Late Quaternary deglaciation of Prince William Sound, Alaska
Peter J. Haeussler, Ari Matmon, Maurice Arnold, Georges Aumaitre, Didier Bourles, Karim Keddadouche
2022, Quaternary Research (105) 115-134
To understand the timing of deglaciation of the northernmost marine-terminating glaciers of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet (CIS), we obtained 26 10Be surface-exposure ages from glacially scoured bedrock surfaces in Prince William Sound (PWS), Alaska. We sampled six elevation transects between sea level and 620 m and spanning...
Metabolic flexibility of aerobic methanotrophs under anoxic conditions in Arctic lake sediments
Ruoying He, Jing Wang, John Pohlman, Zhongjun Jia, Yi-Xuan Chu, Matthew Wooller, Mary Beth Leigh
2022, The ISME Journal (16) 78-90
Methane (CH4) emissions from Arctic lakes are a large and growing source of greenhouse gas to the atmosphere with critical implications for global climate. Because Arctic lakes are ice covered for much of the year, understanding the metabolic flexibility of methanotrophs under anoxic conditions would aid in characterizing the mechanisms...
Multivariate Bayesian clustering using covariate-informed components with application to boreal vegetation sensitivity
Henry R. Scharf, Ann M. Raiho, Sierra Pugh, Carl A. Roland, David K. Swanson, Sarah E. Stehn, Mevin Hooten
2022, Biometrics (78) 1427-1440
Climate change is impacting both the distribution and abundance of vegetation, especially in far northern latitudes. The effects of climate change are different for every plant assemblage and vary heterogeneously in both space and time. Small changes in climate could result in large vegetation responses in sensitive assemblages but weak...
Developing common protocols to measure tundra herbivory across spatial scales
Isabel C. Barrio, D. Ehrich, E. M. Soininen, V. T. Ravolainen, C. G. Bueno, O. Gilg, A. M. Koltz, J. D. M. Speed, D. S. Hik, M. Mörsdorf, J. M. Alatalo, A. Angerbjörn, J. Bêty, L. Bollache, N. Boulanger-Lapointe, G. S. Brown, I. Eischeid, Marie-Andree Giroux, T. Hájek, B. B. Hansen, S. P. Hofhuis, Jean-François Lamarre, J. R. Lang, C. Latty, N. Lecomte, P. Macek, L. Mckinnon, Isla H. Myers-Smith, Å. Ø. Pedersen, Janet S. Prevéy, J. D. Roth, Sarah T. Saalfeld, N. M. Schmidt, P. Smith, A. Sokolov, N. Sokolova, C. Stolz, R. van Bemmelen, Ø Varpe, P. F. Woodard, I. S. Jónsdóttir
2022, Arctic Science (8) 638-679
Understanding and predicting large-scale ecological responses to global environmental change requires comparative studies across geographic scales with coordinated efforts and standardized methodologies. We designed, applied and assessed standardized protocols to measure tundra herbivory at three spatial scales: plot, site (habitat), and study area (landscape). The plot and site-level...
Sr, Nd, Hf and Pb isotope geochemistry of Early Miocene shoshonitic lavas from the South Fiji Basin: Note
Nick Mortimer, Delphine Bosch, Christine Laporte-Magoni, Erin Todd, James B Gill
2022, New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics (65) 374-379
We present new Sr, Nd, Hf and Pb isotope data for Early Miocene shoshonitic and high-K lavas dredged from seamounts in the South Fiji Basin, southwest Pacific Ocean. Our analyses provide a useful reference dataset for this distinctive compositional suite. The shoshonitic lavas formed in an intra-oceanic back-arc basin setting...
Tungsten skarn potential of the Yukon-Tanana Upland, eastern Alaska, USA—A mineral resource assessment
George N. D. Case, Garth E. Graham, Erin E. Marsh, Ryan Taylor, Carlin J. Green, Philip J. Brown, Keith A. Labay
2022, Journal of Geochemical Exploration (232)
Tungsten (W) is used in a variety of industrial and technological applications and has been identified as a critical mineral for the United States, India, the European Union, and other countries. These countries rely on W imports mostly from China, which leaves them vulnerable to supply disruption. Consequently, the U.S. government has...
