Bar-tailed Godwits Limosa lapponica in Alaska: Revisiting population estimates from the staging grounds
Daniel R. Ruthrauff, Zak Pohlen, Heather M. Wilson, James Johnson
2021, Wader Study (128) 255-264
Bar-tailed Godwits Limosa lapponica baueri breed in Alaska and spend the nonbreeding season primarily in eastern Australia and New Zealand. Long-term declines spurred recent surveys at nonbreeding sites that yielded a revised population estimate of ~126,000 godwits. We conducted aerial surveys for Bar-tailed Godwits in 2018 and 2019 at pre-migratory...
Alaska natural gas hydrate production testing: Test site selection, characterization and testing operations
Timothy Collett
2021, Report
This Interagency Agreement supports the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and its research partners in understanding, predicting, and testing the recoverability and potential production characteristics of onshore natural gas hydrate in the Greater Prudhoe Bay area on the Alaska North Slope (ANS: Prudhoe Bay, Kuparuk River, and Milne...
Maps of the Arctic Alaska boundary area as defined by the U.S. Arctic Research and Policy Act—Including geospatial characteristics of select marine and terrestrial features
Dee M. Williams, Christopher L. Richmond
2021, Scientific Investigations Map 3484
This pamphlet presents a series of general reference maps showing relevant geospatial features of the U.S. Arctic boundary as defined by the U.S. Congress since 1984. The first generation of the U.S. Arctic Research and Policy Act (ARPA) boundary maps was originally formatted and published in 2009 by a private...
Permafrost characterization and feature identification using public domain airborne electromagnetic data, interior Alaska
Abraham M. Emond, Ronald Daanen, Burke J. Minsley
2021, FastTIMES (26)
The Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys (DGGS) airborne electromagnetic (AEM) data are an excellent resource for permafrost characterization. AEM data can be used for pingo identification, estimating permafrost thickness, estimating surface talik thickness, evaluating permafrost health (temperature), talik identification and more. Data examples are shown from discontinuous...
Gene expression profiles in two razor clam populations: Discerning drivers of population status
Heather A. Coletti, Lizabeth Bowen, Brenda Ballachey, Tammy L. Wilson, Shannon C. Waters, Michael Booz, Katrina L Counihan, Tuula E. Hollmen, Benjamin Pister
2021, Life (11)
With rapidly changing marine ecosystems, shifts in abundance and distribution are being documented for a variety of intertidal species. We examined two adjacent populations of Pacific razor clams (Siliqua patula) in lower Cook Inlet, Alaska. One population (east) supported a sport and personal use fishery, but...
New insights into dietary management of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) and brown bears (U. arctos)
Charles T. Robbins, Troy N Tollefson, Karyn D. Rode, Joy Erlenbach, Amanda J. Ardente
2021, Zoo Biology (41) 166-175
Although polar bears (Ursus maritimus) and brown bears (U. arctos) have been exhibited in zoological gardens for centuries, little is known about their nutritional needs. Multiple recent studies on both wild and captive polar bears and brown bears have found that they voluntarily select dietary macronutrient proportions...
South Africa's experimental fisheries closures and recovery of the endangered African penguin
William J. Sydeman, George L. Hunt Jr., E.K. Pikitch, Julia K. Parrish, John F. Piatt, P Dee Boersma, Les Kaufman, Daniel W. Anderson, Sarah Ann Thompson, Richard B. Sherley
2021, ICES Journal of Marine Science (78) 3538-3543
In a scientifically-transformative project, South Africa implemented a decade-long field experiment to understand how fisheries may be affecting its most iconic seabird, the African penguin Spheniscus demersus. This unique effort prohibits the take of anchovy and sardine within relatively small areas around four African penguin breeding colonies, two in the...
Long-term variation in polar bear body condition and maternal investment relative to a changing environment
Todd C. Atwood, Karyn D. Rode, David C. Douglas, Kristin S. Simac, Anthony Pagano, Jeffrey F. Bromaghin
2021, Global Ecology and Conservation (32)
In the Arctic, warming air and ocean temperatures have resulted in substantial changes to sea ice, which is primary habitat for polar bears (Ursus maritimus). Reductions in extent, duration, and thickness have altered sea ice dynamics, which influences the ability of polar bears...
