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: 2885
How many seabirds were killed by the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill?
After the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 24 March 1989, 36,115 dead seabirds were recovered from beaches and processed at morgues. Most or all of 1,888 live oiled seabirds brought to rehabilitation centers also died and about 3,260 oiled carcasses were never delivered to morgues. Of these 41,263 carcasses accounted for, we estimated conservatively that only 30,000 were killed by oil pollution. Carcass
Authors
John F. Piatt, R. Glenn Ford
Migration, fidelity, and use of autumn staging grounds in Alaska by Cackling Canada Geese Branta canadensis minima
Cackling Canada Geese were studied annually (1985-88) on autumn migration staging areas in Alaska during a period of rapid population growth. Geese concentrated at two estuaries (Ugashik Bay and Cinder Lagoon) along the north side of the Alaska Peninsula. Birds arrived on the staging areas in late September, numbers peaked during mid-October, and departure occurred by late October or early Novembe
Authors
Robert E. Gill, Christopher Babcock, Colleen M. Handel, William R. Butler, Dennis G. Raveling
Mass and body-dimension relationships of polar bears in northern Alaska
Models developed from morphometric parameters are useful for estimating body mass (M) of captured wild ursids. The accuracy of those models, however, may depend on sex, season, and geographic location of the population. We tested the suitability of reported models to predict mass of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) captured in northern Alaska, but found that models developed for other populations per
Authors
George M. Durner, Steven C. Amstrup
Serological evidence of morbillivirus infection in polar bears (Ursus maritimus) from Alaska and Russia
One-hundred-and-ninety-one samples of blood serum collected from 186 polar bears (Ursus maritimus) between 1987 and 1992 were analysed for morbillivirus antibodies. The samples were collected in the Bering, Chukchi and East Siberian seas. Sixty-eight samples (35.6 per cent) had morbillivirus antibody titres > 5; the percentage of positive samples ranged from 26.2 to 46.2 per cent from year to year
Authors
Erich H. Follmann, G.W. Garner, Jim F. Evermann, A.J. McKeirnan,
Allocation of limited reserves to a clutch: A model explaining the lack of a relationship between clutch size and egg size
Lack (1967, 1968) proposed that clutch size in waterfowl is limited by the nutrients available to females when producing eggs. He suggested that if nutrients available for clutch formation are limited, then species producing small eggs would, on average, lay more eggs than species with large eggs. Rohwer (1988) argues that this model should also apply within species. Thus, the nutrition-limitation
Authors
Paul L. Flint, J. Barry Grand, James S. Sedinger
Forage digestibility and intake by lesser snow geese: effects of dominance and resource heterogeneity
We measured forage intake, digestibility, and retention time for 11 free-ranging, human-imprinted lesser snow geese (Chen caerulescens caerulescens) as they consumed underground stembases of tall cotton-grass (Eriophorum angustifolium) on an arctic staging area in northeastern Alaska. Geese fed in small patches (x̄=21.5 m2) of forage that made up ≤3% of the study area and consisted of high-quality
Authors
Jerry W. Hupp, Robert G. White, James S. Sedinger, Donna G. Robertson
Detectability, philopatry, and the distribution of dispersal distances in vertebrates
Dispersal is of central importance to population biology, behavioral ecology and conservation. However, because field studies are based on finite study areas, nearly all dispersal distributions for vertebrates currently available are biased, often highly so. The inadequacy of dispersal data obtained directly by traditional methods using population studies of marked individuals is highlighted by co
Authors
Walter D. Koenig, Dirk H. Van Vuren, Philip N. Hooge
Phylogenetic relationships within the Alcidae (Charadriiformes: Aves) inferred from total molecular evidence
The Alcidae is a unique assemblage of Northern Hemisphere seabirds that forage by "flying" underwater. Despite obvious affinities among the species, their evolutionary relationships are unclear. We analyzed nucleotide sequences of 1,045 base pairs of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene and allelic profiles for 37 allozyme loci in all 22 extant species. Trees were constructed on independent and com
Authors
Vicki L. Friesen, Allan J. Baker, John F. Piatt
Maximum likelihood estimation for the double-count method with independent observers
Data collected under a double-count protocol during line transect surveys were analyzed using new maximum likelihood methods combined with Akaike's information criterion to provide estimates of the abundance of polar bear (Ursus maritimus Phipps) in a pilot study off the coast of Alaska. Visibility biases were corrected by modeling the detection probabilities using logistic regression functions. I
Authors
Bryan F.J. Manly, Lyman L. McDonald, Gerald W. Garner
Alaska and its importance to Western Hemisphere shorebirds
Thirty-seven species of shorebirds breed in Alaska, and six overwinter in its subarctic regions. The coastal habitats of Alaska provide critical staging areas during spring and fall migrations; 51 sites qualify within the three categories of shorebird reserves listed by the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (Hemispheric, International and Regional). Studies on Alaskan shorebirds span 50
Authors
Robert E. Gill, Stanley E. Senner
Behavioral tactics of male sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) under varying operating sex ratios
Previous studies have demonstrated several reproductive-behavior patterns in male salmon, including competitive and sneaking tactics, the formation of hierarchies, and non-hierarchical aggregations around ripe females. Through behavioral observations at varying spatial and temporal scales, we examined the hypothesis that operational sex ratio (OSR) determines male sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerk
Authors
Thomas P. Quinn, Milo D. Adkison, Michael B. Ward
Sea birds as proxies of marine habitats and food webs in the western Aleutian Arc
We propose that ocean conditions of the Near Islands in the western Aleutian Arc mimic those of the shallow continental shelf of the eastern Bering Sea to the extent that the marine community, including assemblages of forage fishes and their avian predators, has distinctly coastal characteristics. In contrast, marine avifauna and their prey at neighbouring Buldir Island are distinctly oceanic. For
Authors
Alan M. Springer, John F. Piatt, Gus B. Van Vliet