Plasticity in physiological condition of female brown bears across diverse ecosystems
Grant V. Hilderbrand, David Gustine, Buck A. Mangipane, Kyle Joly, William Leacock, Lindsey Mangipane, Joy Erlenbach, Mathew Sorum, Matthew Cameron, Jerrold L. Belant, Troy Cambier
2018, Polar Biology (41) 773-780
Variation in life history strategies facilitates the near global distribution of mammals by expanding realized niche width. We investigated physiological plasticity in the spring body composition of adult female brown bears (Ursus arctos) across 4 diverse Alaskan ecosystems. Brown bears are a highly intelligent omnivore with a historic...
Lessons learned from research and surveillance directed at highly pathogenic influenza A viruses in wild birds inhabiting North America
Andrew M. Ramey, Thomas J. DeLiberto, Yohannes Berhane, David E. Swayne, David E. Stallknecht
2018, Virology (518) 55-63
Following detections of highly pathogenic (HP) influenza A viruses (IAVs) in wild birds inhabiting East Asia after the turn of the millennium, the intensity of sampling of wild birds for IAVs increased throughout much of North America. The objectives for many research and surveillance efforts were directed towards detecting Eurasian...
Phylogeny and species traits predict bird detectability
Peter Solymos, Steven M. Matsuoka, Diana Stralberg, Nicole K. S. Barker, Erin M. Bayne
2018, Ecography (41) 1595-1603
Avian acoustic communication has resulted from evolutionary pressures and ecological constraints. We therefore expect that auditory detectability in birds might be predictable by species traits and phylogenetic relatedness. We evaluated the relationship between phylogeny, species traits, and field‐based estimates of the two processes that determine species detectability (singing rate and...
Antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli in migratory birds inhabiting remote Alaska
Andrew M. Ramey, Jorge Hernandez, Veronica Tyrlov, Brian D. Uher-Koch, Joel A. Schmutz, Clara Atterby, Josef D. Jarhult, Jonas Bonnedahl
2018, EcoHealth (15) 72-81
We explored the abundance of antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli among migratory birds at remote sites in Alaska and used a comparative approach to speculate on plausible explanations for differences in detection among species. At a remote island site, we detected antibiotic-resistant E. coli phenotypes in samples collected from glaucous-winged gulls (<i...
Mineral constraints on arctic caribou (Rangifer tarandus): a spatial and phenological perspective
K. W. Oster, P.S. Barboza, David D. Gustine, Kyle Joly, R. D. Shively
2018, Ecosphere (9)
Arctic caribou (Rangifer tarandus) have the longest terrestrial migration of any ungulate but little is known about the spatial and seasonal variation of minerals in summer forages and the potential impacts of mineral nutrition on the foraging behavior and nutritional condition of arctic caribou. We investigated the phenology, availability, and...
Effects of contemporary land-use and land-cover change on the carbon balance of terrestrial ecosystems in the United States
Benjamin M. Sleeter, Jinxun Liu, Colin Daniel, Bronwyn Rayfield, Jason T. Sherba, Todd Hawbaker, Zhiliang Zhu, Paul Selmants, Thomas R. Loveland
2018, Environmental Research Letters (13)
Changes in land use and land cover (LULC) can have profound effects on terrestrial carbon dynamics, yet their effects on the global carbon budget remain uncertain. While land change impacts on ecosystem carbon dynamics have been the focus of numerous studies, few efforts have been based on observational data incorporating...
Refining aging criteria for northern sea otters in Washington State
Krysten L. Schuler, Bridget B. Baker, Karl A. Mayer, Carolina Perez-Heydrich, Paula M. Holahan, Nancy J. Thomas, C. LeAnn White
2018, Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management (9) 208-221
Measurement of skull ossification patterns is a standard method for aging various mammalian species and has been used to age sea otters Enhydra lutris from Russia, California, and Alaska. Cementum annuli counts have also been verified as an accurate aging method for sea otters in Alaska. In this study, we compared cementum...
