Age- and sex-specific mortality and population structure in sea otters
James L. Bodkin, A.M. Burdin, D.A. Ryazanov
2000, Marine Mammal Science (16) 201-219
We used 742 beach-cast carcasses to characterize age- and sex-specific sea otter mortality during the winter of 1990-1991 at Bering Island, Russia. We also examined 363 carcasses recovered after the 1989 grounding of the T/V Exxon Valdez, to characterize age and sex composition in the living western Prince William Sound (WPWS)...
Distribution, speciation, and transport of mercury in stream-sediment, stream-water, and fish collected near abandoned mercury mines in southwestern Alaska, USA
J. E. Gray, P. M. Theodorakos, E. A. Bailey, R.R. Turner
2000, Science of the Total Environment (260) 21-33
Concentrations of total Hg, Hg (II), and methylmercury were measured in stream-sediment, stream-water, and fish collected downstream from abandoned mercury mines in south-western Alaska to evaluate environmental effects to surrounding ecosystems. These mines are found in a broad belt covering several tens of thousands of square kilometers, primarily in the...
Mechanisms of population differentiation in marbled murrelets: historical versus contemporary processes
B.C. Congdon, John F. Piatt, Kathy Martin, Vicki L. Friesen
2000, Evolution (54) 974-986
Mechanisms of population differentiation in highly vagile species such as seabirds are poorly understood. Previous studies of marbled murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus; Charadriiformes: Alcidae) found significant population genetic structure, but could not determine whether this structure is due to historical vicariance (e.g., due to Pleistocene glaciers), isolation by distance, drift or...
Predictability of Bristol Bay, Alaska, sockeye salmon returns one to four years in the future
Milo D. Adkison, R.M. Peterson
2000, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (20) 69-80
Historically, forecast error for returns of sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka to Bristol Bay, Alaska, has been large. Using cross-validation forecast error as our criterion, we selected forecast models for each of the nine principal Bristol Bay drainages. Competing forecast models included stock-recruitment relationships, environmental variables, prior returns of siblings, or...
Sexing adult black-legged kittiwakes by DNA, behavior, and morphology
P.G.R. Jodice, Richard B. Lanctot, V.A. Gill, D.D. Roby, Scott A. Hatch
2000, Waterbirds (23) 405-415
We sexed adult Black-legged Kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) using DNA-based genetic techniques, behavior and morphology and compared results from these techniques. Genetic and morphology data were collected on 605 breeding kittiwakes and sex-specific behaviors were recorded for a sub-sample of 285 of these individuals. We compared sex classification based on both...
The 2000 revision of the joint UK/US geomagnetic field models and an IGRF 2000 candidate model
S. Macmillan, J.M. Quinn
2000, Earth, Planets and Space (52) 1149-1162
The method of derivation of the joint UK/US spherical harmonic geomagnetic main-field and secular-variation models is presented. Early versions of these models, with the main field truncated at degree 10, are the UK/US candidates for the IGRF 2000 model. The main-field model describes the Earth’s magnetic field at the 2000.0...
Sea otters past and present perspectives
James L. Bodkin
2000, Alaska Geographic (7) 73-93
Sea otters have been an important resource for people living along the North Pacific coast for thousands of years. At least two aspects of the sea otters' natural history have linked them with humans: their pelt and their food habits. Sea otter pelts, arguably the finest in the animal...
An evaluation of the Wyoming Gauge System for snowfall measurement
Daqing Yang, Douglas L. Kane, Larry D. Hinzman, Barry E. Goodison, John R. Metcalfe, Paul Y.T. Louie, George H. Leavesley, Douglas G. Emerson, Clayton L. Hanson
2000, Water Resources Research (36) 2665-2677
The Wyoming snow fence (shield) has been widely used with precipitation gauges for snowfall measurement at more than 25 locations in Alaska since the late 1970s. This gauge's measurements have been taken as the reference for correcting wind‐induced gauge undercatch of snowfall in Alaska. Recently, this fence (shield) was tested...
