Images

Cover photo for Shinneman, D.J., Welty, J.L., Arkle, R.S., Pilliod, D.S., Glenn, N.F., McIlroy, S.K., Halford, A.S., 2018, Fuels guide and database for intact and invaded big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) ecological sites—User manual: U.S. Geological Survey Data Series Report 1048, p.

This remote area along the southern Idaho-Oregon border was affected by the 2015 Soda Fire, which burned nearly 400 square miles of sagebrush habitat important to many species of wildlife, as well as federal and private ranchlands.

This auger is used to collect 1 meter deep soil cores for a carbon budget study associated with the SageSTEP project. SageSTEP is a long-term, multi-disciplinary experiment evaluating sagebrush restoration methods in the Great Basin.

Scientists sample a rough-skinned newt for the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans, or Bsal, at a pond near Portland, Oregon. Bsal is decimating wild salamander populations in Europe and could emerge in the U.S. thro

The eagle in the foreground with the wide white tail band is a golden eagle. The other eagles are two adult and one Basic II bald eagles.

USGS scientist Brome McCreary holding a radio telemetry antenna and receiver, tracking Oregon spotted frogs on the Deschutes River in Oregon. This work was part of a study investigating fall movements and overwintering habitat use. 

USGS scientist Jennifer Rowe using radio telemetry to track Oregon spotted frogs in Dead Slough on the Deschutes River, Oregon. This work was part of a study investigating fall movements and overwintering habitat use.

Scientists are studying several weed suppressive bacteria to see if they can be used as a biological control on invasive exotic grasses, such as cheatgrass.

The Altamont Pass Wind Far is located in northern California.

Grass seeds on freshly burned soil at the site of the 2015 Soda Wildfire. Grass seeds were aerially sown to restore native perennial vegetation.

A plot of bunchgrasses that established after the 2015 Soda Wildfire. The site was treated with herbicide the first fall post-fire, then grasses were drill seeded the subsequent year. A fence was installed to exclude livestock. This approach of combining herbicide, seeding, and grazing treatments is known as layering.

Biologists snorkel the Bogachiel River in Washington State to count resident and migratory fish as part of a riverscape survey.

Three USGS scientists prepare to conduct underwater biological surveys of the Bogachiel River, Washington

Scientists sample a rough-skinned newt for the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans, or Bsal, at a pond near Portland, Oregon. Bsal is decimating wild salamander populations in Europe and could emerge in the U.S. thro

To investigate whether insects could be used as bioindicators of climate change, USGS researchers studied insect community composition along an elevation gradient in semi-arid shrublands of eastern Oregon.

A snag - or dead tree- remaining after timber harvest on BLM land in Eugene, OR. The western purple martin, a declining songbird species, depends on snags for nesting.

NPS/USGS remote den camera. Fisher family denning in a mountain beaver burrow. Look carefully! Two fisher kits in front of their den site in a mountain beaver burrow (foreground) with mom (background left) watching on. The kits are about 4-5 months old.

Biological soil crusts, or biocrusts, are lichens, mosses, and cyanobacteria that grow on the soil surface and are common in the spaces between native plants in arid and semi-arid systems. Biocrusts reduce soil erosion, contribute to nutrient and water cycling, and reduce evaporation and invasion by exotic plants.

The 2016 SageSTEP field crew.  They are collecting vegetation monitoring data at SageSTEP's (Sagebrush Steppe Treatment Evaluation Project) Moses Coulee site.  SageSTEP is a regional experiment evaluating methods of sagebrush steppe restoration in the Great Basin.

USGS researchers Brome McCreary (orange vest) and Chris Pearl take measurements on Cascades frog at a mountain lake in Oregon.

Anna Ormiston and Jesi Hessong, student contractors with the USGS Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative, or ARMI, display several discarded mylar balloon collected by field teams working in and around the Capital Region National Parks in the summer of 2015. They collected a total of 71 balloons.