Movements and dive patterns of pygmy killer whales (Feresa attenuata) released in the Gulf of Mexico following rehabilitation
Eric Pulis, Randall S. Wells, Gregory S. Schorr, David C. Douglas, Mystera M. Samuelson, Moby Solangi
2018, Aquatic Mammals (44) 555-567
The habits and habitats of pygmy killer whales (Feresa attenuata) in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) are poorly known outside of strandings and line-transect surveys. Two adult male pygmy killer whales were found live-stranded in the state of Mississippi (USA) on 1 September 2015 and were subsequently rehabilitated and returned...
Spring temperature, migration chronology, and nutrient allocation to eggs in three species of arctic‐nesting geese: Implications for resilience to climate warming
Jerry W. Hupp, David H. Ward, David X. Soto, Keith A. Hobson
2018, Global Change Biology (24) 5056-5071
The macronutrients that Arctic herbivores invest in their offspring are derived from endogenous reserves of fat and protein (capital) that females build prior to the period of investment or from foods they consume concurrently with investment (income). The relative contribution from each source can be influenced by temporal and environmental...
Genetic evidence supports sporadic and independent introductions of subtype H5 low pathogenic avian influenza A viruses from wild birds to domestic poultry in North America
Lei Li, Andrew S. Bowman, Thomas J. DeLiberto, Mary L. Killian, Scott Krauss, Jacqueline M. Nolting, Mia Kim Torchetti, Andrew M. Ramey, Andrew B. Reeves, David E. Stallknecht, Richard J. Webby, Xiu-Feng Wan
2018, Journal of Virology (92) 1-16
Wild bird–origin influenza A viruses (IAVs or avian influenza) have led to sporadic outbreaks among domestic poultry in the United States (US) and Canada, resulting in economic losses through the implementation of costly containment practices and destruction of birds. We used evolutionary analyses of virus sequence data to determine that...
Introduction of Eurasian-origin H8N4 influenza A virus into North America via migratory birds
Andrew M. Ramey, Andrew B. Reeves, Tyrone F. Donnelly, Rebecca L. Poulson, David E. Stallknecht
2018, Emerging Infectious Diseases (24) 1950-1953
We identified a Eurasian-origin influenza A(H8N4) virus in North America by sampling wild birds in western Alaska, USA. Evidence for repeated introductions of influenza A viruses into North America by migratory birds suggests that intercontinental dispersal might not be exceedingly rare and that our understanding of viral establishment is incomplete....
The 2015 landslide and tsunami in Taan Fiord, Alaska
Brentwood Higman, Dan H. Shugar, Colin P. Stark, Goran Ekstrom, Michele N Koppes, Patrick Lynett, Anja Dufresne, Peter J. Haeussler, Marten Geertsema, Sean P.S. Gulick, Andrew Mattox, Jeremy G. Venditti, Maureen A. L. Walton, Naoma McCall, Erin Mckittrick, Breanyn MacInnes, Eric L. Bilderback, Hui Tang, Micheal Willis, Bruce Richmond, Bobby Reece, Christopher F. Larsen, Bjorn Olson, James Capra, Aykut Ayca, Colin K Bloom, Haley Williams, Doug Bonno, Robert Weiss, Adam Keen, Vassilios Skanavis, Micheal Loso
2018, Scientific Reports (8)
Glacial retreat in recent decades has exposed unstable slopes and allowed deep water to extend beneath some of those slopes. Slope failure at the terminus of Tyndall Glacier on 17 October 2015 sent 180 million tons of rock into Taan Fiord, Alaska. The resulting tsunami reached elevations as high as...
Evaluating time-removal models for estimating availability of boreal birds during point count surveys: Sample size requirements and model complexity
Peter Solymos, Steven M. Matsuoka, Steven G. Cumming, Diana Stralberg, Patricia C. Fontaine, Fiona K. A. Schmiegelow, Samantha J. Song, Erin M. Bayne
2018, Condor (120) 765-786
We used conventional and finite mixture removal models with and without time-varying covariates to evaluate availability given presence for 152 bird species using data from point counts in boreal North America. We found that the choice of model had an impact on the estimability of unknown model parameters and affected...
Aerial surveys of sea otters (Enhydra lutris) in Lower Cook Inlet, Alaska, May, 2017
Joel Gerlach-Miller, George G. Esslinger, Ben Weitzman
2018, Report, USFWS Technical Report
Portions of two stocks of northern sea otters (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) occur in Lower Cook Inlet (LCI), Alaska. Sea otters on the west side of LCI are considered part of the southwest Alaska stock; sea otters occupying eastern LCI are considered part of the southcentral Alaska stock. Information...
The influence of tectonic environment on dynamic earthquake triggering: A review and case study on Alaskan volcanoes
Stephanie Prejean, David P. Hill
2018, Tectonophysics (745) 293-304
The phenomenon of dynamic earthquake triggering, when seismic waves from an earthquake trigger seismicity at distant sites, has been recognized for over 25 years, yet knowledge of the global distribution of dynamic triggering remains far from complete. Because occurrences...
