Collision structures of the Prince William terrane and Chugach terrane docking along the Shumagin and Unimak convergent margins, Alaska, USA
Roland E. von Huene, John J. Miller
2024, Geosphere (20) 1276-1285
Western Alaska’s convergent margins are composed of tectonostratigraphic terranes. On land, terrane assembly is recognized along boundaries or sutures between neighboring geologic elements with distinctly different origins. In marine areas where rock outcrops are covered by sediment, recognizing terrane sutures is problematic. A fault in seismic dip line 5 of...
Assessing the population consequences of disturbance and climate change for the Pacific walrus
Devin L. Johnson, Joseph Michael Eisaguirre, Rebecca L. Taylor, Joel L. Garlich-Miller
2024, Marine Ecology Progress Series (740) 193-211
Climate change and anthropogenic disturbance are increasingly affecting wildlife at a global scale. Predicting how varying types and degrees of disturbance may interact to influence population dynamics is a key management challenge. Population consequences of disturbance (PCoD) models provide a framework to link effects of anthropogenic disturbance on an...
Upland Yedoma taliks are an unpredicted source of atmospheric methane
Katey M. Walter Anthony, Nicholas Hasson, Colin W. Edgar, Orit Sivan, Effrat Eliani-Russak, Oded Bergman, Burke J. Minsley, Stephanie R. James, Neal J. Pastick, Alexander Kholodov, Sergey Zimov, Eugenie Euskirchen, Marion S. Bret-Harte, Guido Grosse, Moritz Langer, Jan Nitzbon
2024, Nature Communications (15)
Landscape drying associated with permafrost thaw is expected to enhance microbial methane oxidation in arctic soils. Here we show that ice-rich, Yedoma permafrost deposits, comprising a disproportionately large fraction of pan-arctic soil carbon, present an alternate trajectory. Field and laboratory observations indicate that talik (perennially thawed soils in permafrost) development...
Paramyxoviruses of fish
Ted R. Meyers, William N. Batts
2024, Book chapter, Aquaculture virology (second edition)
The first fish paramyxovirus was isolated from normal adult Chinook salmon returning to a coastal hatchery in Oregon in the fall of 1982. Subsequently, the virus was isolated from other stocks of adult Chinook salmon and one stock of adult coho salmon in California, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska, leading to its designation as the Pacific salmon paramyxovirus (PsaPV). The slow-growing virus can...
Sero-epidemiology of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza viruses among wild birds in subarctic intercontinental transition zones
Jonathon D. Gass, Robert J. Dusek, Nichola J. Hill, Laura Borkenhagen, Jeffrey S. Hall, Gunnar Thor Hallgrimsson, Mary Anne Bishop, Andrew M. Ramey, Timothy J. Spivey, Solvi Runar Vignisson, Sunna Bjork Ragnarsdottir, Halldor Palmar Halldorsson, Jon Einar Jonsson, Alexa D. Simulynas, Felicia B. Nutter, Wendy B. Puryear, Jonathan A. Runstadler
2024, Preprint
Background: The geographic expansion and evolution of A/Goose/Guangdong/1/1996(H5N1) (Gs/GD) lineage H5Nx highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses since 1996 have raised awareness of enzootic circulation among migratory birds and the potential for intercontinental transport and spread. Recent Pacific- and Atlantic-route introductions of HPAI to North America were facilitated by avian migration...
Same streams in a different forest? Investigations of forest harvest legacies and future trajectories across 30 years of stream habitat monitoring on the Tongass National Forest, Alaska
Michael J. Moore, R. Flitcroft, E. Tucker, K. K. Prussian, S. M. Claeson
2024, PLoS ONE (19)
The effects of timber harvest practices and climate change have altered forest ecosystems in southeast Alaska. However, quantification of patterns and trends in stream habitats associated with these forests is limited owing to a paucity of data available in remote watersheds. Here, we analyzed a 30-year dataset from southeast Alaska's...
