Concordance of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA markers in detecting a founder event in Lake Clark sockeye salmon
Kristina M. Ramstad, Carol Ann Woody, Chris Habicht, G. Kevin Sage, James E. Seeb, Fred W. Allendorf
2007, American Fisheries Society Symposium (54) 31-50
Genetic bottleneck effects can reduce genetic variation, persistence probability, and evolutionary potential of populations. Previous microsatellite analysis suggested a bottleneck associated with a common founding of sock-eye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka populations of Lake Clark, Alaska, about 100 to 400 generations ago. The common foundingevent occurred after the last glacial recession...
Assessment of marine-derived nutrients in the Copper River Delta, Alaska, using natural abundance of the stable isotopes of nitrogen, sulfur, and carbon
Thomas C. Kline, Carol Ann Woody, Mary Anne Bishop, Sean P. Powers, E. Eric Knudsen
2007, American Fisheries Society Symposium (54) 51-60
We performed nitrogen, sulfur, and carbon stable isotope analysis (SIA) on maturing and juvenile anadromous sockeye and coho salmon, and periphyton in two Copper River delta watersheds of Alaska to trace salmonderived nutrients during 2003–2004. Maturing salmon were isotopically enriched relative to alternate freshwater N, S, and C sources as...
Slightly weathered Exxon Valdez oil persists in Gulf of Alaska beach sediments after 16 years
J.W. Short, G.V. Irvine, D.H. Mann, J.M. Maselko, J.J. Pella, M.R. Lindeberg, J. R. Payne, W.B. Driskell, S.D. Rice
2007, Environmental Science & Technology (41) 1245-1250
Oil stranded by the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill has persisted in subsurface sediments of exposed shores for 16 years. With annualized loss rates declining from ∼68% yr-1 prior to 1992 to ∼4% yr-1 after 2001, weathering processes are retarded in both sediments and residual emulsified oil (“oil mousse”), and retention of toxic polycyclic aromatic...
Depredation of common eider, Somateria mollissima, nests on a central Beaufort Sea barrier island: A case where no one wins
John A. Reed, Deborah L. Lacroix, Paul L. Flint
2007, Canadian Field-Naturalist (121) 308-312
Along the central Beaufort Sea, Pacific Common Eiders (Somateria mollissima v-nigra) nest on unvegetated, barrier islands; often near nesting Glaucous Gulls (Larus hyperboreus). Nest-site choice likely reflects a strategy of predator avoidance: nesting on islands to avoid mammalian predators and near territorial gulls to avoid other avian predators. We observed...
Ovarian follicle dynamics of female Greater Scaup during egg production
Kristen B. Gorman, Paul L. Flint, Daniel Esler, T.D. Williams
2007, Journal of Field Ornithology (78) 64-73
Studies of female waterfowl nutrient reserve use during egg production require a precise understanding of ovarian follicle dynamics to correctly interpret breeding status, and, therefore, derive proper inference. Concerns over numerical declines of North American scaup have increased the need to better understand the role of female condition in reproductive...
Effect of lipid extraction on analyses of stable carbon and stable nitrogen isotopes in coastal organisms of the Aleutian archipelago
M.A. Ricca, A.K. Miles, R.G. Anthony, X. Deng, S. S. O. Hung
2007, Canadian Journal of Zoology (85) 40-48
We tested whether extracting lipids reduced confounding variation in ??13C and ??15N values by analyzing paired lipid-extracted (LE) and non-lipid-extracted (NLE) samples of bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus (L., 1766)) whole eggs, muscle tissue from nine seabird and one terrestrial bird species, muscle tissue from four marine fish species, and blue...
Seabirds as indicators of marine ecosystems: Introduction: A modern role for seabirds as indicators
John F. Piatt, William J. Sydeman, Francis Wiese
2007, Marine Ecology Progress Series (352) 199-204
A key requirement for implementing ecosystem-based management is to obtain timely information on significant fluctuations in the ecosystem (Botsford et al. 1997). However, obtaining all necessary information about physical and biological changes at appropriate temporal and spatial scales is a daunting task. Intuitively, one might assume that physical data are more...
Natural versus anthropogenic dispersion of metals to the environment in the Wulik River area, western Brooks Range, northern Alaska
K.D. Kelley, T. Hudson
2007, Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis (7) 87-96
Zinc-lead-silver mineral deposits in the Wulik River region, Alaska, contain an enormous accumulation of Zn. In addition to the giant deposits at Red Dog, at least nine other deposits are known. Natural weathering of these deposits has dispersed metals over a wide region over a long period of time (c....
