Images

The Great Basin area in the northern Snake Range near the Utah/Nevada boarder. 

The Great Basin area in the northern Snake Range near the Utah/Nevada boarder. 

The Needles district of Canyonlands serves as a stunning backdrop to our study site in the high desert grassland of the Colorado Plateau. Researchers at Canyonlands Research Station are testing the effect of experimentally imposed altered precipitation regimes on plant reproductive success, mortality, and biomass.

Water flowing on the Colorado River near Moab, Utah. 

The entire Colorado River Basin currently supports 50 million people, and that amount is expected to increase by 23 million between 2000 and 2030. A new USGS study shows more than half of the streamflow in the Upper Colorado River Basin originates as groundwater. 

Biological soil crusts, or biocrusts, are lichens, mosses, and cyanobacteria that grow on the soil surface and are common in the spaces between native plants in arid and semi-arid systems. Biocrusts reduce soil erosion, contribute to nutrient and water cycling, and reduce evaporation and invasion by exotic plants.

Intensely altered propylitic rocks (red and yellow) in the Red Mountain mining district, overprinting the regional, propylitically altered igneous rocks (grayish-green), peaks at top of image. View to west.

Measuring streamflow from a cableway using an ADCP, Green River blw Fontenelle Reservoir, WY

Photograph taken from a Colorado National Guard helicopter looking north down the West Salt Creek rock avalanche deposit. On May 25, 2014, the central core of the rock avalanche deposit continued to move for 1-2 hours after the main rock avalanche deposit had stopped moving.

Measuring streamflow on Dry Piney Creek

Preparing to measure water level in streambank piezometer, New Fork R

Panoramic photo of Silverton, Colorado, with Sultan Mountain in the distance.  Silverton is the town most directly affected by the Gold King mine blowout. 

Wade fishing on Big Horn River

Two anglers wade fishing on Big Horn River, Wyoming

Image of whitebark pine cone and seeds.

Biologists with IGBST and the National Park Service fit a grizzly bear with a radio collar.  Once a bear is radio collared, biologists can track its movements with telemetry.

Once a grizzly bear is radio collared, biologists can track its movements with telemetry via airplane.  The IGBST also used the latest telemetry technologies, which allows downloading of GPS data from the radio collar via satellites.

Biologists place a culvert trap in locations that they need data from.  Field crews will set up the culvert trap and check it daily, usually in the morning, to determine if a bear has been captured.  Additionally, trap doors are checked via radio telemetry. 

Biologists use road-killed ungulates such as deer, elk, or bison as bait in the traps. 

At capture sites with road access, biologists drive to a trap with a bear inside to set up for collecting biological data. 

Biologists have immobilized the bear and prepare to lift it out of the trap and onto the tarp for data collection.  Once on the tarp the bear is easier to move. 

Biologists are very careful to keep the grizzly bear under shade and protected from the elements while they collect biological data.  Vital signs are monitored throughout the handling period.