Diversity of diatoms, benthic macroinvertebrates, and fish varies in response to different environmental correlates in Arctic rivers across North America
Jennifer Lento, Sarah M. Laske, Isabelle Lavoie, Daniel Bogan, Bob Brua, Stéphane Campeau, Krista Chin, Joseph M. Culp, Brianna Levenstein, Michael Power, Émilie Saulnier-Talbot, Rebecca Shaftel, Heidi K. Swanson, Matthew Whitman, Christian E. Zimmerman
2022, Freshwater Biology (67) 95-115
Climate change poses a significant threat to Arctic freshwater biodiversity, but impacts depend upon the strength of organism response to climate‐related drivers. Currently, there is insufficient knowledge about Arctic freshwater biodiversity patterns to guide assessment, prediction, and management of biodiversity change.As part of the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program's first...
Circumpolar patterns of Arctic freshwater fish biodiversity: A baseline for monitoring
Sarah M. Laske, Per-Arne Amundsen, Kirsten Christoffersen, Jaakko Erkinaro, Guðni Guðbergsson, Brian Hayden, Jani Heino, Kerstin Holmgren, Kimmo K. Kahilainen, Jennifer Lento, Panu Orell, Johan Östergren, Michael Power, Ruslan Rafikov, Atso Romakkaniemi, Martin-A. Svenning, Heidi K. Swanson, Matthew Whitman, Christian E. Zimmerman
2022, Freshwater Biology (67) 176-193
Climate change, biological invasions, and anthropogenic disturbance pose a threat to the biodiversity and function of Arctic freshwater ecosystems. Understanding potential changes in fish species distribution and richness is necessary, given the great importance of fish to the function of freshwater ecosystems and as a resource to humans. However,...
Developing a set of indicators to identify, monitor, and track impacts and change in forests of the United States
Sarah M. Anderson, Linda S. Heath, Marla R. Emery, Jeffrey A. Hicke, Jeremy Littell, Alan Lucier, Jeffrey G. Masek, David L. Peterson, Richard Pouyat, Kevin M. Potter, Guy Robertson, Jinelle Sperry
2021, Climatic Change (165)
United States forestland is an important ecosystem type, land cover, land use, and economic resource that is facing several drivers of change including climatic. Because of its significance, forestland was identified through the National Climate Assessment (NCA) as a key sector and system of concern to...
Eelgrass (Zostera marina) and seaweed assessment Alaska Peninsula-Becharof National Wildlife Refuges, 2010
David H. Ward, Kyle R. Hogrefe, Tyronne F. Donnelly, Lucretia L. Fairchild, Ron Britton
2021, Open-File Report 2020-1144
We conducted the first assessment of eelgrass and seaweed distribution and abundance along the coast of the Alaska Peninsula-Becharof National Wildlife Refuges in Chignik Lagoon and Mud Bay. Areal extent of eelgrass, as determined from remote-sensing techniques, was estimated to be 2,414 hectares in Chignik Lagoon and 188 hectares...
The effect of changing sea ice on wave climate trends along Alaska's central Beaufort Sea coast
Cornelis M. Nederhoff, Li H. Erikson, Anita C Engelstad, Peter A. Bieniek, Jeremy L. Kasper
2021, The Cryosphere (16) 1609-1629
Diminishing sea ice is impacting the wave field across the Arctic region. Recent observation- and model-based studies highlight the spatiotemporal influence of sea ice on offshore wave climatologies, but effects within the nearshore region are still poorly described. This study characterizes the wave climate in the central Beaufort Sea coast...
Another bad year for seabirds on Gull Island
Sarah K. Schoen, Caitlin Elizabeth Marsteller, John F. Piatt, Mayumi L. Arimitsu
2021, Report, State of Kachemak Bay
The USGS monitored Black-legged Kittiwake and Common Murre populations on Gull Island from 1995-1999, and from 2016-2021, following the 2014-2016 northeast Pacific marine heatwave. USGS research, which is supported by the USGS and BOEM, includes population monitoring, and quantifying breeding success and predator disturbances. This information is preliminary or provisional...
