Fish and Aquatic Species Conservation
Pollinator Conservation
Fish and Wildlife Disease Investigation and Surveillance
Freshwater and Coastal Ecology
Eastern Ecological Science Center
At the USGS Eastern Ecological Science Center (EESC), we strive to provide world-class science to inform natural resource decisions that preserve and enhance our quality of life.
EESC Cooperative Science with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
EESC Cooperative Science with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
From “blue water” rivers and streams to “green water” marine environments and brackish estuaries in between, EESC and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission are collaborating to bring together local, regional, and national expertise to provide the science that modern fisheries management demands.
EESC Quick Links
EESC Quick Links
Enjoy these quick links to the most requested information about EESC!
News
Small, common, and hidden: Collecting and integrating data on amphibian species abundances and distribution
Small, common, and hidden: Collecting and integrating data on amphibian species abundances and distribution
Inaugural USGS Wildlife Health Awareness Day - April 25, 2025
Inaugural USGS Wildlife Health Awareness Day - April 25, 2025
Notes from the Field: What’s on a sparrow’s dinner menu?
Notes from the Field: What’s on a sparrow’s dinner menu?
Publications
Bridging social and ecological science to create spatially-explicit models of human-caused mortality of carnivores
Research indicates that human-caused mortality (HCM) is a key factor limiting numerous large carnivore populations. However, efforts to represent HCM in spatially explicit models have generally been limited in scope—often relying on proxies, such as road or human density. Yet such efforts fail to distinguish different sources of HCM, which can arise from different antecedent processes...
Development of species-specific primers for the identification of Atlantic and shortnose sturgeons
Atlantic (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus) and shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) are broadly distributed along the Atlantic Coast of North America, where they use rivers, estuaries, and coastal habitats. In order to support management under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, it is important to understand when and where these fish occur. However, this presents a challenge as the...
Ecological thresholds and transformations due to climate change: The role of abiotic stress
An ecological threshold is the point at which a comparatively small environmental change triggers an abrupt and disproportionately large ecological response. In the face of accelerating climate change, there is concern that abrupt ecosystem transformations will become more widespread as critical ecological thresholds are crossed. There has been ongoing debate, however, regarding the...
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, California Water Science Center, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Southwest Biological Science Center, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC), Western Geographic Science Center, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center , Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, Eastern Ecological Science Center
Science
Marine Bird Populations and the Gulf of Mexico Marine Assessment Program for Protected Species (GoMMAPPS)
The objective of the Gulf of Mexico Marine Assessment for Protected Species (GoMMAPPS) project was to document the occurrence and diversity of bird species in nearshore and open sea environments of the Gulf of America for the purposes of better informing regulatory and other decisions that influence the conservation of migratory birds.
Genomics to Aid Conservation and restoration of the Yellow Lampmussel (Lampsilis cariosa) and Tidewater Mucket (Atlanticoncha ochracea)
Due to the rapid decline in abundance of Yellow Lampmussel ( Lampsilis cariosa) and Tidewater Mucket ( Atlanticoncha ochracea), USGS and partners at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and Central Michigan University (CMU) are conducting an assessment of genetic diversity and population structure to inform appropriate recommendations for conservation and management of each species. These...
Deriving Spatial and Temporal Waterfowl Inputs for Disease Risk Modeling
USGS is creating spatially and temporally explicit inputs to improve avian influenza transmission risk modeling. This project places special emphasis on wild bird distribution and abundance models as well as avian influenza prevalence models.