Surface to subsurface correlation of the Middle-Upper Triassic Shublik Formation within a revised sequence stratigraphic framework
William A. Rouse, Katherine J. Whidden, Julie A. Dumoulin, David W. Houseknecht
2020, Interpretation (8) SJ1-SJ16
Recent work on cores and outcrops of the Middle-Upper Triassic Shublik Formation has facilitated surface to subsurface correlation of depositional sequences across the Alaska North Slope. Five transgressive-regressive depositional sequences have been defined within three large-scale stratigraphic units. Outcrop spectral gamma-ray (GR) profiles were used to correlate observed stacking patterns...
Thermal diversity of salmon streams in the Matanuska-Susitna Basin, Alaska
Rebecca Shaftel, Sue Mauger, Jeffrey A. Falke, Daniel Rinella, Jeff Davis, Leslie Jones
2020, JAWRA (56) 630-646
We present the first description of summer stream thermal regimes in Alaska using metrics that represent the magnitude, variability, frequency, duration, and timing of temperature events related to salmon life histories. We used cluster analysis to characterize thermal regimes present in the Matanuska-Susitna (Mat-Su) Basin based...
Ecology of influenza A viruses in wild birds and wetlands of Alaska
Andrew M. Ramey, Andrew B. Reeves
2020, Avian Diseases (64) 109-122
Alaska represents a globally important region for the ecology of avian-origin influenza A viruses (IAVs) given expansive wetlands in this region which serve as habitat for numerous hosts of IAVs that disperse among four continents during the annual cycle. Extensive sampling of wild birds for IAVs in Alaska since...
Validation of a screening method for the detection of colistin-resistant E. coli containing mcr-1 in feral swine feces
Jeffrey C Chandler, Alan B. Franklin, Sarah N. Bevins, Kevin T Bentler, Jonas Bonnedahl, Christina Ahlstrom, Bledar Bisha, Susan A. Shriner
2020, Journal of Microbiological Methods (172)
A method was developed and validated for the detection of colistin-resistant Escherichia coli containing mcr-1 in the feces of feral swine. Following optimization of an enrichment method using EC broth supplemented with colistin (1 µg/mL) and vancomycin (8 µg/mL), aliquots derived from 100 feral swine fecal samples were spiked with...
A post-eruption study of gases and thermal waters at Okmok Volcano, Alaska
Deborah Bergfeld, William C. Evans, Andrew G. Hunt, Taryn Lopez, Janet Schaefer
2020, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (396)
We report here on the first focused study of gas discharges and thermal spring waters at Okmok Volcano since the 2008 phreatomagmatic eruptions. Results include the first compositional gas data from Okmok with minimal air contamination and the first data on magmatic carbon in Okmok spring waters. Chemical and isotopic...
Sediment sources and transport by the Kahiltna Glacier and other catchments along the south side of the Alaska Range, Alaska
Ari Matmon, Peter J. Haeussler
ASTER Team, editor(s)
2020, Geosphere (16) 787-805
Erosion related to glacial activity produces enormous amounts of sediment. However, sediment mobilization in glacial systems is extremely complex. Sediment is derived from headwalls, slopes along the margins of glaciers, and basal erosion; however, the rates and relative contributions of each are unknown. To test and quantify conceptual models for...
Gulls as sources of environmental contamination by colistin-resistant bacteria
Alan B. Franklin, Andrew M. Ramey, Kevin T Bentler, Nicole L Barret, Loredana M McCurdy, Christina Ahlstrom, Jonas Bonnedahl, Susan A. Shriner, Jeffrey C Chandler
2020, Scientific Reports (10)
In 2015, the mcr-1 gene was discovered in Escherichia coli in domestic swine in China that conferred resistance to colistin, an antibiotic of last resort used in treating multi-drug resistant bacterial infections in humans. Since then, mcr-1 was found in other human and animal populations, including wild gulls. Because gulls...
Post-release monitoring of a stranded and rehabilitated short-finned pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus) reveals current-assisted travel
Reny B Tyson Moore, David C. Douglas, Hendrik H. Nollens, Randall S. Wells
2020, Aquatic Mammals (46) 200-214
A subadult female short-finned pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus), stranded on the northeastern Gulf of Mexico coast of Florida in June 2017, was rehabilitated for 38 days and then monitored with a satellite-linked, time-depth recording tag for 32 days after being released off the West Florida Shelf. The individual, “Gale,”...
Storm impacts on phytoplankton community dynamics in lakes
Jason D. Stockwell, Jonathan P. Doubek, Rita Adrian, Orlane Anneville, Cayelan C. Carey, Laurence Carvalho, Marieke A. Frassl, Lisette N. De Senerpont Domis, Gaël Dur, Bas W Ibelings, Hans-Peter Grossart, Marc J. Lajeunesse, Aleksandra M. Lewandowska, María E. Llames , Shin-Ichiro S. Matsuzaki, Emily Nodine, Peeter Noges, Vijay P. Patil, Francesco Pomati, Karsten Rinke, Lars G. Rudstam, James A. Rusak, Nico Salmaso, Christian T. Seltmann, Dietmar Straile, Stephen J. Thackeray, Wim Thiery, Pablo Urrutia‐Cordero, Patrick Venail, Piet Verburg, R. Iestyn Woolway, Tamar Zohary, Mikkel R. Andersen, Ruchi Bhattacharya, J. Hejzlar, Nasime Janatian, Alfred T. N. K. Kpodonu, Tanner J. Williamson, Harriet Wilson
2020, Global Change Biology (26) 2756-2784
In many regions across the globe, extreme weather events such as storms have increased in frequency, intensity, and duration due to climate change. Ecological theory predicts that such extreme events should have large impacts on ecosystem structure and function. High winds and precipitation associated with storms can affect lakes via...
