Spatial genetic structure of Long-tailed Ducks (Clangula hyemalis) among Alaskan, Canadian, and Russian breeding populations
Robert E. Wilson, J. R. Gust, Margaret R. Petersen, Sandra L. Talbot
2016, Arctic (69) 65-78
Arctic ecosystems are changing at an unprecedented rate. How Arctic species are able to respond to such environmental change is partially dependent on the connections between local and broadly distributed populations. For species like the Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis), we have limited telemetry and band-recovery information from which to infer...
Estimating flood magnitude and frequency at gaged and ungaged sites on streams in Alaska and conterminous basins in Canada, based on data through water year 2012
Janet H. Curran, Nancy A. Barth, Andrea G. Veilleux, Robert T. Ourso
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5024
Estimates of the magnitude and frequency of floods are needed across Alaska for engineering design of transportation and water-conveyance structures, flood-insurance studies, flood-plain management, and other water-resource purposes. This report updates methods for estimating flood magnitude and frequency in Alaska and conterminous basins in Canada. Annual peak-flow data through water...
Impacts of introduced Rangifer on ecosystem processes of maritime tundra on subarctic islands
Mark A. Ricca, A. Keith Miles, Dirk H. Van Vuren, Valerie T. Eviner
2016, Ecosphere (7) Article e01219
Introductions of mammalian herbivores to remote islands without predators provide a natural experiment to ask how temporal and spatial variation in herbivory intensity alter feedbacks between plant and soil processes. We investigated ecosystem effects resulting from introductions of Rangifer tarandus (hereafter “Rangifer”) to native mammalian predator- and herbivore-free islands in the Aleutian...
Predictability of horizontal water vapor transport relative to precipitation: Enhancing situational awareness for forecasting western U.S. extreme precipitation and flooding
David A. Lavers, Duane E. Waliser, F. Martin Ralph, Michael D. Dettinger
2016, Geophysical Research Letters (43) 2275-2282
The western United States is vulnerable to socioeconomic disruption due to extreme winter precipitation and floods. Traditionally, forecasts of precipitation and river discharge provide the basis for preparations. Herein we show that earlier event awareness may be possible through use of horizontal water vapor transport (integrated vapor transport (IVT)) forecasts....
Limited evidence of intercontinental dispersal of avian paramyxovirus serotype 4 by migratory birds
Andrew B. Reeves, Rebecca L. Poulson, Denys Muzyka, Haruko Ogawa, Kunitoshi Imai, Vuong Nghia Bui, Jeffrey S. Hall, Mary Pantin-Jackwood, David E. Stallknecht, Andrew M. Ramey
2016, Infection, Genetics and Evolution (40) 104-108
Avian paramyxovirus serotype 4 (APMV-4) is a single stranded RNA virus that has most often been isolated from waterfowl. Limited information has been reported regarding the prevalence, pathogenicity, and genetic diversity of AMPV-4. To assess the intercontinental dispersal of this viral agent, we sequenced the fusion gene of...
DOI/GTN-P Climate and active-layer data acquired in the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, 1998–2014
Frank E. Urban, Gary D. Clow
2016, Data Series 977
This report provides data collected by the climate monitoring array of the U.S. Department of the Interior on Federal lands in Arctic Alaska over the period August 1998 to July 2014; this array is part of the Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost (DOI/GTN-P). In addition to presenting data, this report...
Circumpolar biodiversity monitoring program (CBMP): Coastal expert workshop meeting report
Rebecca Anderson, Donald McLennan, Laura Thomson, Susse Wegeberg, Maria Pettersvik Arvnes, Liudmila Sergienko, Carolina Behe, Pitseolak Moss-Davies, Stacey Fritz, Thomas K. Christensen, Courtney Price
2016, Conference Paper
The Coastal Expert Workshop, which took place in Ottawa, Canada from March 1 to 3, 2016, initiated the development of the Arctic Coastal Biodiversity Monitoring Plan (Coastal Plan). Meeting participants, including northern residents, representatives from industry, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), academia, and government regulators and agencies from across the circumpolar Arctic,...
The evolution of a thermokarst-lake landscape: Late Quaternary permafrost degradation and stabilization in interior Alaska
Mary E. Edwards, Guido Grosse, Benjamin M. Jones, Patricia F. McDowell
2016, Sedimentary Geology (340) 3-14
Thermokarst processes characterize a variety of ice-rich permafrost terrains and often lead to lake formation. The long-term evolution of thermokarst landscapes and the stability and longevity of lakes depend upon climate, vegetation and ground conditions, including the volume of excess ground ice and its distribution. The current lake status of...
