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
Vegetation management for reducing mortality of ponderosa pine seedlings from Thomomys spp
The effects of vegetation management on Mazama pocket gopher activity and damage to ponderosa pine seedlings were studied using atrazine herbicide to alter the habitat. Atrazine treatments were applied to a large treatment unit and observed effects were compared to an untreated control unit. The greatly reduced forb and grass cover on the treated unit was associated with a corresponding decrease i
Authors
Richard M. Engeman, Victor G. Barnes, Richard M. Anthony, Heather W. Krupa
Estimating populations of nesting brant using aerial videography
We mounted a video camcorder in a single-engine aircraft to estimate
nesting density along 10-m wide strip transects in black brant
colonies on the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska during
1990-1992. A global positioning system (GPS) receiver was connected
to the video recorder and a laptop computer to locate transects and
annotate video tape with time and latit
Authors
R. Michael Anthony, W.H. Anderson, J.S. Sedinger, L.L. McDonald
Survival rates of radio-collared female polar bears and their dependent young
Polar bears are hunted throughout most of their range. In addition to
hunting, polar bears of the Beaufort Sea region are exposed to mineral
and hydrocarbon extraction and related human activities such as
shipping, road building, and seismic testing. As human populations
increase and demands for polar bears and other arctic resources
escalate, reliable estimates of survivo
Authors
Steven C. Amstrup, George M. Durner
Caribou calf mortality in Denali National Park, Alaska
Calf mortality is a major component of caribou (Rangifer tarandus) population dynamics, but little is known about the timing or causes of calf losses, or of characteristics that predispose calves to mortality. During 1984-87, we radiocollared 226 calves (≤3 days old) in the Denali Caribou Herd (DCH), an unhunted population utilized by a natural complement of predators, to determine the extent, tim
Authors
Layne G. Adams, Francis J. Singer, Bruce W. Dale
Some tests of the "migration hypothesis" for anadromous Dolly Varden (southern form)
Some aspects of a previously described migratory paradigm for the southern form of anadromous Dolly Varden Salvelinus malma were investigated with seven 3‐year mark–recapture experiments on fish that used lakes in eight watersheds as their winter residence. Weirs on Kodiak Island, around Prince William Sound, and near Juneau, Alaska, were used to capture Dolly Varden as they emigrated to the sea e
Authors
David R. Bernard, Kelley R. Hepler, J. Douglas Jones, Mary E. Whalen, Douglas N. McBride
Pattern of shoreline spawning by sockeye salmon in a glacially turbid lake: evidence for subpopulation differentiation
Alaskan sockeye salmon typically spawn in lake tributaries during
summer (early run) and along clear-water lake shorelines and outlet
rivers during fall (late run). Production at the glacially turbid
Tustumena Lake and its outlet, the Kasilof River (south-central
Alaska), was thought to be limited to a single run of sockeye salmon
that spawned in the lake's clear-water tri
Authors
C. V. Burger, J.E. Finn, L. Holland-Bartels
Abundance, distribution and population status of Marbled Murrelets in Alaska
Ship-based surveys conducted throughout Alaska during the 1970's and 1980's, and more recent small boat surveys conducted in the northern Gulf of Alaska, suggest that about 280,000 murrelets reside in Alaska during summer. Most Marbled Murrelets are concentrated offshore of large tracts of coastal coniferous forests in southeast Alaska, Prince William Sound, and the Kodiak Archipelago. About 1-3 p
Authors
John F. Piatt, Nancy L. Naslund
Buff-breasted Sandpiper (Calidris subruficollis)
No abstract available
Authors
Richard B. Lanctot, C.D. Laredo
Oceanic, shelf and coastal seabird assemblages at the mouth of a tidally-mixed estuary (Cook Inlet, Alaska)
No abstract available
Authors
John F. Piatt
Classification of vegetation communities in which geese rear broods on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska
Plant communities are described from an area on the Yukon – Kuskokwim (Y-K) delta of Alaska that is used extensively for brood rearing by three species of geese. Earlier studies identified plant species important as food for young geese, but few studies describe or quantify plant communities. We classified species presence or absence information from over 700 quadrats using a two-way indicator spe
Authors
Christopher Babcock, Craig R. Ely
Invasive cohorts: Impacts of hatchery-reared coho salmon on the trophic, developmental, and genetic ecology of wild stocks
No abstract available.
Authors
Jennifer L. Nielsen