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
U.S. Geological Survey science strategy for highly pathogenic avian influenza in wildlife and the environment (2016–2020)
IntroductionThrough the Science Strategy for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in Wildlife and the Environment, the USGS will assess avian influenza (AI) dynamics in an ecological context to inform decisions made by resource managers and policymakers from the local to national level. Through collection of unbiased scientific information on the ecology of AI viruses and wildlife hosts in a c
Authors
M. Camille Harris, John M. Pearce, Diann J. Prosser, C. LeAnn White, A. Keith Miles, Jonathan M. Sleeman, Christopher J. Brand, James P. Cronin, Susan De La Cruz, Christine L. Densmore, Thomas W. Doyle, Robert J. Dusek, Joseph P. Fleskes, Paul L. Flint, Gerald F. Guala, Jeffrey S. Hall, Laura E. Hubbard, Randall J. Hunt, Hon S. Ip, Rachel A. Katz, Kevin W. Laurent, Mark P. Miller, Mark D. Munn, Andrew M. Ramey, Kevin D. Richards, Robin E. Russell, Joel P. Stokdyk, John Y. Takekawa, Daniel P. Walsh
Alaska Arctic marine fish ecology catalog
The marine fishes in waters of the United States north of the Bering Strait have received new and increased scientific attention over the past decade (2005–15) in conjunction with frontier qualities of the region and societal concerns about the effects of Arctic climate change. Commercial fisheries are negligible in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, but many marine species have important traditional
Landscape effects of wildfire on permafrost distribution in interior Alaska derived from remote sensing
Climate change coupled with an intensifying wildfire regime is becoming an important driver of permafrost loss and ecosystem change in the northern boreal forest. There is a growing need to understand the effects of fire on the spatial distribution of permafrost and its associated ecological consequences. We focus on the effects of fire a decade after disturbance in a rocky upland landscape in the
Authors
Dana R. N. Brown, M. Torre Jorgenson, Knut Kielland, David L. Verbyla, Anupma Prakash, Joshua C. Koch
Transmission of influenza reflects seasonality of wild birds across the annual cycle
Influenza A Viruses (IAV) in nature must overcome shifting transmission barriers caused by the mobility of their primary host, migratory wild birds, that change throughout the annual cycle. Using a phylogenetic network of viral sequences from North American wild birds (2008–2011) we demonstrate a shift from intraspecific to interspecific transmission that along with reassortment, allows IAV to ach
Authors
Nichola J. Hill, Brandt W. Meixell, Eric J. Ma, Mark S. Lindberg, Walter M. Boyce, Jonathan A. Runstadler
Pacific walrus coastal haulout database, 1852-2016— Background report
Walruses are large benthic predators that rest out of water between foraging bouts. Coastal “haulouts” (places where walruses rest) are formed by adult males in summer and sometimes by females and young when sea ice is absent, and are often used repeatedly across seasons and years. Understanding the geography and historical use of haulouts provides a context for conservation efforts. We summarize
Authors
Anthony S. Fischbach, Anatoly A. Kochnev, Joel L. Garlich-Miller, Chadwick V. Jay
Arctic sea ice decline contributes to thinning lake ice trend in northern Alaska
Field measurements, satellite observations, and models document a thinning trend in seasonal Arctic lake ice growth, causing a shift from bedfast to floating ice conditions. September sea ice concentrations in the Arctic Ocean since 1991 correlate well (r = +0.69,p < 0.001) to this lake regime shift. To understand how and to what extent sea ice affects lakes, we conducted model experiments to simu
Authors
Vladimir Alexeev, Christopher D. Arp, Benjamin M. Jones, Lei Cai
A synthesis of Jurassic and Early Cretaceous crustal evolution along the southern margin of the Arctic Alaska–Chukotka microplate and implications for defining tectonic boundaries active during opening of Arctic Ocean basins
A synthesis of Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous collision-related metamorphic events in the Arctic Alaska–Chukotka microplate clarifies its likely movement history during opening of the Amerasian and Canada basins. Comprehensive tectonic reconstructions of basin opening have been problematic, in part, because of the large size of the microplate, uncertainties in the location and kinematics of st
Authors
Alison B. Till
Detection, prevalence, and transmission of avian hematozoa in waterfowl at the Arctic/sub-Arctic interface: co-infections, viral interactions, and sources of variation.
Background: The epidemiology of avian hematozoa at high latitudes is still not well understood, particularly in sub-Arctic and Arctic habitats, where information is limited regarding seasonality and range of transmission, co-infection dynamics with parasitic and viral agents, and possible fitness consequences of infection. Such information is important as climate warming may lead to northward expa
Authors
Brandt W. Meixell, Todd W. Arnold, Mark S. Lindberg, Matthew M. Smith, Jonathan A. Runstadler, Andrew M. Ramey
Forecasting the relative influence of environmental and anthropogenic stressors on polar bears
Effective conservation planning requires understanding and ranking threats to wildlife populations. We developed a Bayesian network model to evaluate the relative influence of environmental and anthropogenic stressors, and their mitigation, on the persistence of polar bears (Ursus maritimus). Overall sea ice conditions, affected by rising global temperatures, were the most influential determinant
Authors
Todd C. Atwood, Bruce G. Marcot, David C. Douglas, Steven C. Amstrup, Karyn D. Rode, George M. Durner, Jeffrey F. Bromaghin
Automated mapping of persistent ice and snow cover across the western U.S. with Landsat
We implemented an automated approach for mapping persistent ice and snow cover (PISC) across the conterminous western U.S. using all available Landsat TM and ETM+ scenes acquired during the late summer/early fall period between 2010 and 2014. Two separate validation approaches indicate this dataset provides a more accurate representation of glacial ice and perennial snow cover for the region than
Authors
David J. Selkowitz, Richard R. Forster
A point mutation in the polymerase protein PB2 allows a reassortant H9N2 influenza isolate of wild-bird origin to replicate in human cells.
H9N2 influenza A viruses are on the list of potentially pandemic subtypes. Therefore, it is important to understand how genomic reassortment and genetic polymorphisms affect phenotypes of H9N2 viruses circulating in the wild bird reservoir. A comparative genetic analysis of North American H9N2 isolates of wild bird origin identified a naturally occurring reassortant virus containing gene segments
Authors
Islam T.M. Hussein, Eric J. Ma, Nichola J. Hill, Brandt W. Meixell, Mark S. Lindberg, Randy A. Albrecht, Justin Bahl, Jonathan A. Runstadler
Increased water deficit decreases Douglas fir growth throughout western US forests
Changes in tree growth rates can affect tree mortality and forest feedbacks to the global carbon cycle. As air temperature increases, evaporative demand also increases, increasing effective drought in forest ecosystems. Using a spatially comprehensive network of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) chronologies from 122 locations that experience distinctly different climate in the western United St
Authors
Christina M Restaino, David L. Peterson, Jeremy S. Littell