Monitoring nearshore ecosystem health using Pacific razor clams (Siliqua patula) as an indicator species
Lizabeth Bowen, Katrina Counihan, Brenda E. Ballachey, Heather A Colletti, Tuula E. Hollmen, Benjamin Pister, Tammy L Wilson
2020, PeerJ (8)
An emerging approach to ecosystem monitoring involves the use of physiological biomarker analyses in combination with gene transcription assays. For the first time, we employed these tools to evaluate the Pacific razor clam (Siliqua patula), which is important both economically and ecologically, as a bioindicator species in the northeast Pacific....
Quality control and assessment of interpreter consistency of annual land cover reference data in an operational national monitoring program
Bruce Pengra, Stephen V. Stehman, Josephine Horton, Daryn (Contractor) Dockter, Todd A. Schroeder, Zhiqiang Yang, Warren B Cohen, Sean P. Healey, Thomas Loveland
2020, Remote Sensing of Environment (238)
The U.S. Geological Survey Land Change Monitoring, Assessment and Projection (USGS LCMAP) initiative is working toward a comprehensive capability to characterize land cover and land cover change using dense Landsat time series data. A suite of products including annual land cover maps and annual land cover change maps will be...
The 3D Elevation Program and energy for the Nation
Cindy A. Thatcher, Vicki Lukas, Jason M. Stoker
2020, Fact Sheet 2019-3051
High-resolution light detection and ranging (lidar) data are used in energy infrastructure siting, design, permitting, construction, and monitoring to promote public safety through the reduction of risks. For example, lidar data are used to identify safe locations for energy infrastructure by analyzing terrain parameters and identifying and evaluating geologic hazards...
Spatial epidemiological patterns suggest mechanisms of land-sea transmission for Sarcocystis neurona in a coastal marine mammal
Tristan Burgess, M. Tim Tinker, Melissa A. Miller, Woutrina A. Smith, James L. Bodkin, Michael J. Murray, Linda M. Nichol, Justin A. Saarinen, Shawn E. Larson, Joseph A. Tomoleoni, Patricia A. Conrad, Christine K. Johnson
2020, Scientific Reports (10)
Sarcocystis neurona was recognised as an important cause of mortality in southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) after an outbreak in April 2004 and has since been detected in many marine mammal species in the Northeast Pacific Ocean. Risk of S. neurona exposure in sea otters is associated with consumption...
Co-producing knowledge: The Integrated Ecosystem Model for resource management in Arctic Alaska
Eugenie S. Euskirchen, Kristin Timm, Amy L. Breen, Stephen Gray, T. Scott Rupp, Philip Martin, Joel H. Reynolds, Amanda Sesser, Karen Murphy, Jeremy Littell, Alec Bennett, W. Robert Bolton, Tobey Carman, Helene Genet, Brad Griffith, Tom Kurkowski, Mark J. Lara, Sergei Marchenko, Dmitry Nicolsky, Panda Santosh, Vladimir Romanovsky, Ruth Rutter, Colin Tucker, A. David McGuire
2020, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment (18) 447-455
Assessments of climate-change effects on ecosystem processes and services in high-latitude regions are hindered by a lack of decision-support tools capable of forecasting possible future landscapes. We describe a collaborative effort to develop and apply the Integrated Ecosystem Model (IEM) for Alaska and northwestern Canada to explore how climate change...
Climate- and disturbance-driven changes in subsistence berries in coastal Alaska: Indigenous knowledge to inform ecological inference
Nicole M. Herman-Mercer, Rachel A. Loehman, Ryan C. Toohey, Cynthia Paniyak
2020, Human Ecology Review (48) 85-99
Berry-producing plants are a key subsistence resource in Indigenous Alaskan communities. High-latitude coastal regions are particularly impacted by global climate change due to their location at the land-sea ecotone subjecting them to terrestrial stressors as well as shifts in ocean dynamics. While vegetation changes have been documented for the subarctic coastal region of Alaska,...
Regional ocean models indicate changing limits to biological invasions in the Bering Sea
Amanda Droghini, Anthony S. Fischbach, Jordan Watson, Jesika Reimer
2020, ICES Journal of Marine Science
Minimal vessel traffic and cold water temperatures are believed to limit non-indigenous species (NIS) in high-latitude ecosystems. We evaluated whether suitable conditions exist in the Bering Sea for the introduction, survival, and reproduction of NIS. We compiled temperature and salinity thresholds of known NIS and compared these to ocean conditions...
