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Sarah Laske, Ph.D.

Research Interests: Landscape ecology, community ecology, aquatic food webs, and the influence of extreme climates and hydrology on fish ecology

Professional Experience

  • 2017 – Present Fish Biologist, USGS Alaska Science Center, Anchorage

  • 2016 – 2017 Student trainee (Ecology), USGS Alaska Science Center, Anchorage

  • 2011 – 2016 Graduate Research Assistant, Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks

  • 2010 – 2011 Research Assistant, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie

  • 2007 – 2010 Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie

  • 2005 – 2007 Fisheries Technician, Illinois Natural History Survey, Lake Michigan Biological Station, Zion, IL

  • 2003 – 2004 Fisheries Technician, Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign, IL

Education and Certifications

  • Ph.D. 2017 University of Alaska, Fairbanks Fisheries

  • M.S. 2010 University of Wyoming, Laramie Zoology

  • B.S. 2004 University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Ecology, Ethology, and Evolution

Affiliations and Memberships

  • American Fisheries Society

  • Society for Freshwater Science

Science and Products

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Releasing ninespine stickleback into a fishless pond

Arctic Lake Food Webs

From 2011 to 2013 we investigated freshwater food webs of Arctic Coastal Plain lakes in Alaska to improve our understanding how Arctic freshwater food webs may respond to landscape change the warmer, drier future.
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Alaska Science Center
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Arctic Lake Food Webs

From 2011 to 2013 we investigated freshwater food webs of Arctic Coastal Plain lakes in Alaska to improve our understanding how Arctic freshwater food webs may respond to landscape change the warmer, drier future.
Learn More
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A lot of small fish from a fyke net set near Kaktovik, AK. Biologists sort through them.

Nearshore Fish Surveys in the Beaufort Sea

Nearshore systems provide habitat to a unique community of marine and diadromous (lives in both fresh and saltwater) fish and support high fish abundance.
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Alaska Science Center
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Nearshore Fish Surveys in the Beaufort Sea

Nearshore systems provide habitat to a unique community of marine and diadromous (lives in both fresh and saltwater) fish and support high fish abundance.
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Spawing sockeye salmon in a Matanuska River side channel, Alaska

Fish and Aquatic Ecology

Fish and aquatic habitats in Alaska support important commercial, sport, and subsistence fisheries and provide forage fish that support wildlife populations. The USGS Alaska Science Center conducts interdisciplinary research to inform local, state, federal, and international policy makers regarding conservation of fish, aquatic species, and their habitats. We work collaboratively with hydrologists...
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Ecosystems, Fisheries Program, Wildlife Program, Alaska Science Center
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Fish and Aquatic Ecology

Fish and aquatic habitats in Alaska support important commercial, sport, and subsistence fisheries and provide forage fish that support wildlife populations. The USGS Alaska Science Center conducts interdisciplinary research to inform local, state, federal, and international policy makers regarding conservation of fish, aquatic species, and their habitats. We work collaboratively with hydrologists...
Learn More
link
Thawing ice wedges create ponds on the Arctic Coastal Plain

Arctic Coastal Plain Studies

The Arctic Coastal Plain (ACP) is a large region of low-lying, lake-rich land on the North Slope of Alaska. This region is underlain by thick ground ice, which is susceptible to erosion and thaw. These physical changes are likely to alter ecosystems by changing the availability of habitats and food resources upon which wildlife depends. Our studies on the ACP aim to understand the link between...
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Alaska Science Center
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Arctic Coastal Plain Studies

The Arctic Coastal Plain (ACP) is a large region of low-lying, lake-rich land on the North Slope of Alaska. This region is underlain by thick ground ice, which is susceptible to erosion and thaw. These physical changes are likely to alter ecosystems by changing the availability of habitats and food resources upon which wildlife depends. Our studies on the ACP aim to understand the link between...
Learn More

Insect Emergence from Arctic Coastal Plain Thaw Ponds, 2012-2013

This dataset provides information on the identity and number of insects that emerged from thaw pond basins on the central Arctic Coastal Plain, Alaska, during the summer growing season in 2012 and 2013. Collections were made using passive floating emergence traps in pond centers and margins from four types of ponds: low centered polygons, troughs, small coalescent, and large coalescent. A single t
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Alaska Science Center

Arctic insect emergence timing and composition differs across thaw ponds of varying morphology

Freshwater ponds provide habitats for aquatic insects that emerge and subsidize consumers in terrestrial ecosystems. In the Arctic, insects provide an important seasonal source of energy to birds that breed and rear young on the tundra. The abundance and timing of insect emergence from arctic thaw ponds is poorly understood, but understanding these fluxes is important, given the role of insects in
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Alaska Science Center

