Biological Papers of the University of Alaska: Recent submissions
Now showing items 21-26 of 26
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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.