Syn-eruptive hydration of volcanic ash records pyroclast-water interaction in explosive eruptions
Michael R. Hudak, Ilya N. Bindeman, Matthew W. Loewen, Thomas Giachetti
2021, Geophysical Research Letters (48)
Magma-water interaction can dramatically influence the explosivity of volcanic eruptions. However, syn- and post-eruptive diffusion of external (non-magmatic) water into volcanic glass remains poorly constrained and may bias interpretation of water in juvenile products. Hydrogen isotopes in ash from the 2009 eruption of Redoubt Volcano, Alaska, record...
Depths inferred from velocities estimated by remote sensing: A flow resistance equation-based approach to mapping multiple river attributes at the reach scale
Carl J. Legleiter, Paul J. Kinzel
2021, Remote Sensing (13)
Remote sensing of flow conditions in stream channels could facilitate hydrologic data collection, particularly in large, inaccessible rivers. Previous research has demonstrated the potential to estimate flow velocities in sediment-laden rivers via particle image velocimetry (PIV). In this study, we introduce a new framework for also obtaining...
Hazard-consistent seismic losses and collapse capacities for light-frame wood buildings in California and Cascadia
Robert Edward Chase, Abbie B. Liel, Nico Luco, Zach Bullock
2021, Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering (19) 6615-6639
We evaluate the seismic performance of modern seismically designed wood light-frame (WLF) buildings, considering regional seismic hazard characteristics that influence ground motion duration and frequency content and, thus, seismic risk. Results show that WLF building response correlates strongly with ground motion spectral shape but weakly with duration. Due to the...
Strong evidence for two disjunct populations of Black Scoters Melanitta americana in North America
Timothy D. Bowman, Scott G. Gilliland, Jason L Schamber, Paul L. Flint, Daniel Esler, W. Sean Boyd, Daniel H. Rosenberg, Jean-Pierre L. Savard, Matthew Perry, Jason E. Osenkowski
2021, Wildfowl (71) 179-192
Black Scoters Melanitta americana were marked with satellite transmitters on Atlantic and Pacific coasts of North America to examine continental-scale population delineation. Scoters marked on the different coasts did not overlap at any stage of the annual cycle, suggesting that birds in the two regions could be monitored and managed as separate...
Seven decades of coastal change at Barter Island, Alaska: Exploring the importance of waves and temperature on erosion of coastal permafrost bluffs
Ann E. Gibbs, Li H. Erikson, Benjamin M. Jones, Bruce M. Richmond, Anita C Engelstad
2021, Remote Sensing (13)
Observational data of coastal change over much of the Arctic are limited largely due to its immensity, remoteness, harsh environment, and restricted periods of sunlight and ice-free conditions. Barter Island, Alaska, is one of the few locations where an extensive, observational dataset exists, which enables a detailed assessment of the...
Diagenetic barite-pyrite-wurtzite formation and redox signatures in Triassic mudstone, Brooks Range, northern Alaska
John F. Slack, Ryan J. McAleer, Wayne (Pat) Shanks, Julie A. Dumoulin
2021, Chemical Geology (585)
Mineralogical and geochemical studies of interbedded black and gray mudstones in the Triassic part of the Triassic-Jurassic Otuk Formation (northern Alaska) document locally abundant barite and pyrite plus diverse redox signatures. These strata, deposited in an outer shelf setting at paleolatitudes of ~45 to 60°N, show widespread sedimentological evidence for...
Effects of sea ice decline and summer land use on polar bear home range size in the Beaufort Sea
Anthony M. Pagano, George M. Durner, Todd C. Atwood, David C. Douglas
2021, Ecosphere (12)
Animals responding to habitat loss and fragmentation may increase their home ranges to offset declines in localized resources or they may decrease their home ranges and switch to alternative resources. In many regions of the Arctic, polar bears (Ursus maritimus) exhibit some of the largest home ranges of any quadrupedal...
Antimicrobial resistance: Wildlife as indicators of anthropogenic environmental contamination across space and through time
Andrew M. Ramey
2021, Current Biology (31) R1385-R1387
Prior assessments support wildlife as indicators of anthropogenically influenced antimicrobial resistance across the landscape. A ground-breaking new study suggests that wildlife may also provide information on antimicrobial resistance in the environment through time....
Evaluation of satellite imagery for monitoring Pacific walruses at a large coastal haulout
Anthony S. Fischbach, David C. Douglas
2021, Remote Sensing (13)
Pacific walruses (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) are using coastal haulouts in the Chukchi Sea more often and in larger numbers to rest between foraging bouts in late summer and autumn in recent years, because climate warming has reduced availability of sea ice that historically had provided resting platforms near their...
