Mammalogists to convene in Fairbanks for annual meeting

Submitted by Marie Gilbert
Phone: 907-474-7412
06/16/09

More than 400 biologists from around the world will convene at the University of Alaska Fairbanks later this month for the 89th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Mammalogists.

The conference runs from June 24-28 and includes technical sessions, poster presentations, symposia and workshops on scientific research covering hundreds of species of mammals from little brown bats to big brown bears. The presentations will cover many aspects of the latest mammal research, including genetics, physiology, behavior, morphology, biogeography and conservation.

“There is simply no better way to showcase UAF as a thriving research institution than to invite hundreds of scientists from around the world to visit and see for themselves,” said Link Olson, meeting co-chair and curator of mammals at the UA Museum of the North. “It’s also hands-down the single most effective means of recruiting future graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and faculty to UAF.”

Hosting professional conferences provides scientists an opportunity to educate colleagues about issues important to Alaska.

“The meeting also gives participants a chance to find out what colleagues are doing at this moment without waiting the year or more it takes for published research to become publicly available,” said Kris Hundertmark, meeting co-chair and a wildlife geneticist at the UAF Institute of Arctic Biology.

The meeting includes two events that are free and open to the public, both on Sunday, June 28 in UAF’s Davis Concert Hall. At 4 p.m., UAF professor emeritus and chair of the Idaho State University biological sciences department R. Terry Bowyer will present “Large terrestrial mammals: Population dynamics, politics, and perils.” At 7 p.m., Floyd Sandford will present “Darwin Remembers: Recollections of a Life’s Journey.” This 90-minute one-man living history performance highlights key milestones in Charles Darwin’s life and scientific work.

The conference is hosted by the UAF Institute of Arctic Biology and the University of Alaska Museum of the North. The meeting is held in a different location each year and was last held in Fairbanks in 1989. No other Alaska community has hosted this national meeting.

CONTACT: Kris Hundertmark, conference co-chairman, at 907-474-7159, ffkh@uaf.edu. Link Olson, conference co-chairman and University of Alaska Museum of the North mammal curator, at 907-474-5998, ffleo@uaf.edu. Marie Gilbert, IAB information officer, 907-474-7412, megilbert@alaska/edu. Kerynn Fisher, UA Museum of the North communications coordinator, 907-474-6941, klfisher@alaska.edu.

ON THE WEB: For more information including registration, schedule, abstracts and author index, visit . MEG/6-16-09/186-09

Talks

Bats
34: The effect of white-nose syndrome on torpid metabolic rates of Myotis lucifugus
35: Hibernation arousal patterns in little brown myotis (Myotis lucifugus) affected by white-nose syndrome (WNS)

Bears
71: Growth, size, and sexual dimorphism in brown bears: Does size matter?
150: Assessing individual identification, relatedness, temporal and spatial structuring of brown bears in Katmai National Park and Preserve
174: Effect of manipulated den temperatures on body temperature cycling in hibernating black bears (Ursus americanus)

Pikas, rats, shrews, squirrels and voles
22: On raptors and rodents: Reconstructing small mammal community dynamics from their skeletal remains
28: Estrogen, ion channels, and thermoregulation: From hot flashes to hibernation.
57: Diet and food availability of the endemic Prince of Wales flying squirrel: Implications for dispersal
72: Phylogeography of a holarctic shrew: The tundra shrew (Sorex tundrensis)
175: Active season changes in resting metabolic rate and body composition of free-living arctic ground squirrels.
180: Tracing the dispersal history of Rattus rattus and R. norvegicus in the U.S.
187: Social mole-rats as aging models - what we have learned, and what is yet to come
173: Body temperature patterns during hibernation in free-living Alaska marmots (Marmota broweri)
162: The fate of alpine specialists in a changing world: Phylodemography of the American pika

Caribou, deer, moose, reindeer
40: Muskox genetics: DNA from ancient permafrost bones to the present
53: Shifts in the distribution of muskoxen in northeastern Alaska
58: A tale of two males in the Arctic: Contrasting strategies for rut in reindeer and muskoxen.
62: Dynamics of body reserves in captive muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) during winter
192: Science and values influencing predator control programs for moose hunters
258: Estimating deer density in Alaska using DNA from fecal pellets.
259: Fine scale genetic structure of a large ungulate in Alaska.

Fox and wolves
94: Red and arctic foxes on the Saint Matthew Islands: Can they coexist?
90: Wolverine capture, home range, and movements in northern Southeast Alaska

Seals and otters
38: Isolation by distance measured by average relatedness in populations of ringed seals (Pusa hispida).
42: Recolonization or local reproduction? River otter recovery in previously-oiled areas of coastal Alaska
39: Reproducing demographic measures from lethal collections without lethal collections: Monitoring fur seal reproduction with ultrasonography
263: Population structure of an arctic ice seal: Support for conservative management

Humans
20: Human ecology: Has Homo sapiens exceeded global carrying capacity?
54: What's killing North America's mammals? A meta-analysis of cause specific mortality

Education, conservation and management
272: Large terrestrial mammals: Population dynamics, politics, and perils.
7: Enhancing education about the science and natural history of mammals.
13: Globetrotting: Patterns of similarity in mammalian distributions across continents
52: Impact of recent environmental change on Great Basin small mammals: An 80-year resurvey of the Ruby Mountains, Nevada
84: The ecology, evolution, and host associations of monkeypox

Posters
Bats
100: Strange things done under the midnight sun: Echolocation-call characteristics of little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) at the northern edge of their range

Bears
204: Functional genomics of winter hibernation in the black bear Ursus americanus

Rats, shrews, squirrels, voles, and marmots
97: Small-mammal monitoring in Denali National Park and Preserve, Central Alaska Network
101: Behavioural responses of hoary marmots (Marmota caligata) to alpine hikers in central Yukon
103: Bone mineral density is conserved during hibernation in arctic mammals
109: Investigating the potential impacts of shrub encroachment on arctic ground squirrel (Spermophilus parryii) behavior and density
115: The nature and significance of fossil and modern food-caches of the arctic ground squirrel (Spermophilus parryii).
197: Testing the coastal refugium hypothesis: A comparative phylogeography approach along the North Pacific Coast.
200: Analysis of interspecific sperm competition and aggregation in [deer mice] Peromyscus.

Moose, deer, muskox, caribou, reindeer, wood bison
107: Modeling the effects of fire severity on moose population densities and implications for ecosystem services
142: Linkages between large-scale climate patterns and the dynamics of arctic ungulate populations.
221: Seasonal movements and altitudinal migration of reintroduced wood bison (Bison bison athabascae) in Yukon, Canada
225: Distribution and movements of moose (Alces alces) in the Upper Koyukuk River Drainage, Alaska.

Wolves
102: Lousy wolves: Distribution of Trichodectes canis, an invasive ectoparasite of Alaska gray wolves