Habitat use and foraging patterns of molting male Long-tailed Ducks in lagoons of the central Beaufort Sea, Alaska
Paul L. Flint, John A. Reed, Deborah Lacroix, Richard Lanctot
2016, Arctic (69) 19-28
From mid-July through September, 10 000 to 30 000 Long-tailed Ducks (Clangula hyemalis) use the lagoon systems of the central Beaufort Sea for remigial molt. Little is known about their foraging behavior and patterns of habitat use during this flightless period. We used radio transmitters to track male Long-tailed Ducks...
Book review: Ducks, geese, and swans of North America
Robert E. Wilson
2016, Prairie Naturalist (47) 55-55
As pointed out in the book’s introduction by Richard McCabe, very few books deserve being called a classic. First published in 1942, the various editions of Ducks, Geese, and Swans of North America—authored by Francis K. Kortright (1942), Frank C. Bellrose (1976, 1981), and this new edition by Guy Baldassarre...
Body size and condition influence migration timing of juvenile Arctic grayling
Kurt C. Heim, Mark S. Wipfli, Matthew S. Whitman, Andrew C. Seitz
2016, Ecology of Freshwater Fish (25) 156-166
Freshwater fishes utilising seasonally available habitats within annual migratory circuits time movements out of such habitats with changing hydrology, although individual attributes of fish may also mediate the behavioural response to environmental conditions. We tagged juvenile Arctic grayling in a seasonally flowing stream on the Arctic Coastal Plain in Alaska...
Sex-specific energetics of Pacific walruses (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) during the nursing interval
Shawn R. Noren, Mark S. Udevitz, Chadwick V. Jay
2016, Physiological and Biochemical Zoology (89) 93-109
Habitat use and activity patterns of Pacific walruses (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) have changed with climate-induced reductions in sea ice. Increases in the time active in water could result in negative energy balance, precluding females from sustaining lactation, which could impact population demographics. Little is known about lactation costs in walruses....
Seasonal flows of international British Columbia-Alaska rivers: The nonlinear influence of ocean-atmosphere circulation patterns
Sean W. Fleming, Eran Hood, Helen Dalhke, Shad O’Neel
2016, Advances in Water Resources (87) 42-55
The northern portion of the Pacific coastal temperate rainforest (PCTR) is one of the least anthropogenically modified regions on earth and remains in many respects a frontier area to science. Rivers crossing the northern PCTR, which is also an international boundary region between British Columbia, Canada and Alaska, USA, deliver...
Upper Cretaceous and Lower Jurassic strata in shallow cores on the Chukchi Shelf, Arctic Alaska
David W. Houseknecht, William H. Craddock, Richard O. Lease
Julie A. Dumoulin, editor(s)
2016, Professional Paper 1814-C
Shallow cores collected in the 1980s on the Chukchi Shelf of western Arctic Alaska sampled pre-Cenozoic strata whose presence, age, and character are poorly known across the region. Five cores from the Herald Arch foreland contain Cenomanian to Coniacian strata, as documented by biostratigraphy, geochronology, and thermochronology. Shallow seismic reflection...
Modified method for estimating petroleum source-rock potential using wireline logs, with application to the Kingak Shale, Alaska North Slope
William A. Rouse, David W. Houseknecht
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5001
In 2012, the U.S. Geological Survey completed an assessment of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas resources in three source rocks of the Alaska North Slope, including the lower part of the Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous Kingak Shale. In order to identify organic shale potential in the absence of a...
Techniques for monitoring Brachyramphus murrelets: A comparison of radar, autonomous acoustic recording and audio‐visual surveys
J.L. Cragg, Alan E. Burger, John F. Piatt
2016, Wildlife Society Bulletin
Conditions in Alaska, USA, pose a challenge for monitoring populations of Brachyramphus murrelets using standard survey methods, because of strong winds, 2 sympatric species, short nights, and variable nesting habitat. We tested 3 methods for monitoring Brachyramphus murrelets breeding in the Kodiak Archipelago, Alaska, in 2010–2012. In addition to standard audio‐visual and radar methods,...
The 3D Elevation Program: summary for Puerto Rico
William J. Carswell Jr.
2016, Fact Sheet 2015-3088
Elevation data are essential to a broad range of applications, including forest resources management, wildlife and habitat management, scientific research, national security, recreation, and many others. For the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, elevation data are critical for flood risk management, landslide mitigation, natural resources conservation, sea level rise and subsidence,...
