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: 2892
Giving ecological meaning to satellite-derived fire severity metrics across North American forests
Satellite-derived spectral indices such as the relativized burn ratio (RBR) allow fire severity maps to be produced in a relatively straightforward manner across multiple fires and broad spatial extents. These indices often have strong relationships with field-based measurements of fire severity, thereby justifying their widespread use in management and science. However, satellite-derived spectral
Authors
Sean Parks, Lisa M. Holsinger, Michael J. Koontz, Luke S. Collins, Ellen Whitman, Marc-André Parisien, Rachel A. Loehman, Jennifer L. Barnes, Jean-François Bourdon, Jonathan Boucher, Yan Boucher, Anthony C. Caprio, Adam Collingwood, Ron Hall, Jane Park, Lisa Saperstein, Charlotte Smetanka, Rebecca A. Smith, Nick Soverel
The Aleutian Low – Beaufort Sea Anticyclone: A climate index for predicting the timing of springtime melt in the Pacific Arctic cryosphere
Early and late extremes in the timing of snowmelt have recently been observed in the Pacific Arctic. Subseasonal-to-seasonal forecasts of this timing are important for industry, environmental management and Arctic communities. In northern Alaska, the timing is influenced by the advection of marine air from the north Pacific by the Aleutian Low, modulated by high pressure centered in the Beaufort S
Authors
Christopher J. Cox, Robert S. Stone, David C. Douglas, Diane Stanitski, Michael Gallagher
Filling knowledge gaps in a threatened shorebird flyway through satellite tracking
Satellite‐based technologies that track individual animal movements enable the mapping of their spatial and temporal patterns of occurrence. This is particularly useful in poorly studied or remote regions where there is a need for the rapid gathering of relevant ecological knowledge to inform management actions. One such region is East Asia, where many intertidal habitats are being degraded at unp
Authors
Yin-Chi Chan, T. Lee Tibbitts, Tamar Lok, Chris Hassell, He-Bo Peng, Zhijun Ma, Zhengwang Zhang, Theunis Piersma
Improving population estimates of threatened spectacled eiders: Correcting aerial counts for visibility bias
Listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1993, the Spectacled Eider (Somateria fischeri) population in western Alaska has since rebounded, prompting an assessment of their suitability for delisting. This assessment, however, is limited by aerial-based population estimates that are incompletely corrected for unobserved eiders. Notably, aerial counts of eiders are corrected with a vi
Authors
Tyler Lewis, Michael Swaim, Joel A. Schmutz, Julian Fischer
Are polar bear habitat resource selection functions developed from 1985-1996 data still useful?
1. Greenhouse gas-induced warming in the Arctic has caused declines in sea ice extent and changed its composition, raising concerns by all circumpolar nations for polar bear conservation.
2. Negative impacts have been observed in three well-studied polar bear subpopulations. Most subpopulations, however, receive little or no direct monitoring, hence, resource selection functions (RSF) may provide
Authors
George M. Durner, David C. Douglas, Todd C. Atwood
Late Miocene to Pleistocene source to sink record of exhumation and sediment routing in the Gulf of Alaska from detrital zircon fission-track and U-Pb double dating
We investigate the late Miocene‐Pleistocene offshore sedimentary record of the Yakutat microplate to evaluate the spatial and temporal variations in rock exhumation and sediment routing patterns at the heavily glaciated and actively converging plate boundary in southeast Alaska. We present 1,456 new fission track ages and 1,372 new U‐Pb ages from double‐dated detrital zircons derived from fourteen
Authors
Nathaniel Bootes, Eva Enkelmann, Richard O. Lease
Near-field remote sensing of Alaskan Rivers
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Geomorphology and Sediment Transport Laboratory (GSTL), in collaboration with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL), acquired remotely sensed data from several Alaskan rivers in 2017 and 2018 with the goal of developing a methodology for measuring streamflow from a helicopter. CRREL operates a custom airborne lid
