Publications: Recent submissions
Now showing items 21-32 of 32
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Studies on Alaskan FishesA New Species of Salvelinus from the Brooks Range, Northern Alaska; Statistical Analyses of Discrete Morphology in Northern Populations of the Fish Genus Salvelinus; New Distributional Records of Liparids and Description of a New Species from Alaska; Behavior of the Arctic Grayling, Thymallus arcticus, in McManus Creek, Alaska
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Taxonomy and Ecology of the Inconnu, Stenodus Leucichthys Nelma, in AlaskaA taxonomic and life history study of the inconnu was carried out on populations from the Kobuk, Chatanika, and upper Yukon Rivers, and Selawik, Alaska. Data on 24 morphological measurements and 11 meristic counts show little difference among: 1) males and females; 2) young and older inconnu; and 3) fish from the upper Yukon River, Chatanika River, Selawik, and Kobuk River in Alaska and the Ob River, USSR. Based on close agreement of these counts and measurements, the inconnu in Alaska is designated as Stenodus leufifhthys nelma (Pallas). For arctic fish, the inconnu exhibits a rapid growth rate. Growth rates for males and females are similar, but females live longer than males. Alaskan inconnu become sexually mature quite late in life (for Selawik males, 9 years; females, 10 years). Spawning behavior is described. Spawning occurred in the Kobuk River above Kobuk the last days of September at water temperatures betwen 1/4 and 4.6 C. Older inconnu are mainly piscivorous while the younger fish feed on invertebrates and fish. The least cisco, Coregonus sardinella, was the main food item of the Selawik inconnu. The estimated catch in Northwest Alaska in 1965 was between 34,200 and 37,000 fish, 85% of which were taken for subsistence.
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The Biology and Taxonomy of the Burbot, Lota Lota Leptura, in Interior AlaskaBased upon the high peduncle ratio, the pattern of its geographic variation, and the high vertebral and pyloric caecal numbers, the burbot in Alaska is considered subspecifically different from the southeastern North American burbot. The sub-specific name Lota lota leptura Hubbs and Schultz is accepted. A regression equation is given for back-calculating the previous lengths of the burbot at each age from the diameter of the corresponding ring of the otolith. Burbot grow slower but larger and live longer in Alaska than in many other areas. Specimens as long as 99.5 cm and as old as 24 years of age were caught. Most of the burbot in interior Alaska probably die before age 15. Male burbot have a shorter life span and grow more slowly in their later age than do females. The length and weight relationship changes seasonally and is related to the liver and gonad weights. The growths of liver and gonad are interrelated. Growth of the burbot in weight is also discussed. The reproductive habits of burbot are reviewed. In interior Alaska, the burbot mature at age 6 or 7 when the fish reach a length of 40 to 50 cm. Spawning takes place around February. A 1,230 g burbot produces abut 738,500 eggs. Summer food habits of burbot, and a point allotment method used in stomach analysis are described. The burbot eat mostly young burbot and sculpins. Young burbot eat mostly invertebrates, mainly Plecoptera. Young burbot seem to feed more intensively than do the adults.
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Birds and Mammals of the Pitmegea River Region, Cape Sabine, Northwestern AlaskaThe results of four summers study from 1957 to 1960 on the interrelationships and distribution of the vertebrate fauna along the Pitmegea River at Cape Sabine in northwestern Alaska are presented. The geologic background, climate, soils, vegetational types and land utilization are discussed. Five major plant communities are described and used to analyze the distribution of birds and mammals. These communities are Barrens, Upland Meadows, Wet Meadows, Marshes and Shrub Types. Ninety species of birds were recorded of which 55 species nested within the Pitmegea drainage. Twenty-three species of mammals were reported. Evidence of reproductive activity, local abundance and distribution and ecological interrelationships are presented. Particular emphasis is placed on microtine rodents and their predators. Evidence for a population irruption in the Tundra Vole (Microtus oeconomus) in 1959 is reported.
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Geographical and Sexual Variation in the Long-Tailed Jaeger Stercorarius Longicaudus VieillotManning, T. H. 1964. Geographical and sexual variation in the Long-tailed Jaeger, Stercorarius longicaudus Vieillot. Biol. Pap. Univ. Alaska, No. 7. Pp. iii + 16 (Author's address: RR 1, Merrickville, Ontario, Canada) Statistical comparison of the color of the underparts of 474 Nearctic and 64 western and central Palearctic sexed specimens of Long-tailed Jaegers indicates that S. l. pallescens Loppenthin is a valid race ranging across the Nearctic and eastern Siberia to the Indigirka River. Spitsbergen specimens are also referable to this race; Iceland specimens belong to S. l. longicaudus. Females are significantly darker than males. The origin and migration of the two races are discussed. bills and wings of Nearctic males are shorter than those of females, and there are significant geographical differences within the Nearctic population. Regression and correlation statistics for wing and bill lengths are given and discussed. Thirty-two weighed specimens indicate that within populations weight is correlated with wing length but not with bill length.
