Partnering in search of answers: Seabird die-offs in the Bering and Chukchi Seas
Robb A. S. Kaler, Gay Sheffield, S Backensto, Jackie Lindsey, T. Jones, J. Parrish, B Ahmasuk, Barbara Bodenstein, Robert J. Dusek, Caroline R. Van Hemert, Matthew M. Smith, Patricia K. Schwalenberg
2023, Report, Arctic Report Card 2022 (NOAA Technical Report)
Prior to 2015, seabird die-offs in Alaskan waters were rare; they typically occurred in mid-winter, linked to epizootic disease events or above-average ocean temperatures associated with strong El Nino-Southern Oscillation events (Bodenstein et al. 2015, Jones et al. 2019, Romano et al. 2020). Since 2015, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife...
Point count offsets for estimating population sizes of north American landbirds
B.P.M. Edwards, A.C. Smith, T.D.S. Docherety, M.A. Gahbauer, C.R. Gillespie, A.R. Grinde, T. Harmer, D. Iles, Steven M. Matsuoka, N.L. Michel, N.L. Murray, G. Niemi, J. Pasher, D. Pavlacky, B. Robinson, B. Ryder, P. Solymos, D. Stralberg, E.J. Zlonis
2023, Ibis (165) 482-503
Bird monitoring in North America over several decades has generated many open databases, housing millions of structured and semi-structured bird observations. These provide the opportunity to estimate bird densities and population sizes, once variation in factors such as underlying field methods, timing, land cover, proximity to...
Estimating reproductive and juvenile survival rates when offspring ages are uncertain: A novel multievent mark-resight model with beluga whale case study
Gina K Himes Boor, Tamara L McGuire, Amanda J. Warlick, Rebecca L. Taylor, Sarah J. Converse, John R McClung, Amber D Stephens
2023, Methods in Ecology and Evolution (14) 631-642
Understanding the survival and reproductive rates of a population is critical to determining its long-term dynamics and viability. Mark-resight models are often used to estimate these demographic rates, but estimation of survival and reproductive rates is challenging, especially for wide-ranging, patchily distributed, or cryptic species. In particular, existing mark-resight...
Landscape characteristics influence projected growth rates of stream-resident juvenile salmon in the face of climate change in the Kenai River watershed, south-central Alaska
B. E. Meyer, M. S. Wipfli, E. R. Schoen, D. J. Rinella, Jeffrey A. Falke
2023, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (152) 169-186
ObjectiveClimate change is affecting the distribution and productivity of Pacific salmon throughout their range. At high latitudes, warmer temperatures have been associated with increased freshwater growth of juvenile salmon, but it is not clear how long this trend will continue before further warming leads to reduced growth....
Geochemistry and fluxes of gases from hydrothermal features at Newberry Volcano, Oregon, USA
Jennifer L. Lewicki, William C. Evans, Steven E. Ingebritsen, Laura E. Clor, Peter J. Kelly, Sara Peek, Robert A. Jensen, Andrew G. Hunt
2023, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (433)
We present the chemical and isotopic compositions of gases and fluxes of CO2 from the hydrothermal features of Newberry Volcano, a large composite volcano located in Oregon's Cascade Range with a summit caldera that hosts two lakes, Paulina and East Lakes. Gas samples were collected from 1982 to 2021 from Paulina...
Effects of mass capture on survival of greater white-fronted geese in Alaska
Josh Dooley, Joel Schmutz, Julian B. Fischer, Dennis Marks
2023, Journal of Wildlife Management (87)
Mass capture of flightless geese during the summer is a common trapping technique to obtain large numbers of individuals for research and marking, but few studies have assessed the impacts of this method on the survival of after-hatch-year geese. We evaluated the effects of holding time...
The mysterious case of the missing razor clams
Heather Coletti, Lizabeth Bowen, Brenda Ballachey, Tammy L. Wilson, Shannon C. Waters, Michael Booz, Katrina Counihan, Tuula E. Hollmen, Benjamin Pister
2023, Frontiers for Young Minds (10) 715425
Oceans are changing and these changes are affecting animals that live there. Animals respond differently to changes in water temperature, food availability, or contaminants. Those responses can be seen in their genes. Gene transcription is a tool that allows scientists to see the response of an animal’s genes to its...
