Scientists at the USGS Alaska Science Center have conducted research on Alaska’s three loon species since the late 1970s. Loons rely on freshwater lakes for nesting habitat and fish and invertebrates inhabiting lakes and marine ecosystems for food. All three loon species in Alaska occur within the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) on Alaska’s northern coast. Research by the USGS is informing distribution and abundance of loons in northern Alaska and how they may respond to environmental and human changes to the northern landscape.
Return to Ecosystems >> Terrestrial Ecosystems
The main objectives of the USGS Alaska Science Center loon research program are to:
- Provide ecological and demographic information on Alaska’s three loon species.
- Determine mechanisms for population trends, particularly for the Red-throated Loon (declines noted across much of Alaska) and the Yellow-billed Loon (a candidate species for listing as ‘threatened’ from 2009 to 2014).
- Provide science information to Department of Interior management agencies and others for their decision-making regarding loons.
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Below are data or web applications associated with this project.
Below are multimedia items associated with this project.
Below are publications associated with this project.
Size and retention of breeding territories of yellow-billed loons in Alaska and Canada
Occupancy of yellow-billed and Pacific loons: evidence for interspecific competition and habitat mediated co-occurrence
Historic and contemporary mercury exposure and potential risk to yellow-billed loons (Gavia adamsii) breeding in Alaska and Canada
Factors influencing nest survival and productivity of Red-throated Loons (Gavia stellata) in Alaska
Changing Arctic ecosystems: ecology of loons in a changing Arctic
Risk of predation and weather events affect nest site selection by sympatric Pacific (Gavia pacifica) and Yellow-billed (Gavia adamsii) loons in Arctic habitats
Survival of adult Red-throated Loons (Gavia stellata) may be linked to marine conditions
Model-Based Predictions of the Effects of Harvest Mortality on Population Size and Trend of Yellow-Billed Loons
Red-throated loons (Gavia stellata) breeding in Alaska, USA, are exposed to PCBs while on their Asian wintering grounds
Egg flotation estimates nest age for Pacific and Red-throated Loons
Status assessment and conservation plan for the yellow-billed loon (Gavia adamsii)
Scientists at the USGS Alaska Science Center have conducted research on Alaska’s three loon species since the late 1970s. Loons rely on freshwater lakes for nesting habitat and fish and invertebrates inhabiting lakes and marine ecosystems for food. All three loon species in Alaska occur within the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) on Alaska’s northern coast. Research by the USGS is informing distribution and abundance of loons in northern Alaska and how they may respond to environmental and human changes to the northern landscape.
Return to Ecosystems >> Terrestrial Ecosystems
The main objectives of the USGS Alaska Science Center loon research program are to:
- Provide ecological and demographic information on Alaska’s three loon species.
- Determine mechanisms for population trends, particularly for the Red-throated Loon (declines noted across much of Alaska) and the Yellow-billed Loon (a candidate species for listing as ‘threatened’ from 2009 to 2014).
- Provide science information to Department of Interior management agencies and others for their decision-making regarding loons.
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Below are data or web applications associated with this project.
Below are multimedia items associated with this project.
Below are publications associated with this project.