Shorebird abundance and distribution on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
S. Brown, J. Bart, Richard B. Lanctot, J. A. Johnson, S. Kendall, D. Payer, J. Johnson
2007, Condor (109) 1-14
The coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge hosts seven species of migratory shorebirds listed as highly imperiled or high priority by the U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan and five species listed as Birds of Conservation Concern by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. During the first comprehensive shorebird survey...
Weirs: Counting and sampling adult salmonids in streams and rivers
Christian E. Zimmerman, Laura M. Zabkar
2007, Book chapter, Salmonid field protocols handbook: techniques for assessing status and trends in salmon and trout populations.
Weirs—which function as porous barriers built across stream—have long been used to capture migrating fish in flowing waters. For example, the Netsilik peoples of northern Canada used V-shaped weirs constructed of river rocks gathered onsite to capture migrating Arctic char Salvelinus alpinus (Balikci 1970). Similarly, fences constructed of stakes and...
Regional magnetic anomalies, crustal strength, and the location of the northern Cordilleran fold-and-thrust belt
R. W. Saltus, T. L. Hudson
2007, Geology (35) 567-570
The northern Cordilleran fold-and-thrust belt in Canada and Alaska is at the boundary between the broad continental margin mobile belt and the stable North American craton. The fold-and-thrust belt is marked by several significant changes in geometry: cratonward extensions in the central Yukon Territory and northeastern Alaska are separated by...
Young cumulate complex beneath Veniaminof caldera, Aleutian arc, dated by zircon in erupted plutonic blocks
C. R. Bacon, T.W. Sison, F.K. Mazdab
2007, Geology (35) 491-494
Mount Veniaminof volcano, Alaska Peninsula, provides an opportunity to relate Quaternary volcanic rocks to a coeval intrusive complex. Veniaminof erupted tholeiitic basalt through dacite in the past ∼260 k.y. Gabbro, diorite, and miarolitic granodiorite blocks, ejected 3700 14C yr B.P. in the most recent...
An evaluation of petrogenic hydrocarbons in northern Gulf of Alaska continental shelf sediments - The role of coastal oil seep inputs
J.W. Short, J.J. Kolak, J. R. Payne, G. K. Van Kooten
2007, Organic Geochemistry (38) 643-670
We compared hydrocarbons in water, suspended particulate matter (SPM), and riparian sediment collected from coastal watersheds along the Yakataga foreland with corresponding hydrocarbons in Gulf of Alaska benthic sediments. This comparison allows an evaluation of hydrocarbon contributions to marine sediments from natural oil seeps, coal and organic matter (e.g., kerogen)...
Variation in winter diet of southern Beaufort Sea polar bears inferred from stable isotope analysis
T.W. Bentzen, Erich H. Follmann, Steven C. Amstrup, G.S. York, M. J. Wooller, T. M. O'Hara
2007, Canadian Journal of Zoology (85) 596-608
Ringed seals (Phoca hispida Schreber, 1775 = Pusa hispida (Schreber, 1775)) and bearded seals (Erignathus barbatus (Erxleben, 1777)) represent the majority of the polar bear (Ursus maritimus Phipps, 1774) annual diet. However, remains of lower trophic level bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus L., 1758) are available in the southern Beaufort Sea and their dietary contribution to polar...
Using a bioenergetic model to assess growth reduction from catch-and-release fishing and hooking injury in rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss
Julie M. Meka, F.J. Margraf
2007, Fisheries Management and Ecology (14) 131-139
A bioenergetic model was used to predict the potential effects of feeding cessation caused by catch-and-release capture and a reduction in feeding efficiency from hooking injuries on rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum), growth in southwest Alaska, USA. Simulations indicated that a 1-day feeding cessation for a rainbow trout captured one to two...
Reproductive strategies of northern geese: Why wait?
Craig R. Ely, K.S. Bollinger, R.V. Densmore, T.C. Rothe, M.J. Petrula, John Y. Takekawa, D.L. Orthmeyer
2007, The Auk (124) 594-605
Migration and reproductive strategies in waterbirds are tightly linked, with timing of arrival and onset of nesting having important consequences for reproductive success. Whether migratory waterbirds are capital or income breeders is predicated by their spring migration schedule, how long they are on breeding areas before nesting, and how adapted...
Biomarkers of contaminant exposure in northern pike (Esox lucius) from the Yukon River Basin, Alaska
J.E. Hinck, V. S. Blazer, N. D. Denslow, M.S. Myers, T. S. Gross, D. E. Tillitt
2007, Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (52) 549-562
As part of a larger investigation, northern pike (n = 158; Esox lucius) were collected from ten sites in the Yukon River Basin (YRB), Alaska, to document biomarkers and their correlations with organochlorine pesticide (total p,p'-DDT, total chlordane, dieldrin, and toxaphene), total polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and elemental contaminant (arsenic, cadmium,...
