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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: 3088

Does food availability affect energy expenditure rates of nesting seabirds? A supplemental-feeding experiment with Black-Legged Kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) Does food availability affect energy expenditure rates of nesting seabirds? A supplemental-feeding experiment with Black-Legged Kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla)

We used a supplemental-feeding experiment, the doubly labeled water technique, and a model-selection approach based upon the Akaike Information Criterion to examine effects of food availability on energy expenditure rates of Black-legged Kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) raising young. Energy expenditure rates of supplementally fed females (n = 14) and males (n = 16) were 34 and 20% lower...
Authors
Patrick G.R. Jodice, Daniel D. Roby, Scott A. Hatch, Verena A. Gill, Richard B. Lanctot, G. Henk Visser

Persistent organic pollutants in murre eggs from the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea Persistent organic pollutants in murre eggs from the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea

No abstract available.
Authors
John R. Kucklick, Stacy S. Vander Pol, P.R. Becker, Rebecca S. Pugh, Kristin S. Simac, G.W. York, D.G. Rosenau

The polar bear management agreement for the southern Beaufort Sea: An evaluation of the first ten years of a unique conservation agreement The polar bear management agreement for the southern Beaufort Sea: An evaluation of the first ten years of a unique conservation agreement

Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) of the southern Beaufort Sea population, distributed from approximately Icy Cape, west of Point Barrow, to Pearce Point, east of Paulatuk in Canada, are harvested by hunters from both countries. In Canada, quotas to control polar bear hunting have been in place, with periodic modifications, since 1968. In Alaska, passage of the United State Marine Mammal...
Authors
C.D. Brower, A. Carpenter, M.L. Branigan, W. Calvert, T. Evans, Anthony S. Fischbach, J.A. Nagy, S. Schliebe, I. Stirling

Nesting ecology of tundra swans on the coastal Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska Nesting ecology of tundra swans on the coastal Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska

Nesting ecology of Tundra Swans (Cygnus columbianus columbianus) was studies the Kashunuk River near Old Chevak (61A?26a??N, 165A?27a??W), on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta of western Alaska from 1988-2000. Annual variation in snow-melt chronology, nesting phenology, nesting density, clutch size and nest success was examined. The same area (approximately 23 kmA?) was searched each year and...
Authors
Colleen A. Babcock, A. C. Fowler, Craig R. Ely

Using satellite telemetry to define spatial population structure in polar bears in the Norwegian and western Russian Arctic Using satellite telemetry to define spatial population structure in polar bears in the Norwegian and western Russian Arctic

1. Animal populations, defined by geographical areas within a species’ distribution where population dynamics are largely regulated by births and deaths rather than by migration from surrounding areas, may be the correct unit for wildlife management. However, in heterogeneous landscapes varying habitat quality may yield subpopulations with distinct patterns in resource use and demography
Authors
Mette Mauritzen, Andrew E. Derocher, Øystein Wiig, Stanislav Belikov, Andrei N. Boltunov, Gerald W. Garner

Research plan for lands administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior in the Interior Columbia Basin and Snake River Plateau Research plan for lands administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior in the Interior Columbia Basin and Snake River Plateau

This document presents a long-term research strategy designed to address current and future research needs for management of Department of the Interior-administered ecosystems in the Intermountain West. Although the research plan was developed in the context of the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project, the plan addresses many high-priority issues facing land managers...
Authors
Erik A. Beever, David A. Pyke

Sea otter (Enhydra lutris) perspective: Part A. Sea otter population status and the process of recovery from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill Sea otter (Enhydra lutris) perspective: Part A. Sea otter population status and the process of recovery from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill

Sea otter (Enhydra lutris) populations were severely affected by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in western Prince William Sound, AK, and had not fully recovered by 2000. Here we present results of population surveys and incorporate findings from related studies to identify current population status and factors affecting recovery. Between 1993 and 2000, the number of sea otters in the...
Authors
James L. Bodkin, Brenda E. Ballachey, Thomas A. Dean, Allan K. Fukuyama, Stephen C. Jewett, Lyman L. McDonald, Daniel H. Monson, Charles E. O’Clair, Glenn R. VanBlaricom

Temporal variations of natural and anthropogenic radionuclides in sea otter skull tissue in the North Pacific Ocean Temporal variations of natural and anthropogenic radionuclides in sea otter skull tissue in the North Pacific Ocean

Marine mammals being among the top predators in the food web tend to accumulate organic and inorganic contaminants from the environment. The body burden of contaminants in these species could reflect their foods and thus contaminant levels could serve as proxies on the changes of ecosystem. A pilot study was carried out to investigate the possibility of radionuclide leakage at Amchitka...
Authors
M. Baskaran, G.-H. Hong, S. Dayton, James L. Bodkin, J.J. Kelley

A near-surface, daytime occurrence of two mesopelagic fish species (Stenobrachius leucopsarus and Leuroglossus schmidti) in a glacial fjord A near-surface, daytime occurrence of two mesopelagic fish species (Stenobrachius leucopsarus and Leuroglossus schmidti) in a glacial fjord

The northern lampfish (Stenobrachius leucopsarus, family Myctophidae) and northern smoothtongue (Leuroglossus schmidti, family Bathylagidae) are mesopelagic fishes, defined by their vertical distribution in the mesopelagic zone (200–1000 m) during daylight hours. Northern lampfish range from the Bering Sea to southern California (Shimada, 1948), where their abundance is highest along the
Authors
Alisa A. Abookire, John F. Piatt, Suzann G. Speckman

Satellite imagery characterizes local animal reservoir populations of Sin Nombre virus in the southwestern United States Satellite imagery characterizes local animal reservoir populations of Sin Nombre virus in the southwestern United States

The relationship between the risk of hantaviral pulmonary syndrome (HPS), as estimated from satellite imagery, and local rodent populations was examined. HPS risk, predicted before rodent sampling, was highly associated with the abundance of Peromyscus maniculatus, the reservoir of Sin Nombre virus (SNV). P. maniculatus were common in high-risk sites, and populations in high-risk areas...
Authors
Gregory E. Glass, Terry L. Yates, Joshua B. Fine, Timothy M. Shields, John B. Kendall, Andrew G. Hope, Cheryl A. Parmenter, C.J. Peters, Thomas G. Ksiazek, Chung-Sheng Li, Jonathan A. Patz, James N. Mills

Life and death of the Resurrection Plate Life and death of the Resurrection Plate

No abstract available.
Authors
Peter J. Haeussler, D. C. Bradley, R.E. Wells, Marti L. Miller
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