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Powering Progress

How Science Can Fuel the Energy Resources Life Cycle

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USGS Wildland Fire Science

USGS science helps understand the causes, consequences, and benefits of wildfire and helps prevent and manage larger, catastrophic events.

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USGS Drought Science

Helping managers understand the interactions that determine the magnitude and impact of drought on water availability and ecosystems across the Nation

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Ecosystems Science at USGS

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The USGS Ecosystems Mission Area

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EcoNews

A USGS Ecosystems Mission Area Newsletter

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Ecosystems Mission Area

The USGS Ecosystems Mission Area provides science that directly benefits the health, safety, and prosperity of the American people by providing trusted and timely information to help address the Nation’s toughest management and conservation issues impacting public lands and the surrounding communities that benefit from them. 

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USGS Science for Food & Water Security

A view of a farm field in Iowa

USGS Ecosystems Mission Area science helps ensure safe and abundant domestic food and water supplies, ensuring all Americans access to livelihoods and traditions that connect generations with each other and the outdoors and strengthen America’s self-reliance

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USGS Science for Public Safety & Security

Before and after pictures - Hurricane Rita and Holly Beach, Louisiana, USA

Science within the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area provides a critical advantage in addressing public safety, infrastructure, and security issues surrounding natural disasters and changing landscapes, strengthening America’s ability to be a hazard ready Nation. 

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USGS Science for Economic Growth

A pronghorn stands in front of oil and gas development infrastructure, Vernal, Utah

Science provided by the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area helps boost America’s economy by providing practical tools to implement cost-effective management and development strategies that supports the Nation’s economic growth and protects our natural heritage.

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News

Climate Adaptation Technical Services (CATS): Rapid Science Delivery

Climate Adaptation Technical Services (CATS): Rapid Science Delivery

The Human Side of Recreational Fisheries: CASC Authors Contribute to New Open Access Book

The Human Side of Recreational Fisheries: CASC Authors Contribute to New Open Access Book

EESC in the News: No Simple Swim: The Mysterious Migration of the American Eel

EESC in the News: No Simple Swim: The Mysterious Migration of the American Eel

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Publications

FluOil—A tool for estimating the transport and deposition of oil-particle aggregates in rivers FluOil—A tool for estimating the transport and deposition of oil-particle aggregates in rivers

The FluOil tool was developed to help with planning and early response for oil spills in rivers where subsurface oil-sediment interactions result in the formation of oil-particle aggregates (OPA). The turbulence and variable velocity associated with water flowing within a natural stream channel creates the conditions needed for an oil slick to break up into small droplets and mix in the...
Authors
Faith Fitzpatrick, Collin Roland, Angus Vaughan, Zhenduo Zhu, David Soong, Rachel Sortor
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, Central Midwest Water Science Center, Upper Midwest Water Science Center

Evaluating hydrologic data products for scientific and management applications related to potential future streamflow conditions in the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers Evaluating hydrologic data products for scientific and management applications related to potential future streamflow conditions in the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers

The hydrology of the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers is a fundamental driver of ecosystem patterns and processes across a large portion of the United States. Quantitative hydrologic data for the main stems of these rivers underlie numerous scientific investigations, statistical models, and decision-making processes for local, State, and Federal agencies involved in the Upper...
Authors
Molly Van Appledorn, Lucie Sawyer, John Delaney, Chanel Mueller, Leigh Youngblood, Jane Harrell, Brian Breaker, Chris Frans
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center

Pleistocene porcupine (Erethizontidae) records in arid southwestern North America and comparisons with the modern distribution of Erethizon dorsatum in southern California and Arizona Pleistocene porcupine (Erethizontidae) records in arid southwestern North America and comparisons with the modern distribution of Erethizon dorsatum in southern California and Arizona

he North American porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) is widely distributed throughout many ecosystems on the continent from northern Mexico to the Arctic Ocean, except for the southeastern portion of the United States. Habi­tats include the arid Desert Southwest region where modern records are generally sparse. The paleogeographic range in the Desert Southwest is not unlike the modern...
Authors
Jeffrey E. Lovich, George T. Jefferson
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Southwest Biological Science Center
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Science

Reflection on McKinley Lake near Cordova, Alaska

Alaska Science Center Weekly Findings

Recent findings by USGS Alaska Science Center staff and their collaborators.
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Geology, Energy, and Minerals Mission Area, Natural Hazards Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Alaska Science Center
Alaska Science Center Weekly Findings

Alaska Science Center Weekly Findings

Recent findings by USGS Alaska Science Center staff and their collaborators.
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A juvenile female sea otter eating small green urchins in the intertidal. Glacier Bay near Geikie Inlet, Alaska

Nearshore Marine Ecosystem Research

Nearshore ecosystems include many resources that are of high ecological, recreational, subsistence, and economic value. They also are subject to influences from a wide variety of natural and human-caused perturbations, which can originate in terrestrial or oceanic environments. Our research is designed to evaluate sources of variation in the nearshore and how they influence resources of high...
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Species Management Research Program, Alaska Science Center
Nearshore Marine Ecosystem Research

Nearshore Marine Ecosystem Research

Nearshore ecosystems include many resources that are of high ecological, recreational, subsistence, and economic value. They also are subject to influences from a wide variety of natural and human-caused perturbations, which can originate in terrestrial or oceanic environments. Our research is designed to evaluate sources of variation in the nearshore and how they influence resources of high...
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Orange colored water flowing into Kugororuk River, Alaska. Brown ground with vegetation, snow patches with mountains sky.

The Rusting of Arctic Rivers: Freshwater Ecosystems Respond to Rapidly Uptaking Metals

The water quality of streams and rivers in the Arctic is sensitive to rapid climate change and altered disturbance regimes.
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Alaska Science Center
The Rusting of Arctic Rivers: Freshwater Ecosystems Respond to Rapidly Uptaking Metals

The Rusting of Arctic Rivers: Freshwater Ecosystems Respond to Rapidly Uptaking Metals

The water quality of streams and rivers in the Arctic is sensitive to rapid climate change and altered disturbance regimes.
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