Food availability affects the maternal transfer of androgens and antibodies into eggs of a colonial seabird
J. Gasparini, T. Boulinier, V.A. Gill, D. Gil, Scott A. Hatch, A. Roulin
2007, Journal of Evolutionary Biology (20) 874-880
Mothers can improve the quality of their offspring by increasing the level of certain components in their eggs. To examine whether or not mothers increase deposition of such components in eggs as a function of food availability, we food‐supplemented black‐legged kittiwake females (Rissa tridactyla) before and during egg laying and...
Egg flotation estimates nest age for Pacific and Red-throated Loons
Daniel Rizzolo, Joel A. Schmutz
2007, Waterbirds (30) 207-213
We used Pacific Loon (Gavia pacifica) and Red-throated Loon (G. stellata) nests with known ages to gauge the efficacy of egg flotation for determining nest age in coastal Alaska. Egg flotation accurately estimated nest age for both species; the mean ± 1SD difference between known age and age determined with egg...
A comparative analysis of polybrominated diphenyl ethers and polychlorinated biphenyls in southern sea otters that died of infectious diseases and noninfectious causes
K. Kannan, E. Perrota, N. J. Thomas, D.M. Aldous
2007, Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (53) 293-302
Southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) from the California coast continue to exhibit a slower population regrowth rate than the population in Alaska. Infectious diseases have been identified as a frequent cause of death. Infectious diseases caused by varied pathogens including bacteria, fungi, and parasites were suggestive of compromised immunological...
Neogene transpressional foreland basin development on the north side of the central alaska range, usibelli group and nenana gravel, tanana basin
K.D. Ridgway, E.E. Thoms, P.W. Layer, M.E. Lesh, J. M. White, S. V. Smith
2007, Special Paper of the Geological Society of America 507-547
Neogene strata of the Tanana basin provide a long-term record of a northwardpropagating, transpressional foreland-basin system related to regional shortening of the central Alaska Range and strike-slip displacement on the Denali fault system. These strata are ???2 km thick and have been deformed and exhumed in thrust faults that form...
Pre-, syn-, and postcollisional stratigraphic framework and provenance of upper triassic-upper cretaceous strata in the northwestern talkeetna mountains, alaska
B. A. Hampton, K.D. Ridgway, J.M. O’Neill, G. E. Gehrels, J. Schmidt, R. B. Blodgett
2007, Special Paper of the Geological Society of America 401-438
Mesozoic strata of the northwestern Talkeetna Mountains are located in a regional suture zone between the allochthonous Wrangellia composite terrane and the former Mesozoic continental margin of North America (i.e., the Yukon-Tanana terrane). New geologic mapping, measured stratigraphic sections, and provenance data define a distinct three-part stratigraphy for these strata....
Crustal structure of Wrangellia and adjacent terranes inferred from geophysical studies along a transect through the northern Talkeetna Mountains
J.M.G. Glen, J. Schmidt, L. Pellerin, D.K. McPhee, J.M. O’Neill
2007, Special Paper of the Geological Society of America 21-41
Recent investigations of the Talkeetna Mountains in south-central Alaska were undertaken to study the region's framework geophysics and to reinterpret structures and crustal composition. Potential field (gravity and magnetic) and magnetotelluric (MT) data were collected along northwest-trending profiles as part of the U.S. Geological Survey's Talkeetna Mountains transect project. The...
Tower counts
Carol Ann Woody
2007, Book chapter, Salmonid Field Protocols Handbook: Techniques for Assessing Status and Trends in Salmon and Trout Populations
Counting towers provide an accurate, low-cost, low-maintenance, low-technology, and easily mobilized escapement estimation program compared to other methods (e.g., weirs, hydroacoustics, mark-recapture, and aerial surveys) (Thompson 1962; Siebel 1967; Cousens et al. 1982; Symons and Waldichuk 1984; Anderson 2000; Alaska Department of Fish and Game 2003). Counting tower data has...
Dynamic in-lake spawning migrations by female sockeye salmon
Daniel B. Young, C.A. Woody
2007, Ecology of Freshwater Fish (16) 155-164
Precise homing by salmon to natal habitats is considered the primary mechanism in the evolution of population-specific traits, yet few studies have focused on this final phase of their spawning migration. We radio tagged 157 female sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) as they entered Lake Clark, Alaska, and tracked them every...