Relative importance of macroalgae and phytoplankton to nearshore consumers and growth across climatic conditions in the northern Gulf of Alaska
Katherine Corliss, Vanessa R. von Biela, Heather Coletti, James L. Bodkin, Daniel Esler, Katrin Iken
2024, Estuaries and Coasts (47) 1579-1597
Macroalgae and phytoplankton support the base of highly productive nearshore ecosystems in cold-temperate regions. To better understand their relative importance to nearshore food webs, this study considered four regions in the northern Gulf of Alaska where three indicator consumers were collected, filter-feeding mussels (Mytilus trossulus), pelagic-feeding Black Rockfish (Sebastes melanops),...
Accelerating glacier volume loss on Juneau Icefield driven by hypsometry and melt-accelerating feedbacks
Bethan Davies, Robert McNabb, Jacob Bendle, Jonathan Carrivick, Jeremy Ely, Tom Holt, Bradley Markle, Christopher J. McNeil, Lindsey Nicholson, Mauri Pelto
2024, Nature Communications (15)
Globally, glaciers and icefields contribute significantly to sea level rise. Here we show that ice loss from Juneau Icefield, a plateau icefield in Alaska, accelerated after 2005 AD. Rates of area shrinkage were 5 times faster from 2015–2019 than from 1979–1990. Glacier volume loss remained fairly...
Pacific Lamprey responses to stressors: Dewatering and electrofishing
Theresa L. Liedtke, Lisa K. Weiland, Joe Skalicky, Julie Harris, Monica R. Blanchard, Ann B. Grote, Ann E. Gray, Brian K. Ekstrom
2024, Report
The Pacific Lamprey Conservation Initiative (PLCI) is a collaboration of Tribes, Federal, and State agencies working together to protect and restore Pacific Lamprey (Entosphenus tridentatus) and other native lampreys (i.e., Lampetra spp.) in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, and Idaho. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hosts and facilitates the PLCI,...
Impacts of convective storms on runoff, erosion, and carbon export in a continuous permafrost landscape
Marisa Repasch, Josie Arcuri, Irina Overeem, Suzanne P. Anderson, Robert G. Anderson, Joshua C. Koch
2024, Conference Paper
Permafrost holds more than twice the amount of carbon currently in the atmosphere, but this large carbon reservoir is vulnerable to thaw and erosion under a rapidly changing Arctic climate. Convective storms are becoming increasingly common during Arctic summers and can amplify runoff and erosion. These extreme events, in concert...
Assessing the utility of uncrewed aerial system photogrammetrically derived point clouds for land cover classification in the Alaska North Slope
Jung-Kuan Liu, Rongjun Qin, Samantha Arundel
2024, Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing (PE&RS) (90) 405-414
Uncrewed aerial systems (UASs) have been used to collect “pseudo field plot” data in the form of large-scale stereo imagery to supplement and bolster direct field observations to monitor areas in Alaska. These data supplement field data that is difficult to collect in such...
Predicting the response of a long-distance migrant to changing environmental conditions in winter
Richard A. Stillman, E.M. Rivers, W. Gilkerson, K. A. Wood, P. Clausen, C. Deane, David H. Ward
2024, Ecology and Evolution (14)
Access to high-quality food is critical for long-distance migrants to provide energy for migration and arrival at breeding grounds in good condition. We studied effects of changing abundance and availability of a marine food, common eelgrass (Zostera marina L.), on an arctic-breeding, migratory goose, black brant (Brant bernicla nigricans Lawrence 1846), at...
A fire-use decision model to improve the United States’ wildfire management and support climate change adaptation
Aaron Daniel Russell, Nina Fontana, Tyler Hoecker, Alyssa Kamanu, Reetam Majumder, Jilmarie Stephens, Adam Young, Amanda E. Cravens, Christian Giardina, Kevin Hiers, Jeremy Littell, Adam Terando
2024, Cell Reports Sustainability (1)
The US faces multiple challenges in facilitating the safe, effective, and proactive use of fire as a landscape management tool. This intentional fire use exposes deeply ingrained communication challenges and distinct but overlapping strategies of prescribed fire, cultural burning, and managed wildfire. We argue for a new conceptual model that...
