Monitoring and Detection

The Nonindigenous Aquatic Species (NAS) program has developed a new tool, the NAS Alert Risk Mapper (ARM), to characterize waterbodies in the conterminous U.S. and Hawaii at potential risk of invasion from a new nonindigenous species sighting.

Understanding the native versus non-native range of a species can provide useful information about dispersal, population distribution patterns, and human mediated movement across hydrologic barriers. The USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species (NAS) Program is working with partners to define native ranges of inland fishes in the United States to help identify which species should be included in the NAS...

Storm-related flooding can lead to the potential spread of nonindigenous (or non-native) aquatic species into waterways they have not been seen in before. The USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species program has developed an innovative mapping tool to help natural resource managers with post-storm nonindigenous aquatic species detection and assessment efforts.

USGS is applying decision analysis to identify cost-effective methods for controlling invasive species like the Argentine black and white tegu.

In November 2018, USGS researchers joined partners in South Florida where they sampled freshwater bodies for non-native fishes. The bi-annual Fish Slam event helps monitor new introductions and document range expansion of known non-native fishes.

Freshwater wetlands provide critical habitat for a diverse array of organisms, including many amphibians. Yet, under the threat of climate change, these habitats are among the most imperiled ecosystems on Earth.

Detecting invasive species at low densities or prior to population establishment is critical for successful control and eradication. For example, Burmese pythons occupy thousands of square kilometers of mostly inaccessible habitats.

Chicopit Bay, part of the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve in Florida, is a small embayment at the intersection of San Pablo Creek (part of the Intercoastal Waterway) and the St. Johns River. Home to a number of small oyster beds, this area is now being dredged to help eliminate cross currents from the main shipping channel of the St. Johns. WARC researchers collect baseline environmental...

Understanding amphibian's life-histories can help predict how they may persist in aquatic habitats in the face of droughts and other climate change-associated events.

Telemetry tracking of captured pythons reveals movement patterns of the invasive Burmese python in the Greater Everglades, information that managers can use to prioritize python control efforts.

Satellite/GPS tags help USGS researchers understand the movements of American Alligators and American Crocodiles in the Greater Everglades.