Images

Pink-footed shearwater in its breeding colony in Chile. USGS scientists have been tracking pink-footed shearwaters with satellite transmitters since 2006, revealing the migration patterns shown in the graphic below.

Pink-footed shearwater in its breeding colony in Chile. USGS scientists have been tracking pink-footed shearwaters with satellite transmitters since 2006, revealing the migration patterns shown in the graphic below.

Lake sturgeon free embryos at 3 days post hatch.  Free embryos at this stage have only a rudimentary mouth, their pectoral fins are only beginning to develop, and they rely on a large yolk sac for food. 

Newly hatched lake sturgeon free embryos.  Sturgeon embryos hatch without well-developed eyes, mouth, or fins and rely on a large yolk sac to fuel rapid early development.

A Black-capped Chickadee with a severely deformed beak where the upper beak is elongated and curved down while the lower beak is elongated and straight. Over the past 26 years, Alaskans have witnessed a startling increase of beak deformities among Black-capped Chickadees and other species of resident birds.

Laboratory technician Amelia Ulmer filters water collected in the field, to be analyzed for environmental DNA in the laboratory of Dr. Margaret Hunter. This sample was tested for Burmese python eDNA, in a process similar to that developed by Dr. Hunter for manatee eDNA.

Image of the Chickasha  wastewater treatment plant taken as part of a study to understand the runoff of contaminants in wastewater applied to an agricultural field.

In drylands, short-term extreme droughts can have profound ecosystem effects. In this study, we are examining the impacts of extreme seasonal drought on grassland communities of the Colorado Plateau & recovery from drought.

One of six experimental stream segments used to study the dispersal of free embryo sturgeon at the Columbia Environmental Research Center.  The stream segment is 5 meters long and 0.5 meters wide, and is filled with cobble-sized rock to a depth of 12 centimeters.  Streams are covered during studies.

A juvenile Broad-banded Watersnake that tested positive for snake fungal disease (SFD) exhibiting several crusty ventral scales  from St. Martin Parish, Louisiana. SFD has proven lethal in many snakes, and the disease is recognized as an emerging threat to wild snake populations.

A juvenile Broad-banded Watersnake that tested positive for snake fungal disease (SFD) exhibiting numerous nodules overlaid by roughened skin on the dorsal surface from St. Martin Parish, Louisiana. SFD has proven lethal in many snakes, and the disease is recognized as an emerging threat to wild snake populations.

A juvenile Broad-banded Watersnake that tested positive for snake fungal disease (SFD) exhibiting ulceration of the skin on the head from St. Martin Parish, Louisiana. SFD has proven lethal in many snakes, and the disease is recognized as an emerging threat to wild snake populations.

laboratory technician waiting for PCR analysis to be completed on an eDNA sample

Mangrove forest, Rhizophora mangle tunnel, Charlotte Harbor Preserve State Park, Florida. 

Adult American White Pelican on Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota

USGS scientist holding an adult banded Piping Plover on Lake Sakakawea, North Dakota

A pair of American avocets wading in a saline lake in the Great Basin. Many bird species rely on food resources found in saline lakes, such as brine shrimp and brine flies.

Black-footed albatross with chick, nesting black-footed albatrosses are especially vulnerable to sea-level rise and sudden flooding on low-lying islands.

Location: Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge

Seining a heavily bullfrog populated side channel at Two Moon County Park in Billings, MT.

Male Laysan duck (Anas Laysanensis) at Midway Atoll, Hawai‘i