Analyzing floating and bedfast lake ice regimes across Arctic Alaska using 25 years of space-borne SAR imagery
Melanie Engram, Christopher D. Arp, Benjamin M. Jones, Olaniyi A Ajadi, Franz J Meyer
2018, Remote Sensing of Environment (209) 660-676
Late-winter lake ice regimes are controlled by water depth relative to maximum ice thickness (MIT). When MIT exceeds maximum water depth, lakes freeze to the bottom with bedfast ice (BI) and when MIT is less than maximum water depth lakes have floating ice (FI). Both airborne radar and space-borne synthetic aperture radar...
Avian predator buffers against variability in marine habitats with flexible foraging behavior
Sarah K. Schoen, John F. Piatt, Mayumi L. Arimitsu, Brielle Heflin, Erica N. Madison, Gary S. Drew, Martin Renner, Nora A. Rojek, David C. Douglas, Anthony R. DeGange
2018, Marine Biology (165) 1-14
How well seabirds compensate for variability in prey abundance and composition near their breeding colonies influences their distribution and reproductive success. We used tufted puffins (Fratercula cirrhata) as forage fish samplers to study marine food webs from the western Aleutian Islands (53°N, 173°E) to Kodiak Island (57°N, 153°W),...
Energetic solutions of Rock Sandpipers to harsh winter conditions rely on prey quality
Daniel R. Ruthrauff, Anne Dekinga, Robert E. Gill Jr., Theunis Piersma
2018, Ibis (160) 397-412
Rock Sandpipers Calidris ptilocnemis have the most northerly non-breeding distribution of any shorebird in the Pacific Basin (upper Cook Inlet, Alaska; 61°N, 151°W). In terms of freezing temperatures, persistent winds and pervasive ice, this site is the harshest used by shorebirds during winter. We integrated physiological, metabolic, behavioural and environmental aspects of...
Infectious canine hepatitis in a brown bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) from Alaska.
Susan Knowles, Barbara Bodenstein, Troy Hamon, Michael W. Saxton, Jeffrey S. Hall
2018, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (54) 642-645
We diagnosed infectious canine hepatitis in a free-ranging brown bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) cub from Alaska, US, found dead in October 2015. Intranuclear inclusion bodies were present in hepatocytes, and immunohistochemistry showed reactivity to adenoviral antigens. Sequencing of the hexon protein of adenovirus showed 100% identity to canine adenovirus 1....
Volcanic ash deposition, eelgrass beds, and inshore habitat loss from the 1920s to the 1990s at Chignik, Alaska
Mark Zimmermann, Gregory T. Ruggerone, Jeffrey T. Freymueller, Nicole Kinsman, David H. Ward, Kyle R. Hogrefe
2018, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science (202) 69-86
We quantified the shallowing of the seafloor in five of six bays examined in the Chignik region of the Alaska Peninsula, confirming National Ocean Service observations that 1990s hydrographic surveys were shallower than previous surveys from the 1920s. Castle Bay, Chignik Lagoon, Hook Bay, Kujulik Bay and Mud Bay lost volume as calculated from...
Convergence of marine megafauna movement patterns in coastal and open oceans
A. M. M. Sequeira, J.P. Rodriguez, V. M. Eguíluz, R. Harcourt, M. Hindell, D.W. Sims, C.M. Duarte, D.P. Costa, J. Fernandez-Gracia, L.C. Ferreira, G.C. Hays, M. R. Heupel, M.G. Meekan, A. Aven, F. Bailleul, A. M. M. Baylis, M. L. Berumen, C. D. Braun, J. Burns, M.J. Caley, R. Campbell, R.H. Carmichael, E. Clua, L. D. Einoder, Ari Friedlaender, M. E. Goebel, S.D. Goldsworthy, C. Guinet, J. Gunn, D. Hamer, N. Hammerschlag, M. Hammill, L.A. Hückstädt, N.E. Humphries, M.-A. Lea, A. Lowther, A. Mackay, E. McHuron, J. Mckenzie, L. McLeay, C.R. McMahon, K. Mengersen, M. M. C. Muelbert, Anthony M. Pagano, B. Page, N. Queiroz, P. W. Robinson, S. A. Shaffer, M. Shivji, G. B. Skomal, S. Thorrold, S. Villegas-Amtmann, M. Weise, R. Wells, B. Wetherbee, A. Wiebkin, B. Wienecke, M. Thums
2018, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (115) 3072-3077
The extent of increasing anthropogenic impacts on large marine vertebrates partly depends on the animals’ movement patterns. Effective conservation requires identification of the key drivers of movement including intrinsic properties and extrinsic constraints associated with the dynamic nature of the environments the animals inhabit. However, the relative importance of intrinsic...
