Deposition and persistence of beachcast seabird carcasses
Thomas I. van Pelt, John F. Piatt
1995, Marine Pollution Bulletin (30) 794-802
Following a massive wreck of guillemots (Uria aalge) in late winter and spring of 1993, we monitored the deposition and subsequent disappearance of 398 beachcast guillemot carcasses on two beaches in Resurrection Bay, Alaska, during a 100 day period. Deposition of carcasses declined logarithmically with time after the original event....
Detection of sea otters in boat-based surveys of Prince William Sound, Alaska
Mark S. Udevitz, James L. Bodkin, Daniel P. Costa
1995, Marine Mammal Science (11) 59-71
Boat-based surveys have been commonly used to monitor sea otter populations, but there has been little quantitative work to evaluate detection biases that may affect these surveys. We used ground-based observers to investigate sea otter detection probabilities in a boat-based survey of Prince William Sound, Alaska. We estimated that 30%...
Clinical and clinical laboratory correlates in sea otters dying unexpectedly in rehabilitation centers following the Exxon Valdez oil spill
A.H. Rebar, T.P. Lipscomb, R.K. Harris, Brenda E. Ballachey
1995, Veterinary Clinical Pathology (32) 346-350
Following the Exxon Valdez oil spill, 347 oiled sea otters (Enhydra lutris) were treated in rehabilitation centers. Of these, 116 died, 94 within 10 days of presentation. Clinical records of 21 otters dying during the first 10 days of rehabilitation were reviewed to define the laboratory abnormalities and clinical syndromes...
Salmon escapement estimates into the Togiak River using sonar, Togiak National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska, 1987, 1988, and 1990
David B. Irving, James E. Finn, James P. Larson
1995, USFWS Alaska Fisheries Technical Report 31
We began a three year study in 1987 to test the feasibility of using sonar in the Togiak River to estimate salmon escapements. Current methods rely on periodic aerial surveys and a counting tower at river kilometer 97. Escapement estimates are not available until 10 to 14 days after the...
Survival of juvenile black brant during brood rearing
Paul L. Flint, James S. Sedinger, Kenneth H. Pollock
1995, Journal of Wildlife Management (59) 455-463
Survival of young is an important and poorly understood component of waterfowl productivity. We estimated survival of black brant (Branta bernicla nigricans) goslings during summers 1987-89 on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska, to determine timing and magnitude of gosling mortality and to compare methods of estimating gosling survival. Eighty-two percent of...
Effects of harness-attached transmitters on premigration and reproduction of Brant
David H. Ward, Paul L. Flint
1995, Journal of Wildlife Management (59) 39-46
Radio transmitters are an important tool in waterfowl ecology studies, but little is known about their effects on free-ranging geese. We attached transmitters to female brant (Branta bernicla nigricans) to investigate migration schedules at a fall staging area, return rates to nesting grounds, and nesting rates of returning females in...
Evaluating growth of the Porcupine Caribou Herd using a stochastic model
Noreen E. Walsh, Brad Griffith, Thomas R. McCabe
1995, Journal of Wildlife Management (59) 262-272
Estimates of the relative effects of demographic parameters on population rates of change, and of the level of natural variation in these parameters, are necessary to address potential effects of perturbations on populations. We used a stochastic model, based on survival and reproduction estimates of the Porcupine Caribou (Rangifer tarandus...
Pattern of shoreline spawning by sockeye salmon in a glacially turbid lake: Evidence for subpopulation differentiation
C. V. Burger, J.E. Finn, L. Holland-Bartels
1995, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (124) 1-15
Alaskan sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka typically spawn in lake tributaries during summer (early run) and along clear‐water lake shorelines and outlet rivers during fall (late run). Production at the glacially turbid Tustumena Lake and its outlet, the Kasilof River (south‐central Alaska), was thought to be limited to a single...
Using effort information with change-in-ratio data for population estimation
Mark S. Udevitz, Kenneth H. Pollock
1995, Biometrics (51) 471-481
Most change-in-ratio (CIR) methods for estimating fish and wildlife population sizes have been based only on assumptions about how encounter probabilities vary among population subclasses. When information on sampling effort is available, it is also possible to derive CIR estimators based on assumptions about how encounter probabilities vary over time....
Use of implanted satellite transmitters to locate Spectacled Eiders at-sea
Margaret R. Petersen, David C. Douglas, Daniel M. Mulcahy
1995, The Condor (97) 276-278
Population estimates of Spectacled Eiders (Somateria fischeri) on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta (YKD), Alaska, suggest that by 1992 the number of birds on this major nesting area had declined to 1,721 pairs, 4% of that estimated in the 1970s (Stehn st al 1993). Consequently, Spectacled Eiders were listed as threatened under...
Critical thermal maxima of coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) fry under field and laboratory acclimation regimes
John T. Konecki, Carol Ann Woody, Thomas P. Quinn
1995, Canadian Journal of Zoology (73) 993-996
Juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) from three populations in Washington State were captured in the field and tested for critical thermal maximum (CTM). Tolerances varied among the populations (mean CTMs were 28.21, 29.13, and 29.23 °C) and exceeded published data from some laboratory tests. The population from a relatively cool...
