Images

Rangelands of the desert Southwest can be in a degraded condition and lacking perennial vegetation, which can lead to exposed soil and erosion.

The USGS RAMPS program hosts workshops where land managers from federal, state, and local agencies, practitioners, and NGO's can come together to discuss challenges and develop creative solutions.

USGS discusses grassland drought research with the National Park Service, BLM and a rancher at Canyonlands National Park.

USGS, National Park Service, BLM and a rancher discuss a rangeland drought experiment in Canyonlands National Park.

The iconic Sonoran Desert is home to many species of cactus, vascular plants, and wildlife, including the giant saguaro, cholla, and prickley pear cacti seen here. Plants and animals have adapted to living in such a harsh dry environment.

Water flowing into a pool in a desert canyon tributary near the Colorado River and Grand Canyon. Bats fly above the surface of the pool, drinking and catching insects. Video by Anya Metcalfe, USGS, SBSC.

A male southwestern pond turtle (Actinemys pallida) in riparian vegetation in the sun next to water, Mojave River, CA. This turtle is missing its left foot. Photo by Shellie (Michelle) Puffer, 2017.

The USGS Southwest Biological Science Center discusses rangeland conditions and our research on drought with managers and partners on the Colorado Plateau. Photo courtesy of Mike Duniway, USGS.

Taken 94 years apart, these side by side photographs of river mile 91.7 (looking upstream) show the increase in vegetation along the Colorado River corridor after the opening of the Glen Canyon Dam in 1963. F.C. La Rue (1923 photo) on left; H.C. Fairley and A.H. Fairley (2017 USGS photo) on right.

The San Rafael grasslands are a diverse ecosystem in southern Arizona along the U.S./Mexico border region, a part of the Madrean Archipelago ecoregion.

USFWS, BLM, and USGS examining a large, newly reclaimed oil or gas well pad near Vernal, Utah, July 2017. 

Sarah Waldo conducts greenhouse gas analysis with analyzer and floating chamber on Lake Powell as part of an SBSC, Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center study. Photo taken in 2017.

USGS ecologists Molly McCormick (left) and Katie Laushman (right) conducting a seeding experiment that is a part of RAMPS, a new USGS-led initiative to improve restoration outcomes in

Landscape view of the arid southwest in the four-courners region.

Monitoring riparian vegetation along the Colorado River downstream of Glen Canyon Dam

A female southwestern pond turtle (Actinemys pallida) basks in the sun, Mojave River, CA. Photo taken by Shellie Puffer, 2017, SBSC, USGS.

Field crew install a Restoration Field Trial Network garden in the rangelands of Northern Arizona.

Repeat photographs, like this one from river mile 130 below Lees Ferry, capture changes in riparian plant communities along the Colorado River in Grand Canyon over time. Notice the increase in vegetation along the river bank. The historic photo on the left was taken by E.C. LaRue in 1923. The photo on the right was taken by Alan H. Fairley.

Across the desert Southwest, ground void of plant material is prone to soil erosoin and dust storms. In this fallowed agricultural field, we see that a spring breeze can carry away fertile top soil and create air quality concerns.

Oil pad near Vernal, Utah

Biocrusts on the Colorado Plateau, canyonlands, Utah. Image courtesy of Erika Geiger, USGS, 2017.