Crustal deformation associated with glacial fluctuations in the eastern Chugach Mountains, Alaska
Jeanne Sauber, George Plafker, Bruce F. Molnia, Mark A. Bryant
2000, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (105) 8055-8077
The changes of the solid Earth in south central Alaska in response to two major glacial fluctuations on different temporal and spatial scales have been estimated and we evaluated their influence on the stress state and ongoing tectonic deformation of the region. During the recent (1993–1995) Bering Glacier surge, a...
Isotopic evidence for the sources of Cretaceous and tertiary granitic rocks, east-central Alaska: Implications for the tectonic evolution of the Yukon-Tanana terrane
J. N. Aleinikoff, G. L. Farmer, R. O. Rye, W. J. Nokleberg
2000, Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences (37) 945-956
Magnetotelluric traverses across the southern Yukon-Tanana terrane (YTT) reveal the presence of a thick conductive layer (or layers) beneath Paleozoic crystalline rocks. These rocks have been interpreted to be flysch of probable Mesozoic age, on the basis of the occurrence of Jurassic-Cretaceous flysch in the Kahiltna assemblage and Gravina-Nutzotin belt...
Recovery of tall cotton-grass following real and simulated feeding by snow geese
Jerry W. Hupp, Donna G. Robertson, Joel A. Schmutz
2000, Ecography (23) 367-373
Lesser snow geese Anser caerulescens caeruteseens from the western Canadian Arctic feed on underground parts of tall cotton–grass Eriophorum angustifolium during autumn staging on the coastal plain of the Beaufort Sea in Canada and Alaska. We studied revegetation of sites where cotton–grass had been removed either by human–imprinted snow geese or by hand to...
Testing assumptions for unbiased estimation of survival of radiomarked harlequin ducks
Daniel Esler, Daniel M. Mulcahy, Robert L. Jarvis
2000, Journal of Wildlife Management (64) 591-598
Unbiased estimates of survival based on individuals outfitted with radiotransmitters require meeting the assumptions that radios do not affect survival, and animals for which the radio signal is lost have the same survival probability as those for which fate is known. In most survival studies, researchers have made these assumptions...
Reservoir characterization of marine and permafrost associated gas hydrate accumulations with downhole well logs
T. S. Collett, Myung W. Lee
2000, Conference Paper, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
Gas volumes that may be attributed to a gas hydrate accumulation depend on a number of reservoir parameters, one of which, gas-hydrate saturation, can be assessed with data obtained from downhole well-logging devices. This study demonstrates that electrical resistivity and acoustic transit-time downhole log data can be used to quantify...
Ground deformation associated with the March 1996 earthquake swarm at Akutan volcano, Alaska, revealed by satellite radar interferometry
Z. Lu, C. Wicks Jr., J.A. Power, D. Dzurisin
2000, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (105) 21483-21495
In March 1996 an intense swarm of volcano-tectonic earthquakes (???3000 felt by local residents, Mmax = 5.1, cumulative moment of 2.7 ??1018 N m) beneath Akutan Island in the Aleutian volcanic arc, Alaska, produced extensive ground cracks but no eruption of Akutan volcano. Synthetic aperture radar interferograms that span the...
Aseismic inflation of Westdahl volcano, Alaska, revealed by satellite radar interferometry
Z. Lu, Charles Wicks, D. Dzurisin, W. Thatcher, J.T. Freymueller, S.R. McNutt, Dorte Mann
2000, Geophysical Research Letters (27) 1567-1570
Westdahl volcano, located at the west end of Unimak Island in the central Aleutian volcanic arc, Alaska, is a broad shield that produced moderate-sized eruptions in 1964, 1978-79, and 1991-92. Satellite radar interferometry detected about 17 cm of volcano-wide inflation from September 1993 to October 1998. Multiple independent interferograms reveal...
Late summer survival of adult female and juvenile spectacled eiders on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska
Paul L. Flint, J. Barry, J.A. Morse, T.F. Fondell
2000, Waterbirds (23) 292-297
We used radio-telemetry to examine survival of adult female and juvenile Spectacled Eiders (Somateria fischeri) from 30 days after hatch until departure from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta (YKD) during 1997-1999. Juvenile survival was 71.4%; adult female survival was 88.5%. Mink (Mustella vison) were the most common predator identified for both adults...