Modeling wildfire-induced permafrost deformation in an Alaskan boreal forest using InSAR observations
Yusef Eshqi Molan, Jin-Woo Kim, Zhong Lu, Bruce K. Wylie, Zhiliang Zhu
2018, Remote Sensing (10)
The discontinuous permafrost zone is one of the world’s most sensitive areas to climate change. Alaskan boreal forest is underlain by discontinuous permafrost, and wildfires are one of the most influential agents negatively impacting the condition of permafrost in the arctic region. Using interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) of Advanced...
Application of imaging spectroscopy for mineral exploration in Alaska: A study over porphyry Cu deposits in the eastern Alaska Range
Garth E. Graham, Raymond F. Kokaly, Karen D. Kelley, Todd M. Hoefen, Michaela Johnson, Bernard E. Hubbard
2018, Economic Geology (113) 489.-510
The U.S. Geological Survey tested the utility of imaging spectroscopy (also referred to as hyperspectral remote sensing) as an aid to regional mineral exploration efforts in remote parts of Alaska. Airborne imaging spectrometer data were collected in 2014 over unmined porphyry Cu deposits in...
High‐prevalence and low‐intensity Ichthyophonus infections in Pacific Halibut
Paul Hershberger, Jacob L. Gregg, Claude L. Dykstra
2018, Journal of Aquatic Animal Health (30) 13-19
Ichthyophonus occurred at high prevalence but low intensity in Pacific Halibut Hippoglossus stenolepis throughout the West Coast of North America, ranging from coastal Oregon to the Bering Sea. Infection prevalence in adults was variable on spatial and temporal scales, with the lowest prevalence typically occurring on the edges of the geographic range and...
The geochemistry of loess: Asian and North American deposits compared
Daniel R. Muhs
2018, Journal of Asian Earth Sciences (155) 81-115
Loess is widely distributed over Asia and North America and constitutes one of the most important surficial deposits that serve as terrestrial records of the Quaternary. The oldest Pleistocene loess in China is likely ∼2.6 Ma, thus spanning much or all of the Pleistocene. In North America, most loess is no...
Neoproterozoic–early Paleozoic provenance evolution of sedimentary rocks in and adjacent to the Farewell terrane (interior Alaska)
Julie A. Dumoulin, James V. Jones III, Dwight Bradley, Alison B. Till, Stephen E. Box, Paul B. O’Sullivan
2018, Geosphere (14) 367-394
New detrital zircon U-Pb data from the Farewell terrane of interior Alaska illuminate its early provenance evolution and connections with other Alaskan terranes. Five samples come from Neoproterozoic units in the central Farewell terrane. Basal “ferruginous beds” and the overlying Windy Fork Formation have prominent detrital zircon age populations between...
Plateau subduction, intraslab seismicity, and the Denali (Alaska) volcanic gap
Lindsay Yuling Chuang, Michael Bostock, Aaron Wech, Alexandre Plourde
2018, Geology (45) 647-650
Tectonic tremors in Alaska (USA) are associated with subduction of the Yakutat plateau, but their origins are unclear due to lack of depth constraints. We have processed tremor recordings to extract low-frequency earthquakes (LFEs), and generated a set of six LFE waveform templates via iterative network matched filtering and stacking....
