Images

Well-developed pallid sturgeon embryos can be seen approximately four days after fertilization. 

The neural plate or primitive streak of developing pallid sturgeon embryos can be seen 2 days after fertilization. 

Pallid sturgeon embryos approximately 8 hours after fertilization.

Angler catches a fish during a Panfish Fishing Tournament on June 6, 2015 on Brownlee Reservoir in Oregon. Fish serve as an important recreational, commercial, and cultural resource in the United States and Canada. Credit: Baker County Tourism

Two snow geese and a single black brant goose fight over nesting territories on the Colville River Delta in Alaska.

USGS biologists collecting biological information from a grizzly bear they have captured. Biologists collect hair samples for genetic analysis, weigh the bear, and gather numerous measurements of the body, such as the head, paws, claws, teeth, etc. Overall condition of the bear is assessed as well, including a body fat measurement.

Snags provide habitat for a wide range of organisms from cavity-nesting birds to insects, and are critical for maintaining forest biodiversity. Resource managers can create snags by topping trees to mitigate loss of snags to timber harvest, but information regarding changes in habitat for snag-dependent wildlife over time as created snags decay is lacking.

Pallid sturgeon larvae at 14 days post hatch. On agerage, pallid sturgeon transition to active feeding at approximately 16 to 18 millimeters (about 0.7 inch).

Pallid sturgeon free embryo at 2 days post hatch.  At two days after hatching the free embryos are generally 9 to 11 millimeters (0.35 to 0.45 inch).

Northern spotted owls (Strix occidentalis caurina) are mostly non-migratory, long-lived birds whose populations have declined in mature forests of western North America.

A Ph.D. student setting up a trap to capture bees.

A large giant African land snail sitting on a gloved hand.  The snail is approximately 8 inches long and covers the entire hand.  

A Megachile bee on a primrose flower.

Researchers emptying a set of traps. The team uses a hand-net to capture larger bees observed along the transects. The same approach is used in the non-powerline land cover types to survey bees in those land covers.

Powerline sites with the  trap arrangement (small bowls with soapy water hanging from a frame; the bees are attracted to and get entrapped in the water).

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.