Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

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

African penguins and localized fisheries management: Response to Butterworth and Ross-Gillespie

We present a response to Butterworth and Ross-Gillespie's (2022) comment on our perspectives on how forage fish fisheries are impacting the endangered African penguin (Sphenicus demersus), and corresponding management options. Butterworth and Ross-Gillespie overstate model uncertainties and downplay the clear ecological and conservation significance of the fisheries closure experiment. We demonstr
Authors
Bill Sydeman, Gene Hunt, E.K. Pikitch, J. Parrish, John F. Piatt, D. Boersma, L. Kaufman, D. L. Anderson, S. Thompson, Richard B. Sherley

Paralytic shellfish toxins associated with Arctic Tern mortalities in Alaska

Harmful algal blooms produce biotoxins that can injure or kill fish, wildlife, and humans. These blooms occur naturally but have intensified in many locations globally due to recent climatic changes, including ocean warming. Such changes are especially pronounced in northern regions, where the effects of paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs) on marine wildlife are of growing concern. In Alaska, seabir
Authors
Caroline R. Van Hemert, John Harley, Gwen Baluss, Matthew M. Smith, Robert J. Dusek, Julia S. Lankton, D. Ransom Hardison, Sarah K. Schoen, Robert Kaler

Comparisons of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) and Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) sea-ice projections in polar bear (Ursus maritimus) ecoregions during the 21st century

Climate model projections are commonly used to assess potential impacts of global warming on a breadth of social, economic, and environmental topics. Modeling centers throughout the world coordinate to apply a consistent suite of radiative forcing experiments so that all model outputs can be collectively analyzed and compared. Three generations of model outputs have been produced and made availabl
Authors
David C. Douglas, Todd C. Atwood

Antibiotic resistance in free-ranging wildlife

In this chapter, we provide an overview of antimicrobial resistant (AMR) bacteria in wildlife through the presentation of general trends of occurrence among both captive and free-ranging wild animal populations, discussion of importance to human health and wildlife conservation, and identification of priority areas for future research and monitoring efforts. Once most commonly identified in human
Authors
Andrew M. Ramey, Christina Ahlstrom

A model of the spatiotemporal dynamics of soil carbon following coastal wetland loss applied to a Louisiana salt marsh in the Mississippi River Deltaic Plain

The potential for carbon sequestration in coastal wetlands is high due to protection of carbon (C) in flooded soils. However, excessive flooding can result in the conversion of the vegetated wetland to open water. This transition results in the loss of wetland habitat in addition to the potential loss of soil carbon. Thus, in areas experiencing rapid wetland submergence, such as the Mississippi Ri
Authors
Donald R. Schoolmaster, Camille Stagg, Courtney Creamer, Claudia Laurenzano, Eric Ward, Mark Waldrop, Melissa M. Baustian, Tiong Aw, Sergio Merino, Rachel Katherine Villani, Laura Scott

The DDT-induced decline influenced genetic diversity in naturally-recovered peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus) nesting within the Alaska Arctic and eastern Interior

We assessed the influence of the severe mid-20th century population decline on genetic diversity in non-augmented peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) populations nesting within Alaska Arctic and eastern Interior. Microsatellite and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) data were analyzed for peregrine falcons sampled from three periods: pre-decline, decline, and post-decline. The influence of the decline on g
Authors
Sarah A. Sonsthagen, Ted Swem, Skip Ambrose, Melanie J. Flamme, Clayton M White, George K Sage, Sandra L Talbot

Using in situ/ex situ research collaborations to support polar bear conservation

A warming Arctic threatens the long-term persistence of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) in the wild. Historically, little collaboration existed between the in situ and ex situ polar bear scientific communities. However, for the past decade, zoo professionals, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) have partnered to leverage resources and expertise with the goal of addressing
Authors
Randi Meyerson, Todd C. Atwood

The ice don’t lie

No abstract available.
Authors
Todd C. Atwood

Evaluating the efficacy of aerial infrared surveys to detect artificial polar bear dens

The need to balance economic development with impacts to Arctic wildlife has been a prominent subject since petroleum exploration began on the North Slope of Alaska, USA, in the late 1950s. The North Slope region includes polar bears (Ursus maritimus) of the southern Beaufort Sea subpopulation, which has experienced a long-term decline in abundance. Pregnant polar bears dig dens in snow drifts dur
Authors
Susannah P Woodruff, Justin J Blank, Sheyna S Wisdom, Ryan H. Wilson, George M. Durner, Todd C. Atwood, Craig J Perham, Christina HM Pohl

Late Paleoproterozoic to early Mesoproterozoic deposition of quartz arenites across southern Laurentia

Supermature siliciclastic sequences were deposited between 1.64 Ga and 1.59 Ga over a broad swath of southern Laurentia in the Archean, Penokean, Yavapai, and Mazatzal Provinces. These siliciclastic sequences are notable for their extreme mineralogical and chemical maturity, being devoid of detrital feldspar and ferromagnesian minerals, containing the clay mineral kaolinite (or its metamorphic equ
Authors
L. Gordon Medaris, Christopher G. Daniel, Michael F. Doe, James V. Jones, Joshua J. Schwartz

Prioritizing habitats based on abundance and distribution of molting waterfowl in the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area of the National Petroleum Reserve, Alaska

The National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A) encompasses more than 9.5 million hectares of federally managed land on the Arctic Coastal Plain of northern Alaska, where it supports a diversity of wildlife, including millions of migratory birds. Within the NPR-A, Teshekpuk Lake and the surrounding area provide important habitat for migratory birds and this area has been designated by the Bureau
Authors
Paul L. Flint, Vijay P. Patil, Bradley Shults, Sarah J. Thompson

Beyond glacier-wide mass balances: Parsing seasonal elevation change into spatially resolved patterns of accumulation and ablation at Wolverine Glacier, Alaska

We present spatially distributed seasonal and annual surface mass balances of Wolverine Glacier, Alaska, from 2016 to 2020. Our approach accounts for the effects of ice emergence and firn compaction on surface elevation changes to resolve the spatial patterns in mass balance at 10 m scale. We present and compare three methods for estimating emergence velocities. Firn compaction was constrained by
Authors
Lucas Zeller, Daniel J McGrath, Louis C. Sass, Shad O'Neel, Christopher J. McNeil, Emily Baker
Was this page helpful?