Recent Arctic tundra fire initiates widespread thermokarst development
Benjamin M. Jones, Guido Grosse, Christopher D. Arp, Eric K. Miller, Lingli Liu, Daniel J. Hayes, Christopher F. Larsen
2015, Scientific Reports 1-13
Fire-induced permafrost degradation is well documented in boreal forests, but the role of fires in initiating thermokarst development in Arctic tundra is less well understood. Here we show that Arctic tundra fires may induce widespread thaw subsidence of permafrost terrain in the first seven years following the disturbance. Quantitative analysis...
Rapid maturation of the muscle biochemistry that supports diving in Pacific walruses (Odobenus rosmarus divergens)
Shawn R. Norem, Chadwick V. Jay, Jennifer M. Burns, Anthony S. Fischbach
2015, Journal of Experimental Biology (218) 3319-3329
Physiological constraints dictate animals’ ability to exploit habitats. For marine mammals, it is important to quantify physiological limits that influence diving and their ability to alter foraging behaviors. We characterized age-specific dive limits of walruses by measuring anaerobic (acid-buffering capacity) and aerobic (myoglobin content) capacities of the muscles that power...
Tremor-genic slow slip regions may be deeper and warmer and may slip slower than non-tremor-genic regions
Emily Montgomery-Brown, Ellen M. Syracuse
2015, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (16) 3593-3606
Slow slip events (SSEs) are observed worldwide and often coincide with tectonic tremor. Notable examples of SSEs lacking observed tectonic tremor, however, occur beneath Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaii, the Boso Peninsula, Japan, near San Juan Bautista on the San Andreas Fault, California, and recently in Central Ecuador. These SSEs are similar...
1-Meter Digital Elevation Model specification
Samantha T. Arundel, Christy-Ann M. Archuleta, Lori A. Phillips, Brittany L. Roche, Eric W. Constance
2015, Techniques and Methods 11-B7
In January 2015, the U.S. Geological Survey National Geospatial Technical Operations Center began producing the 1-Meter Digital Elevation Model data product. This new product was developed to provide high resolution bare-earth digital elevation models from light detection and ranging (lidar) elevation data and other elevation data collected over the conterminous...
Hindcast storm events in the Bering Sea for the St. Lawrence Island and Unalakleet Regions, Alaska
Li H. Erikson, Robert T. McCall, Arnold van Rooijen, Benjamin Norris
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1193
This study provides viable estimates of historical storm-induced water levels in the coastal communities of Gambell and Savoonga situated on St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea, as well as Unalakleet located at the head of Norton Sound on the western coast of Alaska. Gambell, Savoonga, and Unalakleet are small...
Arctic Alaska’s Lower Cretaceous (Hauterivian and Barremian) mudstone succession—Linking lithofacies, texture, and geochemistry to marine processes
Margaret A. Keller, Joe H.S. Macquaker
Julie A. Dumoulin, editor(s)
2015, Professional Paper 1814-B
We present new images and descriptions of the lithofacies and organic facies of the pebble shale unit and lower part of the Hue Shale (Lower Cretaceous) of Arctic Alaska at a high magnification that illustrates their textural characteristics. Our aims were to describe and determine the distribution of facies in...
Basement and regional structure along strike of the Queen Charlotte Fault in the context of modern and historical earthquake ruptures
Maureen A. L. Walton, Sean P. S. Gulick, Peter J. Haeussler, Emily C. Roland, Anne M. Trehu
2015, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (105) 1090-1105
The Queen Charlotte fault (QCF) is a dextral transform system located offshore of southeastern Alaska and western Canada, accommodating ∼4.4 cm/yr of relative motion between the Pacific and North American plates. Oblique convergence along the fault increases southward, and how this convergence is accommodated is still debated. Using seismic reflection data,...
Pacific blue mussel (Mytilus trossulus) abundance in the Gulf of Alaska: Synthesis of Gulf Watch data (2006-2013) and a consideration of major recruitment events (1989-2013)
Daniel H. Monson, Thomas Dean, M.R. Lindeberg, James L. Bodkin, Heather A. Coletti, Daniel Esler, Kimberly A. Kloecker, Ben P. Weitzman, Brenda E. Ballachey
2015, Report, Quantifying temporal and spatial ecosystem variability across the Northern Gulf of Alaska to understand mechanisms of change: Science synthesis report for the Gulf Watch Alaska Program
Pacific blue mussels (Mytilus trossulus) are abundant and wide-spread primary consumers in the intertidal zone throughout the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). As a component of the Gulf Watch Alaska monitoring program, they represent a key member of intertidal communities and an important prey resource to a number of nearshore vertebrate...
