Videos

This video describes how scientists are studying freshwater wetlands on the North Island of New Zealand and how nutrients from pasture runoff may alter the vegetation and peat formation in these important ecosystems. Much of what is known about wetlands comes from research conducted in the Northern Hemisphere.

"The Heat is On: Desert Tortoises and Survival" is a thirty minute television program exploring the world of the Mojave Desert Tortoise. It highlights the USGS research program on the Desert Tortoise and the role of that research in managing desert environments to allow the species to recover and escape the threat of extinction.

This brief video shows why ravens are one of the primary threats to survival of the Mojave Desert Tortoise. It is an excerpt from the longer, award winning, USGS television program "The Heat is On: Desert Tortoises and Survival".

Bats at Turbines (B-roll): Surveillance video (B-roll) from a temperature-imaging camera showing a bat interacting with a wind turbine at about 3 a.m. on a brightly moonlit night in late August.[video resolution 614 by 454 pixels, limited by imaging device]

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) biologist Leanne Hanson narrates this video showing how the Raven-A small unmanned aircraft system, also called an sUAS or simply a drone, works in the field and what it “sees” from the air. In the first application of the Raven A system to a natural resource management need, the USGS and U.S.

Random Site: 3MS18 (L1) West Transect; Depth: 10.9 m (35.9 feet); Distance from river mouth: 2.3 Kilometers (1.4 Miles) west; Pre/Post Dam Removal: 3 year pre-dam removal; Lat/Long: 48.13957527,-123.59427175; Site Description: This transect is medium depth with substrate that varies from all fine sediment/sand/mud, some on top of bedrock, to areas of large boulders.

Permanent Site: J1 East Transect; Depth: 9.5 Meters (31.2 Feet); Distance from river mouth: 6.7 Kilometers (4.1 Miles) east; Pre/Post Dam Removal: 1 year pre-dam removal; Lat/Long: ; Site Description: This site is medium depth. Substrates is a gravel/cobble/sand mixture with an occasional boulder.

Permanent Site: J1 West Transect; Depth: 9.2 Meters (30.2 Feet); Distance from river mouth: 6.6 Kilometers (4.1 Miles) east; Pre/Post Dam Removal: 1 year pre-dam removal; Lat/Long: 48.13607725,-123.48002186; Site Description: This site is medium depth. Substrates is a gravel/cobble/sand mixture with an occasional boulder.

Random Site: 5SM18 East Transect; Depth: 6.7 Meters (22.0 Feet); Distance from river mouth: 4.5 Kilometers (2.8 Miles) east; Pre/Post Dam Removal: 3 years pre-dam removal; Lat/Long: 48.1357869,-123.5095144; Site Description: This is a shallow site. Sediment is a gravel/sand mixture. Red, green and brown seaweed is abundant.

Random Site: 5SM18 West Transect; Depth: 6.1 Meters (20 Feet); Distance from river mouth: 4.5 Kilometers (2.8 Miles) east; Pre/Post Dam Removal: 3 years pre-dam removal; Lat/Long: 48.13592923,-123.51082988; Site Description: This is a shallow site. Sediment is a gravel/sand mixture. Red, green and brown seaweed is abundant.

Seasonal distribution of hoary bats. Gaining a better understanding of the seasonal migration patterns of bats affected by wind turbines could help biologists and wind energy developers find ways to reduce bat fatalities at turbines.

USGS scientists deliver a variety of science in the effort to restore wetlands to over 25,000 acres in San Francisco Bay. "Wetland Revival" shows how science is contributing to the transformation of once industrial salt producing ponds into more natural habitat. The program was completed in 2008. USGS General Information Product 61.

This video describes how scientists study past changes in sea-level and coastal environments by analyzing mangrove peat. Mangrove islands located off the coast of Belize are underlain by deep deposits of peat (organic soil), which retain a record of past sea level, vegetation, and climate.

Grizzly bear and her cub visit a bear hair trap in Glacier National Park. The bear leaves hair samples snagged on the barbed wire as it enters and exits the site. Both bears vigorously rub in the lure pile which is a pile forest debris that had a liquid scent lure poured on it.

This is two video clips captured at the same site from two different angles. The rub trees are on one side of the trail and the excavated log is on the other side. Bears that rub on one or more of the trees often visit the log as well.

A wolf feeds on a road-killed elk carcass in the morning. A grizzly bear with two cubs feeds on the carcass in the evening. A grizzly bear will chuff and pop its jaw when it feels threatened. Sometimes it will also charge at the threat, usually veering off or stopping short -- a bluff charge.

Grizzly bear sniffs and rubs on trees regularly used by bears in Glacier National Park then visits a log off screen and returns to the trees to rub again.

Grizzly bear vigorously rubbing on a tree regularly used by bears in Glacier National Park.

Grizzly bear rubbing, laying on, and excavating a decaying tree in Glacier National Park. The log shows long-term use by bears.

Grizzly bear vigorously rubbing on a natural marking tree in Glacier NP, Montana. Rubbing is a form of chemical communication. DNA analysis of hair collected from natural rub trees is used to identify individual bears and census the population.

Grizzly bear paws and licks one of our remote cameras and eventually pushes it off the tree. The camera container had a screw top lid that moves as the bear paws at it; the camera was not damaged (Make sure you have your sound on for this).