Images

Every year, the health of each of the thousands of trees in established research plots is checked, and if a tree has died, the cause of death is determined.

A copper-striped blue-tailed skink (Emoia impar) photographed in Samoa during a USGS field survey.

The Agassiz's desert tortoise, a native of the Mojave Desert.

A copper-striped blue-tailed skink (Emoia impar) photographed in Samoa during a USGS field survey.

A photo of USGS biological science technician Desmond Mackell holding a male mallard. USGS scientists based out of Dixon, CA are banding and marking mallards and other waterfowl with GPS transmitters as part of an ongoing study in the Suisun Marsh. 

A photo of USGS biological science technician releasing a male pintail in Suisun Marsh, CA. USGS Western Ecological Research Center scientists based out of Dixon, CA are marking and tagging waterfowl with GPS transmitters as part of an ongoing study.

Sunrise over Haleakalā Crater.

The crater of Haleakalā volcano in Haleakala National Park, Maui Hawai’i.

Pair of Greater White-fronted Geese at Colusa National Wildlife Refuge.

 Lesser Snow Goose at Colusa National Wildlife Refuge.

Flock of Ross’s Geese at Colusa National Wildlife Refuge.

Red-Tailed tropicbird (Phaethon rubricauda) chick.

Lennah Shakeri, a USGS biological science technician, collects the contents of an invertebrate fallout trap at the Nisqually River Delta, WA.

Dead trees viewed from the Colony Mill Trail in Sequoia National Park, photographed in 2015 during severe drought in California.

During the fall bats can be seen emerging from under the causeway at Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area near Sacramento, CA. Photo by Erika Sanchez-Chopitea, Western Geographic Science Center, USGS.

Drought-related tree mortality at a low elevation forest in Sequoia National Park. 

Photo of a hen pintail equipped with a camouflage GPS transmitter. USGS Western Ecological Research Center scientists based out of Dixon, CA are marking and tagging waterfowl in Suisun Marsh with GPS transmitters as part of an ongoing study.

Fog drip on a Bishop Pine, Radar Peak, Santa Rosa Island, CA

Photo of a USGS employee holding a mallard chick. USGS Western Ecological Research Center scientists based out of Dixon, CA are marking and tagging adult waterfowl with GPS transmitters as part of an ongoing study.

An endangered mountain yellow-legged frog (Rana muscosa).

Pink-footed shearwater in its breeding colony in Chile. USGS scientists have been tracking pink-footed shearwaters with satellite transmitters since 2006, revealing the migration patterns shown in the graphic below.