Diet energy density estimated from isotopes in predator hair associated with survival, habitat, and population dynamics
Karyn D. Rode, Brian D. Taras, Craig A. Stricker, Todd C. Atwood, Nicole P Boucher, George M. Durner, Andrew E. Derocher, Evan S. Richardson, Seth Cherry, Lori T. Quakenbush, Lara Horstmann, Jeffrey F. Bromaghin
2023, Ecological Applications (33)
Sea ice loss is fundamentally altering the Arctic marine environment. Yet there is a paucity of data on the adaptability of food webs to ecosystem change, including predator-prey interactions. Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are an important subsistence resource for Indigenous people and an apex predator that...
Lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) otoliths indicate effects of climate and lake morphology on growth patterns in Arctic lakes
Eric Torvinen, Jeffrey A. Falke, Christopher D. Arp, Benjamin M. Jones, Matthew S. Whitman, Christian E. Zimmerman
2023, Ecology of Freshwater Fish (32) 166-180
Climate change is occurring rapidly in the Arctic, and an improved understanding of the response of aquatic biota and ecosystems will be important for this data-limited region. Here, we applied biochronology techniques and mixed-effects modelling to assess relationships among growth increments found on lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) otoliths (N = 49) captured...
Beyond glacier-wide mass balances: Parsing seasonal elevation change into spatially resolved patterns of accumulation and ablation at Wolverine Glacier, Alaska
Lucas Zeller, Daniel J McGrath, Louis C. Sass, Shad O'Neel, Christopher J. McNeil, Emily Baker
2023, Journal of Glaciology (69) 87-102
We present spatially distributed seasonal and annual surface mass balances of Wolverine Glacier, Alaska, from 2016 to 2020. Our approach accounts for the effects of ice emergence and firn compaction on surface elevation changes to resolve the spatial patterns in mass balance at 10 m scale. We...
Alaskan Yelloweye Rockfish fecundity revealed through an automated egg count and digital imagery method
Donald E. Arthur, Jeffrey A. Falke, Brittany J. Blain-Roth, Trent M. Sutton
2023, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (42) 828-838
Spawning stock biomass (SSB) is often used as an index for reproductive potential (RP) in fisheries stock assessments. This method assumes that mature female biomass is proportional to total egg production and implies that (1) the fecundity–length relationship follows a cubic function or (2)...
Climate and landscape controls on old-growth western juniper demography in the northern Great Basin, USA
Rachel A. Loehman, Emily K. Heyerdahl, Gregory T. Pederson, David B. McWethy
2023, Ecosystems (26) 362-382
Western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis Hook.) woodlands have persisted for millennia in semiarid parts of the northern Great Basin, USA, providing critical habitat for plant and animal species. Historical records suggest that the establishment of western juniper is strongly associated with regional climatic variability. For example, the abundance of western juniper pollen...
Breaking up is hard to do: Magmatism during oceanic arc breakup, subduction reversal, and cessation
James F. Gill, Erin Todd, Kaj Hoernle, Folkmar Hauff, Alison Ann Price, Matthew G. Jackson
2022, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (23)
The formerly continuous Vitiaz Arc broke into its Vanuatu and Fijian portions during a reversal of subduction polarity in the Miocene. Basaltic volcanism in Fiji that accompanied the breakup ranged from shoshonitic to low-K and boninitic with increasing distance from the broken edge of the arc that, presumably, marks the...
Landslides triggered by the 2002 M 7.9 Denali Fault earthquake, Alaska, USA
William Schulz
Ikuo Towhata, Gonghui Wang, Qiang Xu, Chris Massey, editor(s)
2022, Book chapter, Coseismic landslides: Phenomena, long-term effects and mitigation
The 2002 M 7.9 Denali earthquake in Alaska, USA, was the largest inland earthquake in North America in nearly 150 years. The earthquake involved oblique thrusting but mostly strike-slip motion, and faults ruptured the ground surface over 330 km. Fault rupture occurred in a rugged, mountainous, subarctic environment with extensive...
Three-decades of Rocky Intertidal Photo Series Documenting interannual variability in western Prince William Sound
Alan Mearns, Dave Janka, Scott Pegau, Robert Campbell, Brian H. Robinson
2022, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the forty-forth AMOP technical seminar
During summer 2021 we re-visited and re-photographed intertidal community scenes at seven rocky intertidal sites in Western Prince William Sound, adding another year of photos to a 32-year monitoring effort. The sites include both previously-oiled and un-oiled locations that were the subject of repeated annual photos beginning in 1990, one...
Polar bear research in a changing arctic
Todd C. Atwood
2022, Polar Bears International: Annual Newsmagazine (2022) 4-16
No abstract available...