Evolving infrasound detections from Bogoslof volcano, Alaska: Insights from atmospheric propagation modeling
Hans Schwaiger, John J. Lyons, Alexandra M. Iezzi, David Fee, Matthew M. Haney
2020, Bulletin of Volcanology (82)
Bogoslof volcano, a back-arc volcano in Alaska’s Aleutian arc, began an eruptive sequence in mid-December 2016 that ended in late August 2017, with 70 individual eruptive episodes. Because there were no local seismic or infrasound stations on the island, the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) relied on distant geophysical networks and...
Seasonal subsurface thaw dynamics of an aufeis feature inferred from geophysical methods
Neil C. Terry, Elliot Grunewald, Martin A. Briggs, Michael Gooseff, Alexander D. Huryn, M. Andy Kass, Ken Tape, Patrick Hendrickson, John W. Lane Jr.
2020, Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface (125)
Aufeis are sheets of ice unique to cold regions that originate from repeated flooding and freezing events during the winter. They have hydrological importance associated with summer flows and possibly winter insulation, but little is known about the seasonal dynamics of the unfrozen sediment layer beneath them. This layer...
Movements and habitat use of loons for assessment of conservation buffer zones in the Arctic Coastal Plain of northern Alaska
Sharon Poessel, Brian D. Uher-Koch, John M. Pearce, Joel A. Schmutz, Todd E. Katzner, David C. Douglas, Vanessa R. von Biela, Autumn-Lynne Harrison
2020, Global Ecology and Conservation (22)
Oil and gas development in the Arctic Coastal Plain, Alaska, may pose threats to wildlife. Management guidelines within the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska dictate buffer zones for coastal wildlife habitat and for breeding and foraging sites of yellow-billed loons (YBLOs; Gavia adamsii), a species of conservation concern. However, few...
Phase equilibrium of a high-SiO2, andesite at fO2 = RRO: Implications for Augustine volcano and other high-fO2 arc andesites
Sarah H. De Angelis, Jessica F. Larsen, Michelle L. Coombs, James E. P. Utley, Andrew P. Dunn
2020, Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology (175)
Understanding the impact of magmatic plumbing systems on explosive volcanic activity is important for hazard management. This study describes phase equilibria experiments using a high-silica andesite (HSA; SiO2 = 62.5 wt%) from the 2006 eruption of Augustine Volcano, Alaska. Experiments were conducted under H2O saturated conditions, f0<mrow...
Waterfowl occurrence and residence time as indicators of H5 and H7 avian influenza in North American Poultry
John M. Humphreys, Andy Ramey, David C. Douglas, Jennifer M. Mullinax, Catherine Soos, Paul T. Link, Patrick Walther, Diann J. Prosser
2020, Scientific Reports (10) 16
Avian influenza (AI) affects wild aquatic birds and poses hazards to human health, food security, and wildlife conservation globally. Accordingly, there is a recognized need for new methods and tools to help quantify the dynamic interaction between wild bird hosts and commercial poultry. Using satellite-marked waterfowl, we applied Bayesian...
Geology and assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Sverdrup Basin Province, Arctic Canada, 2008
Marilyn E. Tennyson, Janet K. Pitman
Thomas E. Moore, Donald L. Gautier, editor(s)
2020, Professional Paper 1824-I
The Sverdrup Basin Province, an area of 515,000 square kilometers on the northern margin of North America, extends 1,300 kilometers across the Canadian Arctic Islands from near the Mackenzie Delta to northern Ellesmere Island. It consists of an intracratonic late Paleozoic to early Cenozoic rift-sag basin and a Mesozoic rift...
Modelling pinniped abundance and distribution by combining counts at terrestrial sites and in-water sightings
Steven L. Whitlock, Jamie N. Womble, James Peterson
2020, Ecological Modelling (420)
Pinnipeds are commonly monitored using aerial photographic surveys at land- or ice-based sites, where animals come ashore for resting, pupping, molting, and to avoid predators. Although these counts form the basis for monitoring population change over time, they do not provide information...
A spatially explicit, empirical estimate of tree-based biological nitrogen fixation in forests of the United States
Anika Staccone, Wenying Liao, Steven Perakis, Jana Compton, Christopher L. Clark, Duncan Menge
2020, Global Biogeochemical Cycles (34)
Quantifying human impacts on the nitrogen (N) cycle and investigating natural ecosystem N cycling depend on the magnitude of inputs from natural biological nitrogen fixation (BNF). Here, we present two bottom‐up approaches to quantify tree‐based symbiotic BNF based on forest inventory data across the coterminous United States and SE Alaska....
Cryptic and extensive hybridization between ancient lineages of American crows
David Slager, Kevin Epperly, Renee Ha, Sievert Rohwer, Christopher W. Woodall, Caroline R. Van Hemert, John Klicka
2020, Molecular Ecology (29) 956-969
Most species and therefore most hybrid zones have historically been defined using phenotypic characters. However, both speciation and hybridization can occur with negligible morphological differentiation. Recently developed genomic tools provide the means to better understand cryptic speciation and hybridization. The Northwestern Crow (Corvus caurinus) and American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) are...