NGA-Subduction research program
Yousef Bozorgnia, Norman A. Abrahamson, Sean Kamran Ahdi, Timothy D. Ancheta, Linda Al Atik, Ralph J. Archuleta, Gail M. Atkinson, David M Boore, Kenneth W. Campbell, Brian S-J Chiou, Victor Contreras, Robert B. Darragh, Sahar Derakhshan, Jennifer L Donahue, Nick Gregor, Zeynep Gulerce, Izzat M Idriss, Chengxin Jiang, Tadahiro Kishida, Albert R. Kottke, Nicolas Kuehn, Dongyoup Kwak, Annie O-L Kwok, Person Lin, Jorge Macedo, Silvia Mazzoni, Saburoh Midorikawa, Sifat Muin, Grace Alexandra Parker, Sanaz Rezaeian, Hongjun Si, Walter J Silva, Jonathan P. Stewart, Melanie Walling, Katie Wooddell, Robert R Youngs
2021, Earthquake Spectra (38) 783-798
This article summarizes the Next Generation Attenuation (NGA) Subduction (NGA-Sub) project, a major research program to develop a database and ground motion models (GMMs) for subduction regions. A comprehensive database of subduction earthquakes recorded worldwide was developed. The database includes a total of 214,020 individual records from...
Kittlitz’s murrelet seasonal distribution and post-breeding migration from the Gulf of Alaska to the Arctic Ocean
John F. Piatt, David C. Douglas, Mayumi L. Arimitsu, Michelle Kissling, Erica N. Madison, Sarah K. Schoen, Kathy J. Kuletz, Gary S. Drew
2021, Arctic (74) 482-495
Kittlitz’s Murrelets (Brachyramphus brevirostris) nest during summer in glaciated or recently deglaciated (post-Wisconsin) landscapes. They forage in adjacent marine waters, especially those influenced by glacial meltwater. Little is known of their movements and distribution outside the breeding season. To identify post-breeding migrations of murrelets, we attached satellite transmitters to...
Revealing migratory path, important stopovers and non-breeding areas of a boreal songbird in steep decline
Julie C Hagelin, Michael T. Hallworth, Christopher P Barger, James A. Johnson, Kristin A DuBour, Grey W Pendelton, Lucas H. DeCicco, Laura A McDuffie, Steven M. Matsuoka, Marian A Snively, Peter P. Marra
2021, Animal Migration (8) 168-191
The Olive-sided Flycatcher (Contopus cooperi) is a steeply declining aerial insectivore with one of the longest migrations of any North American passerine. We deployed light-level geolocators and archival GPS tags on breeders in boreal Alaska to determine migratory routes, important stopovers and non-breeding locations. Data from 16 individuals revealed a...
Migration strategies supporting salmonids in Arctic Rivers: A case study of Arctic Cisco and Dolly Varden
Michael P. Carey, Vanessa R. von Biela, Randy J Brown, Christian E. Zimmerman
2021, Animal Migrations (8) 132-143
Amphidromous fish such as Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma) and Arctic Cisco (Coregonus autumnalis) have distinct life histories that facilitate their success in Arctic environments. Both species spawn in freshwater and make annual migrations between marine, brackish, or freshwater environments. Dolly Varden rear for one or more years in freshwater before...
Characterizing methane emission hotspots from thawing permafrost
Clayton D. Elder, David R. Thompson, Andrew K Thorpe, Hrishikesh Chandanpurkar, Philip J Hanke, Nicholas Hasson, Stephanie R. James, Burke J. Minsley, Neal J. Pastick, David Olefeldt, Katey M Walter Anthony, Charles E. Miller
2021, Global Biogeochemical Cycles (35)
Methane (CH4) emissions from climate-sensitive ecosystems within the northern permafrost region represent a potentially large but highly uncertain source, with current estimates spanning a factor of seven (11–75 Tg CH4 yr−1). Accelerating permafrost thaw threatens significant increases in pan-Arctic CH4 emissions, amplifying the permafrost carbon feedback. We used airborne imaging...
