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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: 2891

Marrow fat deposition and skeletal growth in caribou calves

I evaluated rates of marrow fat deposition and skeletal growth of caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti) calves through 20 days of age at Denali National Park, Alaska, USA. Both were negatively correlated with late winter snowfall, indicating the prolonged effects of maternal undernutrition following severe winters. Using regression analyses, I found that the rates of marrow fat deposition and hindfoo
Authors
Layne G. Adams

Water resources data, Alaska, water year 2002

Water resources data for the 2002 water year for Alaska consist of records of stage, discharge, and water quality of streams; stages of lakes; and water levels and water quality of ground water. This volume contains records for water discharge at 109 gaging stations; stage or contents only at 5 gaging stations; water quality at 26 gaging stations; and water levels for 45 observation wells. Also in
Authors
D. F. Meyer, J.S. Brinton, D.L. Hess, C. W. Smith

Biogeochemical processes that produce dissolved organic matter from wheat straw

The chemical reactions that lead to the formation of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in natural waters are poorly understood. Studies on the formation of DOM generally are complicated because almost all DOM isolates have been derived from mixtures of plant species composed of a wide variety of different types of precursor compounds for DOM formation. This report describes a study of DOM derived mai
Authors
Robert L. Wershaw, David W. Rutherford, Jerry A. Leenheer, Kay R. Kennedy, Larry G. Cox, Donald R. Koci

Long-term change in eelgrass distribution at Bahía San Quintín, Baja California, Mexico, using satellite imagery

Seagrasses are critically important components of many marine coastal and estuarine ecosystems, but are declining worldwide. Spatial change in distribution of eelgrass, Zostera marina L., was assessed at Bahía San Quintín, Baja California, Mexico, using a map to map comparison of data interpreted from a 1987 Satellite Pour l'Observation de la Terre multispectral satellite image and a 2000 Landsat
Authors
David H. Ward, Alexandra Morton, T. Lee Tibbitts, David C. Douglas, Eduardo Carrera-Gonzalez

High precision earthquake locations reveal seismogenic structure beneath Mammoth Mountain, California

In 1989, an unusual earthquake swarm occurred beneath Mammoth Mountain that was probably associated with magmatic intrusion. To improve our understanding of this swarm, we relocated Mammoth Mountain earthquakes using a double difference algorithm. Relocated hypocenters reveal that most earthquakes occurred on two structures, a near-vertical plane at 7–9 km depth that has been interpreted as an int
Authors
Stephanie G. Prejean, Anna Stork, William L. Ellsworth, David Hill, Bruce R. Julian

Habitat characteristics of polar bear terrestrial maternal den sites in northern Alaska

Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) give birth to and nurture their young in dens of ice and snow. During 1999-2001, we measured the structure of 22 dens on the coastal plain of northern Alaska after polar bear families had evacuated their dens in the spring. During the summers of 2001 and 2002, we revisited the sites of 42 maternal and autumn exploratory dens and recorded characteristics of the under-s
Authors
George M. Durner, Steven C. Amstrup, Anthony S. Fischbach

Living on the edge: Distribution of Dungeness crab Cancer magister in a recently deglaciated fjord

Glacier Bay, Alaska, has supported a productive Dungeness crab fishery, although the area where the fishery occurred was small relative to the remainder of the Bay. We hypothesized that 1 or more abiotic limiting factors prevented crabs from surviving in the upper Bay. We tested this hypothesis by systematically sampling for relative abundance of Dungeness crabs from the mouth to the head of the B
Authors
S. James Taggart, P.N. Hooge, Jennifer Mondragon, Elizabeth Ross Hooge, A.G. Andrews

Habitat characteristics of polar bear terrestrial maternal den sites in northern Alaska

Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) give birth to and nurture their young in dens of ice and snow. During 1999-2001, we measured the structure of 22 dens on the coastal plain of northern Alaska after polar bear families had evacuated their dens in the spring. During the summers of 2001 and 2002, we revisited the sites of 42 maternal and autumn exploratory dens and recorded characteristics of the under-s
Authors
George M. Durner, Steven C. Amstrup, Anthony S. Fischbach

Photographic techniques for characterizing streambed particle sizes

We developed photographic techniques to characterize coarse (>2-mm) and fine (≤2-mm) streambed particle sizes in 12 streams in Anchorage, Alaska. Results were compared with current sampling techniques to assess which provided greater sampling efficiency and accuracy. The streams sampled were wadeable and contained gravel—cobble streambeds. Gradients ranged from about 5% at the upstream sites to ab
Authors
Matthew S. Whitman, Edward H. Moran, Robert T. Ourso

Are corticosterone levels a good indicator of food availability and reproductive performance in a kittiwake colony?

We evaluated the use of corticosterone to gauge forage availability and predict reproductive performance in black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) breeding in Alaska during 1999 and 2000. We modeled the relationship between baseline levels of corticosterone and a suite of individual and temporal characteristics of the sampled birds. We also provided supplemental food to a sample of pairs and c
Authors
Richard B. Lanctot, Scott A. Hatch, Verena A. Gill, Marcel Eens

Effects of implanted radio transmitters with percutaneous antennas on the behavior of Canada Geese

We examined whether surgically-implanted radio transmitters with percutaneous antennas affected behavior of Lesser Canada Geese (Branta canadensis parvipes) in Anchorage, Alaska. We implanted either a 26-g VHF radio transmitter or a larger VHF radio that was the same mass (35 g) and shape as a satellite transmitter in the coelom of adult females captured during molt in 2000. A control group of fem
Authors
Jerry W. Hupp, G.A. Ruhl, John M. Pearce, Daniel M. Mulcahy, M.A. Tomeo

Advection, pelagic food webs and the biogeography of seabirds in Beringia

Despite its great distance from productive shelf-edge habitat, the inner shelf area of the Bering Sea, from St. Lawrence Island to the Bering Strait, supports a surprisingly large number (>5 million) of seabirds during summer, mostly small plantivorous auklets (65%) and large piscivorous murres (19%) and kittiwakes (5%). This paradox of seabird biogeography is explained by the Anadyr “Green Belt”
Authors
John F. Piatt, Alan M. Springer