Images

Word cloud of science keywords from the USGS Ecosystems Land Change Science Program. Larger words were submitted more often and from multiple projects whereas smaller words were submitted less frequently. Words in the word cloud, listed in order from largest (used most often) to smallest (used least often) and the number of times each were submitted are below:

High Mesa Grassland Wilderness Study Area in Colorado with purple and orange wildflowers, Credit: Bob Wick, BLM.

USGS scientist Mike Tate sets up the mass spectrometer for mercury isotope measurements. 

In 2022, we piloted RestoreNet V2.0 testing soil inoculation from undegraded reference sites, seed balls (white balls in photo), and pitting treatments (small indentions). Soil inoculation with healthy soils is expected to increase beneficial microbes at the degraded restoration site. Soil microbes can help reduce water stress in plants. Photo by Hannah Farrell.

This research effort is an interagency partnership between U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to model the social-ecological system that encompasses chronic wasting disease management in the United States.

Diverse plants growing in a connectivity modified (ConMod) treatment in the Sonoran Desert. Photo by Molly McCormick.

Invasion by annual brome grasses (cheatgrass and Japanese brome) on a trail across native prairie into National Park Service units in the Northern Great Plains.

What can you do to conserve the birds and the bees, even in the face of climate change? In some cases, small actions, such as maintaining a pollinator garden or avoiding pesticides can be important. Take the rusty patched bumble bee, once one of the most common pollinators in eastern North America.

USGS scientist Andres Fritts holding a telemetered invasive bighead carp on the Mississippi River near Keokuk, Iowa.

This USGS map shows the number of PFAS detected in tap water samples from select sites across the nation. The findings are based on a USGS study of samples taken between 2016 and 2021 from private and public supplies at 716 locations. The map does not represent the only locations in the U.S. with PFAS.  

A group of controlled Culex mosquito eggs are viewed under a microscope in a California laboratory as part of an effort to mitigate avian malaria throughout the Hawaiian Islands. Image by Mia Takai 

A Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) sitting on a nest. Piping Plovers breeding in the northern Great Plains, listed as Threatened since 1985, have been managed as a metapopulation consisting of four separate breeding groups with assumed infrequent movements among groups.

Donovan Maude, University of Idaho graduate student, capturing white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus), Snake River, Idaho. White Sturgeon is an important species, unfortunately, little is known about their population ecology and whether current monitoring metrics are adequate for evaluating management and conservation success. We are working with the U.S.

Section of the St. Mary River near border of Montana and Canada flowing through sagebrush and juniper with cottonwoods and willow at its banks.

Percentage of individuals predicted to test positive for avian influenza virus (± 95% CI) for each species for each week ignoring spatial effects. Predictions are based on the overall prevalence values in the USDA dataset, which had a higher detection rate. Circles running along the x-axis indicate the number of samples for each species taken during that week.

Monthly realizations of the spatial random field for the continental United States, with brighter colors indicating locations within a month with relatively greater avian influenza virus prevalence. Originally published in Kent et al.

Nine-banded armadillos—the only armadillo species found in the United States—are distributed widely across southern states.

A polar bear walking along the Beaufort Sea coast with storm waves breaking behind it, filmed during fieldwork at Barter Island, Alaska.

A map of black carp observations in the Mississippi River basin reported to the USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species database as of November 30, 2022. This map is not a complete representation of species abundance or distribution. These data include incidental captures by the public and reports from federal and state agencies.

The words "5 Ways Climate Change Affects Caribou" are written in yellow with an icon of a brown caribou with large antlers in the bottom right corner.

Text reads:

"More wildfires lead to less lichen, as lichen can take decades to recover, and is an important food source for caribou in the winter."

Distribution of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5 and H5N1 in North America, in Relation to U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Refuges and National Park Service Lands, 2021/2022. Updated November 27, 2022.