Boulders modulate hillslope-channel coupling in the northern Alaska Range
Adrian Bender, Richard O. Lease
2024, Geology (52) 695-699
Active orogens balance tectonic rock uplift with erosion, commonly via river incision coupled to landslide denudation of “threshold” hillslopes, but sediment’s role in this feedback is unclear. We report fluvial geometry, and sediment size, prevalence, and mobility across two ≤600-m-tall gneissic northern Alaska...
Understanding sea otter population change in southeast Alaska
Joseph Michael Eisaguirre, Toshio D. Matsuoka, George G. Esslinger, Benjamin P Weitzman, Paul A. Schuette, Jamie N. Womble
2024, Fact Sheet 2024-3007
IntroductionThe Southeast Alaska (SE) stock of northern sea otters (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) ranges from Cape Yakataga on the north to the Dixon Entrance on the south. During the maritime fur trade, sea otters were commercially harvested to near extinction in SE for their pelts and were presumed unlikely to naturally...
Thermal and hydrological limitations on modeling carbon dynamics at wetland sites of discontinuous and continuous permafrost extent
Benjamin C. Maglio, Ruth Rutter, Tobey Carman, Colin W. Edgar, Eugénie S. Euskirchen, Hélène Genet, Andrew Mullen, Valeria Briones, Elchin Jafarov, Kristen L. Manies
2024, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Permafrost
Accurate representation of cryohydrological processes is fundamental for biosphere models, particularly at high-latitudes, given their influence on carbon and permafrost dynamics in carbon-rich peatlands and wetlands. This study analyzes site-level simulations in moist and wet drainage conditions in continuous or discontinuous permafrost regions, using a terrestrial ecosystem model DVM-DOS-TEM. Functional...
Earthquake effects surveyed during the nineteenth century as ecological features of Chinookan tidelands
Brian F. Atwater, David K. Yamaguchi, Jessie K. Pearl
2024, Northwest Science (97) 78-98
Lasting effects of a Cascadia earthquake in 1700 were documented during surveys of Chinookan tidelands near the mouth of the Columbia River between 1805 and 1868. The effects resemble estuarine consequences, near Anchorage, of the 1964 Alaska earthquake: fatal drowning of subsided meadows and forests by post-earthquake tides, rebirth of...
Development of an 8K SNP chip to assess adaptive diversity and hybridization in polar bears
Joshua D. Miller, Rene Malenfant, L. Ruth Rivkin, Todd C. Atwood, Steven Baryluk, Erik W. Born, Rune Dietz, Kristen L. Laidre, Jodie Pongracz, Evan Richardson, Øystein Wiig, Corey Davis
Kristin L. Laidre, editor(s)
2024, Conservation Genetics Resources (16) 237-249
The polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is a species particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. As the climate warms, polar bears will be forced to move to more suitable habitats which are likely to shrink, adapt to the new conditions, or decline in population size. However, the genomic diversity...
