Images

Dissected guano pellet showing antennae, eyes, and body fragments of midges. 

USGS and other scientists have studied in-depth alligator populations in Florida and Louisiana, but basic ecological knowledge is lacking for populations at the northern edge of their range.

A Louisiana black bear and her cubs up in a tree. USGS science on population demographics, population viability, and relocation efforts were used to inform the 2016 USFWS decision to remove the species from the Endangered Species List due to recovery. 

Person taking data in a healthy dryland grassland with dark biocrusts between bunchgrasses and cacti in Utah.

The eagle in the foreground with the wide white tail band is a golden eagle. The other eagles are two adult and one Basic II bald eagles.

Student volunteers are trained to scan historic library materials. The materials can be complex, consisting of multiple parts.

Tufted Puffin, the species most affected by a recent seabird die-off in the Pribilof Islands, AK. Near Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska

Three of the nine wild sea otter populations in the U.S. are federally listed as threatened. In California, USGS biologists have lead an annual population census to assess the local populations' recovery, working closely with state agencies and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

USGS scientist Jayne Belnap examines instrumentation to measure photosynthetic rates of biocrusts.

Don Ashton uses radio telemetry to track a federally threatened Oregon spotted frog (Rana pretiosa). Data provide information on resource use, movement patterns, and overwintering

USGS scientists created outdoor testing plots where large squares of biocrusts were exposed to different warming and precipitation factors over time.

USGS scientists created outdoor testing plots where large squares of biocrusts were exposed to different warming and precipitation factors over time.

USGS scientists created outdoor testing plots where large squares of biocrusts were exposed to different warming and precipitation factors over time.

USGS scientist Sasha Reed studies sites where different climate conditions are being mimicked to determine effect on biocrusts.

Scientists are studying several weed suppressive bacteria to see if they can be used as a biological control on invasive exotic grasses, such as cheatgrass.

USGS personnel maintaining weather station on Sperry Glacier in Glacier National Park

The Altamont Pass Wind Far is located in northern California.

Boat owners sought protection for their vessels in sheltered Hurricane Hole, but Hurricane Irma sunk and beached many boats, likely damaging corals. Photo: Caroline Rogers, USGS, 2017

Fog along the Yukon River showing a Black Spruce dominated forest in the foreground, which is prone to wildfire.  Photo by Bruce Wylie, USGS

Horned Puffin, one of the species affected by a recent seabird die-off in the Pribilof Islands, AK. Near Chisik Island in Lower Cook Inlet, Alaska