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Publications

Publications from the Alaska Science Center.

Filter Total Items: 2889

Avian influenza in wild birds

Influenza A viruses (IAVs)maintained among wild waterfowl, gulls, shorebirds, and some seabirds, and typically do not cause disease. Some avian-origin IAVs that have previously spilled over into domestic poultry have developed a highly pathogenic phenotype and have become important pathogens affecting both wild birds and poultry. These avian-origin IAVs have important implications to the product
Authors
Andrew M. Ramey

Disparate data streams together yield novel survival estimates of Alaska-breeding Whimbrels

Survival estimates are critical components of avian ecology. In well-intentioned efforts to maximize the utility of one's research, survival estimates often derive from data that were not originally collected for survival assessments, and such post hoc analyses may include unintentional biases. We estimated the survival of Whimbrels captured and marked at two breeding sites in Alaska using diverge
Authors
Daniel R. Ruthrauff, Christopher M. Harwood, T. Lee Tibbitts, Vijay P. Patil

Lack of strong responses to the Pacific marine heatwave by benthivorous marine birds indicates importance of trophic drivers

The Pacific marine heatwave (PMH) of 2014-2016 was an intense, long-lasting environmental disturbance expressed throughout the north Pacific. While dramatic consequences of the PMH on pelagic food webs have been well documented, effects on nearshore food webs, i.e., those based on macroalgae primary productivity, benthic invertebrate intermediate consumers, and specialized benthivorous top predato
Authors
Brian H. Robinson, Heather A. Coletti, Brenda Ballachey, James L. Bodkin, Kimberly A. Kloecker, Sarah Beth Traiger, Daniel Esler

Inventory of glaciers and perennial snowfields of the conterminous USA

This report summarizes an updated inventory of glaciers and perennial snowfields of the conterminous United States. The inventory is based on interpretation of mostly aerial imagery provided by the National Agricultural I magery Program, US Department of Agriculture, with some satellite imagery in places where aerial imagery was not suitable. The inventory includes all perennial snow and ice featu
Authors
Andrew Fountain, Bryce Glenn, Christopher J. McNeil

Informing management of recovering predators and their prey with ecological diffusion models

The reintroduction and recovery of predators can be ecologically beneficial as well as socially and economically controversial. However, the growth and expansion of predator populations, and thus their ecological, social, and economic impacts, are not static but rather they vary in space and time. We propose a spatiotemporal statistical modeling framework based on ecological diffusion to better in
Authors
Joseph Michael Eisaguirre, Perry J. Williams, Xinyi Lu, Michelle L. Kissling, Paul A Schutte, Benjamin P Weitzman, William S. Beatty, George G. Esslinger, Jamie N. Womble, Mevin B. Hooten

Baiting and banding: Expert opinion on how bait trapping may influence the occurrence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) among dabbling ducks

A Eurasian lineage highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) of the clade 2.3.4.4b (Goose/Guangdong lineage) was detected in migratory bird populations in North America in December 2021, and it, along with its reassortants, have since caused wild and domestic bird outbreaks across the continent. Relative to previous outbreaks, HPAIV cases among wild birds in 2022 exhibited wider geographic e
Authors
Jennifer F. Provencher, Alana A. E. Wilcox, Samantha E. J. Gibbs, Lesley-Anne Howes, Mark L. Mallory, Margo J. Pybus, Andrew M. Ramey, Eric T. Reed, Chris Sharp, Catherine Soos, Iga Stasiak, Jim O. Leafloor

Giardia and Cryptosporidium in resident wildlife species in Arctic Alaska

Giardia and Cryptosporidium are zoonotic protozoan parasites that can infect humans and other taxa, including wildlife, often causing gastrointestinal illness. Both have been identified as One Health priorities in the Arctic, where climate change is expected to influence the distribution of many wildlife and zoonotic diseases, but little is known about their prevalence in local wildlife. To help f
Authors
Caroline R. Van Hemert, Lora Ballweber, David R. Sinnett, Todd C. Atwood, Anthony S. Fischbach, David Gustine, Kristy Pabilonia

Constraints on the genesis of Au veins in interior Alaska: Evidence from geochronology and vein textures

The origin of Au-bearing, low sulfide quartz veins in the Pogo and Tibbs Creek regions of interior Alaska remain enigmatic. Intrusion-related Au and mesozonal orogenic vein models have both been proposed (Thompson and Newberry, 2000; Rhys et al., 2003; Goldfarb et al., 2022; Dilworth et al., 2007). To date, studies of igneous geochronology and metamorphic timing have shown that gold veins formed b
Authors
Douglas C. Kreiner, William Thompson, Jonathan Caine, Ashleigh Ball, Christopher Holm-Denoma, Paul O'Sullivan, Holly J. Stein

Effects of feeding and habitat on resting metabolic rates of the Pacific walrus

Arctic marine mammals live in a rapidly changing environment due to the amplified effects of global warming. Pacific walruses (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) have responded to declines in Arctic sea-ice extent by increasingly hauling out on land farther from their benthic foraging habitat. Energy models can be useful for better understanding the potential implications of changes in behavior on body
Authors
Karyn D. Rode, Joan Rocabert, Alicia Borque-Espinosa, Diana Ferrero-Fernández, Andreas Fahlman

Monitoring long-term changes in forage fish distribution, abundance and body condition in Prince William Sound

Identifying drivers of change in forage fish populations is key to understanding recovery potential for piscivorous species injured by the Exxon Valdez oil spill, and ecosystem response to natural and anthropogenic perturbations. Forage fish are small pelagic schooling fish such as Pacific capelin (Mallotus catervarius), Pacific sand lance (Ammodytes personatus), Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii),
Authors
Mayumi L. Arimitsu, John F. Piatt, Scott Hatch, Caitlin Elizabeth Marsteller, Daniel Stephen Donnelly, Shannon Whelan

Predicting burn severity for integration with post-fire debris-flow hazard assessment: A case study from the Upper Colorado River Basin, USA

Background: Burn severity significantly increases the likelihood and volume of post-wildfire debris flows. Pre-fire severity predictions can expedite mitigation efforts because precipitation contributing to these hazards often occurs shortly after wildfires, leaving little time for post-fire planning and management.Aim: The aim of this study was to predict burn severity using pre-fire conditions o
Authors
Adam Gerhard Wells, Todd Hawbaker, John Kevin Hiers, Jason W. Kean, Rachel A. Loehman, Paul F. Steblein

Serum virome of southern Beaufort Sea polar bears (Ursus maritimus) during a period of rapid climate change

Climate change affects the behavior, physiology and life history of many Arctic wildlife species. It can also influence the distribution and ecology of infectious agents. The southern Beaufort Sea (SB) subpopulation of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) has experienced dramatic behavioral changes due to retreating sea ice and other climate-related factors, but the effects of these changes on physiology
Authors
Tricia Fry, Leah Owens, Alison C. Ketz, Todd C. Atwood, Emily Dunay, Tony Goldberg