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Ecosystems Mission Area

The USGS Ecosystems Mission Area provides science that directly benefits the health, safety, and prosperity of the American people by providing trusted and timely information to help address the Nation’s toughest management and conservation issues impacting public lands and the surrounding communities that benefit from them. 

News

Protecting Protected Land from Pesticides

Protecting Protected Land from Pesticides

Scent Dogs Join Tick Surveillance Efforts

Scent Dogs Join Tick Surveillance Efforts

Wild about wildlife: leveraging park visitor support to fund conservation

Wild about wildlife: leveraging park visitor support to fund conservation

Publications

A partner-driven decision support model to inform the reintroduction of bull trout

Assessments of species reintroductions involve a series of complex decisions that include human perspectives and ecological contexts. Here, we present a reintroduction assessment involving bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) using a structured decision-making process. We approached this assessment by engaging partners representing public utilities, government agencies, and Tribes with...
Authors
Joseph R. Benjamin, Judith Neibauer, Hugh Anthony, Jose Vazquez, Ashley Rawhouser, Jason B. Dunham

Failure to meet the exchangeability assumption in Bayesian multispecies occupancy models: Implications for study design

Bayesian hierarchical models are ubiquitous in ecology. Random effect model structures are often employed that treat individual effects as deviations from larger population-level effects. In this way individuals are assumed to be "exchangeable" samples. Ecologists may address this exchangeability assumption intuitively, but might in certain modeling contexts ignore it altogether...
Authors
Gavin G. Cotterill, Douglas A. Keinath, Tabitha A. Graves

Status and trends of the Lake Huron prey fish community, 1976-2024

The U. S. Geological Survey-Great Lakes Science Center has monitored annual changes in the offshore (depth > 9m) prey fish community of Lake Huron since 1973. Monitoring of prey fish populations in Lake Huron is based on a bottom trawl survey that targets demersal species (i.e., those predominantly or intermittently associated with the lake bottom) and an acoustic-midwater trawl survey...
Authors
Darryl W. Hondorp, Robin L. DeBruyne, Cory Brant, Peter C. Esselman, Timothy P. O'Brien

Science

Invasive Species We Study: Invasive Carp

Bighead, black, grass, and silver carp, which are native to China, were originally stocked in aquaculture facilities to control algae, snails, and vegetation. These species escaped during flood events and are now established throughout the lower and middle Mississippi River Basins and some of its large tributaries where they damage ecosystems and harm economies. Grass carp are also reproducing in...
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Invasive Species We Study: Invasive Carp

Bighead, black, grass, and silver carp, which are native to China, were originally stocked in aquaculture facilities to control algae, snails, and vegetation. These species escaped during flood events and are now established throughout the lower and middle Mississippi River Basins and some of its large tributaries where they damage ecosystems and harm economies. Grass carp are also reproducing in...
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Supporting energy and mineral development through successful reclamation

Federal lands of the US contain important reserves of oil, gas and other resources important for Unleashing American Energy (SO 3418). After development of these resources is complete, successfully reclaiming disturbed lands is a necessary step towards restoring wildlife habitat, forage production, and maintaining natural resources for future use. To improve reclamation outcomes on these lands and...
link

Supporting energy and mineral development through successful reclamation

Federal lands of the US contain important reserves of oil, gas and other resources important for Unleashing American Energy (SO 3418). After development of these resources is complete, successfully reclaiming disturbed lands is a necessary step towards restoring wildlife habitat, forage production, and maintaining natural resources for future use. To improve reclamation outcomes on these lands and...
Learn More

Feasibility of Remote Sensing Data Sets for Evaluation of Next Generation Fire Behavior Models

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists are working with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP) to advance efforts to deploy next generation fire behavior models through a research-to-operations transition to enable land managers to use advanced modeling tools for real-time decision making. As part of this effort, USGS is leading an...
link

Feasibility of Remote Sensing Data Sets for Evaluation of Next Generation Fire Behavior Models

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists are working with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP) to advance efforts to deploy next generation fire behavior models through a research-to-operations transition to enable land managers to use advanced modeling tools for real-time decision making. As part of this effort, USGS is leading an...
Learn More
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