Images

An Agassiz's desert tortoise hides in a burrow; a radio transmitter is attached to its shell as part of a USGS study.

Photograph of sandbar about 45 miles downstream from Lees Ferry, Arizona showing river party camping on large sandbar deposited by the 2008 high-flow experiment (left) and again in August 2011 (right) when the size of the sandbar and campsite was much smaller. USGS photos, public domain.

Eyed juvenile river lamprey (Lampetra ayresii) caught in Skagit River smolt trap, 2011.

Collected in the Lower Missouri River on May 20, 2011, near Arrow Rock, Missouri, this larval sturgeon is estimated to be one day old.

Ten minutes of larval sampling in the Missouri River on May 24, 2011, resulted in this mass of organic debris and fish eggs.

A rare occurrence in the Missouri River, this Branchiopod known as a fairy shrimp was caught during larval sampling efforts near Arrow Rock, MO, on May 24, 2011. 

A Green sea turtle fitted with a USGS satellite tag on Loggerhead Key, Dry Tortugas National Park, Fl, USGS. Note: All marine turtle images taken in Florida were obtained with the approval of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), Marine Turtle Permit 176 issued to K.M.

The contents of the net are flushed into the cod end, or the trailing end of the net where the fish are finally caught.  The cod is then emptied into black bowls for sorting.

The Colorado River basin supports one of the most distinctive fish communities in North America, including the federally endangered humpback chub (Gila cypha). One of only six remaining populations of this fish is found in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. USGS scientists and their cooperators are responsible for monitoring the Grand Canyon population.

Greater sage-grouse male, in flight.                         

A skier stand next to avalanche debris in Glacier National Park, 5/5/2011.

USGS avalanche researcher evaluates avalanche debris in Glacier National Park, Montana.

Ticks spread the widest variety of diseases that are harmful to humans, including Lyme disease. This image shows a female blacklegged tick, or deer tick (species Ixodes scapularis).

Shorebirds feeding on a diked-off area of former intertidal mudflats at a reclamation project in Bohai Bay, Yellow Sea, China. The substrate the birds are feeding on is mud and sand that has been pumped into the impoundment from beyond the levee (dredge in background).

Pacific lamprey, Hamma-Hamma River, dwarf adult.

River lamprey (L. ayresii), macrophthalmia, dentition.

Climate change in the form of reduced snowfall in mountains  is causing powerful and cascading shifts in montane plant and bird communities through the increased ability of elk to stay at high elevations over winter and consume plants. Here, you can see an example of the difference in aspen growth inside versus outside a fence that excludes elk.

Contamination from commercial products such as nonstick cookware and stain repellents could reduce the reproduction of tree swallows nesting in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Helicopters assisting USGS scientists in Everglades National Park.

Pacific lamprey ammocoete, tail pattern.

This bighead carp was collected on the Illinois River to learn more about the anatomy and physiology of Asian carp. This information will guide the development of potential biological or chemical controls as part of an integrated pest management approach for natural resource managers.