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: 3110
Explaining mass balance and retreat dichotomies at Taku and Lemon Creek Glaciers, Alaska Explaining mass balance and retreat dichotomies at Taku and Lemon Creek Glaciers, Alaska
We reanalyzed mass balance records at Taku and Lemon Creek Glaciers to better understand the relative roles of hypsometry, local climate and dynamics as mass balance drivers. Over the 1946–2018 period, the cumulative mass balances diverged. Tidewater Taku Glacier advanced and gained mass at an average rate of +0.25±0.28 m w.e. a–1, contrasting with retreat and mass loss of –0.60±0.15 m w...
Authors
Christopher J. McNeil, Shad O’Neel, Michael Loso, Mauri Pelto, Louis C. Sass, Emily Baker, Seth Campbell
Use of genetic mark-recapture to estimate breeding site fidelity and philopatry in a threatened sea duck population, Alaska-breeding Steller’s eiders Use of genetic mark-recapture to estimate breeding site fidelity and philopatry in a threatened sea duck population, Alaska-breeding Steller’s eiders
The Steller’s eider (Polysticta stelleri) is a sea duck that breeds in Arctic tundra regions of Russia and Alaska. The Alaska-breeding population is listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act because of a perceived contraction of their breeding range in North America. Understanding demographic rates of the listed population is critical for determining and evaluating...
Authors
David Safine, Mark S. Lindberg, Kate Martin, Sandra L. Talbot, Ted Swem, John M. Pearce, Neesha Stellrecht, Kevin Sage, Ann E. Riddle, Kyrstal Fales, Tuula E. Hollmen
Through thick and thin: Sexing Bristle-thighed Curlews Numenius tahitiensis using measures of bill depth Through thick and thin: Sexing Bristle-thighed Curlews Numenius tahitiensis using measures of bill depth
Birds often exhibit diagnostic traits that differ among individuals of the same species with regard to factors like sex, age, or breeding status. Shorebirds exhibit a wide diversity of colors, shapes, and sizes of their bills, and these traits are commonly used to determine the sex of individuals. In curlews (genus Numenius), length alone accurately separates the sexes in some species...
Authors
Daniel R. Ruthrauff, Colleen M. Handel, T. Lee Tibbitts, Robert E. Gill
Tracking the migration of Pacific Golden-Plovers from nonbreeding grounds at Moorea, French Polynesia, using Pinpoint GPS-Argos tags Tracking the migration of Pacific Golden-Plovers from nonbreeding grounds at Moorea, French Polynesia, using Pinpoint GPS-Argos tags
We used Pinpoint GPS-Argos tags to track migration of Pacific Golden-Plovers Pluvialis fulva in 2017 and 2018 from Moorea Island, at the extreme southeastern edge of the species’ winter range. Of 20 tagged birds, 13 uploaded locations during all or part of their northward migration. The birds departed in mid-April traveling a long (8,250–10,200 km) northwestward track. Ten individuals...
Authors
Oscar W. Johnson, T. Lee Tibbitts, Michael F. Weber, David R. Bybee, Roger H. Goodwill, Andrea Bruner, Errika J. Smith, Emmalee L. Buss, Trinity Q.A. Waddell, Daxton Brooks, Carolyn Smith, Jean-Yves Meyer
Environmental DNA: An emerging tool for understanding aquatic biodiversity Environmental DNA: An emerging tool for understanding aquatic biodiversity
Field surveys for aquatic organisms provide critical information that is important for robust resource management. However, such surveys are expensive and labor intensive, particularly in large, remote landscapes like those that characterize much of Alaska. Traditionally, characterizing aquatic biodiversity necessitated the physical capture and identification of individual organisms...
Authors
Trey Simmons, Damian M. Menning, Sandra L. Talbot
Ecology of influenza A viruses in wild birds and wetlands of Alaska Ecology of influenza A viruses in wild birds and wetlands of Alaska
Alaska represents a globally important region for the ecology of avian-origin influenza A viruses (IAVs) given expansive wetlands in this region which serve as habitat for numerous hosts of IAVs that disperse among four continents during the annual cycle. Extensive sampling of wild birds for IAVs in Alaska since 1991 has greatly extended inference regarding intercontinental viral...
Authors
Andrew M. Ramey, Andrew B. Reeves
Validation of a screening method for the detection of colistin-resistant E. coli containing mcr-1 in feral swine feces Validation of a screening method for the detection of colistin-resistant E. coli containing mcr-1 in feral swine feces
A method was developed and validated for the detection of colistin-resistant Escherichia coli containing mcr-1 in the feces of feral swine. Following optimization of an enrichment method using EC broth supplemented with colistin (1 µg/mL) and vancomycin (8 µg/mL), aliquots derived from 100 feral swine fecal samples were spiked with of one of five different mcr-1 positive E. coli strains...