Short-term forecasting and detection of explosions during the 2016–2017 eruption of Bogoslof volcano, Alaska
Michelle L. Coombs, Aaron Wech, Matthew M. Haney, John J. Lyons, David J. Schneider, Hans Schwaiger, Kristi L. Wallace, David Fee, Jeffrey T. Freymueller, Janet Schaefer, Gabrielle Tepp
2018, Frontiers in Earth Science (6)
We describe a multidisciplinary approach to forecast, rapidly detect, and characterize explosive events during the 2016–2017 eruption of Bogoslof volcano, a back-arc shallow submarine volcano in Alaska’s Aleutian arc. The eruptive sequence began in December 2016 and included about 70 discrete explosive events. Because the volcano has no local monitoring...
Assessing historical and projected carbon balance of Alaska: A synthesis of results and policy/management implications
A. David McGuire, Hélène Genet, Zhou Lyu, Neal J. Pastick, Sarah M. Stackpoole, Richard Birdsey, David D'Amore, Yujie He, T. Scott Rupp, Robert G. Striegl, Bruce K. Wylie, Xiaoping Zhou, Qianlai Zhuang, Zhiliang Zhu
2018, Ecological Applications (28) 1396-1412
We summarize the results of a recent interagency assessment of land carbon dynamics in Alaska, in which carbon dynamics were estimated for all major terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems for the historical period (1950–2009) and a projection period (2010–2099). Between 1950 and 2009, upland and wetland (i.e., terrestrial) ecosystems of the...
The risk of rodent introductions from shipwrecks to seabirds on Aleutian and Bering Sea islands
Martin Renner, Eric Nelson, Jordan Watson, Alan Haynie, Aaron Poe, Martin D. Robards, Steve C. Hess
2018, Biological Invasions (20) 2679-2690
Accidental introductions of rodents present one of the greatest threats to indigenous island biota, especially seabirds. On uninhabited remote islands, such introductions are likely to come from shipwrecks. Here we use a comprehensive database of shipwrecks in Western Alaska to model the frequency of shipwrecks per Aleutian and Bering Sea...
Research to improve ShakeAlert earthquake early warning products and their utility
Elizabeth S. Cochran, Brad T. Aagaard, Richard M. Allen, Jennifer Andrews, Annemarie S. Baltay Sundstrom, Andrew J. Barbour, Paul Bodin, Benjamin A. Brooks, Angela Chung, Brendan W. Crowell, Douglas D. Given, Thomas C. Hanks, J. Renate Hartog, Egill Hauksson, Thomas H. Heaton, Sara K. McBride, Men-Andrin Meier, Diego Melgar, Sarah E. Minson, Jessica R. Murray, Jennifer A. Strauss, Douglas Toomey
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1131
Earthquake early warning (EEW) is the rapid detection of an earthquake and issuance of an alert or notification to people and vulnerable systems likely to experience potentially damaging ground shaking. The level of ground shaking that is considered damaging is defined by the specific application; for example, manufacturing equipment may...
Comparison of microbiomes of cold-water corals Primnoa pacifica and Primnoa resedaeformis, with possible link between microbiome composition and host genotype
Dawn B. Goldsmith, Christina A. Kellogg, Cheryl L. Morrison, Michael A. Gray, Robert P. Stone, Rhian G. Waller, Sandra D. Brooke, Steve W. Ross
2018, Scientific Reports (8)
Cold-water corals provide critical habitats for a multitude of marine species, but are understudied relative to tropical corals. Primnoa pacifica is a cold-water coral prevalent throughout Alaskan waters, while another species in the genus, Primnoa resedaeformis, is widely distributed in the Atlantic Ocean. This study examined the V4-V5 region of the 16S rRNA...
Flyway structure in the circumpolar greater white‐fronted goose
Robert E. Wilson, Craig R. Ely, Sandra L. Talbot
2018, Ecology and Evolution (8) 8490-8507
Dispersal and migratory behavior are influential factors in determining how genetic diversity is distributed across the landscape. In migratory species, genetic structure can be promoted via several mechanisms including fidelity to distinct migratory routes. Particularly within North America, waterfowl management units have been delineated according to distinct longitudinal migratory flyways...
A transcriptome resource for the Arctic Cod (Boreogadus saida)
Robert E. Wilson, Damian M. Menning, Kate Wedemeyer, Sandra L. Talbot
2018, Marine Genomics (41) 57-61
Arctic Cod (Boreogadus saida) serve as an important link in Arctic food webs and are thus considered an important species for environmental monitoring. RNA-Seq was conducted on samples from wild-collected individuals representing various age classes and tissue types to obtain as complete...
Liverworts from Attu Island, Near Islands, Aleutian Islands, Alaska (USA) with comparison to the Commander Islands (Russia)
Stephen S. Talbot, Wilfred B. Schofield, Jiri Vana, Sandra L. Talbot
2018, Botanica Pacifica (7) 127-141
The liverwort flora of Attu Island, the westernmost Aleutian Island in the United States, was studied to assess species diversity in the hyperoceanic sector of the northern boreal subzone. The field study was undertaken in sites selected to represent a spectrum of environmental variation, primarily within the eastern part of...
An interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) habitat suitability model to identify overwinter conditions for coregonine whitefishes in Arctic lagoons
Marguerite Tibbles, Jeffrey A. Falke, Andrew R. Mahoney, Martin D. Robards, Andrew C. Seitz
2018, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (147) 1167-1178
Lagoons provide critical habitats for many fishes, including coregonine whitefishes, which are a mainstay in many subsistence fisheries of rural communities in Arctic Alaska. Despite their importance, little is known about the overwintering habits of whitefishes in Arctic Alaska due to the challenges associated with sampling during winter. We developed...
Sex-specific variation in denning by brown bears
Lindsey Mangipane, Jerrold L. Belant, Buck Mangipane, David Gustine, Grant V. Hilderbrand
2018, Mammalian Biology (93) 38-44
Denning characteristics of brown bears (Ursus arctos) have been described in numerous studies; however, population specific factors (i.e., landscape characteristics and climate) can greatly influence the location and timing of denning. Our objective was to evaluate den-site characteristics and denning chronology for male and female brown bears in Lake Clark National Park...
Pliocene erosional pulse and glacier-landscape feedbacks in the western Alaska Range
Richard O. Lease
2018, Earth and Planetary Science Letters (497) 62-68
Pliocene–Pleistocene glaciation modified the topography and erosion of most middle- and high-latitude mountain belts, because the evolution of catchment topography controls long-term glacier mass balance and erosion. Hence, characterizing how erosion rates change during repeated glaciations can help test hypothesized glacier erosion-landscape feedbacks across a range of settings. To better...
Lake levels in a discontinuous permafrost landscape: Late Holocene variations inferred from sediment oxygen isotopes, Yukon Flats, Alaska
Lesleigh Anderson, Bruce P. Finney, Mark D. Shapley
2018, Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research (50)
During recent decades, lake levels in the Yukon Flats region of interior Alaska have fluctuated dramatically. However, prior to recorded observations, no data are available to indicate if similar or more extreme variations occurred during past centuries and millennia. This study explores the history of Yukon Flats lake origins and...
Riparian defoliation by the invasive green alder sawfly influences terrestrial prey subsidies to salmon streams
David A. Roon, Mark S. Wipfli, James J. Kruse
2018, Ecology of Freshwater Fish (27) 963-975
Invasive species in riparian forests are unique as their effects can transcend ecosystem boundaries via stream‐riparian linkages. The green alder sawfly (Monsoma pulveratum) is an invasive wasp whose larvae are defoliating riparian thin‐leaf alder (Alnus tenuifolia) stands across southcentral Alaska. To test the hypothesis that riparian defoliation by this invasive...
Landscape genetics identifies streams and drainage infrastructure as dispersal corridors for an endangered wetland bird
Charles B. van Rees, J. Michael Reed, Robert E. Wilson, Jared G. Underwood, Sarah A. Sonsthagen
2018, Ecology and Evolution (8) 8328-8343
Anthropogenic alterations to landscape structure and composition can have significant impacts on biodiversity, potentially leading to species extinctions. Population‐level impacts of landscape change are mediated by animal behaviors, in particular dispersal behavior. Little is known about the dispersal habits of rails (Rallidae) due to their cryptic behavior and tendency to...
Climate change and future wildfire in the western USA: An ecological approach to nonstationarity
Jeremy S. Littell, Donald McKenzie, Ho Yi Wan, Samuel A. Cushman
2018, Earth's Future (6) 1097-1111
We developed ecologically based climate‐fire projections for the western United States. Using a finer ecological classification and fire‐relevant climate predictors, we created statistical models linking climate and wildfire area burned for ecosections, which are geographic delineations based on biophysical variables. The results indicate a gradient from purely fuel‐limited (antecedent positive...
Assessment of Alaska rain-on-snow events using dynamical downscaling
Peter A. Bieniek, Uma S. Bhatt, John E. Walsh, Rick Lader, Brad Griffith, Jennifer K. Roach, Richard L. Thoman
2018, Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology (57) 1847-1863
The ice formed by cold-season rainfall or rain on snow (ROS) has striking impacts on the economy and ecology of Alaska. An understanding of the atmospheric drivers of ROS events is required to better predict them and plan for environmental change. The spatially/temporally sparse network of stations in Alaska makes...
Lactation and resource limitation affect stress responses, thyroid hormones, immune function, and antioxidant capacity of sea otters (Enhydra lutris)
Sarah M. Chinn, Daniel Monson, M. Tim Tinker, Michelle M. Staedler, Daniel E. Crocker
2018, Ecology and Evolution (8) 8433-8447
Lactation is the most energetically demanding stage of reproduction in female mammals. Increased energetic allocation toward current reproduction may result in fitness costs, although the mechanisms underlying these trade‐offs are not well understood. Trade‐offs during lactation may include reduced energetic allocation to cellular maintenance, immune response, and survival and may...