A manipulative thermal challenge protocol for adult salmonids in remote field settings

Manipulative experiments provide stronger evidence for identifying cause-and-effect relationships than correlative studies, but protocols for implementing temperature manipulations are lacking for large species in remote settings. We developed an experimental protocol for holding adult Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and exposing them to elevated temperature treatments. The goal of the e
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Ecosystems, Eastern Ecological Science Center, Alaska Science Center, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC)

Transcriptomic response to elevated water temperatures in adult migrating Yukon River Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)

Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) declines are widespread and may be attributed, at least in part, to warming river temperatures. Water temperatures in the Yukon River and tributaries often exceed 18°C, a threshold commonly associated with heat stress and elevated mortality in Pacific salmon. Untangling the complex web of direct and indirect physiological effects of heat stress on salmon i
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Ecosystems, Eastern Ecological Science Center, Alaska Science Center, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC)

Evidence of prevalent heat stress in Yukon River Chinook salmon

Migrating adult Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) are sensitive to warm water (>18 °C), with a range of consequences from decreased spawning success to early mortality. We examined the proportion of Yukon River Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha) exhibiting evidence of heat stress to assess the potential that high temperatures contribute to freshwater adult mortality in a northern Pacific salmon popu
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Ecosystems, Alaska Science Center

Diversity of diatoms, benthic macroinvertebrates, and fish varies in response to different environmental correlates in Arctic rivers across North America

Climate change poses a significant threat to Arctic freshwater biodiversity, but impacts depend upon the strength of organism response to climate‐related drivers. Currently, there is insufficient knowledge about Arctic freshwater biodiversity patterns to guide assessment, prediction, and management of biodiversity change.As part of the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program's first freshwater
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Ecosystems, Alaska Science Center

Fish growth rates and lake sulphate explain variation in mercury levels in ninespine stickleback (Pungitius pungitius) on the Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska

Mercury concentrations in freshwater food webs are governed by complex biogeochemical and ecological interactions that spatially vary and are often mediated by climate. The Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska (ACP) is a heterogeneous, lake-rich landscape where variability in mercury accumulation is poorly understood. Earlier research indicated that the level of catchment influence on lakes varied spati
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Alaska Science Center

Surface water connectivity controls fish food web structure and complexity across local- and meta-food webs in Arctic Coastal Plain lakes

The need for theories that address food web assembly and complexity over multiple spatial scales are critical to understanding their stability and persistence. In a meta-food web – an integrated network of local food webs – spatial heterogeneity in physical processes may have profound effects on food web function and energy flow. In the Arctic, surface water connectivity plays a vital role in dete
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Ecosystems, Alaska Science Center

Circumpolar patterns of Arctic freshwater fish biodiversity: A baseline for monitoring

Climate change, biological invasions, and anthropogenic disturbance pose a threat to the biodiversity and function of Arctic freshwater ecosystems. Understanding potential changes in fish species distribution and richness is necessary, given the great importance of fish to the function of freshwater ecosystems and as a resource to humans. However, information gaps limit large-scale studies and our
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Ecosystems, Alaska Science Center

Generalist feeding strategies in Arctic freshwater fish: A mechanism for dealing with extreme environments

Generalist feeding strategies are favoured in stressful or variable environments where flexibility in ecological traits is beneficial. Species that feed across multiple habitat types and trophic levels may impart stability on food webs through the use of readily available, alternative energy pools. In lakes, generalist fish species may take advantage of spatially and temporally variable prey by co
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Alaska Science Center

Nutrient dynamics in partially drained arctic thaw lakes

Thaw lakes are ubiquitous on arctic coastal plains (ACPs). While many thaw lakes have steep banks, stable water levels, and static surface areas, others only partially fill their basins and vary in area over the summer. These partially drained lakes (PDLs) are hydrologically connected to the wetlands immediately surrounding them. Heat and nutrient availability limit aquatic productivity on ACPs, a
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Alaska Science Center

Top-down control of invertebrates by Ninespine Stickleback in Arctic ponds

Despite their widespread presence in northern-latitude ecosystems, the ecological role of Ninespine Stickleback Pungitius pungitius is not well understood. Ninespine Stickleback can occupy both top and intermediate trophic levels in freshwater ecosystems, so their role in food webs as a predator on invertebrates and as a forage fish for upper level consumers probably is substantial. We introduced
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Cooperative Research Units

Surface water connectivity drives richness and composition of Arctic lake fish assemblages

Surface water connectivity can influence the richness and composition of fish assemblages, particularly in harsh environments where colonisation factors and access to seasonal refugia are required for species persistence. Studies regarding influence of connectivity on Arctic fish distributions are limited and are rarely applied to whole assemblage patterns. To increase our understanding of how su
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Cooperative Research Units

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