Studies by the U.S. Geological Survey in Alaska, Volume 15
Julie A. Dumoulin, editor(s)
2015, Professional Paper 1814
Summary Professional Paper 1814—Studies by the U.S. Geological Survey in Alaska, Volume 15—continues a long-running series of collected volumes of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientific reports on Alaska. This series presents new and sometimes preliminary findings that are of interest to Earth and biological scientists in academia, government, and industry; to...
Simulating realistic predator signatures in quantitative fatty acid signature analysis
Jeffrey F. Bromaghin
2015, Ecological Informatics (30) 68-71
Diet estimation is an important field within quantitative ecology, providing critical insights into many aspects of ecology and community dynamics. Quantitative fatty acid signature analysis (QFASA) is a prominent method of diet estimation, particularly for marine mammal and bird species. Investigators using QFASA commonly use computer simulation to evaluate statistical...
Wild bird surveillance for highly pathogenic avian influenza H5 in North America
Paul L. Flint, John M. Pearce, J. Christian Franson, Dirk V. Derksen
2015, Virology Journal (12) 1-6
It is unknown how the current Asian origin highly pathogenic avian influenza H5 viruses arrived, but these viruses are now poised to become endemic in North America. Wild birds harbor these viruses and have dispersed them at regional scales. What is unclear is how the viruses may be moving from...
Evidence that dorsally mounted satellite transmitters affect migration chronology of Northern Pintails
Jerry W. Hupp, Sergei Kharitonov, Noriyuki M. Yamaguchi, K. Ozaki, Paul L. Flint, John M. Pearce, Ken-ichi Tokita, Tetsuo Shimada, Hiroyoshi Higuchi
2015, Journal of Ornithology (156) 977-989
We compared migration movements and chronology between Northern Pintails (Anas acuta) marked with dorsally mounted satellite transmitters and pintails marked only with tarsus rings. During weekly intervals of spring and autumn migration between their wintering area in Japan and nesting areas in Russia, the mean distance that ringed pintails had...
Reconstructing turbidity in a glacially influenced lake using the Landsat TM and ETM+ surface reflectance climate data record archive, Lake Clark, Alaska
Carson Baughman, Benjamin M. Jones, Krista K. Bartz, Daniel B. Young, Christian E. Zimmerman
2015, Remote Sensing (7) 13692-13710
Lake Clark is an important nursery lake for sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) in the headwaters of Bristol Bay, Alaska, the most productive wild salmon fishery in the world. Reductions in water clarity within Alaska lake systems as a result of increased glacial runoff have been shown to reduce salmon production...
Dynamics of a recovering Arctic bird population: the importance of climate, density dependence, and site quality
Jason E. Bruggeman, Ted Swem, David E. Andersen, Patricia L. Kennedy, Debora A. Nigro
2015, Ecological Applications (25) 1932-1943
Intrinsic and extrinsic factors affect vital rates and population-level processes, and understanding these factors is paramount to devising successful management plans for wildlife species. For example, birds time migration in response, in part, to local and broadscale climate fluctuations to initiate breeding upon arrival to nesting territories, and prolonged inclement...
Estimating demographic parameters using a combination of known-fate and open N-mixture models
Joshua H. Schmidt, Devin S. Johnson, Mark S. Lindberg, Layne G. Adams
2015, Ecology (96) 2583-2589
Accurate estimates of demographic parameters are required to infer appropriate ecological relationships and inform management actions. Known-fate data from marked individuals are commonly used to estimate survival rates, whereas N-mixture models use count data from unmarked individuals to estimate multiple demographic parameters. However, a joint approach combining the strengths of...
Field guide to the Mesozoic arc and accretionary complex of South-Central Alaska, Indian to Hatcher Pass
Susan M. Karl, P.J. Oswald, Chad P. Hults
2015, Book, Fieldtrip Guidebook
This field trip traverses exposures of a multi-generation Mesozoic magmatic arc and subduction-accretion complex that had a complicated history of magmatic activity and experienced variations in composition and deformational style in response to changes in the tectonic environment. This Mesozoic arc formed at an unknown latitude to the south, was...
