Publications
USGS research activities relevant to Alaska have yielded more than 9400 historical publications. This page features some of the most recent newsworthy research findings.
Filter Total Items: 3087
Assessing chick growth from a single visit to a seabird colony Assessing chick growth from a single visit to a seabird colony
We tested an approach to the collection of seabird chick growth data that utilizes a one-time sampling of chick measurements obtained during a single visit to a seabird colony. We assessed the development of Black-legged Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla chicks from a sample of measurements made on a single day during six years and compared these results to linear growth rates (g/day)...
Authors
J. Benson, R.M. Suryan, John F. Piatt
Large woody debris and flow resistance in step-pool channels, Cascade Range, Washington Large woody debris and flow resistance in step-pool channels, Cascade Range, Washington
Total flow resistance, measured as Darcy-Weisbach f, in 20 step-pool channels with large woody debris (LWD) in Washington, ranged from 5 to 380 during summer low flows. Step risers in the study streams consist of either (1) large and relatively immobile woody debris, bedrock, or roots that form fixed, or “forced,” steps, or (2) smaller and relatively mobile wood or clasts, or a mixture...
Authors
Janet H. Curran, Ellen E. Wohl
Seabird, fisheries, marine mammal, and oceanographic investigations around Kasatochi, Koniuji, and Ulak Islands, August 1996 (SMMOCI 96-3) Seabird, fisheries, marine mammal, and oceanographic investigations around Kasatochi, Koniuji, and Ulak Islands, August 1996 (SMMOCI 96-3)
Although islands in the Aleutians are known to support some of the highest densities of seabirds in the world, their remoteness has limited systematic research on the at-sea distribution of seabirds near these colonies. Kasatochi, Koniuji, and Ulak islands, in the central Aleutian Islands, together comprise one of nine ecological sites monitored once every 5 years on an annual rotation...
Authors
Gary S. Drew, John F. Piatt, G. Vernon Byrd, Donald E. Dragoo
Mantle and Crustal Sources of Carbon, Nitrogen, and Noble gases in Cascade-Range and Aleutian-Arc Volcanic gases Mantle and Crustal Sources of Carbon, Nitrogen, and Noble gases in Cascade-Range and Aleutian-Arc Volcanic gases
Here we report anhydrous chemical (CO2, H2S, N2, H2, CH4, O2, Ar, He, Ne) and isotopic (3He/4He, 40Ar/36Ar, δ13C of CO2, δ13C of CH4, δ15N) compositions of virtually airfree gas samples collected between 1994 and 1998 from 12 quiescent but potentially restless volcanoes in the Cascade Range and Aleutian Arc (CRAA). Sample sites include ≤173°C fumaroles and springs at Mount Shasta, Mount...
Authors
Robert B. Symonds, Robert J. Poreda, William C. Evans, Cathy J. Janik, Beatrice E. Ritchie
Scrubbing masks magmatic degassing during repose at Cascade-Range and Aleutian-Arc volcanoes Scrubbing masks magmatic degassing during repose at Cascade-Range and Aleutian-Arc volcanoes
Between 1992 and 1998, we sampled gas discharges from ≤173°C fumaroles and springs at 12 quiescent but potentially restless volcanoes in the Cascade Range and Aleutian Arc (CRAA) including Mount Shasta, Mount Hood, Mount St. Helens, Mount Rainier, Mount Baker, Augustine Volcano, Mount Griggs, Trident, Mount Mageik, Aniakchak Crater, Akutan, and Makushin. For each site, we collected and...
Authors
Robert B. Symonds, C. J. Janik, William C. Evans, B.E. Ritchie, Dale Counce, R.J. Poreda, Mark Iven
Living on the edge: Distribution of Dungeness crab Cancer magister in a recently deglaciated fjord Living on the edge: Distribution of Dungeness crab Cancer magister in a recently deglaciated fjord
Glacier Bay, Alaska, has supported a productive Dungeness crab fishery, although the area where the fishery occurred was small relative to the remainder of the Bay. We hypothesized that 1 or more abiotic limiting factors prevented crabs from surviving in the upper Bay. We tested this hypothesis by systematically sampling for relative abundance of Dungeness crabs from the mouth to the...
Authors
S. James Taggart, P.N. Hooge, Jennifer Mondragon, Elizabeth Ross Hooge, A.G. Andrews
[Book Review] Biology of marine birds [Book Review] Biology of marine birds
A text devoted to the biology and ecology of marine birds has not been published in the last 15 years. Although a number of more taxa-specific texts have been produced during that period, there has not been a single publication that attempted to review our knowledge of all the major seabird orders since the works of Nelson (1979), Croxall (1987), and Furness and Monaghan (1987)...
Authors
Patrick G.R. Jodice, Daniel D. Roby, Michelle Antolos, Donald E. Lyons, Daniel Rizzolo, Sadie K. Wright, Cynthia D. Anderson, Scott K. Anderson, S. Kim Nelson, Adrian E. Gall, Liv Wennerberg
Winter habitat use by female caribou in relation to wildland fires in interior Alaska Winter habitat use by female caribou in relation to wildland fires in interior Alaska
The role of wildland fire in the winter habitat use of caribou (Rangifer tarandus) has long been debated. Fire has been viewed as detrimental to caribou because it destroys the slow-growing climax forage lichens that caribou utilize in winter. Other researchers argued that caribou were not reliant on lichens and that fire may be beneficial, even in the short term. We evaluated the...
Authors
Kyle Joly, Bruce W. Dale, William B. Collins, Layne G. Adams
Surgical implantation of transmitters into fish Surgical implantation of transmitters into fish
Although the Animal Welfare Act does not cover poikilotherms, individual institutions and policies and legal requirements other than the Animal Welfare Act (e.g., the US Public Health Service and the Interagency Research Animal Committee's Principles for the Utilization and Care of Vertebrate Animals Used in Testing, Research, and Training) require the review of projects involving fish...
Authors
Daniel M. Mulcahy
Incubation behaviour of Greater Scaup Aythya marila on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska Incubation behaviour of Greater Scaup Aythya marila on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska
This study examined the incubation behaviour of Greater Scaup Aythya marila on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska. The goals of the study were to describe the incubation behaviour of Greater Scaup in terms of incubation constancy, recess frequency and recess length. The use of endogenous reserves by Greater Scaup was examined by determining weight loss over the incubation period. Further
Authors
Paul L. Flint
Identification of linear and threshold responses in streams along a gradient of urbanization in Anchorage, Alaska Identification of linear and threshold responses in streams along a gradient of urbanization in Anchorage, Alaska
We examined biotic and physiochemical responses in urbanized Anchorage, Alaska, to the percent of impervious area within stream basins, as determined by high-resolution IKONOS satellite imagery and aerial photography. Eighteen of the 86 variables examined, including riparian and instream habitat, macroinvertebrate communities, and water/sediment chemistry, were significantly correlated...
Authors
Robert T. Ourso, S.A. Frenzel
Body molt of male long-tailed ducks in the nearshore waters of the north slope, Alaska Body molt of male long-tailed ducks in the nearshore waters of the north slope, Alaska
We examined the timing and intensity of body molt in relation to stage of remige growth for postbreeding adult male Long-tailed Ducks (Clangula hyemalis) off the coast of northern Alaska. During this period, remige and rectrix feathers are molted simultaneously with body feathers during the prebasic molt, which results in a period of increased energetic and nutritional demands. We...
Authors
M.D. Howell, J.B. Grand, Paul L. Flint