Publications

Following the Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS), Prudhoe Bay crude oil from the vessel spread on the sea surface and covered coastal shores from western Prince William Sound (PWS) to the Alaska Peninsula. In PWS alone. acute mortality of sca otters at the time of the spill was estimated to be greater than 2000 (Doroff et al. 1993; Garrott et al. 1993). Shoreline oiling was observed on...

Accurate age-class determination of waterfowl is necessary for studies addressing age-specific effects (e.g., Serie et al., 1992) and age structure of populations (e.g., Raveling and Heitmeyer 1989). Duck ages can be determined in fall by morphological and color characteristics of tertial and tail feathers (Carney 1992); however, these feathers are replaced during fall and winter, thus...

The incidental catch of seabirds in high-seas drift nets was recorded in 1990-1991 by scientific observers on commercial squid and large-mesh fishery vessels operating in the North Pacific Transitional Zone. Twenty-six Synthliboramphus murrelet deaths were recorded in the months of August through December. All but one were from the Korean squid fishery in a small area bounded by 38°-44°N...

Many Alaskans know the dynamic nature of Alaska’s landscape firsthand. The 1964 earthquake, the 1989 eruption of Mount Redoubt volcano, the frequent earthquakes in the Aleutians and the ever-shifting meanders of the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers remind them of constant changes to the land. These changes are part of the continuing story of the geologic growth and development of Alaska during...

We studied morphological and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) divergence among three populations of Brachyramphus Murrelets: Kittlitz's Murrelets (B. brevirostris), and tree-nesting and ground-nesting Marbled Murrelets (B. marmoratus). We found little morphological divergence in external and skeletal measurements among Marbled Murrelets, but both populations were easily distinguished from...

Sage grouse, Centrocercus urophasianus, in an isolated montane basin near Gunnison, Colorado differ in several morphological and behavioural traits from conspecifics studied in other areas of the species' range. Both sexes in Gunnison are smaller than sage grouse elsewhere, and males possess differences in feather morphology as well. The mating behaviour of male sage grouse in three...

Pacific brant (Branta bernicla) nest from the Yukon-Kuskokwim (Y-) Delta in southwestern Alaska along the coast of North America to the central Canadian arctic (Pacific Flyway Subcommittee on Pacific Brant 1992) (Figure 1). Birds from this population also nest in the Canadian arctic islands south of Prince Patrick Island and on the coast of the Chukotka Peninsula. Brant nest principally...

To evaluate the importance of large thaw lakes on the Alaska Coastal Plain for molting Pacific black brant Branta bernicla nigricans, distribution and life form of shoreline vegetation were assessed using several scales: satellite imagery, point-intercept transects, cover quadrats, and a parameter for water regime. Brant population and distribution estimates from aerial surveys were used...

No abstract available.

The Aleutian arc is the arcuate arrangement of mountain ranges and flanking submerged margins that forms the northern rim of the Pacific Basin from the Kamchatka Peninsula (Russia) eastward more than 3,000 km to Cooke Inlet (Fig. 1). It consists of two very different segments that meet near Unimak Pass: the Aleutian Ridge segment to the west and the Alaska Peninsula-the Kodiak Island...

The distribution of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) is circumpolar in the Northern Hemisphere, but known locations of maternal dens are concentrated in relatively few, widely scattered locations. Denning is either uncommon or unknown within gaps. To understand effects of industrial development and propose increases in hunting, the temporal and spatial distribution of denning in the...

Techniques for the hydrologic restoration of placer-mined streams and floodplains were developed in Denali National Park and Preserve Alaska, USA. The hydrologic study focused on a design of stream and floodplain geometry using hydraulic capacity and shear stress equations. Slope and sinuosity values were based on regional relationships. Design requirements include a channel capacity for...