Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center
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Our Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center's priority is to continue the important work of the Department of the Interior and the USGS, while also maintaining the health and safety of our employees and community. Based on guidance from the White House, the CDC, and state and local authorities, we are shifting our operations to a virtual mode and have minimal staffing within our offices. If you need additional assistance, please contact Claudia Regan at cregan@usgs.gov or Judy O'Dwyer at jodwyer@usgs.gov.
Featured Research
Click here to learn about the use of DNA in detecting aquatic invasive species & pathogens.
Detecting Invasives
NOROCK Quick Links
Check out our most up-to-date data, events and science.
Using DNA to track invasive aquatic species & pathogens
Status of Glaciers in Glacier National Park
Glacier Repeat Photography Project
NOROCK ScienceNews
Erik Beever, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center Research Ecologist, Acknowledged by the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies
On September 8, 2021, Erik Beever was acknowledged in the 2021 Climate Adaptation Leadership Awards by receiving an honorable mention for his research about how species respond to contemporary climate change. The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA) sponsors the award.
Picture This: A National Climate Change Viewer that Helps Land Managers and Decision Makers Plan for Climate Change
The enormity of the challenge posed by climate change makes it difficult to visualize and understand on the ground. Even though wide-ranging impacts are visible today, it’s hard to envision how tomorrow’s changes will take shape. What will the temperature be in Portland in the spring, or how much rain might Dallas get in the fall? The USGS has a tool that can help address that challenge.
Multiple Climate Change Challenges For Native Cutthroat Trout Discussed in National Geographic Article
NOROCK scientist Clint Muhlfeld discussed the direct and indirect effects of climate change on native cutthroat trout in western Montana in a National Geographic article. Specifically, Clint spoke about the effects of altered streamflows and hybridizing with a nonnative fish species.
Publications
Staggered-entry analysis of breeding phenology and occupancy dynamics of Arizona toads from historically occupied habitats of New Mexico, USA
For species with variable phenology, it is often challenging to produce reliable estimates of population dynamics or changes in occupancy. The Arizona Toad (Anaxyrus microscaphus) is a southwestern USA endemic that has been petitioned for legal protection, but status assessments are limited by a lack of information on population trends. Also,...
Forzley, MJ; Ryan, Mason J.; Latella, IM; Giermakowski, JT; Muths, Erin L.; Sigafus, Brent H.; Hossack, Blake R. Natural history of a bighorn sheep pneumonia epizootic: Source of infection, course of disease, and pathogen clearance
A respiratory disease epizootic at the National Bison Range (NBR) in Montana in 2016–2017 caused an 85% decline in the bighorn sheep population, documented by observations of its unmarked but individually identifiable members, the subjects of an ongoing long-term study. The index case was likely one of a small group of young bighorn sheep on a...
Besser, T. E.; Cassirer, E. Frances; Lisk, Amy; Nelson, Danielle; Manlove, Kezia R.; Cross, Paul; Hogg, John T. Amphibian population responses to mitigation: Relative importance of wetland age and design
Wetland creation is a common practice to mitigate for the loss of natural wetlands. However, there is still uncertainty about how effectively created wetlands replace habitat provided by natural wetlands. This uncertainty is due in part because post-construction monitoring of biological communities, and vertebrates especially, is rare and...
Oja, Emily Bea; Swartz, Leah S; Muths, Erin L.; Hossack, Blake R.