Age-specific breeding in Emperor Geese
Joel A. Schmutz
2000, The Wilson Bulletin (112) 261-263
I studied the frequency with which Emperor Geese (Chen canagica) of known age were observed breeding on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska. No one- or two-year old geese were observed on nests. Three-year old geese bred at a lower rate than four-year old geese. These data suggest that patterns...
Mate fidelity and breeding site tenacity in a monogamous sandpiper, the black turnstone
Colleen M. Handel, Robert E. Gill Jr.
2000, Animal Behaviour (60) 471-481
We examined the relationship between mate fidelity and breeding site tenacity during a 5-year study of the black turnstone, Arenaria melanocephala, a socially monogamous sandpiper breeding in subarctic Alaska. We tested the predictions of several hypotheses regarding the incidence of divorce and the benefits of fidelity to mate and breeding...
Tephrochronology of the Brooks River Archaeological District, Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska: What can and cannot be done with tephra deposits
J.R. Riehle, D.E. Dumond, C.E. Meyer, J.M. Schaaf
2000, Book chapter, The archaeology of geological catastrophes
The Brooks River Archaeological District (BRAD) in Katmai National Park and Preserve is a classical site for the study of early humans in Alaska. Because of proximity to the active Aleutian volcanic arc, there are numerous tephra deposits in the BRAD, which are potentially useful for correlating among sites of...
Genetic diversity and epidemiology of infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus in Alaska
E.G Emmenegger, T.R. Meyers, T.O. Burton, Gael Kurath
2000, Diseases of Aquatic Organisms (40) 163-176
Forty-two infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) isolates from Alaska were analyzed using the ribonuclease protection assay (RPA) and nucleotide sequencing. RPA analyses, utilizing 4 probes, N5, N3 (N gene), GF (G gene), and NV (NV gene), determined that the haplotypes of all 3 genes demonstrated a consistent spatial pattern. Virus...
Population estimates of Nearctic shorebirds
R. I. G. Morrison, Robert E. Gill Jr., B. A. Harrington, S. K. Skagen, G. W. Page, C. L. Gratto-Trevor, S. M. Haig
2000, Waterbirds (23) 337-352
Estimates are presented for the population sizes of 53 species of Nearctic shorebirds occurring regularly in North America, plus four species that breed occasionally. Shorebird population sizes were derived from data obtained by a variety of methods from breeding, migration and wintering areas, and formal assessments of accuracy of counts...
A model for the magmatic-hydrothermal system at Mount Rainier, Washington, from seismic and geochemical observations
S.C. Moran, D. R. Zimbelman, S. D. Malone
2000, Bulletin of Volcanology (61) 425-436
Mount Rainier is one of the most seismically active volcanoes in the Cascade Range, with an average of one to two high-frequency volcano-tectonic (or VT) earthquakes occurring directly beneath the summit in a given month. Despite this level of seismicity, little is known about its cause. The VT earthquakes occur...
Movements and distribution of polar bears in the Beaufort sea
Steven C. Amstrup, George M. Durner, I. Stirling, N.J. Lunn, F. Messier
2000, Canadian Journal of Zoology (78) 948-966
We fitted 173 satellite radio collars (platform transmitter terminals) to 121 adult female polar bears in the Beaufort Sea and relocated the bears 44 736 times between 1985 and 1995. We regularly resighted many instrumented bears so that we could ascertain whether changes in movements or distribution were related to...
Genetic contribution of three introduced life history forms of sockeye salmon to colonization of Frazer Lake, Alaska
C. V. Burger, K.T. Scribner, W.J. Spearmen, C.O. Swanton, D.E. Campton
2000, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (57) 2096-2111
Correlates of Harlequin Duck densities during winter in Prince William Sound, Alaska
Daniel Esler, Timothy D. Bowman, T.A. Dean, Charles E. O’Clair, S.C. Jewett, L.L. McDonald
2000, Condor (102) 920-926
We evaluated relationships of Harlequin Duck (Histrionicus histrionicus) densities to habitat attributes, history of habitat contamination by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, and prey biomass density and abundance during winters 1995-1997 in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Habitat features that explained variation in duck densities included distance to streams and...
