Images

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.

USGS scientists monitor BLM efforts to restore vegetation in the area burned byt he 2015 Soda Fire in southwest Idaho and southeast Oregon sagebrush-steppe.

Determining aboveground biomass of sagebrush, grasses, and forbs is important for estimating fuel loads, measuring carbon storage, and assessing habitat quality in shrublands. Remote sensing may offer a more efficient alternative to common, labor intensive methods of measuring aboveground biomass that are difficult to apply across large areas.

Samples from various aquatic species and other material necessary to create environemntal DNA (eDNA) assays are stored at the Snake River Field Station in Boise. Water samples from aquatic ecosystems are compared against the assays to identify the presence and location of species in those ecosystems.

Samples collected form coho salmon that will be used to develop environmental DNA (eDNA) assays for the species. Water samples from aquatic ecosystems are compared against the assays to identify the presence and location of species in those ecosystems.

A wind farm on Kibby Mountain in western Maine. Researchers at the Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center are collecting remains from birds and bats found dead at renewable energy facilities across the country. 

Sagebrush seedlings grown at Birds of Prey National Conservation Area before outplanting to sites at BOP NCA in Nov 2012 in sites previously burned in wildfire summer 2012

Scenic view from Siuslaw National Forest, OR.

Sagebrush seedlings grown at Birds of Prey National Conservation Area before outplanting to sites at BOP NCA in Nov 2012 in sites previously burned in wildfire summer 2012

Snags provide habitat for a wide range of organisms from cavity-nesting birds to insects, and are critical for maintaining forest biodiversity. Resource managers can create snags by topping trees to mitigate loss of snags to timber harvest, but information regarding changes in habitat for snag-dependent wildlife over time as created snags decay is lacking.

Joan Hagar and Amy Comstock assess the long-term ecological value and characteristics of snags created for wildlife

Joan Hagar and Amy Comstock assess the long-term ecological value and characteristics of snags created for wildlife

Northern spotted owls (Strix occidentalis caurina) are mostly non-migratory, long-lived birds whose populations have declined in mature forests of western North America.

A pair of American avocets wading in a saline lake in the Great Basin. Many bird species rely on food resources found in saline lakes, such as brine shrimp and brine flies.

The Kalispel Tribe in northeastern Washington is located along the Pend Oreille River, home to culturally important, cold-water fish, such as bull trout and cutthroat trout.

The glorious Douglas fir forest on the west side of the Cascade Mountains, McKenzie Pass, Willamette National Forest. The Douglas fir is the Oregon state tree.

A remnant beaver pond on Jack Creek that was excavated and deepened, photographed just after construction. Old beaver ponds were excavated to improve water retention during drought and provide habitat for amphibians like the Oregon spotted frog.

A crew surveys Upper Whitehorse Creek in SE Oregon and finds a stretch of stream that dries up, or runs underground. 

USGS Manuela Huso and FWS Chris Nicolai at solar trough facility. A solar trough reflects the sun's rays towards a solar collector.

Spotted Owl flying

Northern spotted owls (Strix occidentalis caurina) are mostly non-migratory, long-lived birds whose populations have declined in mature forests of western North America.