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ABOUT THE ALASKA
SCIENCE CENTER

SCIENCE OFFICES

CONFERENCES

USGS ALASKA DATA RESOURCES

OTHER ALASKA AREA
SCIENCE OFFICES

David C. Douglas

Title: Research Wildlife Biologist
Address: 250 Egan Drive, Juneau, AK 99801
Phone: (907) 364-1576
Fax: (907) 364-1540
Email: ddouglas@usgs.gov

Image of David C. Douglas

Education and/or Training

M.S.1986Washington State University, Pullman, WAWildlife Biology
B.S.1982 Utah State University, Logan, UTBiology

Areas of Specialization and/or Research Interests

Integration of satellite remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) capabilities with a variety of biological field data to address ecological issues of arctic environments. Remote sensing emphasis investigating dynamic processes of wildlife habitats (seasonal and annual changes, as well as global climate changes) using multi-temporal satellite imaging to study sea-ice distribution, snow ablation, vegetation phenology, fire, and sea-surface temperature. Extensive experience in wildlife satellite tracking using the Argos system aboard the NOAA polar-orbiters. Analyses of species spatial and temporal distributions relative to environmental characteristics using homerange and GIS software. Image processing of AVHRR, Landsat, SAR, and SSM/I satellite data using IMAGINE, IDRISI, and TeraScan software; data analyses using SAS software; all executed on UNIX-based computer workstations.

Professional Experience

1986 - PresentResearch Wildlife Biologist, USGS, Alaska Science Center, Anchorage, Alaska
1985 - 1986Biological Technician, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Fairbanks, Alaska
1980 - 1984Biological Technician, US Forest Service, Region 4, Ogden, Utah

Professional Activities and/or Memberships

American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Significant Recent Publications

Battley, P. F., N. Warnock, T. L. Tibbitts, R. E. Gill, T. Piersma, C. J. Hassell, D. C. Douglas, D. M. Mulcahy, B. D. Gartrell, R. Schuckard, D. S. Melville, and A. C. Riegen. 2012. Contrasting extreme long-distance migration patterns in the bar-tailed godwit. Journal of Avian Biology, 43:1-12. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-048X.2011.05473.x

Petersen, M. R., D. C. Douglas, H. M. Wilson, and S. E. McCloskey. 2012. Effects of sea ice on winter site fidelity of Pacific Common Eiders (Somateria mollissima v-nigrum). The Auk. 129(3):1-10.

Jay, C. V, B. G. Marcot, and D. C. Douglas. 2011. Projected status of the Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) in the twenty-first century.Polar Biol.

Prosser, D. J., P. Cui, J. Y. Takekawa, M. Tang, Y. Hou, B. M. Collins, B. Yan, N. J. Hill, T. Li, Y. Li, F. Lei, S. Guo, Z. Xing, Y. He, Y. Zhou, D. C. Douglas, W. M. Perry, and S. H. Newman. 2011. Wild bird mirgration across the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau: A transmission route for highly pathogenic H5N1.PLoS One. 6(3):e17622.

Amstrup, S.C., E.T. DeWeaver, D.C. Douglas, B.G. Marcot, G.M. Durner, C.M. Bitz, and D.A. Bailey. 2010. Greenhouse gas mitigation can reduce sea-ice loss and increase polar bear persistence. Nature 468:955-958.

Douglas, D. C. 2010. Arctic sea ice decline: Projected changes in timing and extent of sea ice in the Bering and Chukchi Seas. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2010-1176, 32 p.

Gaidet, N., J. Cappelle, J.Y. Takekawa, D.J. Prosser, S.A. Iverson, D.C. Douglas, W.M.Perry, T. Mundkur and S.H. Newman. 2010. Potential spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza H1N1 by wildfowl: Dispersal ranges and rates determined by large-scale satellite telemetry. Journal of Applied Ecology 47:1147-1157.

Jay, C.V., M.S. Udevitz, R. Kwok, A.S. Fischbach, and D.C. Douglas. 2010. Divergent movements of walrus and sea ice in the northern Bering Sea. Marine Ecology Progress Series 407:293-302.

Takekawa, J. Y., S. H. Newman, X. Xiao, D. J. Prosser, K. A. Spragens, E. C. Palm, B. Yan, T. Li, F. Lei, D. Zhao, D. C. Douglas, S. B. Muzaffar, and W. Ji. 2010. Migration of waterfowl in the East Asian Flyway and spatial relationship to HPAI H5N1 outbreaks. Avian Diseases 54:466-476.

