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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

Shifts in the wintering distribution and abundance of Emperor Geese in Alaska

For wildlife species that winter at northern latitudes, harsh overwinter conditions can play an important role in population dynamics. Recent changes in global temperatures have resulted in distributional shifts of wildlife species, as well as amelioration of winter climates in northern landscapes. The emperor goose (Anser canagicus), an endemic migratory bird of the Bering Sea region, winters acr
Authors
Brian D. Uher-Koch, Raymond M. Buccheit, Charles R. Eldermire, Heather M. Wilson, Joel A. Schmutz

Dating by cosmogenic nuclides

Since the 1990s, cosmogenic nuclides have revolutionized the study of Earth surface processes, particularly the understanding of rates and dates. These nuclides, including 3He, 10Be, 14C, 21Ne, 26Al, and 36Cl, enable dating of landforms and the measurement of erosion rates both at the scale of drainage basins and at specific locations on Earth's surface. Cosmogenic nuclides are produced at low rat
Authors
Paul R. Bierman, Adrian Bender, Andrew J. Christ, Lee B. Corbett, Christopher T. Halsted, Eric W. Portenga, Amanda H. Schmidt

Basalt geochemistry and mantle flow during early backarc basin evolution: Havre Trough and Kermadec Arc, southwest Pacific

The Havre Trough (HT) backarc basin in the southwest Pacific is in the rifting stage of development. We distinguish five types of basalt there based on their amount and kind of slab component: backarc basalts (BAB) with little or no slab component, modified BAB with slight amounts, reararc (RA) with more, remnants of the preexisting arc (Colville Ridge horsts), and arc front volcanoes within the H
Authors
James B Gill, Kaj Hoernle, Erin Todd, Folkmar Hauff, Reinhard Werner, Christian Timm, Dieter Garbe-Schönberg, Marcus Gutjahr

Record fledging count from a seven-egg clutch in the Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii)

Cooper's Hawks (Accipiter cooperii) typically lay 3–5 eggs per clutch, rarely 6 eggs, and there are 2 accounts of 7-egg clutches and 1 record of a maximum 8-egg clutch for the species. Brood sizes of 3–5 young are common and the previous maximum brood count is 6 young. However, in 2019, we found an urban nest in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, with 7 eggs that resulted in a record high of 7 fledglings.
Authors
Robert N. Rosenfield, Sarah A. Sonsthagen, Ann Elizabeth Riddle-Berntsen, Evan Kuhel

Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus)

This chapter comprises the following sections: names, taxonomy, subspecies and distribution, descriptive notes, habitat, movements and home range, activity patterns, feeding ecology, reproduction and growth, behavior, parasites and diseases, status in the wild, and status in captivity.
Authors
Karyn D. Rode, Martyn E. Obbard, Stanislav Belikov, Andrew E. Derocher, George M. Durner, Gregory Thiemann, Morten Tryland, Robert J. Letcher, Randi Meyersen, Christian Sonne, Bjorn Jenssen, Rune Dietz, Dag Vongraven

How Is climate change affecting polar bears and giant pandas?

Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are the primary cause of climate change and an estimated increase of 3.7 to 4.8 °C is predicted by the year 2100 if emissions continue at current levels. Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) and giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) provide an interesting comparison study of the impact of climate change on bear species. While polar bears and giant pandas are arguabl
Authors
Melissa Songer, Todd C. Atwood, David C. Douglas, Qiongyu Huang, Renqiang Li, Nicholas Pilfold, Ming Xu, George M. Durner

Generation of calc-alkaline magmas during crystallization at high oxygen fugacity: An experimental and petrologic study of tephras from Buldir Volcano, western Aleutian Arc, Alaska, USA

Despite agreement that calc-alkaline volcanism occurs at subduction zones and is responsible for the genesis of continental landmasses, there is no consensus on the source of the Fe-depleted signature hallmark to calc-alkaline volcanism. In this study, we utilize mafic tephras collected from Buldir Volcano to address the genesis of strongly calc-alkaline volcanic rocks (those with a low Tholeiitic
Authors
Laura Waters, Elizabeth Cottrell, Michelle L. Coombs, Katherine A. Kelley

Seabird synthesis

Overall, the status of seabirds was fair to good in the WGOA in 2020, with limited data available from Middleton Island, Cook Inlet, and the Kodiak Archipelago (Figure 63). Colony attendance remains low in some populations compared to historic levels, and some colonies were newly abandoned. However, when birds did arrive to breed, reproductive success generally appeared fair to good for fish-eatin
Authors
Mayumi L. Arimitsu, Hillary K. Burgess, Robin Corcoran, Scott Hatch, Tim Jones, Jackie Lindsey, Caitlin Elizabeth Marsteller, John F. Piatt, Sarah K. Schoen

Exploring overlap of feather molting and migration in Tundra Swans using δ2H analysis

Determining the processes that shape the relative timing of energetically-costly events in the annual cycle of migrating birds is important to our understanding of avian phenology and ecology. We paired satellite tracking and hydrogen stable isotope analysis (δ2H) to examine the relative timing of two such events – migration and feather molting – in tundra swans from four breeding areas in Alaska,
Authors
Nathan Wolf, T. Scott Smeltz, Jeffrey Welker, Matthew Rogers, Craig R. Ely

Shorebird reproductive response to exceptionally early and late springs varies across sites in Arctic Alaska

While increases in overall temperatures are widely reported in the Arctic, large inter-annual variation in spring weather, with extreme early and late conditions, is also occurring. Using data collected from three sites in Arctic Alaska, we explored how shorebird breeding density, nest initiation, nest synchrony, nest survival, and phenological mismatch varied between two exceptionally early (2015
Authors
Rebecca L McGuire, Richard B. Lanctot, Sarah T. Saalfeld, Daniel R. Ruthrauff, Joe Liebezeit

Shorebird research at the U.S. Geological Survey Alaska Science Center

Shorebirds—which include sandpipers, plovers, and oystercatchers—are perhaps best known by their presence on sandy beaches, running along the water’s edge while they probe for food. But they are probably less recognized for their impressive long-distance migrations. Millions of individuals travel from across the globe to breed throughout Alaska each spring, making these birds a familiar and import
Authors
Dan Ruthrauff, T. Lee Tibbitts, John Pearce

Migration routes and population status of the Brent Goose Branta bernicla nigricans wintering in East Asia

Of the world’s Brent Goose Branta bernicla populations, the migration routes and winter distribution of the East Asian population of Brent Geese B. b. nigricans are the least well known. We therefore marked Brent Geese at their primary pre-migratory staging area in Notsuke Bay, Hokkaido, Japan to describe their migration between breeding and wintering areas in East Asia. Additionally, count data w
Authors
Yusuke Sawa, Chieko Tamura, Toshio Ikeuchi, Kaoru Fujii, Aisa Ishioroshi, T. Shimada, Shiro Tatsuzawa, Xueqin Deng, Lei Cao, Hwajung Kim, David H. Ward