FAQ's about Wildlife

Systematics, or taxonomy, is the branch of biological sciences that deals with the identification, description, naming, and classification of the world's biota. Taxonomic information can be found through the National Biological Information Infrastructure (the NBII) at http://www.nbii.gov. Quoting their website, "The National Biological Information Infrastructure is a broad, collaborative program to provide increased access to data and information on the [world's] biological resources." From their homepage there is a link to the Systematics website, where you can find a number of excellent sources for the information about the scientific names of plants and animals, including the Integrated Taxonomic Information System, or ITIS. ITIS is a partnership of federal and international agencies, and other organizations, as well as, taxonomic specialists cooperating on the development of an online, scientifically credible list of biological names focusing on the biota of North America. The ITIS is also a participating member of Species 2000, an international project indexing the world's known species.

Bats are among the world's least appreciated and most endangered animals. The USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center's pages on bats can be found at http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/mammals/okbats/ and include links to other sources of information. A delightful educational site, "Echo the Bat," can be accessed at http://imagers.gsfc.nasa.gov/. The Teachers' Guide contains links to bat conservation organizations and other sources of information.

Bat Conservation International has an extensive site at http://www.batcon.org and provides a wealth of information, including volunteer opportunities and bat workshop schedules.

There are 15 essential elements to all animals and plants, these include: Hydrogen(H) Carbon (C) Nitrogen (N) Oxygen (O) Sodium (Na) Magnesium(Mg) Phosphorus(P) Sulfur(S) Chlorine (C) Potassium (K) Calcium (Ca) Manganese (Mn) Iron (Fe) Copper (Cu) Zinc (Zn), and Selenium (Se)

The earliest reference we have to unusual animal behavior prior to a significant earthquake is from Greece in 373 BC. Rats, weasels, snakes, and centipedes reportedly left their homes and headed for safety several days before a destructive earthquake. Anecdotal evidence abounds of animals, fish, birds, reptiles, and insects exhibiting strange behavior anywhere from weeks to seconds before an earthquake. However, consistent and reliable behavior prior to seismic events, and a mechanism explaining how it could work, still eludes us. Most, but not all, scientists pursuing this mystery are in China or Japan.

The USGS Wildlife: Terrestrial and Endangered Species Program conducts research and monitoring to conserve, protect, and restore declining species and the habitats they depend on. For more information on these activities go to the USGS imperiled species website.

Highlights of new ground-breaking USGS research on endangered plants and animals has just been released in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in a publication called the Endangered Species Bulletin (PDF).

Go to the Natural Hazards Gateway, which includes:

• Earthquakes
• Floods
• Geomagnetism (solar flares, etc.)
• Hurricanes
• Landslides
• Seismic Zone Mapping
• Sinkholes
• Tsunamis
• Volcanoes
• Wildfires

This link is a video link of an Asian swamp eel.

Trace essential elements such as fluorine, copper, selenium, molybdenum, and others can be hazardous to living organisms if present at high levels. Nonessential heavy metals such as arsenic, lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium are usually toxic to organisms as much lower levels than trace essential elements. Depending on the association that these nonessential elements may form with natural geologic materials such as organic matter, other elements or minerals, and adsorbers (such as clays), these elements can range from being safe to being extremely toxic.

Because of growing public concern about the environmental contamination, it is becoming increasingly important to better understand both the natural and human processes that control the movement of elements at the Earth's surface. Elements can be quite mobile in water, and the majority of our environmental problems are ultimately associated with the contamination of surface and ground water.

When water comes into contact with rocks and soils, some of the minerals and organic substances dissolve and enter the natural waters. Forests and grasslands generally contribute only small amounts of these dissolved substances. However, it is possible for an area to contain unusually high concentrations of minerals, thereby depositing them to the waterways. For example, swamps and marshes often produce acidic and colored water. Other areas that contributed natural pollutants to water are those containing rocks with sulfide minerals, particularly pyrite.

Inorganic substance are cycled naturally through our environment at concentrations that usually do no adversely affect plants and animals. However, the combination of some natural processes with human activities can increase these substances to harmful or toxic levels. Therefore, toxic substances may have both natural and human sources.

Natural sources of toxic substance include rocks, volcanoes, sediments, and soils. Human activities that add toxic substances to the environment include smelting, manufacturing, refining, chemical processing, fertilizer application, irrigation, and waste disposal.

A large concentration of a substance commonly identifies a source of pollution but may not necessarily indicate a problem. In addition to the concentration, other characteristics of the substance must be considered. These characteristics include the amount of the substance released, the rate of release, its availability to organisms, and its residence time in a particular ecosystem. (From USGS Circular 1105.)

They are primarily algae feeders. They feed by filtering the water through a siphon, up to a liter per day. This is why they like the insides of pipes so well, there is a constant supply of water and food flowing by them.

The Gap Analysis Program (GAP) is a state-based cooperative effort to map major indicators of biodiversity over states, along with the existing network of conservation lands. The indicators of biodiversity that the GAP state projects map using geographic information system (GIS) technology are dominant vegetation types (e.g., oak-hickory-hemlock forest) and distributions of each native vertebrate species.

Although coordinated by the BRD, the program is made up of over 400 cooperating organizations nationwide, including businesses, governments, and universities.

