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OTHER ALASKA AREA
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• • U.S. Volcanoes and Current Activity Alerts
  • Alaska Volcano Observatory

Fact Sheets

	USGS Wildlife Disease and Environmental Health in Alaska Wildlife and environmental health research at the USGS Alaska Science Center focuses on emerging wildlife diseases, movement and transmission of pathogens between continents and within Alaska, and the impacts of disease to wildlife populations. Information from this research will inform decision-making by wildlife management and human health agencies.
	Measuring and Forecasting the Response of Alaska's Terrestrial Ecosystem to a Warming Climate USGS Changing Arctic Ecosystems Initiative—New Fact Sheet Provides Update on Measuring and Forecasting the Response of Alaska's Terrestrial Ecosystem to a Warming Climate: Through the Changing Arctic Ecosystems (CAE) initiative, the USGS strives to inform key resource management decisions by better understanding how wildlife populations of special interest to the Department of the Interior are responding to rapid physical changes in the Arctic. The CAE initiative includes several research themes, including one focused on the Arctic terrestrial ecosystem and a range of focal wildlife species dependent on that environment. USGS has published a new Fact Sheet to highlight on-going field and laboratory research, integrative modeling framework, and new technologies being used to inform the overall CAE initiative.
	Polar Bear and Walrus Response to the Rapid Decline in Arctic Sea Ice Through the Changing Arctic Ecosystems (CAE) initiative, the USGS strives to inform key resource management decisions by better understanding how wildlife populations of special interest to the Department of the Interior are responding to rapid physical changes in the Arctic. The CAE initiative includes a research theme focused on the marine ecosystem and effects of recent declines in sea ice on the polar bear and walrus. USGS has published a Fact Sheet to highlight the integrative modeling framework, new technologies being developed and early findings of this research theme.
	Changing Arctic Ecosystems—Research to Understand and Project Changes in Marine and Terrestrial Ecosystems of the Arctic USGS recently published a new fact sheet entitled "Changing Arctic Ecosystems—Research to Understand and Project Changes in Marine and Terrestrial Ecosystems of the Arctic." Ecosystems and their wildlife communities are not static; they change and evolve over time due to numerous intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Through the new initiative Changing Arctic Ecosystems (CAE) the USGS strives to understand the potential suite of wildlife population responses to these physical changes to inform key resource management decisions such as those related to the Endangered Species Act, and provide unique insights into how Arctic ecosystems are responding under new stressors. The CAE initiative includes three major research themes including Marine Ecosystems, The Arctic Coastal Plans, and Boreal-Arctic Transiting Zone that span Arctic ice-dominated ecosystems and that are structured to identify and understand the linkages between physical processes, ecosystems, and wildlife populations.
	U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Western Region: Coastal Ecosystem Responses to Influences from Land and Sea Coastal and Ocean Science Sea otters and the nearshore ecosystems they inhabit are the focus of a new multidisciplinary study by scientists with the USGS and several international, academic, and government collaborators. These ecosystems face unprecedented challenges, with threats arising from the adjacent oceans and lands. The Coastal Ecosystem Responses to Influences from Land and Sea project will investigate the many interacting variables that influence the health of coastal ecosystems along the Northeast Pacific shore.
	U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Western Region: Kasatochi Volcano Coastal and Ocean Science On August 7, 2008, Kasatochi Volcano, in the central Aleutian Islands, erupted catastrophically, covering the island with ash and hot pyroclastic flow material. In 2009, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), AMNWR, and University of Alaska Fairbanks began long-term studies to better understand the effects of the eruption and the role of volcanism in structuring ecosystems in the Aleutian Islands, a volcano-dominated region with high natural resource values.
	Alaska Interagency Ecosystem Health Work Group The Alaska Interagency Ecosystem Health Work Group is a community of practice that recognizes the interconnections between the health of ecosystems, wildlife, and humans and meets to facilitate the exchange of ideas, data, and research opportunities.
	U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Western Region: Seabirds Coastal and Ocean Science From the cold, high Arctic area of Alaska to the warm, tropical Pacific area of Hawai`i, a diverse array of seabird species numbering in the millions of individuals live off the bounty of the Pacific Ocean.
	U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Western Region Coastal and Ocean Science USGS Western Region Coastal and Ocean Science is interdisciplinary, collaborative, and integrates expertise from all USGS Disciplines, and ten of its major Science Centers, in Alaska, Hawai`i, California, Washington, and Oregon. This fact sheet describes but a few examples of the breadth of USGS science conducted in coastal, nearshore, and ocean environments along our Nation's West Coast and Pacific Islands.
	U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Western Region: Alaska Coastal and Ocean Science USGS has three Regions that encompass nine geographic Areas. This fact sheet describes examples of USGS science conducted in coastal, nearshore terrestrial, and ocean environments in the Alaska Area.
	Fifty-Year Record of Glacier Change Reveals Shifting Climate in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, USA Fifty years of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) research on glacier change shows recent dramatic shrinkage of glaciers in three climatic regions of the United States. These long periods of record provide clues to the climate shifts that may be driving glacier change.
	Pacific Walrus Response to Arctic Sea Ice Losses Sea ice plays an important role in the life of the Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens). U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists are seeking to understand how losses of sea ice during summer over important foraging grounds in the Chukchi Sea will affect walruses.
	Transport of Water, Carbon, and Sediment Through the Yukon River Basin In 2001, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began a water-quality study of the Yukon River. The Yukon River Basin (YRB), which encompasses 330,000 square miles in northwestern Canada and central Alaska, is one of the largest and most diverse ecosystems in North America.
	Alaska Science Center The mission of the Alaska Science Center is to provide objective and timely data, information, and research findings about the earth and its flora and fauna to Federal, State, and local resource managers and the public to support sound decisions regarding natural resources, natural hazards, and ecosystems in Alaska and circumpolar regions.