska
Craig R. Ely, John M. Pearce, Roger W. Ruess
2008, Canadian Field-Naturalist (122) 29-33
Lesser Canada Geese (Branta canadensis parvipes) are widespread throughout interior regions of Alaska and Canada, yet there have been no published studies documenting basic aspects of their nesting biology. We conducted a study to determine reproductive parameters of Lesser Canada Geese nesting along the Tanana River near the city of...
Mercury sedimentation in lakes in western Whatcom County, Washington, USA and its relation to local industrial and municipal atmospheric sources
A.J. Paulson, D. Norton
2008, Water, Air, & Soil Pollution (189) 5-19
Concentrations of mercury (Hg) were measured in six dated cores from four lakes in western Whatcom County, Washington, USA, that were at various bearings from a chlor-alkali plant, two municipal waste incinerators and a municipal sewage sludge incinerator. The importance of atmospheric emissions of Hg from these local municipal and...
Monitoring volcanic threats using ASTER satellite data
K. A. Duda, R. Wessels, M. Ramsey, J. Dehn
2008, Conference Paper, International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS)
This document summarizes ongoing activities associated with a research project funded by the national aeronautics and space administration (NASA) focusing on volcanic change detection through the use of satellite imagery. This work includes systems development as well as improvements in data analysis methods. Participating organizations include the NASA land processes...
The annual migration cycle of emperor geese in western Alaska
Jerry W. Hupp, Joel A. Schmutz, Craig R. Ely
2008, Arctic (61) 23-34
Most emperor geese (Chen canagica) nest in a narrow coastal region of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta (YKD) in western Alaska, but their winter distribution extends more than 3000 km from Kodiak Island, Alaska, to the Commander Islands, Russia. We marked 53 adult female emperor geese with satellite transmitters on the YKD...
Distribution and spawning dynamics of capelin (Mallotus villosus) in Glacier Bay, Alaska: A cold water refugium
Mayumi L. Arimitsu, John F. Piatt, Michael A. Litzow, Alisa A. Abookire, Marc D. Romano, Martin D. Robards
2008, Fisheries Oceanography (17) 137-146
Pacific capelin (Mallotus villosus) populations declined dramatically in the Northeastern Pacific following ocean warming after the regime shift of 1977, but little is known about the cause of the decline or the functional relationships between capelin and their environment. We assessed the distribution and abundance of spawning, non-spawning adult and...
Dietary biomagnification of organochlorine contaminants in Alaskan polar bears
T.W. Bentzen, Erich H. Follmann, Steven C. Amstrup, G.S. York, M. J. Wooller, D.C.G. Muir, T. M. O'Hara
2008, Canadian Journal of Zoology (86) 177-191
Concentrations of organochlorine contaminants in the adipose tissue of polar bears (Ursus maritimus Phipps, 1774) vary throughout the Arctic. The range in concentrations has not been explained fully by bear age, sex, condition, location, or reproductive status. Dietary pathways expose polar bears to a variety of contaminant profiles and concentrations....
Are fractal dimensions of the spatial distribution of mineral deposits meaningful?
G. L. Raines
2008, Natural Resources Research (17) 87-97
It has been proposed that the spatial distribution of mineral deposits is bifractal. An implication of this property is that the number of deposits in a permissive area is a function of the shape of the area. This is because the fractal density functions of deposits are dependent on the...
Silurian Gastropoda from the Alexander terrane, southeast Alaska
D.M. Rohr, R. B. Blodgett
2008, Special Paper of the Geological Society of America 51-61
Gastropods are described from Ludlow-age strata of the Heceta Limestone on Prince of Wales Island, southeast Alaska. They are part of a diverse megabenthic fauna of the Alexander terrane, an accreted terrane of Siberian or Uralian affinities. Heceta Limestone gastropods with Uralian affinities include Kirkospira glacialis, which closely resembles "Pleurotomaria"...
Paleobiogeographic affinities of emsian (late early devonian) gastropods from farewell terrane (west-central Alaska)
J. Fryda, R. B. Blodgett
2008, Special Paper of the Geological Society of America 107-120
The vast majority of Emsian gastropods from Limestone Mountain, Medfra B-4 quadrangle, west-central Alaska (Farewell terrane) belong to species with lecithotrophic larval strategy. The present data show that there is no significant difference in the paleobiogeo-graphic distribution of Emsian gastropod genera with lecithotrophic and planktotrophic larval strategies. Numerical analysis of...
Silurian gastropoda from southeastern and west-central Alaska
D.M. Rohr, R. B. Blodgett, J. Fryda
2008, Journal of Paleontology (82) 604-611
Additional Silurian (Ludlovian) gastropods are described from the Heceta Formation in the Alexander terrane on Prince of Wales Island, southeastern Alaska. Species include Spinicharybdis krizi n. sp., Spinicharybdis boucoti n. sp., Morania wagneri n. sp., Haplospira craigi n. sp., Australonema sp., Pachystrophia cf. gotlandica (Lindstro??m, 1884), and Medfrazyga gilmulli n....
