Images

A conger eel (Conger oceanicus) cruises through a thicket of Lophelia pertusa coral.

An eastern rat snake (Pantherophis alleghaniensis) with opaque eyes and hard, crusty scales on its snout - telltale signs of snake fungal disease. (David Green, USGS)

Mount Hood dominates the skyline outside Portland, Oregon on a clear day. A major eruption of Mount Hood would pose a great hazard to the regional economy.

A black-bellied rosefish (Helicolenus dactylopterus) peaks out of the Lophelia coral. Behind the fish, a squat lobster (Eumunida picta) hangs upside down from a coral branch.

Bureau of Land Management truck sprays herbicide in southwestern Idaho as part of a restoration effort. 

An examination of long-term data for lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management finds that land treatments in the southwestern United States are increasingly large, expensive and related to fire and invasive species control.

Live Lophelia pertusa is white because the calcium carbonate skeleton shows through the nonpigmented coral tissue. Dead coral is soon covered in a brown biofilm. The red-orange squat lobster (Eumunida picta) in the center of the photo is prepared to catch its dinner.

Close-up image of the cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa, with polyps extended. The coral polyps eat by grabbing tiny suspended particulates (visible against the dark water background). The bright orange claws of a squat lobster (Eumunida picta) can be seen peeking out from behind the coral branches.

Climate change projections indicate a steady increase in temperature progressing through the 21^st century, generally resulting in snowpack reductions, changes to the timing of snowmelt, altered streamflows, and reductions in soil moisture, all of which could affect water management, agriculture, recreation, hazard mitigation, and ecosystems across the nat

View upslope to the headscarp of the Red Bluffs landslide, seen from the surface of the Crescent Lake landslide, in the Columbia Gorge.

Close-up of a squat lobster, Eumunida picta, in a thicket of Lophelia pertusa coral.

Fish like this Atlantic Roughy (Hoplostethus occidentalis) congregate near deep-sea corals (background is Lophelia pertusa coral).

A cleaner shrimp (Plesionika sp.) with vivid blue eyes rests in a coral thicket next to a red soft coral (Anthomastus agassizii).

Cannibalistic morph Barred Tiger Salamander Closeup, Jamestown, ND. Perhaps the rarest barred tiger salamander morphotype is the "cannibal" morph. Cannibal morphs are typically larvae and are distinguished by their disproportionally larger heads and  pronounced vomerine teeth.

Cannibal morph Barred Tiger Salamander larvae in a bucket of typical morphs larvae, Kidder County, ND.

Barred Tiger Salamander larva with typical larva in its mouth, Kidder County, ND. 

Tom Kehler, fishery biologist at the U.S.

A mountain bluebird eats a giant mistletoe berry in an ash tree in Sedona, Arizona (Oak Creek).  These bluebirds, and many other types of birds, rely on mistletoe berries for sustenance. As a result, they also help distribute the mistletoe seeds.

Dried acid mine drainage residuals that are formed during treatment of the drainage.  The USGS has pioneered a new use for these residuals that are currently a disposal challenge, using them to filter phosphorus from agricultural and municipal wastewaters.

Students from Hickman High School’s biology club ask questions during an educational tour at the Columbia Environmental Research Center (Columbia, MO).

Manahawkin Bay at Rt. 72 bridge near Ship Bottom, NJ; Andrew Watson and Patrick Bowen inspecting gage after reinstallation following Hurricane Sandy.

Dr. Greta Aeby (left), a coral expert with the Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology at the University of Hawai‘i, and Dr. Thierry Work, wildlife disease specialist for the USGS National Wildlife Health Center exit the water at ‘Anini after more than six hours of documenting and photographing diseased rice corals.