Wildlife and Terrestrial Species

With its vast size and geographic position at the northern end of several migration pathways, Alaska is a critically important site for the world’s shorebirds. Thirty-seven shorebird species regularly breed in Alaska. Most of these species conduct epically long migrations to take advantage of Alaska’s abundant food resources and breeding habitat, making Alaska a global resource for shorebirds...

Research at the USGS Eastern Ecological Science Center (EESC) supports understanding of the connection between ecosystem health and the quality and availability of America's food and water. USGS studies help monitor and assess the health of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, species populations, water quality, and contaminants affecting health and habitats. Information gained through this...

Hunting is an economic engine for the U.S. and responsible management of these resources directly supports 45.2 billion dollars spent by hunters annually. Conservation and management of hunting resources also contributes substantially to the 394.8 billion dollars spent on all wildlife-related recreation. Hunting traditions are an integral component of our American heritage, with 14.4 million...

The Molecular Ecology Laboratory applies innovative genetic and genomic technologies to address a variety of complex questions and issues facing the Nation's natural resources. While we continually update the scale and efficiency of laboratory procedures to meet stakeholder needs, we must also be innovative and flexible in addressing those needs that have no off-the-shelf solution. We help...

Understanding the short- and long-distance movements of wildlife is critical for a wide variety of ecological research questions and management decisions. Since the mid-1980s, the USGS Alaska Science Center has used information from telemetry devices on wildlife species to determine locations of animals throughout their annual cycles, understand patterns of habitat use, quantify time spent on...

Available here are tracking data of Spectacled Eider, a sea duck species that breeds only in Alaska and Russia and spends the winter exclusively in the Bering Sea. The Alaska breeding population is listed as threatened under provisions of the Endangered Species Act. These data were collected to better understand the winter distribution in the Bering Sea and locate birds for winter aerial surveys...

Available here are tracking data of Common Eider, a sea duck species found across Alaska and the Arctic. Some populations migrate between distant breeding and wintering areas while others are essentially nonmigratory. These data were collected to better understand the migration of the different populations in Alaska and migratory connectivity to adjacent regions, such as Russia.

Once numbering in the tens of millions, plains bison ( Bison bison bison) were nearly driven to extinction with only a few hundred individuals remaining by the late 19th century. Plains bison have since recovered to approximately 20,000 animals managed in conservation herds throughout North America, yet substantial challenges to their recovery remain. The Department of the Interior (DOI) stewards...

Abundance data are collected for bird populations throughout the Pacific Islands by numerous federal, state, university, and non-profit organizations. In order to ensure data are standardized and available to researchers throughout the region, interagency bird databases have been created and continue to be used. These databases contain more than a million compiled, proofed, and standardized...

Reptile intro

Marine mammals

Across the country, USGS scientists research amphibians to help other agencies manage this historically underappreciated and now declining group. Our scientists have learned that no single threat explains global amphibian declines; instead, a variety of local and global factors are contributing. Habitat loss, disease, contaminants, and other threats are all part of the pattern.