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Our Alaska Science Center priority is to continue the important work of the Department of the Interior and the USGS, while also maintaining the health and safety of our employees and community. Based on guidance from the White House, the CDC, and state and local authorities, we are shifting our operations to a virtual mode and have minimal staffing within our offices. If you need additional assistance, please contact Chris Zimmerman.
In the Spotlight
The U.S. Geological Survey Wildland Fire Science Strategic Plan defines critical, core fire science capabilities for understanding fire-related and fire-responsive earth system processes and patterns, and informing management decision making.
View PublicationCurrent Water Conditions
Explore real-time Alaska streamflow, groundwater, and water-quality conditions and access data with our new interactive map application.
Current ConditionsNews
Video on USGS Pacific Seabird Research
This video features an overview of USGS and Ecosystems research with a focus on Pacific seabirds. Our scientists at the USGS Alaska Science Center, Western Ecological Research Center and National Wildlife Health Center work on Pacific seabird research topics in collaboration with partner agencies, non-governmental organizations, universities, and rehabilitation centers.
Alaska Science Center Newsletter - Winter 2021
We hope you enjoy and subscribe. Below are links to recent publications, data releases, and highlights of on-going research programs. In this issue, we feature news on the Alaska Landbird Monitoring Survey, a USGS Mendenhall Postdoctoral Fellow, USGS Transboundary River Monitoring, and Permafrost Thaw in the Arctic. See new additions to our Data & Tools and Publications pages.
Publication Finds That Permafrost Presence Results in Warmer Headwater Streams
Permafrost thaw is occurring across the Arctic with potential consequences for hydrology, ecosystems, humans, and wildlife. A team of scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey Alaska Science Center, the National Park Service, and the Department of Energy Oak Ridge National Laboratory are collaborating to understand the impacts of warming on the ecosystems in the Noatak Preserve in Alaska.
Publications
Implications of historical and contemporary processes on genetic differentiation of a declining boreal songbird: The rusty blackbird
The arrangement of habitat features via historical or contemporary events can strongly influence genomic and demographic connectivity, and in turn affect levels of genetic diversity and resilience of populations to environmental perturbation. The rusty blackbird (Euphagus carolinus) is a forested wetland habitat specialist whose population size...
Wilson, Robert E.; Matsuoka, Steven M.; Powell, Luke L.; Johnson, James A.; Demarest, Dean W.; Stralberg, Diana; Sonsthagen, Sarah A.
U.S. Geological Survey wildland fire science strategic plan, 2021–26
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Wildland Fire Science Strategic Plan defines critical, core fire science capabilities for understanding fire-related and fire-responsive earth system processes and patterns, and informing management decision making. Developed by USGS fire scientists and executive leadership, and informed by conversations with...
Steblein, Paul F.; Loehman, Rachel A.; Miller, Mark P.; Holomuzki, Joseph R.; Soileau, Suzanna C.; Brooks, Matthew L.; Drane-Maury, Mia; Hamilton, Hannah M.; Kean, Jason W.; Keeley, Jon E.; Mason, Robert R.; McKerrow, Alexa J.; Meldrum, James R.; Molder, Edmund B.; Murphy, Sheila F.; Peterson, Birgit; Plumlee, Geoffrey S.; Shinneman, Douglas J.; van Mantgem, Phillip J.; York, Alison Changes in rocky intertidal community structure during a marine heatwave in the northern Gulf of Alaska
Marine heatwaves are global phenomena that can have major impacts on the structure and function of coastal ecosystems. By mid-2014, the Pacific Marine Heatwave (PMH) was evident in intertidal waters of the northern Gulf of Alaska and persisted for multiple years. While offshore marine ecosystems are known to respond to these warmer waters, the...
Weitzman, Ben; Konar, Brenda; Iken, Katrin; Coletti, Heather; Monson, Daniel; Suryan, Robert M; Dean, Thomas; Hondolero, D.; Lindeberg, Mandy