Authors
Paul J. Kinzel, Carl J. Legleiter, Jonathan M. Nelson, Jeff Conaway, Adam LeWinter, Peter Gadomski, Dominic Filiano
Trends and carrying capacity of sea otters in Southeast Alaska
Sea otter populations in Southeast Alaska (SEAK) have increased dramatically from fewer than 500 translocated animals in the late 1960s. The recovery of sea otters to ecosystems from which they had been absent has affected coastal food webs, including commercially important fisheries, and thus information on expected growth and equilibrium abundances can help inform resource management. We compile
Authors
M. Tim Tinker, Verena A. Gill, George G. Esslinger, James L. Bodkin, Melissa Monk, Marc Mangel, Daniel Monson, Wendel W. Raymond, Michelle Kissling
Shorebird subsistence harvest and indigenous knowledge in Alaska: Informing harvest assessment and management, and engaging users in shorebird conservation
Limited data on harvest and population parameters are major impediments to assess shorebird harvest sustainability. Because of sharp declines in shorebird populations, timely conservation efforts require approaches that account for uncertainty in harvest sustainability. We combined harvest assessment and ethnographic research to better understand shorebird conservation concerns related to subsiste
Authors
Naves. Liliana, Jacqueline Keating, T. Lee Tibbitts, Daniel R. Ruthrauff
Early emergence of mcr-1-positive Enterobacteriaceae in gulls from Spain and Portugal
We tested extended‐spectrum β‐lactamase producing bacteria from wild gulls (Larusspp.) sampled in 2009 for the presence of mcr‐1. We report the detection of mcr‐1 and describe genome characteristics of four Escherichia coli and one Klebsiella pneumoniaeisolate from Spain and Portugal that also exhibited colistin resistance. Results represent the earliest evidence for colistin‐resistant bacteria in
Authors
Christina Ahlstrom, Andrew M. Ramey, Hanna Woksepp, Jonas Bonnedahl
Repeated detection of carbapenemase-producing Escherichia coli in gulls inhabiting Alaska, USA
We report the first detection of carbapenemase-producing Escherichia coli in Alaska and in wildlife in the United States. Wild bird (gull) feces sampled at three locations in Southcentral Alaska yielded isolates that harbored plasmid-encoded blaKPC-2 or chromosomally-encoded blaOXA-48, and genes associated with antimicrobial resistance to up to eight antibiotic classes.
Authors
Christina Ahlstrom, Andrew M. Ramey, Hanna Woksepp, Jonas Bonnedahl
Technical comment on “Global pattern of nest predation is disrupted by climate change in shorebirds”
Kubelka et al. (Report, 9 November 2018, p. 680-683) claim that climate change has disrupted patterns of nest predation in shorebirds. They report that predation rates have increased since the 1950s, especially in the Arctic. We describe methodological problems with their analyses and argue that there is no solid statistical support for their claims.
Authors
Martin Bulla, Jeroen Reneerkens, Emily L. Weiser, Aleksandr Sokolov, Audrey R. Taylor, Benoit Sittler, Brian J McCaffery, Daniel R. Ruthrauff, Daniel H. Catlin, David C. Payer, David H. Ward, Diana V Solovyeva, Eduardo SA Santos, Eldar Rakhimberdiev, Erica Nol, Eunbi Kwon, Glen S. Brown, Glenda D Hevia, H. River Gates, James A. Johnson, Jan A. van Gils, Jannik Hansen, Jean-Francois Lamarre, Jennie Rausch, Jesse R. Conklin, Joe Liebezeit, Joel Bety, Johannes Lang, José A. Alves, Juan Fernandez-Elipe, Klaus-Michael Exo, Loic Bollache, Marcelo Bertellotti, Marie-Andree Giroux, Martijn van de Pol, Matthew D. Johnson, Megan L. Boldenow, Mihai Valcu, Mikhail Soloviev, Natalya Sokolova, Nathan R. Senner, Nicholas Lecomte, Nicolas Meyer, Niels Martin Schmidt, Olivier Gilg, Paul A Smith, Paula Machin, Rebecca L McGuire, Ricardo AS Cerboncini, Richard Ottvall, Rob SA van Bemmelen, Rose J Swift, Sara T Saalfeld, Sara E Jamieson, Stephen C. Brown, Theunis Piersma, Tomas Albrecht, Veronica L D'Amico, Richard B. Lanctot, Bart Kempenaers