Amstrup, S. C., H. Caswell, E. DeWeaver, I. Stirling, D. C. Douglas, B. G. Marcot, and C. M. Hunter. 2009. Rebuttal of "Polar bear population forecasts: A public-policy forecasting audit". Interfaces 39(4):353-369. doi 10.1287/inte.1090.0444

Durner, G. M., D. C. Douglas, R. M. Neilson, S. C. Amstrup, T. L. McDonald, I. Stirling, M. Mauritzen, E. W. Born, O. Wiig, E. DeWeaver, M. C. Serreze, S. E. Belikov, M. M. Holland, J. Maslanik, J. Aars, D. A. Bailey, and A. E. Derocher. 2009. Predicting 21st century polar bear habitat distribution from global climate models. Ecological Monographs 79:25-58.

Gill, R. E., T. L. Tibbitts, D. C. Douglas, C. M. Handel, D. M. Mulcahy, J. C. Gottschalck, N. Warnock, B. J. McCaffery, P. F. Battley, and T. Piersma. 2009. Extreme endurance flights by landbirds crossing the Pacific Ocean: ecological corridor rather than barrier? Proc. R. Soc. B. 276:447-457.

McIntyre, C. L., D. C. Douglas, and L. G. Adams. 2009. Movements of juvenile Gyrfalcons from western and interior Alaska following departure from their natal areas. J. Raptor. Res. 43(2):99-109.

Newman, S. H., S. A. Iverson, J. Y. Takekawa, D. J. Prosser, M. Gilbert, N. Batbayar, T. Natsagdorj, and D. C. Douglas. 2009. Migration of whooper swans and outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 virus in eastern Asia. PLoS ONE 4(5): e5729. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0005729.

Prosser, D. J., J. Y. Takekawa, S. H. Newman, B. Yan, D. C. Douglas, Y. Hou, Z. Xing, D. Zhang, T. Li, Y. Li, D. Zhao, W. M. Perry, and E. C. Palm. 2009. Satellite-marked waterfowl reveal migratory connection between H5N1 outbreak areas in China and Mongolia. Ibis 151(3):568-576.

Takekawa, J. Y., S. R. Heath, D. C. Douglas, W. M. Perry, S. Javed, S. H. Newman, A. R. Rahmani, B. C. Choudhury, D. J. Prosser, B. Yan, Y. Hou, N. Batbayar, T. Natsagdorj, C. M. Bishop, P. J. Butler, P. B. Frappell, W. K. Milsom, L. A. Hawkes, and M. Wilkelski. 2009. Geographic variation in Bar-headed Geese Anser indicus: connectivity of wintering areas and breeding grounds across a broad front. Wildfowl 59:102-125.

Amstrup, S.C., B.G. Marcot, and D.C. Douglas. 2008. A Bayesian network modeling approach to forecasting the 21st century world-wide status of polar bears. In, Arctic sea ice decline: Observations, Projections, Mechanisms, and Implications. Edited by E. T. DeWeaver, C. M. Bitz, and L.-B. Tremblay, Geophysical Monograph 180: 213-268. American Geophysical Union, Washington DC.

Belchansky, G.I., D.C. Douglas, and N.G. Platonov. 2008. Fluctuating Arctic sea ice thickness changes estimated by an in-situ learned and empirically forced neural network model. Journal of Climate 21(4):716-729.

McIntyre, C., D.C. Douglas, and M. Collopy. 2008. Movements of Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) from interior Alaska during their first year of independence. Auk 125(1):214-224.

Fischbach, A.S., S.C. Amstrup, and D.C. Douglas. 2007. Landward and eastward shift of Alaskan polar bear denning associated with recent sea ice changes. Polar Biology 30(11):1395-1405.

Park, W., D.C. Douglas, and T.C. Shirley. 2007. North to Alaska: Evidence for conveyor belt transport of Dungeness crab larvae along the west coast of the United States and Canada. Limnology and Oceanography 52(1):248-256.