Water over the bridge
John F. Piatt
1995, American Scientist (83) 396-398
The March-April issue of American Scientist contains a commentary by Julia K. Parrish and P. Dee Boersma (Macroscope, "Muddy Waters") that purports to "assess the validity of the claims made concerning seabird mortality as a result of the [Exxon Valdez oil] spill." Parrish and Boersma would have us believe that...
Movements of a polar bear from northern Alaska to northern Greenland
George M. Durner, Steven C. Amstrup
1995, Arctic (48) 338-341
Using satellite telemetry, we monitored the movements of an adult female polar bear (Ursus maritimus) as she traveled from the Alaskan Beaufort Sea coast to northern Greenland. She is the first polar bear known to depart the Beaufort Sea region for an extended period, and the first polar bear known...
Nesting success of ducks on the central Yukon Flats, Alaska
J. Barry Grand
1995, Canadian Journal of Zoology (73) 260-265
Nesting success was studied at Canvasback Lake and Mallard Lake on the Yukon Flats in interior Alaska in 1989–1991. Simple estimates of nesting success were computed using two techniques that assume a constant daily survival rate (DSR). Maximum-likelihood estimates of nesting success for all ducks, assuming constant DSR, ranged among...
Reproduction, preweaning survival, and survival of adult sea otters at Kodiak Island, Alaska
Daniel H. Monson, Anthony R. DeGange
1995, Canadian Journal of Zoology (73) 1161-1169
Radiotelemetry methods were used to examine the demographic characteristics of sea otters inhabiting the leading edge of an expanding population on Kodiak Island, Alaska. Fifteen male and 30 female sea otters were instrumented and followed from 1986 to 1990. Twenty-one percent of females were sexually mature (had pupped) at age...
Viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus in North America
Theodore R. Meyers, James R. Winton
1995, Annual Review of Fish Diseases (5) 3-24
The first detections of viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) in North America were in Washington State from adult coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and chinook (O. tshawytscha) salmon in 1988. Subsequently, VHSV was isolated from adult coho salmon returning to hatcheries in the Pacific Northwest in 1989, 1991 and 1994. These isolates...
Metabolizability and partitioning of energy and protein in green plants by yearling lesser snow geese
James S. Sedinger, Robert G. White, Jerry W. Hupp
1995, The Condor (97) 116-122
We measured apparent metabolizability of organic matter, gross energy, nitrogen and cell wall constituents of pelleted alfalfa by Lesser Snow Geese (Chen caerulescens caerulescens. We also used simultaneous measurements of energy expenditure and apparent metabolizable energy intake to estimate heat increment of feeding and net energy for production and maintenance....
Variation in brood behavior of Black Brant
James S. Sedinger, Michael W. Eichholz, Paul L. Flint
1995, The Condor (97) 107-115
We studied behavior of broods of Black Brant (Branta bernicla nigricans) during five summers between 1987 and 1993, a period in which the local breeding population increased >3-fold. Goslings spent more time foraging than adults of either sex, while adult males spent more time alert and less time foraging than...
Landscape change and its effects on the wintering range of a lesser snow goose Chen caerulescens caerulescens population: A review
Donna G. Robertson, R. Douglas Slack
1995, Biological Conservation (71) 179-185
The Texas coast has experienced considerable urban, industrial, and agricultural growth during the 20th Century. The region provides important wintering habitat to many avian species, including lesser snow geese Chen caerulescens caerulescens. This paper draws the biological and ecological fields into an historical perspective by examining available literature on the...
Merged aeromagnetic map of interior Alaska
John F. Meyer, Richard W. Saltus
1995, Geophysical Investigations Map 1014
Water Resources Data, Alaska, Water Year 1994
B. B. Bigelow, B. J. Bailey, M.M. Hiner, M.F. Schelleken, K.R. Linn
1995, Water Data Report AK-94-1
Maps showing isotopic composition of methane in seawater of the Alaskan Beaufort Sea, 1994
Thomas D. Lorenson, Keith A. Kvenvolden, Peter W. Barnes, Brian N. Popp, Frank J. Sansone, Terri M. Rust, Marvin D. Lilley, Eric J. Olson
1995, Open-File Report 95-669
We are engaged in a five-year study to test the hypothesis that methane from decomposing gas hydrates may contribute methane to the atmosphere. The release of methane, a "greenhouse" gas, can enhance global warming and be a factor in global climate change. As part of the study we have measured the...
Botanical reconnaissance of the Tuxedni Wilderness Area, Alaska
Stephen S. Talbot, Sandra Looman Talbot, Stanley L. Welsh
1995, Biological Science Report 6
1:2,000,000-scale digital line graph data on CD-ROM
Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey
1995, Fact Sheet 170-95
Updated U.S. Geological Survey digital line graph (DLG) data collected at a scale of 1:2,000,000 are now available on two compact discs-read only memory (CD-ROM). Each CD-ROM contains digital cartographic data for 49 States and the District of Columbia. The U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and Alaska will be ready...
1995 annual report on Alaska's mineral resources
Jill L. Schneider, editor(s)
1995, Circular 1127
Section 1011 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) of 1980, as amended, requires that "On or before October 1, 1982, and annually thereafter, the President shall transmit to the Congress all pertinent public information relating to minerals in Alaska gathered by the United States Geological Surveys, United...