Authors
Jeffrey C Chandler, Alan B. Franklin, Sarah N. Bevins, Kevin T Bentler, Jonas Bonnedahl, Christina A. Ahlstrom, Bledar Bisha, Susan A. Shriner
Sediment sources and transport by the Kahiltna Glacier and other catchments along the south side of the Alaska Range, Alaska Sediment sources and transport by the Kahiltna Glacier and other catchments along the south side of the Alaska Range, Alaska
Erosion related to glacial activity produces enormous amounts of sediment. However, sediment mobilization in glacial systems is extremely complex. Sediment is derived from headwalls, slopes along the margins of glaciers, and basal erosion; however, the rates and relative contributions of each are unknown. To test and quantify conceptual models for sediment generation and transport in a...
Authors
Ari Matmon, Peter J. Haeussler
Gulls as sources of environmental contamination by colistin-resistant bacteria Gulls as sources of environmental contamination by colistin-resistant bacteria
In 2015, the mcr-1 gene was discovered in Escherichia coli in domestic swine in China that conferred resistance to colistin, an antibiotic of last resort used in treating multi-drug resistant bacterial infections in humans. Since then, mcr-1 was found in other human and animal populations, including wild gulls. Because gulls could disseminate the mcr-1 gene, we conducted an experiment to...
Authors
Alan B. Franklin, Andrew M. Ramey, Kevin T Bentler, Nicole L Barret, Loredana M McCurdy, Christina A. Ahlstrom, Jonas Bonnedahl, Susan A. Shriner, Jeffrey C Chandler
Post-release monitoring of a stranded and rehabilitated short-finned pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus) reveals current-assisted travel Post-release monitoring of a stranded and rehabilitated short-finned pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus) reveals current-assisted travel
A subadult female short-finned pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus), stranded on the northeastern Gulf of Mexico coast of Florida in June 2017, was rehabilitated for 38 days and then monitored with a satellite-linked, time-depth recording tag for 32 days after being released off the West Florida Shelf. The individual, “Gale,” appeared to regularly use ocean currents to facilitate a
Authors
Reny B Tyson Moore, David C. Douglas, Hendrik H. Nollens, Randall S. Wells
Storm impacts on phytoplankton community dynamics in lakes Storm impacts on phytoplankton community dynamics in lakes
In many regions across the globe, extreme weather events such as storms have increased in frequency, intensity, and duration due to climate change. Ecological theory predicts that such extreme events should have large impacts on ecosystem structure and function. High winds and precipitation associated with storms can affect lakes via short‐term runoff events from watersheds and physical...
Authors
Jason D. Stockwell, Jonathan P. Doubek, Rita Adrian, Orlane Anneville, Cayelan C. Carey, Laurence Carvalho, Marieke A. Frassl, Lisette N. De Senerpont Domis, Gael Dur, Bas W Ibelings, Hans-Peter Grossart, Marc J. Lajeunesse, Aleksandra M. Lewandowska, Maria E. Llames, Shin-Ichiro S. Matsuzaki, Emily Nodine, Peeter Noges, Vijay P. Patil, Francesco Pomati, Karsten Rinke, Lars G. Rudstam, James A. Rusak, Nico Salmaso, Christian T. Seltmann, Dietmar Straile, Stephen J. Thackeray, Wim Thiery, Pablo Urrutia-Cordero, Patrick Venail, Piet Verburg, R. Iestyn Woolway, Tamar Zohary, Mikkel R. Andersen, Ruchi Bhattacharya, J. Hejzlar, Nasime Janatian, Alfred T. N. K. Kpodonu, Tanner J. Williamson, Harriet Wilson
Monitoring nearshore ecosystem health using Pacific razor clams (Siliqua patula) as an indicator species Monitoring nearshore ecosystem health using Pacific razor clams (Siliqua patula) as an indicator species
An emerging approach to ecosystem monitoring involves the use of physiological biomarker analyses in combination with gene transcription assays. For the first time, we employed these tools to evaluate the Pacific razor clam (Siliqua patula), which is important both economically and ecologically, as a bioindicator species in the northeast Pacific. Our objectives were to (1) develop...
Authors
Lizabeth Bowen, Katrina Counihan, Brenda E. Ballachey, Heather A Colletti, Tuula E. Hollmen, Benjamin Pister, Tammy L Wilson