Belchansky, G. I., D. C. Douglas, and N. G. Platonov. 2005. Spatial and temporal variations in the age structure of Arctic sea ice. Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, L18504, doi:10.1029/2005GL023976

Belchansky, G. I., D. C. Douglas, V. A. Eremeev, and N. G. Platonov. 2005. Variations in the Arctic's multiyear sea ice cover: A neural network analysis of SMMR-SSM/I data, 1979-2004. Geophys. Res. Lett. Vol. 32, No. 9, L09605, doi:10.1029/2005GL022395

Stone, R.S., D.C. Douglas, G.I. Belchansky, and S.D. Drobot. 2005. Correlated declines in Pacific Arctic snow and sea ice cover. Arctic Research of the United States 19(1):18-25.

Stone, R.S., D.C. Douglas, G.I. Belchansky, and S.D. Drobot. 2005. Polar Climate: Arctic sea ice. Pages 39-41 in D. H. Levinson (ed.), State of the Climate in 2004, Bull. Amer. Meterol. Soc. Vol. 86, No. 6, 86 pp.

Stone, R. S., D. C. Douglas, G. I. Belchansky, S. D. Drobot, and J. Harris. 2005. Cause and effect of variations in western Arctic snow and sea ice cover. 8.3, Proc. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 8th Conf. on Polar Oceanogr. and Meteorol., San Diego, CA, 9–13 January.

G. I. Belchansky, D. C. Douglas, I. V. Alpatsky, and N. G. Platonov. 2004. Spatial and temporal multiyear sea ice distributions in the Arctic: A neural network analysis of SSM/I data, 1988–2001. J. Geophys. Res.,109, C10017, doi:10.1029/2004JC002388.

Belchansky, G. I., D. C. Douglas, and N. G. Platonov. 2004. Duration of the Arctic sea ice melt season: Regional and interannual variability, 1979-2001. J. Climate 17(1):67-80. doi: 10.1175/1520-0442(2004)017<0067:DOTASI>2.0.CO;2

Belchansky, G. I., D. C. Douglas, I. N. Mordvintsev, and N. G. Platonov. 2004. Estimating the time of melt onset and freeze onset over Arctic sea-ice area using active and passive microwave data. Remote Sens. Environ. 92:21-39.

Stone, R. S., G. Belchansky, S. Drobot, and D. C. Douglas. 2004. Diminishing sea ice in the western Arctic Ocean. Pages S32-S33 in D. H. Levinson and A. M. Waple (eds.), State of the Climate in 2003, Bull. Amer. Meteorol. Soc., Vol. 85, No. 6, June 2004.

Petersen, M. R. and D. C. Douglas. 2004. Winter ecology of spectacled eiders: Environmental characteristics and population change. Condor 106:79-94.

Stow, D. A., A. Hope, D. McGuire, D. Verbyla, J. Gamon, F. Huemmrich, S. Houston, C. Racine, M. Sturm, K. Tap, L. Hinzman, K. Yoshikawa, C. Tweedie, B. Noyle, C. Silapaswan, D. Douglas, B. Griffith, G. Jia, H. Epstein, D. Walker, S. Daeschner, A. Petersen, L. Zhou, R. Myneni. 2004. Remote sensing of vegetation and land-cover change in Arctic tundra ecosystems. Remote Sens. Environ. 89:281–308.

Ward, D.H., A. Morton, T.L. Tibbitts, D.C. Douglas, and E. Carrera-Gonzas. 2003. Long-term change in eelgrass distribution at Baha San Quint Baja California, Mexico, using satellite imagery. Estuaries 26(6):1529-1539.

Meka, J. M., E. E. Knudsen, D. C. Douglas, and R. E. Benter. 2003. Variable migratory patterns of different rainbow trout life history types in a southwest Alaska watershed. Trans. Amer. Fisheries Soc. 132:717-732.

Stow, D., S. Daeschner, A. Hope, D. Douglas, A. Petersen, R. Myneni, L. Zhou and W. Oechel. 2003. Variability of the seasonally integrated Normalized Difference Vegetation Index across the North Slope of Alaska in the 1990's. Int. J. Remote Sensing 24(5):1111-1117.

Kenow, K. P., M. W. Meyer, D. C. Evers, D. C. Douglas, and J. Hines. 2002. Use of satellite telemetry to identify common loon migration routes, staging areas and wintering range. Waterbirds 25(4):449-458.