Chlorinated, brominated, and perfluorinated compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and trace elements in livers of sea otters from California, Washington, and Alaska (USA), and Kamchatka (Russia)
K. Kannan, H.-B. Moon, S.-H. Yun, T. Agusa, N. J. Thomas, S. Tanabe
2008, Journal of Environmental Monitoring (10) 552-558
Concentrations of organochlorine pesticides (DDTs, HCHs, and chlordanes), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), and 20 trace elements were determined in livers of 3- to 5-year old stranded sea otters collected from the coastal waters of California, Washington, and Alaska (USA) and...
Changes in abundance and spatial distribution of geese molting near Teshekpuk Lake, Alaska: Interspecific competition or ecological change?
Paul L. Flint, E.J. Mallek, R.J. King, Joel A. Schmutz, K.S. Bollinger, Dirk V. Derksen
2008, Polar Biology (31) 549-556
Goose populations molting in the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska have changed in size and distribution over the past 30 years. Black brant (Branta bernicla nigricans) are relatively stable in numbers but are shifting from large, inland lakes to salt marshes. Concurrently, populations of greater white-fronted...
Early marine growth of pink salmon in Prince William Sound and the coastal gulf of Alaska during years of low and high survival
A.D. Cross, D.A. Beauchamp, K.W. Myers, J.H. Moss
2008, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (137) 927-939
Although early marine growth has repeatedly been correlated with overall survival in Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp., we currently lack a mechanistic understanding of smolt-to-adult survival. Smolt-to-adult survival of pink salmon O. gorbuscha returning to Prince William Sound was lower than average for juveniles that entered marine waters in 2001 and...
Estimation of walrus populations on sea ice with infrared imagery and aerial photography
Mark S. Udevitz, D. M. Burn, M.A. Webber
2008, Marine Mammal Science (24) 57-70
Population sizes of ice-associated pinnipeds have often been estimated with visual or photographic aerial surveys, but these methods require relatively slow speeds and low altitudes, limiting the area they can cover. Recent developments in infrared imagery and its integration with digital photography could allow substantially larger areas to be surveyed...
Discrimination of carbon and nitrogen isotopes from milk to serum and vibrissae in Alaska Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus)
V.K. Stegall, Sean D. Farley, Lorrie D. Rea, K.W. Pitcher, R. O. Rye, C.L. Kester, C. A. Stricker, C.R. Bern
2008, Canadian Journal of Zoology (86) 17-23
Knowledge of diet-tissue stable isotope discrimination is required to properly interpret stable isotope values and to identify possible diet shifts, such as might be expected from nursing through weaning. This study compared ??13C and ??15N of paired serum and vibrissal roots with those of ingested milk (n = 52) from...
Modeled tephra ages from lake sediments, base of Redoubt Volcano, Alaska
C.J. Schiff, D. S. Kaufman, K.L. Wallace, A. Werner, T.-L. Ku, T.A. Brown
2008, Quaternary Geochronology (3) 56-67
A 5.6-m-long lake sediment core from Bear Lake, Alaska, located 22 km southeast of Redoubt Volcano, contains 67 tephra layers deposited over the last 8750 cal yr, comprising 15% of the total thickness of recovered sediment. Using 12 AMS 14C ages, along with the 137Cs and 210Pb activities of recent...
Factors influencing nesting success of king eiders on northern Alaska's Coastal Plain
R.L. Bentzen, A.N. Powell, R.S. Suydam
2008, Journal of Wildlife Management (72) 1781-1789
King eider (Somateria spectabilis) populations have declined markedly in recent decades for unknown reasons. Nest survival is one component of recruitment, and a female's chance of reproductive success increases with her ability to choose an appropriate nesting strategy. We estimated variation in daily nest survival of king eiders at 2...
Interactive effects of wildfire and permafrost on microbial communities and soil processes in an Alaskan black spruce forest
M. P. Waldrop, J.W. Harden
2008, Global Change Biology (14) 2591-2602
Boreal forests contain significant quantities of soil carbon that may be oxidized to CO2 given future increases in climate warming and wildfire behavior. At the ecosystem scale, decomposition and heterotrophic respiration are strongly controlled by temperature and moisture, but we questioned whether changes in microbial biomass, activity, or community structure...
Temporal variation and the effect of rainfall on metals flux from the historic Beatson mine, Prince William Sound, Alaska, USA
L.L. Stillings, A. L. Foster, R.A. Koski, L. Munk, Wayne C. Shanks III
2008, Applied Geochemistry (23) 255-278
Several abandoned Cu mines are located along the shore of Prince William Sound, AK, where the effect of mining-related discharge upon shoreline ecosystems is unknown. To determine the magnitude of this effect at the former Beatson mine, the largest Cu mine in the region and a Besshi-type massive sulfide ore...
The metallogeny of Late Triassic rifting of the Alexander terrane in southeastern Alaska and northwestern British Columbia
C. D. Taylor, W. R. Premo, A. L. Meier, J.E. Taggart Jr.
2008, Conference Paper, Economic Geology
A belt of unusual volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) occurrences is located along the eastern margin of the Alexander terrane throughout southeastern Alaska and northwestern British Columbia and exhibits a range of characteristics consistent with a variety of syngenetic to epigenetic deposit types. Deposits within this belt include Greens Creek and...
