Ecosystems Science at USGS
USGS Landscape Science Strategy
Science informing decision making on public lands and across all of our Nation’s landscapes.
Science informing decision making on public lands and across all of our Nation’s landscapes.
USGS Wildland Fire Science
USGS science helps understand the causes, consequences, and benefits of wildfire and helps prevent and manage larger, catastrophic events.
USGS science helps understand the causes, consequences, and benefits of wildfire and helps prevent and manage larger, catastrophic events.
Ecosystems Mission Area
The USGS Ecosystems Mission Area provides science to help America achieve sustainable management and conservation of biological resources in wild and urban spaces, and places in between.
News
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Research Ecologist Jill Baron coauthors study finding no effect of road proximity on nitrogen deposition in a complex, mountainous terrain
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Smallmouth bass mercury levels linked to habitat types along the Snake River
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USGS ecologist forges the key to unlocking a long-standing scientific debate about habitat fragmentation
Publications
Impoundment is among the most common hydrologic alterations with impacts on aquatic ecosystems that can include effects on mercury (Hg) cycling. However, landscape-scale differences in Hg bioaccumulation between reservoirs and other habitats are not well characterized nor are the processes driving these differences. We examined total Hg (THg) concentrations of Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu
Selection of microhabitats, plants, and plant parts eaten by a threatened tortoise: Observations during a superbloom
Populations of the threatened desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) continue to decline throughout the geographic range, in part because of degraded and fragmented habitats in the Mojave and western Sonoran deserts. The species is herbivorous and highly selective in choice of plant species. To increase options for recovery, we analyzed behaviors, patterns of movements while foraging, and parts of p
Proximity to roads does not modify inorganic nitrogen deposition in a topographically complex, high traffic, subalpine forest
Vehicles are an important source for N deposition that may negatively impact roadside ecosystems. While elevated roadside N deposition has been found in many locations, it is not yet known if vehicle emissions cause measurable increases of N deposition in complex, mountainous terrain adjacent to roads. To address this, this study investigated the effect of vehicle N emissions on throughfall (throu
Science
Southwest Energy Exploration, Development, and Reclamation (SWEDR)
Approximately 35% of the US and approximately 82% of DOI lands are “drylands” found throughout the western US. These lands contain oil, gas, oil shale, shale oil, and tar sand deposits and the exploration for and extraction of these resources has resulted in hundreds of thousands of operating and abandoned wells across the West. These arid and semi-arid lands have unique soil and plant communities...
Fish and Aquatic Ecology
Fish and aquatic habitats in Alaska support important commercial, sport, and subsistence fisheries and provide forage fish that support wildlife populations. The USGS Alaska Science Center conducts interdisciplinary research to inform local, state, federal, and international policy makers regarding conservation of fish, aquatic species, and their habitats. We work collaboratively with hydrologists...
Natural Resource Damage and Assessment (NRDA) Program- DOI Monitoring and Adaptive Management Technical Assistance
WARC researchers are providing support to Louisiana Monitoring and Adaptive Management activities.