Fish and Wildlife Disease
Fish and Wildlife Disease
Chronic wasting disease and cervid health—2025 highlights
White-Nose Syndrome and Bat Health: 2025 Year in Review
Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal) Surveillance
Tackling avian influenza with automated detection for an early warning system
Distribution of CWD Expanding
Chronic Wasting Disease continues to spread across North America
Chronic Wasting Disease continues to spread across North America
What is Avian Influenza (AI)?
USGS is the lead Federal agency for free-ranging wildlife disease research and surveillance. Our capabilities enhance the understanding of wildlife disease ecology and epidemiology as well as inform the development of decision-support and control tools. USGS wildlife disease experts provide technical assistance as needed to manage wildlife disease and conduct cause-of-death investigations.
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Bat Research in California
The primary goal of this bat research program is to develop projects that increase our understanding of basic ecology and natural history of western bat species, while simultaneously providing needed data to inform conservation measures and management decisions in the West. Dr. Brian Halstead, together with Gabriel Reyes, studies the habitat and resource selection, movement ecology, demography...
California Sea Otter Stranding Network
The California Sea Otter Stranding Network is part of the USGS effort to monitor southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) and provide data to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. WERC's sea otter team works with multiple institutions and partners to report, recover, and examine stranded sea otters. In addition, instructions on how to report a stranded sea otter are included in this webpage.
Ecology and Conservation of Amphibians in Northern California
This project improves our understanding of the ecology of amphibians in northern California and evaluates methods of managing landscapes and these imperiled species. In particular, Dr. Brian Halstead examines the distribution and demography of amphibians to understand factors that affect where amphibians are found and how populations change. He further explores the relationships of amphibians with...
Ecology and Conservation of Desert Bighorn Sheep
Dr. Kathleen Longshore’s goal is to understand how predator/prey relationships, disease and human-caused disturbance work separately and synergistically to impact bighorn sheep populations under variable ecological stress. Information from this project will provide managers with an understanding of specific and regional impacting factors that contribute to impact variation in population trends.
Population Biology and Behavior of Sea Otters
WERC's sea otter researchers are developing and utilizing a variety of methodological and analytical tools to understand the causes of biological and ecological trends in sea otter populations, and to predict the ecological consequences of management practices on these populations and their ecosystems.
Herpetological Research Team (FRESC)
The Herpetological Research Team focuses on issues related to conservation and management of amphibians and other aquatic and semi-aquatic species. Among our current studies are effects of invasive species, disease, and land use change on the dynamics of amphibian communities to inform conservation and management decision making.
Environmental Stressors and Wildlife Health
Environmental stressors such as contaminants and disease can cause physiological imbalance in all types of wildlife. WERC’s Drs. Lizabeth Bowen and A. Keith Miles develop gene transcription profiles to detect organisms’ physiological responses to environmental stressors and provide resource managers with early warnings for potential effects on wildlife and ecosystem health.
Waterbird Distribution and Foraging Patterns on the Great Lakes with Respect to Avian Botulism
The Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center (UMESC) in La Crosse, Wisconsin is studying the distribution and foraging patterns of sentinel fish-eating waterbirds through aerial surveys, and by tracking migration movements coupled with foraging depth profiles of common loons equipped with archival geo-locator tags and satellite transmitters. The results of this work are expected to elucidate...
Relocating and Augmenting Desert Tortoise Populations
As resource managers balance the needs of humans and wildlife, WERC’s Dr. Berry provides the necessary science to inform decisions on shared lands. Visit the “Science” tab to delve into specific projects.
Population Demographic Models for the Conservation of Endangered Indiana Bats at Risk to White-Nose Syndrome
Bat Research Bats are nocturnal, flying mammals that eat insects or fruits, pollinate flowers, distribute seeds, and are important to many ecosystems. Across North America there are 45 species of bats, many of which are threatened or endangered. One species of federally endangered bat, the Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis), is a medium-sized, gray, black, or chestnut brown bat living primarily in...
Infection by White-nose Syndrome is likely to Extirpate the Endangered Indiana Bat over major portions of its current range
White-nose syndrome (WNS), a novel fungal pathogen of cave-hibernating bat species in east and central North America, is causing the most precipitous decline in bat populations ever reported. This disease causes mortality in at least 6 species of bats, including the endangered Indiana Bat (Myotis sodalis), with mortality rates in some hibernacula averaging 95%. Since the onset of this disease in...
Disease Ecology In the Pacific Basin: Wildlife and Public Health Concerns
Both wildlife and human health in Hawai‘i and other island ecosystems in the Pacific Basin face continued threats from introductions of diseases and vectors. Accidental introduction of mosquito-borne avian malaria and pox virus to Hawai‘i is an outstanding example of how biological invasions can have a profound effect on endemic wildlife. The geographic distribution, density, and community...