Habitat Loss

Southern Arizona’s semi-desert grasslands provides habitat for flora and fauna, regulates rainfall infiltration and overland flow, mitigates surface erosion and dust production, and sequesters carbon. Sustainable management is important to maintain these ecological services and is of concern for the managers, ranchers, and other people associated with the grassland.

Mottled ducks rely on the coastal marshes of the Texas Chenier Plain, which are considered among the most critically endangered habitats in the United States. USGS scientists are evaluating what might be contributing to the degradation of high-quality mottled duck habitat to better understand the causes of habitat loss and subsequently mitigate those losses.

We are working closely with multiple partners to provide updated information, model potential outcomes, and identify key uncertainties relevant to amphibian and reptile species proposed for listing in the northeast US. We also provide timely science to partners to assist in recovery of listed species, which may involve field research, data analysis, or decision support.

This research effort is an interagency partnership between U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to explore the issues, viewpoints, and concerns within the Service in relation to conservation introductions. Conservation introduction is the planned, intentional moving of species, populations or genotypes to a location outside a target’s native range.

With support from the U.S. Prairie Pothole Joint Venture (PPJV), the U.S. Forest Service, and The Nature Conservancy, Northern Prairie is synthesizing literature on the effects of management practices on grassland bird species. The need for these syntheses was identified by the PPJV, a part of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, in support of its objective to stabilize or increase...

The USGS conducts research on marine wildlife, habitats, and processes to provide science to inform our partners as they make decisions relative to species status, resource use, and human activities.

In addition to the direct effects of sea ice loss on walrus ( Odobenus rosmarus divergens) and polar bears ( Ursus maritimus) that use ice as a platform, the decline of Arctic sea ice is predicted to promote a fundamental ecosystem shift from benthic animals that forage on the sea floor to pelagic animals that forage near the sea surface.

Wildlife issues drive many federal and state land management decisions, either because of litigation or mandates to protect habitat and limit extinction risks. We conduct applied research to meet this need, particularly related to the effects of natural (disease, predation) and anthropogenic (habitat loss, invasive species) stressors on wildlife populations and communities. Research on the effects...

Increases in summer stream temperature may exceed the thermal tolerances of aquatic biota that are adapted to colder environments. Information on thermal patterns can aid in the conservation of cold-water aquatic organisms such as Pacific salmon and help identify important habitat for restoration.

Predicted climate impacts on arid U.S. Great Basin wetlands will alter their number, distribution, and quality (e.g., salinity). The scarcity and isolation of these wetlands make them essential not only to wildlife but to ranchers, farmers, and urban areas that rely on their ecosystem services. Great Basin wetlands are important habitats for migratory birds at high volumes, but they become...

Special status species and habitats are often sentinels of accelerated ecosystem change and, by definition, are priorities for protection, restoration, or focused management.

Many species of amphibians and reptiles are declining or facing population threats in the West related to habitat loss, habitat alteration, introduction of non-native species, and other factors. Our work focuses on the status and trends of resident herpetofauna and how to better manage their habitats. Much of the effort is undertaken with cooperators, particularly with other agencies in the...