Images

Sage-grouse have declined throughout their entire range, largely due to the loss and fragmentation of sagebrush habitat.

A colorful clay-colored sparrow nest. These sparrows live in brushy grasslands and prairie habitats.

Elk congregate on the Camp Creek Feed Ground in northwestern Wyoming.

USGS personnel at work using acoustic doppler on bridge over Wild Rice River. Photo taken at 174th Ave and 124th St southwest of Horace, ND.

Acoustic doppler used to record measurements on Wild Rice River during 2010 flood. Photo taken from bridge at 174th Ave and 124th St southwest of Horace, ND.

USGS personnel at work using acoustic doppler on bridge over Wild Rice River. Photo taken at 174th Ave and 124th St southwest of Horace, ND.

USGS personnel at work on bridge over Wild Rice River. Photo taken at 174th Ave and 124th St southwest of Horace, ND.

USGS personnel at work on bridge over Wild Rice River. Photo taken at 174th Ave and 124th St southwest of Horace, ND.

A well-engineered high rise apartment and two-story building in Talca, Chile suffered no evident damage, though much of the city was affected by the M 8.8 earthquake on Feb. 27, 2010. Many buildings in this city were constructed with adobe or masonry and suffered major collapse.

A one hundred year old adobe building in Talca, Chile suffered near-total collapse during the M 8.8 earthquake on Feb. 27, 2010. Adobe, which is made of clay, sand and straw, is no longer used as a building material in Chile, but ancient structures are still common and can pose a hazard to their occupants.

USGS personnel at work on bridge over Wild Rice River. Photo taken at 174th Ave and 124th St southwest of Horace, ND.

Home surrounded by floodwater from Wild Rice River. Photo taken from bridge at 174th Ave and 124th St southwest of Horace, ND.

Bighead carp are a large and troublesome invasive species from Asia found in the great rivers of the central United States.

Silver carp are a large a troublesome invasive species from Asia found in the great rivers of the central United States. Silver carp have been observed to jump in response to rocks thrown in the water, passing trains, geese taking off from the water, or just when they unexpectedly find themselves in a tight place.

The tsunami generated by the M 8.8 earthquake carried many boats onto land - in some cases hundreds of meters inland. The tsunami wave height at this location in Concepcion Harbor (Talcahuano), Chile was about 4-5 meters (12-15 feet).

This photo was taken by USGS seismologist Susan Hough two months after the magnitude-7 earthquake struck Port-au-Prince on Jan. 12, 2010. Dr. Hough traveled to Haiti with USGS colleagues Doug Given, Mark Meremonte, and J. Zebulon Maharrey to install seismometers, which monitor the earth's movement and can detect and measure aftershocks.

African rock pythons are the largest snake in Africa, but now some have been found in Florida. They can eat goats, warthogs, and even crocodiles. In Florida, they are an invasive species.

This aerial view shows how Faka Union Canal (visible as a straight channel of water) connects the coastal environment, where manatees feed, to freshwater inlets. The Ten Thousand Islands region in the foreground supports sea grass beds where manatees feed.

A manatee feeds on sea grass beds in Ten Thousand Islands region of Florida.

USGS biological sampling trap collecting emerging insects to determine the quantity and quality of insects as potential food resources available to insect-eating birds.

Image of the silica cell wall of the diatom 'Didymosphenia geminata' from Rio Espolon, Chile. The sample was collected early in 2010 from an extensive bloom on the river. The image has been processed to show the silica cell wall, removing the organic cell contents and the stalk
material.