Series: Alaska Park Science - Volume 11 Issue 2: Science in Southwest Alaska

In this issue: * Invasive Species Management * Salmon in a Volcanic Landscape * Archiving Bird Data * and more!

• Article 1: Spatial Correlation of Archeaological Sites and Subsistence Resources in the Gulf of Alaska

  

  Discover how a GIS-based analysis of nearly 2,000 coastal archaeology sites demonstrates the strong correlation between seasonally-available marine food and human settlement around the Gulf of Alaska. Read more

• Article 2: Invasive Species Management in Southwest Alaska: Current Projects and Areas of Need

  

  Throughout Southwest Alaska invasive plants have potential to impact natural resources and ecosystems. Weed management efforts exist on the Kenai Peninsula and Kodiak Archipelago. To lessen the threat from invasion in underserved areas, collaborative approaches are needed to educate communities, implement prevention, conduct inventory, and manage invasive plants using integrated pest management practices. Read more

• Article 3: Salmon in a Volcanic Landscape: How Salmon Survive and Thrive on the Alaska Peninsula

  

  Volcanic activity can alter freshwater habitats dramatically, including major changes to water chemistry, turbidity, temperature, and channel morphology (Lucas 1986). These effects can severely impact fish populations living in the waters during the eruption, and the longer-term effects are also generally negative. So why do some of the most productive salmon populations on earth coexist with a history of volcanic eruptions? Read more

• Article 4: Using Archeaofaunas from Southwest Alaska to Understand Climate Change

  

  Archaeofaunal remains provide a unique record of how ecological systems have varied through time. Despite the fact that archaeologists in Alaska have been accumulating data for over 100 years, these data have never been compiled into a comprehensive database.Here, we report on one aspect of our on-going efforts to compile archaeofaunal data from Southwest Alaska. Despite over 100 years of active research in the area, large data gaps still exist. Read more

• Article 5: Archiving Southwest Alaska’s National Park bird data into eBird and Avian Knowledge Network Database

  

  In order to better understand the status of bird populations and permanently archive bird records, scientists initiated an effort to enter historical avian occurrence records from the Southwest Alaska Network of the National Park Service into the Avian Knowledge Network (AKN) and its sister database, eBird. Learn about the value of entering historic data into archival databases. Read more