Thermokarst rates intensify due to climate change and forest fragmentation in an Alaskan boreal forest lowland
M. Lara, Helene Genet, A. David McGuire, Eugénie S. Euskirchen, Yujin Zhang, Dana R. N. Brown, M.T. Jorgenson, V. Romanovsky, Amy L. Breen, W.R. Bolton
2016, Global Change Biology (22) 816-829
Lowland boreal forest ecosystems in Alaska are dominated by wetlands comprised of a complex mosaic of fens, collapse-scar bogs, low shrub/scrub, and forests growing on elevated ice-rich permafrost soils. Thermokarst has affected the lowlands of the Tanana Flats in central Alaska for centuries, as thawing permafrost collapses forests that transition...
Spatial variations in immediate greenhouse gases and aerosol emissions and resulting radiative forcing from wildfires in interior Alaska
Shengli Huang, Heping Liu, Devendra Dahal, Suming Jin, Shuang Li, Shu-Guang Liu
2016, Theoretical and Applied Climatology (123) 581-592
Boreal fires can cool the climate; however, this conclusion came from individual fires and may not represent the whole story. We hypothesize that the climatic impact of boreal fires depends on local landscape heterogeneity such as burn severity, prefire vegetation type, and soil properties. To test this hypothesis, spatially explicit...
Dome growth at Mount Cleveland, Aleutian Arc, quantified by time-series TerraSAR-X imagery
Teng Wang, Michael P. Poland, Zhong Lu
2016, Geophysical Research Letters (42) 10614-10621
Synthetic aperture radar imagery is widely used to study surface deformation induced by volcanic activity; however, it is rarely applied to quantify the evolution of lava domes, which is important for understanding hazards and magmatic system characteristics. We studied dome formation associated with eruptive activity at Mount Cleveland, Aleutian Volcanic...
Post-eruptive inflation of Okmok Volcano, Alaska, from InSAR, 2008–2014
Feifei Qu, Zhong Lu, Michael P. Poland, Jeffrey T. Freymueller, Qin Zhang, Hyung-Sup Jung
2016, Remote Sensing (7) 16778-16794
Okmok, a ~10-km wide caldera that occupies most of the northeastern end of Umnak Island, is one of the most active volcanoes in the Aleutian arc. The most recent eruption at Okmok during July-August 2008 was by far its largest and most explosive since at least the early 19th century....
At the foot of the smoking mountains: The 2014 scientific investigations in the Islands of the Four Mountains
Virginia Hatfield, Kale Bruner, Dixie West, Arkady Savinetsky, Olga Krylovich, Bulat Khasanov, Dmitry Vasyukov, Zhanna Antipushina, Mitsuru Okuno, Susan Crockford, Kirsten Nicolaysen, Breanyn MacInnes, Lyman Persico, Pavel Izbekov, Christina A. Neal, Thomas Bartlett III, Lydia Loopesko, Anne Fulton
2016, Arctic Anthropology (53) 141-159
An interdisciplinary research team conducted archaeological, geological, and biological investigations in the Islands of the Four Mountains, Alaska during the summer of 2014 as part of a three-year project to study long-term geological and ecological patterns and processes with respect to human settlement. Researchers investigated three archaeological sites on Chuginadak...
Fertility of the early post-eruptive surfaces of Kasatochi Island volcano
G. J. Michaelson, Bronwen Wang, C. L. Ping
2016, Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research (48) 45-59
In the four years after the 2008 eruption and burial of Kasatochi Island volcano, erosion and the return of bird activity have resulted in new and altered land surfaces and initiation of ecosystem recovery. We examined fertility characteristics of the recently deposited pyroclastic surfaces, patches of legacy pre-eruptive surface soil...
Evidence for nonuniform permafrost degradation after fire in boreal landscapes
Burke J. Minsley, Neal J. Pastick, Bruce K. Wylie, Dana R.N. Brown, M. Andy Kass
2016, Journal of Geophysical Research F: Earth Surface (121) 320-335
Fire can be a significant driver of permafrost change in boreal landscapes, altering the availability of soil carbon and nutrients that have important implications for future climate and ecological succession. However, not all landscapes are equally susceptible to fire-induced change. As fire frequency is expected to increase in the high...
Who Knew? Inconnu
F. Joseph Margraf
2016, Fisheries (41) 70-70
In 1999, I moved to Alaska to serve as unit leader of the U.S. Geological Survey Alaska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit and professor of fisheries in the School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. What was unusual about this move was that before...