Environmental drivers of demography and potential factors limiting the recovery of an endangered marine top predator
Amanda J. Warlick, Devin S. Johnson, Tom S. Gelatt, Sarah J. Converse
2022, Ecosphere (13)
Understanding what drives changes in wildlife demography is fundamental to the conservation and management of depleted or declining populations, though making inference about the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that influence survival and reproduction remains challenging. Here we use mark–resight data from 2000 to 2018...
Moisture abundance and proximity mediate seasonal use of mesic areas and survival of greater sage-grouse broods
John P. Severson, Peter S. Coates, Megan C. Milligan, Shawn T. O'Neil, Mark A. Ricca, Steve C. Abele, John D. Boone, Michael L. Casazza
2022, Ecological Solutions and Evidence (3)
Water is a critical and limited resource, particularly in the arid West, but water availability is projected to decline even while demand increases due to growing human populations and increases in duration and severity of drought. Mesic areas provide important water resources for numerous wildlife species, including the greater...
U.S. Geological Survey science strategy for Arctic Alaska, fiscal years 2022–24
Dee M. Williams, Aimee Devaris
2022, Circular 1499
IntroductionThe United States is an Arctic nation because of Alaska and thus maintains tremendous interests and stewardship responsibilities in the region, especially as the region undergoes substantial environmental transformation. This Arctic Science Strategy is intended to support those interests and responsibilities by expressing the core values, mission, vision, and...
Appendix 7: Application of joint dynamic species distribution models to at-sea survey data for seabirds in the Bering Strait and Chukchi Sea
Mayumi L. Arimitsu, Kathy Kuletz
2022, Report, Marine bird distribution and abundance in offshore waters
Mitigating risk to migratory birds from energy development requires information on the distribution and abundance of seabirds in offshore waters. Seabirds are highly mobile, with species-specific seasonal migrations that result in variable patterns of distribution in space and time. In remote offshore marine areas, obtaining useful and current information on...
Atmospheric circulation drivers of extreme high water level events at Foggy Island Bay, Alaska
Peter A. Bieniek, Li H. Erikson, Jeremy L. Kasper
2022, Atmosphere (13)
The northern coast of Alaska is experiencing significant climatic change enhancing hazards from reduced sea ice and increased coastal erosion. This same region is home to offshore oil/gas activities. Foggy Island Bay is one region along the Beaufort Sea coast with planned offshore oil/gas development that will need to account...
Ordovician geology of Alaska
Julie A. Dumoulin, Justin V. Strauss, John Repetski
2022, Geological Society, London, Special Publications (533)
Ordovician rocks, found in northern, east-central, interior and southern Alaska, formed in a variety of depositional and palaeogeographic settings. Shallow- and deep-water strata deposited along the northwestern Laurentian margin occur in east-central Alaska (Yukon River area) and probably correlative rocks crop out to the north in the...
Seismic evidence for magmatic underplating along the Kodiak-Bowie Seamount Chain, Gulf of Alaska
Gail L. Christeson, Sean P.S. Gulick, Maureen A. L. Walton, Ginger Barth
2022, Tectonophysics (845)
Oceanic crust formed at mid-ocean ridges may be later modified by off-ridge magmatism forming seamounts, guyots, and islands. We investigate processes associated with seamount formation in the Gulf of Alaska Seamount Province using two coincident seismic reflection/wide-angle profiles. A north-south profile...
Brown bear–sea otter interactions along the Katmai coast: Terrestrial and nearshore communities linked by predation
Daniel Monson, Rebecca L. Taylor, Grant Hilderbrand, Joy Erlenbach, Heather Coletti, James L. Bodkin
2022, Journal of Mammalogy
Sea otters were extirpated throughout much of their range by the maritime fur trade in the 18th and 19th centuries, including the coast of Katmai National Park and Preserve in southcentral Alaska. Brown bears are an important component of the Katmai ecosystem where they are the focus of a...
Flyway-scale GPS tracking reveals migratory routes and key stopover and non-breeding locations of lesser yellowlegs
Laura Anne McDuffie, Katherine S. Christie, Audrey R. Taylor, Erica Nol, Christian Friis, Christopher M. Harwood, Jennie Rausch, Benoit Laliberte, Callie Gesmundo, James R. Wright, James A. Johnson
2022, Ecology and Evolution: Nature Notes (12)
Many populations of long-distance migrant shorebirds are declining rapidly. Since the 1970s, the lesser yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) has experienced a pronounced reduction in abundance of ~63%. The potential causes of the species' decline are complex and interrelated. Understanding the timing of migration, seasonal routes, and important...
