Videos

This video presents the Spring 2025 Saline Lake Ecosystems Integrated Water Availability Assessment Spring Seminar by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Hosted by Allison Shipp, the seminar provides updates on how hydroclimatic changes and water management affect terminal lake ecosystems and waterbird populations.

The sixth and final webinar in the Saline Lakes Ecosystems IWAA Fall 2024 Webinar Series is on satellite observations of lake surface water dynamics. John W. Jones of the USGS Hydrologic Remote Sensing Branch introduces the surface water and wetland remote sensing component of the Integrated Water Availability Assessment.

The fifth webinar in the Saline Lakes Ecosystems IWAA Fall 2024 Webinar Series is on waterbird prey availability in Great Basin terminal lakes.

The fourth webinar in the Saline Lakes Ecosystems IWAA Fall 2024 Webinar Series is on movement of bird species associated with Great Basin terminal lake ecosystems. Cory Overton of the Western Ecological Research Center gives an overview of the USGS bird movement monitoring strategy and presents results from the 2024 field season.

The third webinar in the Saline Lakes Ecosystems IWAA Fall 2024 Webinar Series is on water-quality monitoring of Great Basin terminal lake ecosystems. Christine Rumsey of the Utah Water Science Center and Casie Smith of the Oregon Water Science Center give an overview of the USGS water-quality monitoring strategy and present results from the 2024 field season.

The second webinar in the Saline Lake Ecosystems IWAA Fall 2024 Webinar Series is on physical and chemical monitoring in support of water budgets of select Great Basin saline lakes.

Allison Shipp, Deputy Regional Director for Science and Research and Saline Lake Ecosystems IWAA Project Manager, kicked off the Fall 2024 webinar series. This presentation gives an overview of the project and introduces topics that will be covered by the USGS research team throughout the webinar series.

This video captures a moment when USGS scientist Elizabeth Gallegos released 8 zoo-raised froglets into a stream, just one of several such reintroductions last summer. The long-term goal is to create 25 populations of a few hundred to a thousand frogs each. This summer, the team will revisit the sites to see how the frogs are doing.

This video shows a California tiger salamander finding its way to an underpass designed to help amphibians and reptiles cross the road safely, with the help of a "turn-around" that helps guide the salamander back in the right direction as it travels away from the underpass.

This video provides background on and shows the release of California red-legged frog tadpoles into a pond in San Diego County, CA on March 31, 2021.

Do you have what it takes to be a bat biologist? USGS bat researchers are counting Townsend’s big eared bats to monitor how their populations are doing. Watch the video to try your hand at a bat count and see how your skills compare to a USGS scientist!

In this video, you can hear the honks and quacks of geese and ducks ring through the air, as birds fly in every direction above a wetland. This video was captured at Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge in November 2019, not long after geese and ducks began to arrive to spend the winter in the California Central Valley.

Tidal marshes exist as a transitional environment between the land and sea, and provides habitat to fish and wildlife, protects human developments from coastal flooding, and stores carbon at high density, among other important ecosystem services.

Wildlife passages are one tool used to help amphibians and reptiles cross roads safely. Barrier fencing along the road and "turn-arounds" help guide these animals towards the passageways. In this video, a western toad hops back towards the passage after reaching a turn-around structure, following the barrier fencing.
 

A burrowing owl regurgitates an owl pellet at the LAX Dunes Preserve caught by a wildlife camera.
 

Drone footage of Whiskeytown National Recreation area in Northern California in October 2018, captured by drone pilot and USGS WERC ecologist Chase Freeman.

U.S. Geological Survey scientists collaborated with partners to develop an innovative new tool to help resource managers prepare Pacific coastal wetlands for rising sea levels. 
 

Mountain lions, desert bighorn sheep, mule deer, and a variety of other wildlife live on and pass through the Nevada National Security Site each day. It’s a highly restricted area that is free of hunting and has surprisingly pristine areas.This 22-minute program highlights an extraordinary study on how mountain lions interact with their prey.

Title: The Effects of Climate Change: A Scientific Pathway Forward

• The frequency of extreme and unpredictable weather events is increasing.
• What are the effects of an increase or decrease in carbon emissions?
• What is scientific research projecting for the future of climate change?

Scientists from the USGS Western Ecological Research Center (WERC) are conducting a "social attraction" study for seabirds in the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Historically, this region offered wetland habitats to local wildlife. With the introduction of industrial salt ponds and human development, however, much of this habitat was lost.

Ecological Stressors: It's a Lot of 'WERC'
"There's is no place like California" by A. Keith Miles, Center Director, USGS Western Ecological Research Center

Highlights of the science of the USGS Western Ecological Research Center: