Images

Cactus blossom in the southeast Arizona grasslands, looking into Mexico.

Sunset clouds above Grand Canyon's colorful canyon walls, with riparian trees in the foreground. Photo by Emily Palmquist, USGS.

SBSC technician Morgan Andrews collects native hairy false goldenaster (Heterotheca villosa) seeds for data and restoration research near Moab, UT in September 2021. Photo by Shannon Lencioni, SBSC, USGS.

A photo of brown trout (Salmo trutta). Original image was from USGS NY Water Science Center, public domain.

Nick Paretti, Arizona Water Science Center (AZWSC), measures water flow at a tributary to the Colorado River in Grand Canyon. Photo courtesy of Kat Cooney, USGS, AZWSC.

Research ecologist Emily Palmquist collecting plant data during riparian vegetation monitoring along the Colorado River.

Jackie, a USGS technician, keys riparian plants along the Colorado River in Grand Canyon, AZ. The USGS Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center conducts vegetation monitoring as a science provider for the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program. Photo by Emily Palmquist, USGS.

Degraded dryland habitat on the Colorado Plateau. Photo by Shannon Lencioni, SBSC, USGS.

Native common reed (Phragmites australis spp. americanus) at Colorado River Mile -7.7L, near Lunch Beach. Common reed is a culturally important species to the Tribes traditionally affiliated with this region. It plays a role in multiple emergence stories, is used in a wide variety of ceremonies, and has had many utilitarian uses.

Pluchea sericea (arrowweed) reeds on the bank of the Colorado River in Grand Canyon. Here they are inundated by the river. Photo by Emily Palmquist, taken during riparian vegetation monitoring by USGS Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center.

RestoreNet is partnering with the Gornish lab at the University of Arizona to better understand how a plant’s source location (provenance) influences its performance in a restoration setting. This greenhouse experiment will be conducted by PhD student, Sierra Lauman.

Cathedral Valley, Capital Reef National Park, Utah. Photo by Chris Benson, USGS.

A panorama of Cathedral Valley, Capital Reef National Park, Utah. Photo by Chris Benson, USGS, 2021.

A USGS research ecologist and botanist, Emily Palmquist, conducts riparian vegetation monitoring along the Colorado River just below Glen Canyon Dam. This work is part of the research conducted by the Southwest Biological Science Center's Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center as the science provider for the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program.

The United States is developing renewable energy resources, especially solar, at a rapid rate.

Heavily grazed pinyon-juniper habitat on the Colorado Plateau. Photo by Shannon Lencioni, SBSC, USGS.

Clear glass incubation bottles with Colorado River water and sediment for an experiment on phosphorus cycling

eDNA sampling equipment filter cup parts.

The USGS Southwest Biological Science Center (SBSC) is conducting environmental DNA (eDNA) research in and near the Colorado River in Grand Canyon to detect invasive fish species and other aquatic threats before they become established.

Greenhouse study comparing plant performance during drought will help land managers choose plant species for restoring degraded lands. To find out more, follow the Restoration Assessment and Monitoring Program of the Southwest, housed at the Southwest Biolobigical Science Center. www.ugs.gov/sbsc/ramps

A Bureau of Reclamation researcher, Kent Mosher, conducts eDNA sampling in the Colorado River to detect invasive aquatic species such as smallmouth bass.