It boils down to a fundamentally basic concept: Manatees are part of a system. If you remove any component from a system, there will be an effect on something else. For example, manatees could die if we kill most of the plants they depend on for food. On the other hand, manatees help control the vegetation that can obstruct Florida waterways. They also provide a benefit by processing the vegetation they eat and passing it back out into the environment as a form of fertilizer. Ecotourism forms the basis for a flourishing tourist industry in Florida. Close to 70,000 people visit Crystal River every year just to see and swim with manatees, thus helping the local economy. There is an aesthetic value to manatees as well. They are fun to watch and we can learn a lot from their non-aggressive, passive demeanor. Protecting endangered and threatened species and restoring them to a secure status in the wild is the primary objective of the endangered species program of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, an agency of the Department of the Interior. The Endangered Species Web site can be accessed at http://endangered.fws.gov.

Visit the USGS National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) web pages at http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/. The National Wildlife Health Center was established in 1975 as a biomedical laboratory dedicated to assessing the impact of disease on wildlife and to identifying the role of various pathogens in contributing to wildlife losses. Go to http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/ for information about specific diseases being studied by the NWHC.

So, what is a zebra mussel? They are a type of mollusk, which also include a wide variety of organisms such as squids, octopuses, snails, oysters, scallops, and clams. Generally, zebra mussels live for four to five years and average about an inch in length. Mussels are also called "bivalves," which means they have two shells or valves. The zebra mussel gets its name because of the dark, striped pattern on each valve. Usually the shell is a light color, either tan or beige, with zig-zag stripes.

Yes. There is evidence that some animals, probably most notably sea turtles, have the ability to sense the Earth's magnetic field (although probably not consciously) and to use this sense, along with their several other senses, for purposes of orientation. We acknowledge that this is an interesting subject, and inquisitive acquaintances have posed this question to us on many occasions. However, the issue of magnetic orientation by animals is really more a matter of biophysics rather than geophysics, and we will, therefore, refer the curious reader to the following authoritative articles:

• Lohmann, K. J., Hester, J. T. & Lohmann, C. M. F., 1999. Long-distance navigation in sea turtles, Ethology Ecology & Evolution, 11, 1-23.
• Skiles, D. D., 1985. The geomagnetic field: Its nature, history and biological relevance, In Magnetite Biomineralization and Magnetoreception by Living Organisms: A New Biomagnetism, Ed: Kirschvink, J. L., Jones, D. S. & MacFadden, B. J., Plenum Publishing Corporation, New York.
• Walker, M. M., Dennis, T. E. & Kirschvink, J. L., 2002. The magnetic sense and its use in long-distance navigation by animals, Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 12, 735-744.
• Wiltschko, R. & Wiltschko, W., 1995. Magnetic orientation in animals, Zoophysiology, 33, Springer Verlag, Berlin.

Have you visited the Children's Butterfly Site? Although it is geared toward young people, the site contains a wealth of information on butterflies, including photo galleries (Common Butterflies of Western Europe and Great Britain, and Common Butterflies of North America), as well as links to other Internet sites, including the online version of Butterflies of North America. The North American Butterfly Association Web site also contains a great deal of information on butterflies, along with many links to additional information--including state-by-state links for local information.

If you have specific questions, you may wish to contact your local university or college entomology department or extension office.

Figuring out clever ways to estimate animal population sizes and their trends involves a lot of research time at the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. You may be interested in the Web pages beginning at http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/populations/ to learn about these activities. As you probably know, animals do not particularly want to be counted and it becomes quite a tricky business!

Birds: Information on Salton Sea bird die-offs can be found through the USGS National Wildlife Health Center Web site at http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/. Information has been issued by the center through their Quarterly Wildlife Mortality Report.

Fish: There are several species of Tilapia in the Salton Sea. By far, the most abundant is Tilapia mossambica. This fish was accidentally introduced by nearby fish-rearing facilities in the 1960s, and it has proliferated as the salinity has increased. This is the species that now comprises the majority of fish involved in massive die-offs and is suspected of having a role in the deaths of fish-eating birds from avian botulism.

Another good information resource is the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge Web page. You can also download the document "Saving the Salton Sea" at their Web site at http://pacific.fws.gov/refuges/salton.pdf.

Following a rigorous protocol, BBS data are collected by thousands of dedicated participants along thousands of randomly established roadside routes throughout the continent. Professional BBS coordinators and data managers work closely with researchers and statisticians to compile and deliver these population data and population trend analyses on more than 400 bird species, for use by conservation managers, scientists, and the general public.

For more information on the BBS go to: http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/.

If you're interested in becoming involved in the North American Breeding Bird Survey, go to: http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/participate/

You can access the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center's Bird Banding Laboratory Web pages at http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl/default.htm; the page on "How to Report a Bird Band" is at http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl/homepage/call800.htm. Call toll-free, 1-800-327-2263, from anywhere in Canada, the United States, and most parts of the Caribbean. Please have all the information on the bird band with you when you call (band number, location, date, and how you got the band). You may also report the band electronically, through a link from the Web page.

The zebra mussel has the potential to inhabit most of the fresh waters of the U.S. and may impact a variety of native aquatic species and eventually entire ecosystems. They also have had a large economic impact already. Many power plants and water users have had to spend millions of dollars cleaning out zebra mussels from their facilities. In addition, more money has been spent on retrofitting facilities with devices to keep zebra mussels out and to monitor for them. These costs, unfortunately, get passed along to the consumers.