Griffith, B., D. C. Douglas, N. E. Walsh, D. D. Young, T. R. McCabe, D. E. Russell, R. G. White, R. D. Cameron, and K. R. Whitten. 2002. The Porcupine caribou herd. Pages 8-37 in D. C. Douglas, P. E. Reynolds, and E. B. Rhode, editors. Arctic Refuge coastal plain terrestrial wildlife research summaries, USGS Biological Science Report, USGS/BRD/BSR-2002-0001. http://alaska.usgs.gov/BSR-2002/pdf/usgs-brd-bsr-2002-0001-sec03.pdf

Griffith, B., D. C. Douglas, D. E. Russell, R. G. White, T. R. McCabe, and K. R. Whitten. 2001. Effects of recent climate warming on caribou habitat and calf survival. Pages 17-19 in R. E. Green, M. Harley, M. Spalding, and C. Zockler, eds. Impacts of climate change on wildlife. Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Cambridge, UK. 71 pp.

Belchansky, G. I. and D. C. Douglas. 2001. Seasonal comparisons of sea ice concentration estimates derived from SSM/I, OKEAN and RADARSAT data. Remote Sens. Env. 81:1-15.

Meka, J., D. Douglas, and E. E. Knudsen. 2000. Alagnak watershed rainbow trout investigations. Pages 35-42 in J.H. Eiler, D.J. Alcorn, and M.R. Neuman, editors. Biotelemetry 15: Proceedings of the 15th International Symposium on Biotelemetry, Juneau, Alaska, USA. International Society on Biotelemetry. Wageningen, The Netherlands.. [PDF file - 52 KB]

Hatch, S. A., P. M. Meyers, D. M. Mulcahy, and D. C. Douglas. 2000. Seasonal movements and pelagic habitat use of murres and puffins determined by satellite telemetry. Condor 102(1):145-154.

Hatch, S. A., P. M. Meyers, D. M. Mulcahy, and D. C. Douglas . 2000. Performance of implantable satellite transmitters in diving seabirds. Waterbirds 23(1):84-94.

Javed, S., J. Takekawa, D. C. Douglas, A. R. Rahmani, Y. Kanai, M. Nagendran, B. C. Choudhury, and S. Sharma. 2000. Tracking the spring migration of a Bar-headed Goose (Anser indicus) across the Himalaya with satellite telemetry. Global Environ. Res. 4(2):195-205.

Petersen, M. R., W. W. Larned, and D. C. Douglas. 1999. At-sea distribution of Spectacled Eiders (Somateria fischeri): 120 year-old mystery resolved. Auk 116:1009-1020.

Ward, D. H., C. J. Markon, and D. C. Douglas. 1997. Distribution and stability of eelgrass beds at Izembek Lagoon, Alaska. Aquatic Botany 58:229-240.

Ely, C. R., D. C. Douglas, A. C. Fowler, C. A. Babcock, D. V. Derksen and J. Y. Takekawa. 1997. Migration behavior of Tundra Swans from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska. Wilson Bull. 109:679-692.

Petersen,M.R., D.C. Douglas, and D.M. Mulcahy. 1995. Use of implanted satellite transmitters to locate Spectacled Eiders at-sea. The Condor 97:276-278.

Douglas, D. C., M. S. Udevitz, J. R. Gilbert, and D. O. Hunter. 1990. Evaluation of airborne videography for enumerating Pacific walruses (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) on sea-ice haulouts. Pages 507-513 in Proc. Resour. Technology 90, Int. Symp. on Advanced Technology in Nat. Resour. Manage. Am. Soc. Photogram. and Remote Sensing, Falls Church, Virginia.

Harris, R. B., S. G. Fancy, D. C. Douglas, G. W. Garner, S. C. Amstrup, T. R. McCabe, and L. F. Pank. 1990. Tracking wildlife by satellite: Current systems and performance. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Techical Report 52. [pdf file 1.07 mb]

Fancy, S. G., L. F. Pank, D. C. Douglas, C. H. Curby, G. W. Garner, S. C. Amstrup, and W. L. Regelin. 1988. Satellite telemetry: A new tool for wildlife research and management. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Resource Publication 172. [pdf file 2.2 mb]

Douglas, D., T. McCabe, S. Amstrup, and G. Garner, et al. 1988. Applications of Satellite Telemetry to Wildlife Research and Management in Alaska. Pages 5-12 in ate du colloque international: "suivi des vertebres terrestres par radiotelemetrie", Principality of Monaco. 191 pp.

Websites of Interest

Arctic Marine Mammal Sea Ice Habitats
The Douglas Argos-Filter Algorithm

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