Postglacial eruptive history and geochemistry of Semisopochnoi volcano, western Aleutian Islands, Alaska
Michelle L. Coombs, Jessica F. Larsen, Christina A. Neal
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5150
Semisopochnoi Island, located in the Rat Islands group of the western Aleutian Islands and Aleutian volcanic arc, is a roughly circular island composed of scattered volcanic vents, the prominent caldera of Semisopochnoi volcano, and older, ancestral volcanic rocks. The oldest rocks on the island are gently radially dipping lavas that...
Concentrations of environmental DNA (eDNA) reflect spawning salmon abundance at fine spatial and temporal scales
Michael D. Tillotson, Ryan P. Kelly, Jeffrey J. Duda, Marshal S. Hoy, James Kralj, Thomas P. Quinn
2018, Biological Conservation (220) 1-11
Developing fast, cost-effective assessments of wild animal abundance is an important goal for many researchers, and environmental DNA (eDNA) holds much promise for this purpose. However, the quantitative relationship between species abundance and the amount of DNA present in the environment is likely to vary substantially among taxa and with...
Dietary plasticity in a nutrient-rich system does not influence brown bear (Ursus arctos) body condition or denning
Lindsey S. Mangipane, Jerrold L. Belant, Diana J. R. Lafferty, David D. Gustine, Tim L. Hiller, Michael E. Colvin, Buck A. Mangipane, Grant V. Hilderbrand
2018, Polar Biology (41) 763-772
Behavioral differences within a population can allow use of a greater range of resources among individuals. The brown bear (Ursus arctos) is a generalist omnivore that occupies diverse habitats and displays considerable plasticity in food use. We evaluated whether brown bear foraging that resulted in deviations from a...
Mercury concentrations in multiple tissues of Kittlitz's murrelets (Brachyramphus brevirostris)
Leah A. Kenney, Robb S. Kaler, Michelle L. Kissling, Alexander L. Bond, Collin A. Eagles-Smith
2018, Marine Pollution Bulletin (129) 675-680
Mercury (Hg) is a non-essential, toxic metal that is distributed worldwide. Mercury biomagnifies in food webs and can threaten the health of top predators such as seabirds. The Kittlitz's murrelet (Brachyramphus brevirostris) is a seabird endemic to Alaska and the Russian Far East and is a species of conservation concern...
Molecular testing of adult Pacific salmon and trout (Oncorhynchus spp.) for several RNA viruses demonstrates widespread distribution of piscine orthoreovirus in Alaska and Washington
Maureen K. Purcell, Rachel L. Thompson, Joy Evered, John Kerwin, Ted R. Meyers, Bruce Stewart, James Winton
2018, Journal of Fish Diseases (41) 347-355
This research was initiated in conjunction with a systematic, multiagency surveillance effort in the United States (U.S.) in response to reported findings of infectious salmon anaemia virus (ISAV) RNA in British Columbia, Canada. In the systematic surveillance study reported in a companion paper, tissues from various salmonids taken from Washington...
A systematic surveillance programme for infectious salmon anaemia virus supports its absence in the Pacific Northwest of the United States
Lori L. Gustafson, Lynn H. Creekmore, Kevin R. Snekvik, Jayde A. Ferguson, Janet V. Warg, Marilyn Blair, Theodore R. Meyers, Bruce Stewart, Kenneth I. Warheit, John Kerwin, Andrew E. Goodwin, Linda D. Rhodes, Janet E. Whaley, Maureen K. Purcell, Collette Bentz, Desiree Shasa, Joel Bader, James R. Winton
2018, Journal of Fish Diseases (41) 337-346
In response to reported findings of infectious salmon anaemia virus (ISAV) in British Columbia (BC), Canada, in 2011, U.S. national, state and tribal fisheries managers and fish health specialists developed and implemented a collaborative ISAV surveillance plan for the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Accordingly, over a 3-1/2-year...
