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Weekly Highlights for 02-26-2009

I. Departmental/Bureau News

A. Upcoming Events

USGS to Host NASA Scoping Meeting for Arctic Ecosystem Monitoring Campaign
On March 9 the USGS Alaska Science Center in Anchorage will be hosting a scoping meeting conducted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to identify the scientific questions and develop the initial study design and implementation concept for a new NASA terrestrial ecology field campaign. The scoping study is titled "Vulnerability and Resiliency of Arctic and Sub-Arctic Landscapes (VuRSAL) – The Role of Interactions between Climate, Permafrost, Hydrology, and Disturbance in Driving Ecosystem Processes." The focus of the proposed campaign is to develop and test techniques for use of satellite remote sensing data to monitor ecosystem changes that are occurring across this region as a result of the interactions between climate change and disturbances. These techniques will allow scientists and land managers to be able to predict how future changes in climate will affect a whole range of land-based resources.
Contact: Carl Markon Anchorage, AK, (907) 786-7023

B. Current

Unrest Continues at Redoubt Volcano, AVO Staff Improve Monitoring Network
USGS Alaska Science Center staff at the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO), visiting staff from the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory and the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute continue to respond to unrest at Redoubt Volcano. On February 21-22 AVO personnel visited the volcano to improve the monitoring network by installing a new pressure sensor, web camera, and a broadband seismometer. On February 21 a gas measurement and observation flight was conducted. Data from real-time seismic networks, web cameras, ground-based radar, and near-real imagery from satellites are monitored by AVO staff 24/7. AVO continues to post daily updates of Redoubts condition on the AVO website (http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/Redoubt.php ). AVO is a partnership among the USGS, the State of Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, and The University of Alaska Geophysical Institute.
Contact: Christopher Waythomas Anchorage, AK, (907) 786-7122

New Publication "Predicting 21st-century polar bear habitat distribution from global climate models”
In 2007, the USGS Alaska Science Center conducted several modeling studies to inform the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decision whether or not to list the polar bear as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. One of the studies examined changes in polar bear sea ice habitat in the recent past, and projected the future distribution of habitat using global climate models. This study was recently published in Ecological Monographs (79:25-58). This study found that sea ice habitat losses were expected to be the greatest in the southern seas of the Polar Basin and the least in areas north of Arctic Canada and Greenland. Findings from this study were considered by the Secretary of the Interior in listing the polar bear as threatened in May 2008.
Contact: George Durner Anchorage, AK, (907) 786-7082

New Research Shows Shift in Killer Whale Diets
USGS Alaska Science Center biologist Daniel Monson is a co-author of a new publication appearing in Marine Ecological Progress Series (Newsome, S. D., M. A. Etnier, D. H. Monson, and M. L. Fogel. 2009 Retrospective characterization of ontogenetic shifts in killer whale diets via d13C and d15N analysis of teeth. Marine Ecological Progress Series, 374:229-242) which evaluates a number of hypothesized historical dietary shifts in killer whales of the northeast Pacific Ocean using stable isotope analysis of teeth. This approach provides retrospective individual life history and dietary information that cannot be obtained through traditional field observations of free-ranging and elusive species such as killer whales, including unique historic ecological information that pre-dates modern studies. The abstract can be found at http://www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v374/p229-242/.
Contact: Daniel Monson Anchorage, AK, (907) 786-7161

New Publication Examines the Distribution of Threatened Steelhead in the Central Valley of California
Steelhead, the migratory form of rainbow trout, were once distributed throughout the Sacramento-San Joaquin river system in the Central Valley of California. In response to declines of steelhead returning to these streams they were listed as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1998. Recovery planning is hindered by a lack of knowledge about the distribution of steelhead and the relation of steelhead and resident rainbow trout. USGS Alaska Science Center Research Fishery Biologist Christian Zimmerman and biologists with the California Department of Fish and Game used chemical signatures in otoliths of rainbow trout and steelhead collected throughout the Central Valley to determine the distributions of each life history type (migratory and resident). Steelhead or the progeny of steelhead were detected in all streams but the proportion of steelhead encountered varied among sites. These results were recently published in the Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (Zimmerman, C.E., Edwards, G.W., and Perry, K. 2009. Maternal origin and migratory history of steelhead and rainbow trout captured in rivers of the Central Valley, California. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society. 138:280-291), and the abstract can be found at: http://afs.allenpress.com
Contact: Christian Zimmerman Anchorage, AK, (907) 786-7071

New Publication - Implications for the Dynamic Health of a Glacier
USGS Alaska Science Center scientist Rod March co-authored a new publication appearing in the Annals of Glaciology (Harrison, W.D, Cox, L. H., Hock, R., March, R.S., and Pettit, E.C., 2009, Implications for the dynamic health of a glacier from comparison of conventional and reference-surface balances: Annals of Glaciology, Vol. 50, p. 25-30). The study analyzes conventional and reference-surface mass-balance data measured since the early 1960s from Gulkana and Wolverine Glaciers in Alaska. Typically, only reference-surface mass balance is measured. Conventional mass-balance measurements, which consider the glacier's dynamics, enable scientists to address the questions of how rapidly these glaciers are adjusting to climate, whether their responses are stable, and whether the glaciers are likely to survive in today's climate. The publication can be found at: http://www.igsoc.org/annals/50/50/A50A087.pdf.
Contact: Rod March Fairbanks, AK, (907) 479-5645 x241

II. Press Inquiries/Media

From February 19 – 25, USGS Alaska Science Center staff of the Alaska Volcano Observatory and visiting staff from the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory and the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute answered phone inquiries from the media regarding the current period of unrest of Redoubt Volcano. Media outlets who contacted AVO during this period include: CBS affiliate KTVA-TV (Channel 11), KFQD AM 750 Anchorage, KSRM Radio-Kenai, The Associated Press, and Yap, a production company from National Geographic Films.
Contact: Jennifer Adleman Anchorage, AK, (907) 786-7019

From February 19 - 25 USGS Alaska Science Center scientist Benjamin Jones was contacted about the recent work that he and colleagues have conducted on coastal erosion along the Beaufort Sea coast. Contacts include Science Magazine, Anchorage Daily News, NY Times, National Geographic, Earth Magazine, Petroleum News, Geographical Magazine, MSNBC News, and NBC Affiliate KTUU-TV (Anchorage).
Contact: Benjamin Jones Anchorage, AK, (907) 786-7033

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