Avian malaria in a boreal resident species: long-term temporal variability, and increased prevalence in birds with avian keratin disorder
Laura C. Wilkinson, Colleen M. Handel, Caroline R. Van Hemert, Claire Loiseau, Ravinder N. M. Sehgal
2016, International Journal for Parasitology (16) 281-290
The prevalence of vector-borne parasitic diseases is widely influenced by biological and ecological factors. Environmental conditions such as temperature and precipitation can have a marked effect on haemosporidian parasites (Plasmodium spp.) that cause malaria and those that cause other malaria-like diseases in birds. However, there have been few long-term studies monitoring...
Temporal, geographic, and host distribution of avian paramyxovirus 1 (Newcastle disease virus)
Kiril M. Dimitrov, Andrew M. Ramey, Xueting Qiu, Justin Bahl, Claudio L. Afonso
2016, Infection, Genetics and Evolution (39) 22-34
Newcastle disease is caused by virulent forms of avian paramyxovirus of serotype 1 (APMV-1) and has global economic importance. The disease reached panzootic proportions within two decades after first being identified in 1926 in the United Kingdom and Indonesia and still remains endemic in many countries across the world. Here...
Isotopic incorporation and the effects of fasting and dietary lipid content on isotopic discrimination in large carnivorous mammals
Karyn D. Rode, Craig A. Stricker, Joy Erlenbach, Charles T. Robbins, Seth Cherry, Seth D. Newsome, Amy Cutting, Shannon Jensen, Gordon Stenhouse, Matt Brooks, Amy Hash, Nicole Nicassio
2016, Physiological and Biochemical Zoology (89) 182-197
There has been considerable emphasis on understanding isotopic discrimination for diet estimation in omnivores. However, discrimination may differ for carnivores, particularly species that consume lipid-rich diets. Here, we examined the potential implications of several factors when using stable isotopes to estimate the diets of bears, which can consume lipid-rich diets...
Energetic costs of mange in wolves estimated from infrared thermography
Paul C. Cross, Emily S. Almberg, Catherine G Haase, Peter J. Hudson, Shane K Maloney, Matthew C Metz, Adam J Munn, Paul Nugent, Olivier Putzeys, Daniel R. Stahler, Anya C Stewart, Doug W. Smith
2016, Ecology (97) 1938-1948
Parasites, by definition, extract energy from their hosts and thus affect trophic and food web dynamics even when the parasite may have limited effects on host population size. We studied the energetic costs of mange (Sarcoptes scabiei) in wolves (Canis lupus) using thermal cameras to estimate heat losses associated with...
High-resolution records detect human-caused changes to the boreal forest wildfire regime in interior Alaska
Benjamin V. Gaglioti, Daniel H. Mann, Benjamin M. Jones, Matthew J. Wooller, Bruce P. Finney
2016, The Holocene (26) 1064-1074
Stand-replacing wildfires are a keystone disturbance in the boreal forest, and they are becoming more common as the climate warms. Paleo-fire archives from the wildland–urban interface can quantify the prehistoric fire regime and assess how both human land-use and climate change impact ecosystem dynamics. Here, we use a combination of...
Integrating subsistence practice and species distribution modeling: assessing invasive elodea’s potential impact on Native Alaskan subsistence of Chinook salmon and whitefish
Matthew Luizza, Paul Evangelista, Catherine S. Jarnevich, Amanda M. West, Heather Stewart
2016, Environmental Management (58) 144-163
Alaska has one of the most rapidly changing climates on earth and is experiencing an accelerated rate of human disturbance, including resource extraction and transportation infrastructure development. Combined, these factors increase the state’s vulnerability to biological invasion, which can have acute negative impacts on ecological integrity and subsistence practices. Of...
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...
