Publications

Loons breed across North America from the high arctic south to about 43 north latitude. (AOU 1983). Populations, particularly of Common Loons (Gavia immer) have recently declined in the continental U.S. and southern Canada (Sutcliff 1979, Titus and VanDruff 1981, McIntyre 1988). As a result, state and private natural resource organizations began more intensive monitoring of loon...

Each fall the world’s breeding population of Bristle-thighed Curlews (Numenius tahitiensis) arrives on the central Pacific wintering grounds following a migration that entails a non- stop flight of over 5000 kilometers. Sun-drenched, palm-shrouded atolls will be their home for the ensuing eight months. Even in the avian world, however, such apparent luxury is not without costs. For the...

We studied roosting behavior of Dunlins (Calidris alpina) during late summer along the coast of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska, in relation to tidal cycle, time of day, time of season, and occurrence of predators. Within Angyoyaravak Bay, peak populations of 70,000-100,000 Dunlins occur each year. The major diurnal roost sites were adjacent to intertidal feeding areas, provided an...

The White River Ash (Lerbekmo and others, 1968), product of two of the most voluminous pyroclastic eruptions in North America in the past 2,000 yr, blankets much of the Yukon Terrtory, Canada, and a small part of adjoining eastern Alaska. Lerbekmo and Campbell (1969) narrowed the source of the ash to an area northeast of the Mt. Bona-Mt. Churchill massif in the St. Elias Mountains of...

Previous studies suggest that hibernation may be regulated by internal opioids and that the putative “hibernation induction trigger” (HIT) may itself be an opioid. This study examined the effect of plasma albumin (known to bind HIT) on induced contractility of the guinea pig ileum muscle strip. Morphine (400 nM) depressed contractility and 100 nM naloxone restored it. Ten milligrams of...

In late August 1988, we studied the distribution of seabirds in the southeastern Chukchi Sea, particularly in waters near a major seabird colony at Cape Thompson. Foraging areas were characterized using hydrographic data obtained from hydroacoustic surveys for fish. Murres (Uria spp.) and Black-legged Kitttiwakes Rissa tridactyla breeding at Cape Thompson fed mostly on Arctic cod, which...

The velocity field within a 100‐km‐broad zone centered on the San Andreas fault between the Mexican border and San Francisco Bay has been inferred from repeated surveys of trilateration networks in the 1973–1989 interval. The velocity field has the appearance of a shear flow that remains parallel to the local strike of the fault even through such major deflections as the big bend of the...

Mitochondrial-DNA restriction-site maps were constructed for several cervid taxa in the subfamilies Cervinae and Odocoileinae. Parsimony analyses of restriction sites and pair-wise analyses of genetic distances resulted in dendrograms congruent with the subfamily designations. Relationships within the Odocoileinae determined from genetic distances generally were concordant with those for...

Odocoileus hemionus (mule deer and black-tailed deer) and Odocoileus virginanus (white-tailed deer) are sympatric in western North America and are characterized by distinct morphology, behavior, and allozyme allele frequencies. However, there is discordance among nuclear and mitochondrial genetic relationships, as mule deer (O. h. hemionus) and white-tailed deer have similar...

The seasonal abundance and vertical distribution of capelin in relation to water temperature have been investigated by conducting repeated hydroacoustic surveys at a coastal site off eastern Newfoundland. Water temperatures were warmer in 1983 than in 1984 as indicated by the earlier appearance and greater depth of the seasonal thermocline. Correspondingly, schools of capelin appeared...

No abstract available.

Results from an intensive survey in 1989 of one of the two known breeding localities of Bristle-thighed Curlews Numenius tahitiensis are reported. During the pre-nesting period birds confined most of their activity to two vegetation communities: shrub meadow tundra and low shrub/tussock tundra. During nesting more than half the Curlews seen were observed on shrub meadow tundra, whilst...