A circumpolar study unveils a positive non-linear effect of temperature on arctic arthropod availability that may reduce the risk of warming-induced trophic mismatch for breeding shorebirds
Aurelie Chagnon-Lafortune, Eliane Duchesne, Pierre Legagneux, Laura McKinnon, Jeroen Reneerkens, Nicolas Casajus, Kenneth F. Abraham, Elise Bolduc, Glen S. Brown, Stephen C. Brown, H. River Gates, Olivier Gilg, Marie-Andrée Giroux, Kirsty Gurney, Steve Kendall, Eunbi Kwon, Richard B. Lanctot, David B. Lank, Nicolas Lecomte, Maria Leung, Joe Liebezeit, R.I.G. Morrison, Erica Nol, David C. Payer, Donald Reid, Daniel R. Ruthrauff, Sarah T. Saalfeld, Brett K. Sandercock, Paul Smith, Niels Martin Schmidt, Ingrid Tulp, David H. Ward, Toke Thomas Hoye, Dominique Berteaux, Joel Bety
2024, Global Change Biology (30)
Seasonally abundant arthropods are a crucial food source for many migratory birds that breed in the Arctic. In cold environments, the growth and emergence of arthropods are particularly tied to temperature. Thus, the phenology of arthropods is anticipated to undergo a rapid change in response to a warming climate, potentially...
Earthquake scenario development in conjunction with the 2023 USGS National Seismic Hazard Model
Robert Edward Chase, Kishor S. Jaiswal, Mark D. Petersen
2024, Earthquake Spectra (40) 1818-1844
We present earthquake scenarios developed to accompany the release of the 2023 update to the US Geological Survey National Seismic Hazard Model (NSHM). Scenarios can serve a range of local and regional needs, from developing proactive-targeted mitigation strategies for minimizing impending risk to aiding emergency management planning. These deterministic scenarios...
Mechanisms by which marine heatwaves impact seabirds
John F. Piatt, Mayumi L. Arimitsu, Sarah Ann Thompson, Rob Suryan, Rory Wilson, Kyle Elliott, W.J. Sydeman
2024, MEPS (737) 1-8
Marine heatwaves (MHWs) are characterized by periods of extreme warming of local to basin-scale marine habitat. Effects of MHWs on some seabirds (e.g. mass die-offs) are well documented, but mechanisms by which seabirds respond to MHWs remain poorly understood. Following from a symposium at the 3rd World Seabird Conference, this Theme...
Assessing the sustainability of Pacific walrus harvest in a changing environment
Devin Johnson, Joseph Michael Eisaguirre, Rebecca L. Taylor, Erik Andersen, Joel Garlich-Miller
2024, Preprint
Harvest sustainability is a primary goal of wildlife management and conservation, and in a changing world it is increasingly important to consider environmental drivers of population dynamics alongside harvest in cohesive management plans. This is particularly pertinent for harvested species that are acutely experiencing effects of climate change. The Pacific...
Stratigraphy, paleoflora, and tectonic setting of the Paleogene Sheep Creek volcanic field, central Alaska
Timothy White, David Sunderlin, Dwight Bradley
2024, Professional Paper 1814-G
In this paper, we provide new information on the stratigraphy and paleoflora of the Sheep Creek volcanic field in the Alaska Range that bolsters our understanding of a key interval in the tectonic, paleoclimate, and paleoenvironmental history of the northern Cordillera. Although the distribution and basic stratigraphy of these rocks...
A phylogeographical study of the discontinuously distributed Harlequin Duck (Histrionicus histrionicus)
Kim T Scribner, Sandra Talbot, Barbara J. Pierson, John D Robinson, Richard B. Lanctot, Daniel Esler, Kathryn Dickson
2024, Ibis (166) 1218-1240
Species distributions are often indicative of historical biogeographical events and contemporary spatial biodiversity patterns. The Harlequin Duck Histrionicus histrionicus is a sea duck of conservation concern that has a disjunct distribution, with discrete portions of its range associated with northern Pacific and Atlantic Ocean basins. Movement...
Testing megathrust rupture models using tsunami deposits
SeanPaul La Selle, Alan R. Nelson, Robert C. Witter, Bruce E. Jaffe, Guy Gelfenbaum, Jason Scott Padgett
2024, JGR Earth Surface (129)
The 26 January 1700 CE Cascadia subduction zone earthquake ruptured much of the plate boundary and generated a tsunami that deposited sand in coastal marshes from northern California to Vancouver Island. Although the depositional record of tsunami inundation is extensive in some of these marshes, few sites...
