Publications

We review the conservation issues facing migratory shorebird populations that breed in temperate regions and use wetlands in the non-breeding season. Shorebirds are excellent model organisms for understanding ecological, behavioural and evolutionary processes and are often used as indicators of wetland health. A global team of experienced shorebird researchers identified 45 issues facing...

We isolated and developed 18 novel microsatellite markers for the giant Pacific octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini) and examined them for 31 individuals from Prince William Sound (PWS), Alaska. These loci displayed moderate levels of allelic diversity (averaging 11 alleles per locus) and heterozygosity (averaging 65%). Seven loci deviated from Hardy–Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE) due to...

Migrating birds make the longest non-stop endurance flights in the animal kingdom. Satellite technology is now providing direct evidence on the lengths and durations of these flights and associated staging episodes for individual birds. Using this technology, we compared the migration performance of two subspecies of bar-tailed godwit Limosa lapponica travelling between non-breeding...

Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) populations breeding in the northern portion of the species' range exhibit variation in morphological traits that conforms to predictions based on differences in prey size, tree stand density, and migratory behavior. We examined genetic structure and gene flow and compared divergence at morphological traits (PST) and genetic markers (FST) to elucidate...

Surveillance has revealed low prevalence of avian influenza viruses (AIV) in shorebirds except Ruddy Turnstones (Arenaria interpres) on the North American Atlantic coast. Similarly, of five species of shorebirds surveyed in Alaska in 2010, Ruddy Turnstones had the highest AIV antibody prevalence; prevalence of AIV RNA was low or zero.

Recent large and frequent fires above the Alaskan arctic circle have forced a reassessment of the ecological and climatological importance of fire in arctic tundra ecosystems. Here we provide a general overview of the occurrence, distribution, and ecological and climate implications of Alaskan tundra fires over the past half-century using spatially explicit climate, fire, vegetation and...

Continuing outbreaks of H5N1 highly pathogenic (HP) avian influenza virus (AIV) infections of wild birds and poultry worldwide emphasize the need for global surveillance of wild birds. To support the future surveillance activities, we developed a SYBR green-based, real-time reverse transcriptase PCR (rRT-PCR) for detecting nucleoprotein (NP) genes and subtyping 16 hemagglutinin (HA) and...

Several vertebrates choose their mate according to genetic heterozygosity and relatedness, and use odour cues to assess their conspecifics' genetic make-up. In birds, although several species (including the black-legged kittiwake) exhibit non-random mating according to genetic traits, the cues used to assess genetic characteristics remain unknown. The importance of olfaction in birds'...

The regional atmospheric chemistry and climate model REMOTE has been used to conduct numerical simulations of the atmosphere during the catastrophic Indonesian fires of 1997. These simulations represent one possible scenario of the event, utilizing the RETRO wildland fire emission database. Emissions from the fires dominate the atmospheric concentrations of O3, CO, NO2, and SO2 creating...

Watersheds draining the Arctic Coastal Plain (ACP) of Alaska are dominated by permafrost and snowmelt runoff that create abundant surface storage in the form of lakes, wetlands, and beaded streams. These surface water elements compose complex drainage networks that affect aquatic ecosystem connectivity and hydrologic behavior. The 4676 km2 Fish Creek drainage basin is composed of three...

Multiple species of large octopus are known from the north Pacific waters around Japan, however only one large species is known in the Gulf of Alaska (the giant Pacific octopus, Enteroctopus dofleini). Current taxonomy of E. dofleini is based on geographic and morphological characteristics, although with advances in genetic technology that is changing. Here, we used two mitochondrial...

Sakhalin taimen (Parahucho perryi) range from the Russian Far East mainland along the Sea of Japan coast, and Sakhalin, Kuril, and Hokkaido Islands and are considered to primarily be an anadromous species. We used otolith strontium-to-calcium ratios (Sr/Ca) to determine the chronology of migration between freshwater and saltwater and identify migratory contingents of taimen collected...