Images

Forest cover being removed for cattle pasturage and development. Smoke from bulldozed trees is visible in background with cattle in the foreground.

Larval Pacific lamprey collected from the upper Umatilla River in northeastern Oregon.

Erik Hofmeister, NWHC veterinarian and research scientist, holds a zebra finch, a species which serves as a laboratory model for study of avian diseases.

Elk traveling on winter range in the northwestern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem after crossing the Madison River near Ennis, Montana, 2008.

Elk traveling across winter range in the northwestern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem near the Gardiner River in Yellowstone National Park, 2008.

Researchers with IGBST have tranquilized the bear and prepare to lift it out of the trap and onto the tarp for data collection. Once on the tarp the bear is easier to move.

The kerchief over the bear's eyes protects it from dust and debris and reduces visual stimulation. The small tubing in its nose, known as a nasal cannula, delivers oxygen to the animal while it is tranquilized.

Whitish areas on this diseased sunflower sea star (Pycnopodia helianthoides) are lesions that result in detachment of arms from the central disc.

Photomicrograph depicting the siliceous frustules of fifty species of diatoms arranged within a circular shape. Diatoms form the base of many marine and aquatic food chains and upon death, their glassy frustules form sediments known as diatomaceous earth.

Photomicrograph depicting the siliceous frustulesof fifty species of diatoms arranged within a circular shape. Diatoms form the base of many marine and aquatic food chains and upon death, their glassy frustules form sediments known as diatomaceous earth.

The grey, coiled seashell of Olivella semistriata with the aperture (shell opening) facing up. Photograph taken 2002 or earlier.

A pair of Caracolus sagemon.

Colorful and coiled seashells of Olivella semistriata with the apertures (shell openings) facing up. Photograph taken 2002 or earlier.

The U.S.

Herring larvae 53 day post-hatch. Black pigmentation is evident.

Naturally-deposited herring eggs attached to submerged macrophytes. Coiled embryos are evident inside the eggs.

Small herring spawning event in Puget Sound, evidenced by the presence of 'white water', caused by mass release of spawning products into the water.

These live Asian swamp eels were imported from southeast Asia and sold in an urban food market in the U.S. Raw or undercooked Asian swamp eels could transmit a parasitic infection called gnathostomiasis to consumers, and wild eels could become widespread in some U.S. waters.

The orange, coiled seashell of Olivella semistriata with the aperture (shell opening) facing up. Photograph taken 2002 or earlier.

During laboratory tests, USGS Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center scientists and partners found that the heart and growth rates of some species of young freshwater mussels declined as a result of elevated water temperatures, and many died.

An invasive species, the spiny water flea, is likely a primary driver of changes in Lake Huron's food web over the past decade.