Tools and Technology

Widespread anthropogenic development in the sagebrush steppe and shifting drought and wildfire patterns have contributed to the observed dramatic declines of the greater sage-grouse since the 1960s. Alteration of the sagebrush habitat can affect many aspects of the species life history, including survival and local resource use. Over many years, the combined effects of landscape composition on...

The greater sage-grouse is a sagebrush-obligate species that has experienced dramatic range-wide declines since the 1960s, causing significant conservation concern. Genetic information has refined our understanding of population structure, the levels of inbreeding or relatedness, allowed the ability to monitor for change over time, and has been used to understand the outcome of management actions...

Rainbow trout are a desirable sport fish that have been introduced in many locations around the world, including the Colorado River. Although introductions of rainbow trout and other nonnative fishes provide recreational fishing opportunities, they can also pose threats to native fish populations. The Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program has tasked scientists and managers with identifying...

We are building a 21st century wildlife monitoring system to inform resource management of the impacts of drought, wildfire, land use, climate change, and other landscape level stressors. The Automated Interactive Monitoring System (AIMS) for Wildlife will provide an actionable data stream by combining enormous quantities of wildlife movement data with environmental data and delivering it to...

Wildlife management boundaries often lack biological context, including information on habitat resource availability and wildlife movements. To address this, we developed multiple levels of biologically relevant and hierarchically nested greater sage-grouse ( Centrocercus urophasianus) population units to facilitate the management and conservation of populations and habitats.

The U.S. Geological Survey’s Eastern Ecological Science Center is home to the Northeast Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (NEARMI), one of 7 ARMI regions across the United States. NEARMI works on public lands in thirteen states from Maine to Virginia, including many National Parks and National Wildlife Refuges.

Data on the distribution and abundance of seabirds at sea have been used for many decades to assist in understanding the marine ecology of seabirds away from their breeding colonies, measure population status and trends, assess the impact of human activities on ocean habitats and fish stocks, and to identify critical marine habitats for seabirds.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing ecology and conservation by enabling species recognition from photos and videos. Our project evaluates the capacity to expand AI for individual fish recognition for population assessment. The success of this effort would facilitate fisheries analysis at an unprecedented scale by engaging anglers and citizen scientists in imagery collection. This...

The Eastern Ecological Science Center is working closely with federal, state, and tribal partners to help inform decisions that reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission from humans to North American wildlife, including bats.

WARC researchers partnered with Gulf Sturgeon decision makers and biologists to develop a Bayesian network model that uses habitat characteristics to predict the quantity of juvenile winter foraging habitat under alternative river discharge and timing of juvenile arrival scenarios.

WARC researchers partnered with managers and species experts to develop a Bayesian network model and a geospatial habitat characteristics dataset to predict the number of Brown Pelican breeding pairs on islands in the northern Gulf.

Eastern Ecological Science Center adds the decision analytical skill set to the existing body of USGS expertise on Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), in support of our sister DOI agencies.