Guiding the Arctic Rivers Project Climate Model Development: Results from the Climate Information Survey
Nicole M. Herman-Mercer
2021, Report
No abstract available. ...
Life-history attributes of Arctic-breeding birds drive uneven responses to environmental variability across different phases of the reproductive cycle
Daniel R. Ruthrauff, Vijay P. Patil, Jerry W. Hupp, David H. Ward
2021, Ecology and Evolution (11) 18514-18530
Animals exhibit varied life-history traits that reflect adaptive responses to their environments. For Arctic-breeding birds, traits related to diet, egg nutrient allocation, clutch size, and chick growth are predicted to be under increasing selection pressure due to rapid climate change and increasing environmental variability across high-latitude...
Subsurface swimming and stationary diving are metabolically cheap in adult Pacific walruses (Odobenus rosmarus divergens)
Alicia Borque-Espinosa, Karyn D. Rode, Diana Ferrero-Fernandex, Anabel Forte, Romana Capaccioni-Azzati, Andreas Fahlman
2021, Journal of Experimental Biology (224)
Walruses rely on sea-ice to efficiently forage and rest between diving bouts while maintaining proximity to prime foraging habitat. Recent declines in summer sea ice have resulted in walruses hauling out on land where they have to travel farther to access productive benthic habitat while...
Changing impacts of Alaska-Aleutian subduction zone tsunamis in California under future sea-level rise
Tina Dura, Andra Garner, Robert Weiss, Robert E. Kopp, Simon E. Engelhart, Robert C. Witter, Richard W. Briggs, Charles Mueller, Alan Nelson, Benjamin P. Horton
2021, Nature (12)
The amplification of coastal hazards such as distant-source tsunamis under future relative sea-level rise (RSLR) is poorly constrained. In southern California, the Alaska-Aleutian subduction zone has been identified as an earthquake source region of particular concern for a worst-case scenario distant-source tsunami. Here, we explore how...
Diet-driven mercury contamination is associated with polar bear gut microbiota
Sophie Watson, Melissa McKinney, Massimo Pindo, Matthew Bull, Todd C. Atwood, Heidi Hauffe, Sarah Perkins
2021, Scientific Reports (11)
The gut microbiota may modulate the disposition and toxicity of environmental contaminants within a host but, conversely, contaminants may also impact gut bacteria. Such contaminant-gut microbial connections, which could lead to alteration of host health, remain poorly known and are rarely studied in free-ranging wildlife. The...
Knowledge gaps update to the 2019 IPCC special report on the ocean and cryosphere: Prospects to refine coastal flood hazard assessments and adaptation strategies with at-risk communities of Alaska
Dee Williams, Li H. Erikson
2021, Frontiers in Climate (3)
This article reviews the status of knowledge gaps and co-production process challenges that impede coastal flood hazard resilience planning in communities of northwestern Alaska, where threat levels are high. Discussion focuses on the state of knowledge arising after preparation of the 2019 IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere...
Selected crater and small caldera lakes in Alaska: Characteristics and hazards
Christopher F. Waythomas
2021, Frontiers in Earth Science (9)
This study addresses the characteristics, potential hazards, and both eruptive and non-eruptive role of water at selected volcanic crater lakes in Alaska. Crater lakes are an important feature of some stratovolcanoes in Alaska. Of the volcanoes in the state with known Holocene eruptive activity, about one third have summit crater...
Simultaneous effusive and explosive cinder cone eruptions at Veniaminof Volcano, Alaska
Christopher F. Waythomas
2021, Volcanica (4) 295-307
Historical eruptions of Veniaminof Volcano, Alaska have all occurred at a 300-m-high cinder cone within the icefilled caldera that characterizes the volcano. At least six of nineteen historical eruptions involved simultaneous explosive and effusive activity from separate vents. Eruptions in 1944, 1983–1984, 1993–1994, 2013, 2018 and 2021 included periods of explosive ash-producing Strombolian...