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Some New Records and Range Extensions of Arctic Plants for AlaskaJohnson, Albert W. and Leslie A. Viereck. 1962. Some new records and range extensions of arctic plants for Alaska. Biol. Pap. Univ. Alaska, No. 6. Pp. iv + 32. Many vascular plant species not previously reported from coastal northwest Alaska were found during floristic investigations in that region. Plant collections were made primarily in the Ogotoruk Creek-Cape Thompson area but extended as far as Keeseemalouk Creek on the southeast and to Cape Lewis on the northwest. This area is characterized by long, cold winters, cool summers, low precipitation, and high winds. Superimposed on substrates composed of basic to acidic rocks and their erosion products are vegetation types and plant communities, the most common of which are dominated by Dryas octopetala and sedges. The mosaic of habitats in the area includes broad wet meadows, dry fellfields, talus slopes, precipitous cliffs, gravel bars and benches, snow-beds, tundra ponds, strands, and coastal lagoons, each of which supports a characteristic aggregation of species. The 37 species presented in this paper are: Calamagrostis deschampsioides Trin., C. lapponica (Wahlenb.) Hartm., Trisetum sibiricum Rupr., Koeleria asiatica Domin., Puccinellia vaginata (Lge.) Fern. & Weatherby, Festuca baffinesis Polunin, Festuca vivipara (L.) Sm., Kobresia hyperborea Pors., Carex nardina E. Fries, C. subspatheacea Wormskj. ex Hornem., C. ursina Dew., Allium schoenoprasum L. var. sibiricum (L.) Hartm., Salix chamissonis Anderss., S. ovalifolia Trautv., Koenigia islandica L., Rumex graminifolius Georgi. ex Lambert, Claytonia tuberosa Pall. ex Willd., Montia Laprosperma Cham., Arenaria nardifolia Ledeb., Ranunculus aquatilis var. eradicatus Laestad., R. turneri Greene, Lesquerella arctica (Wormskj.) Wats., Draba pseudopilosa Pohle, Smelowskia borealis Drury and Rollins var. jordalii Drury and Rollins, Potentilla egedii var. groenlandica (Tratt.) Polunin, Rubus arcticus L., Sanguisorba officinalis L., Astragalus australis (L.) Lam., Callitriche verna L., Viola epipsila Ledeb. subsp. repens (Turcz.) Becker, Angelica lucida L., Pedicularis oederi Vahl, Linnaea borealis L., Adoxa moschatellina L., Aster alpinus L. subsp. vierhapperi Onno, Senecio pseudo-arnica Less., Tarxacum phymatocarpum J. Vahl.
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Faunal Relationships of Birds in the Iliamna Lake Area, AlaskaWilliamson, Francis S. L. and Leonard J. Peyton. 1962. Faunal relationships of birds in the Iliamna Lake area, Alaska. Biol. Pap. Univ. Alaska, No. 5. Pp. ii + 73. The authors studied animal-borne diseases and birds in the Iliamna Lake area, Alaska, for 86 man-days in May and June of 1958 and 1959. The ornithological history, climate, physiography, and major ecological characteristics of the area are discussed. Twelve ecological formations representing the Moist Coniferous Forest, Coniferous Forest, and Tundra Biomes are distinguished on the basis of plant life-form and geologic features and are used to analyze the distribution of birds. Eighty-one species of birds were observed and included in an annotated list of 103 species. Evidence of breeding and specimen data are presented. Other evidence indicates changes in abundance and range from earlier studies. Populations of Canachites canadensis, Parus hudsonicus, Vermicora celata, Dendroica petechia, Passerella iliaca are intermediate between these species' interior and coastal races. Passerella iliaca zaboria, P. i. unalaschensis, and P. i. sinuosa all occur. Intermediates between P. i. zaboria and the two other races are apparently rare. These and other racial relationships are discussed. The Iliamna avifauna is comprised of Sitkan (5 species), Hudsonian (38 species) and Eskimoan (20 species) avifaunal elements associated with the Moist Coniferous Forest, Coniferous Forest, and Tundra Biomes respectively. Nineteen widely distributed species were valueless in detective faunal relationships. The data suggest that extreme southeastern Alaska, Prince William Sound, and probably Kodiak and Afognak Islands constitute distinct faunal districts. The Iliamna-Cook Inlet region has a mixed avifauna.