A comparison of Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager and Provisional Aquatic Reflectance science product, Sentinel–2B, and WorldView–3 imagery for empirical satellite-derived bathymetry, Unalakleet, Alaska
Sandra K. Poppenga, Jeffrey J. Danielson
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5097
Satellite-derived bathymetry (SDB) based upon an empirical band ratio method is a cost-effective means for mapping nearshore bathymetry in coastal areas vulnerable to natural hazards. This is particularly important for the low-lying coastal community of Unalakleet, Alaska, that has been negatively affected not only by flooding, storm surge, and historically...
Evolution in eruptive style of the 2018 eruption of Veniaminof volcano, Alaska, reflected in groundmass textures and remote sensing
Matthew W. Loewen, Hannah R. Dietterich, Nathan Graham, Pavel Izbekof
2021, Bulletin of Volcanology (83)
Variable eruptive style and explosivity is common in basaltic to basaltic andesite volcanoes but can have uncertain origins. Veniaminof volcano in the Alaska-Aleutian arc is a frequently active open-vent center, regularly producing Strombolian eruptions and small lava flows from an intracaldera cone within an intracaldera ice...
Active virus-host interactions at sub-freezing temperatures in Arctic peat soil
Gareth Trubl, Jeffrey A Kimbrel, Jose Liquet-Gonzalez, Erin E. Nuccio, Peter K. Weber, Jennifer Pett-Ridge, Janet K. Jansson, Mark Waldrop, Steve Blazewicz
2021, Microbiome (9)
BackgroundWinter carbon loss in northern ecosystems is estimated to be greater than the average growing season carbon uptake and is primarily driven by microbial decomposers. Viruses modulate microbial carbon cycling via induced mortality and metabolic controls, but it is unknown whether viruses are active under winter conditions (anoxic and...
Influence of permafrost type and site history on losses of permafrost carbon after thaw
Kristen L. Manies, Miriam C. Jones, Mark Waldrop, Mary-Catherine Leewis, Christopher C. Fuller, Robert S. Cornman, Kristen Hoefke
2021, Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences (126)
We quantified permafrost peat plateau and post-thaw carbon (C) stocks across a chronosequence in Interior Alaska to evaluate the amount of C lost with thaw. Macrofossil reconstructions revealed three stratigraphic layers of peat: (1) a base layer of fen/marsh peat, (2) peat from a forested peat plateau...
Assessment of variation in the detection and prevalence of blood parasites among sympatrically breeding geese in western Alaska, USA
Raymond M. Buchheit, Joel Schmutz, John A. Reed, Brian D. Uher-Koch, Andrew M. Ramey
2021, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (57) 799-807
Haemosporidian parasites may impact avian health and are subject to shifts in distribution and abundance with changing ecologic conditions. Therefore, understanding variation in parasite prevalence is important for evaluating biologically meaningful changes in infection patterns and associated population level impacts. Previous research in western Alaska, US, indicated a possible increase...
Acute oral toxicity and tissue residues of saxitoxin in the mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
Robert J. Dusek, Matthew M. Smith, Caroline R. Van Hemert, Valerie I. Shearn-Bochsler, Sherwood Hall, Clark D. Ridge, Ransome Hardison, Robert Kaler, Barbara Bodenstein, Erik K. Hofmeister, Jeffrey S. Hall
2021, Harmful Algae (109)
Since 2014, widespread, annual mortality events involving multiple species of seabirds have occurred in the Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea, and Chukchi Sea. Among these die-offs, emaciation was a common finding with starvation often identified as the cause of death. However, saxitoxin...
The climate envelope of Alaska’s northern treelines: Implications for controlling factors and future treeline advance
Colin T. Maher, Roman J. Dial, Neal J Pastick, Rebecca E. Hewitt, M. Torre Jorgenson, Patrick F. Sullivan
2021, Ecography (44) 1710-1722
Understanding the key mechanisms that control northern treelines is important to accurately predict biome shifts and terrestrial feedbacks to climate. At a global scale, it has long been observed that elevational and latitudinal treelines occur at similar mean growing season air temperature (GSAT) isotherms, inspiring the growth limitation hypothesis (GLH)...
Iñupiaq knowledge of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) in the southern Beaufort Sea, Alaska
Karyn D. Rode, Hannah Voorhees, Henry P. Huntington, George M. Durner
2021, Arctic (74) 239-257
Successful wildlife management depends upon coordination and consultation with local communities. However, much of the research used to inform management is often derived solely from data collected directly from wildlife. Indigenous people living in the Arctic have a close connection to their environment, which provides unique opportunities to observe...
