Ecosystems

USA-NPN Pheno Forecast of emerald ash borer adult emergence. Yellow areas indicate locations that will have reached the accumulated temperature requirements for adult emergence as of April 1, 2019.

USGS scientist Emma Kelsey drives a survey vessel off the Central California Coast as part of a seabird survey.

In collaboration with California State Parks, USGS Western Ecological Research Center biologists are conducting at-sea surveys of  the Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus), a small endangered seabird, to estimate abundance, distribution and

USGS Biological Science Technician Laney White surveys for Marbled Murrelet off the Central California Coast.

In collaboration with California State Parks, USGS Western Ecological Research Center biologists are conducting at-sea surveys of  the Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus), a small endangered seabird, to estimate abundance, distribution and

San Francisco Bay and the surrounding wetlands and ponds provide important habitat for waterfowl and shorebirds. To aid land and resource managers in tracking wildlife responses to habitat restoration efforts, Biological Science Technician, Aliya, conducts a high tide waterbird survey of a restored salt pond in the Napa-Sonoma Marshes Wildlife Area at the northern edge of

This is Teodora Rautu. She is a Biological Science Technician on the field crew for USGS Western Ecological Research Center's Sierra Nevada Forest Dynamics project.  She is measuring the diameter of a red fir and trying to navigate the tape through the branches.  All of the trees in the Sierra Nevada Forest Dynamics plots are measured every 5 years, not only for

This is Teodora Rautu. She is a Biological Science Technician on the field crew for USGS Western Ecological Research Center's Sierra Nevada Forest Dynamics project.  She is measuring the diameter of a Giant Sequoia.  All of the trees in the Sierra Nevada Forest Dynamics plots are measured every 5 years, not only for determining the size of the trees but also for tracking

This is Teodora Rautu. She is a Biological Science Technician on the field crew for USGS Western Ecological Research Center's Sierra Nevada Forest Dynamics project. The tree she is getting read to cut into has recently died. Teo is going to remove bark to look for signs of insects or pathogens than may have been involved in the tree's death--the first step in a 'tree

Teodora Rautu and Eva Lopez, Biological Science Technicians on the field crew for the USGS Western Ecological Research Center's Sierra Nevada Forest Dynamics project, work together to measure the diameter of a Giant Sequoia. Every tree in the project's long-term study plots are re-measured every 5 years, not only for determining the size of the trees but also for tracking

Wildlife disease experts at the USGS National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, WI examine a double-crested cormorant while wearing full biosafety gear.  The postmortem examination, also known as a necropsy, gives the scientists clues to what may have caused the animal to die.  Examination of wild birds is important to detect pathogens that could impact wildlife

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is an emerging infectious disease that is fatal to free-ranging and captive animals in Cervidae (the deer family; referred to as “cervids”). Affected animals include deer, elk, moose, and reindeer. Once an animal is infected, CWD typically causes neurological

Distribution map: distribution of chronic wasting disease in North America

Chronic wasting disease may have long-term negative effects on white-tailed deer, a highly visible and economically valuable keystone species, according to a