Reconnaissance surficial geologic map of the Taylor Mountains quadrangle, southwestern Alaska
Frederic H. Wilson
2015, Scientific Investigations Map 3334
This map and accompanying digital files are the result of the interpretation of aerial photographs from the 1950s as well as more modern imagery. The area, long considered a part of Alaska that was largely not glaciated (see Karlstrom, 1964; Coulter and others, 1965; or Péwé, 1975), actually has a...
Early-Holocene warming in Beringia and its mediation by sea-level and vegetation changes
P. J. Bartlein, M. E. Edwards, Steven W. Hostetler, Sarah Shafer, P. M. Anderson, L. B Brubaker, A. V Lozhkin
2015, Climate of the Past (11) 1197-1222
Arctic land-cover changes induced by recent global climate change (e.g., expansion of woody vegetation into tundra and effects of permafrost degradation) are expected to generate further feedbacks to the climate system. Past changes can be used to assess our understanding of feedback mechanisms through a combination of process modeling and...
Testing methods for using high-resolution satellite imagery to monitor polar bear abundance and distribution
Michelle A. LaRue, Seth P. Stapleton, Claire Porter, Stephen N. Atkinson, Todd C. Atwood, Markus Dyck, Nicolas Lecomte
2015, Wildlife Society Bulletin (39) 772-779
High-resolution satellite imagery is a promising tool for providing coarse information about polar species abundance and distribution, but current applications are limited. With polar bears (Ursus maritimus), the technique has only proven effective on landscapes with little topographic relief that are devoid of snow and ice, and time-consuming manual review...
Evaluating species richness: biased ecological inference results from spatial heterogeneity in species detection probabilities
Lance B. McNew, Colleen M. Handel
2015, Ecological Applications (25) 1669-1680
Accurate estimates of species richness are necessary to test predictions of ecological theory and evaluate biodiversity for conservation purposes. However, species richness is difficult to measure in the field because some species will almost always be overlooked due to their cryptic nature or the observer's failure to perceive their cues....
Landslides and megathrust splay faults captured by the late Holocene sediment record of eastern Prince William Sound, Alaska
S.P. Finn, Lee M. Liberty, Peter J. Haeussler, Thomas L. Pratt
2015, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (105) 2343-2353
We present new marine seismic‐reflection profiles and bathymetric maps to characterize Holocene depositional patterns, submarine landslides, and active faults beneath eastern and central Prince William Sound (PWS), Alaska, which is the eastern rupture patch of the 1964 Mw 9.2 earthquake. We show evidence that submarine landslides, many of which are...
Field and laboratory guide to freshwater cyanobacteria harmful algal blooms for Native American and Alaska Native communities
Barry H. Rosen, Ann E. St. Amand
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1164
Cyanobacteria can produce toxins and form harmful algal blooms. The Native American and Alaska Native communities that are dependent on subsistence fishing have an increased risk of exposure to these cyanotoxins. It is important to recognize the presence of an algal bloom in a waterbody and to distinguish a potentially...
Changing arctic ecosystems—What is causing the rapid increase of snow geese in northern Alaska?
Jerry W. Hupp, David H. Ward, Mary E. Whalen, John M. Pearce
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3062
Through the Changing Arctic Ecosystems (CAE) initiative, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) informs key resource management decisions for Arctic Alaska by providing scientific information on current and future ecosystem response to a warming climate. The Arctic Coastal Plain (ACP) of northern Alaska is a key study area within the USGS...
USGS highly pathogenic avian influenza research strategy
M. Camille Harris, A. Keith Miles, John M. Pearce, Diann J. Prosser, Jonathan M. Sleeman, Mary E. Whalen
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3060
Avian influenza viruses are naturally occurring in wild birds such as ducks, geese, swans, and gulls. These viruses generally do not cause illness in wild birds, however, when spread to poultry they can be highly pathogenic and cause illness and death in backyard and commercial farms. Outbreaks may cause devastating...
USGS role and response to highly pathogenic avian influenza
M. Camille Harris, A. Keith Miles, John M. Pearce, Diann J. Prosser, Jonathan M. Sleeman, Mary E. Whalen
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3059
Avian influenza viruses are naturally occurring in wild birds such as ducks, geese, swans, and gulls. These viruses generally do not cause illness in wild birds, however, when spread to poultry they can be highly pathogenic and cause illness and death in backyard and commercial farms. Outbreaks may cause devastating...
