Images

Image from a remote camera placed in a golden eagle nest in the Mojave Desert.  The parent is feed the chick a snake.  

Dawn Childs SCUBA dives on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, at night. Dawn is an Information Specialist with the Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program in the Ecosystems Mission Area, USGS.

A part of the National Elk Refuge showing an example of the habitat diversity on the refuge’s landscape with flat grassland, grassland-covered hills, and tree-covered hills depicted. Sheep Mountain (not part of the refuge) is in the background. 

Rangelands of the desert Southwest can be in a degraded condition and lacking perennial vegetation, which can lead to exposed soil and erosion.

Monarch butterfly on a Joe Pyeweed plant.

A monarch butterfly on a hairy puccoon plant.

Bats hibernating in a cave. 

Coral reefs are prone to phase shifts where they quickly transition from coral-dominated to a uniformity of other organisms, typically algae. The Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in the Central Pacific is a unique case where a transition from corals to corallimorphs occurred.

A USGS scientist spreads moss fragments for a study to test the restoration potential of moss, an important component of biological soil crust. A jute net, foreground, helps stabilize the moss fragments as they adhere to the soil.

Emperor geese gathered near the shoreline on Kodiak Island.

It looks like a holiday ornament, but this lovely object is a single-celled freshwater alga from the desmid family, found in the marshes of Florida’s Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. USGS biologist Barry Rosen photographed it at 200x magnification using ultraviolent light and a fluorescence microscope.

The USGS RAMPS program hosts workshops where land managers from federal, state, and local agencies, practitioners, and NGO's can come together to discuss challenges and develop creative solutions.

Non-native Cuban treefrogs have established a breeding population in New Orleans, Louisiana, the first such population on the U.S. mainland outside Florida. The treefrogs were discovered at the Audubon Zoo shortly after a shipment of palm trees from Florida were planted in the zoo's elephant enclosure in 2016.

Equipment used during a shore-counted portion of the annual range-wide sea otter census.  On the clipboard is a paper map, with sea otter locations, numbers, behavior and habitat recorded, as well as some other environmental variables.  The spotting scope is used to view sea otters that are far away, and binoculars are used to scan areas for otters.

Rainbow trout are native only to the western United States but are stocked widely throughout the country to increase fishing opportunities for anglers. Competitive interactions have been shown to be condition specific (for example, water temperature) and, thus, may only occur seasonally or under certain environmental conditions.

Scientists use mealworms to train two lesser scaup ducklings to peck at a target after tones are played at certain frequencies. This species was studied as part of research by the USGS and partners to identify the frequencies at which sea ducks can hear underwater.

The iconic Sonoran Desert is home to many species of cactus, vascular plants, and wildlife, including the giant saguaro, cholla, and prickley pear cacti seen here. Plants and animals have adapted to living in such a harsh dry environment.

A common eider duck. This species was studied as part of research by the USGS and partners to identify the frequencies at which sea ducks can hear underwater. The research can help inform decisions on the use of sound devices to deter ducks from fishing gillnets and other threats.

Two common eider ducklings. This species was studied as part of research by the USGS and partners to identify the frequencies at which sea ducks can hear underwater.

Scientists record whether a surf scoter duck pecks at a target after tones are played at certain frequencies. This is part of a study by the USGS and partners to identify the frequencies at which sea ducks can hear underwater.

A long-tailed duckling. This species was studied as part of research by the USGS and partners to identify the frequencies at which sea ducks can hear underwater.