Science Explorer
Exploring: Ecosystems
Hypotheses from recent assessments of climate impacts to biodiversity and ecosystems in the United States
Climate change poses multiple threats to biodiversity, and has already caused demonstrable impacts. We summarize key results from a recent national assessment of observed climate change impacts to terrestrial, marine, and freshwater ecosystems in the United States, and place results in the context of commonly articulated hypotheses about ecosystem...
Attribution: Climate Adaptation Science Centers
Geochemical sourcing of runoff from a young volcanic watershed to an impacted coral reef in Pelekane Bay, Hawaii
Runoff of sediment and other contaminants from developed watersheds threatens coastal ecosystems and services. A sediment geochemical sourcing study was undertaken on a sediment-impacted coral reef flat to identify terrestrial sediment sources and how these changed over time. Geochemical signatures were identified for watershed...
Attribution: Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
Marianas crow nestling
USGS wildlife biologists holding a juvenile salt marsh harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys raviventris). The species is listed as "endangered" under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.
Image depicting the vegetation program’s field methods and data collection techniques can show patterns, trends, and changes throughout the Colorado River corridor downstream of the Glen Canyon Dam.
Grinnell Glacier from Mount Gould animation.
Graph of vegetation communities along the Colorado River downstream of Glen Canyon Dam. Baccharis emoryi, Baccharis salicifolia, and Baccharis sarothroides relative cover distribution between river mile 0 to river mile 245. Vertical dotted lines on each graph delineate Marble Canyon, Eastern Grand Canyon, and Western Grand Canyon. Graph...
Part of Canyonlands National Park - aerial view
Mariana crows
USGS LSC Facebook image
This table shows the results of the spatial pattern analysis in juvenile (≤5 y of age) and adult mussels across 4 navigation pools (3, 5, 6, and 18) in the Upper Mississippi River. Mussel distributions were classified as patchily distributed, randomly distributed, or having a gradient pattern.
Example of hot-spot maps of adult (left) and juvenile (right) mussels in Navigation Pool 5 of the Upper Mississippi River. The size of the dots represent the number of mussels per square meter of the river bottom—with larger dots representing more dense mussel assemblages. Hot spots (red) indicate where sites of high mussel...
Map of the Missouri River Basin and locations of the reconstructed naturalized stream gage records, and the network of tree-ring chronologies used in the reconstructions.
Land Resources, Climate Research and Development Program, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center (NOROCK)
After a long day collecting cores, the team of scientists watch the sun set over the Florida Bay.
Virginia Hampton Roads benchmark network map.
Virginia Hampton Roads benchmark network lookup table.
Figure 2. Overview of upper Missouri River Basin Impacts Assessment and Complementary Missouri Headwaters Basin Study. Figure reproduced with permission from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
Cores were collected from various areas of thawing permafrost-peatlands in Alaska. Permafrost thaw results in ground subsidence and inundation that kills black spruce and other understory plants living on the permafrost plateau.
Can you hear the difference between the non-native Cuban treefrog and two common Louisiana native treefrogs? Cuban treefrogs’ call is distinctive. Biologist Paul Moler of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission recorded them in South Florida. Credit: Paul Moler, used with permission.
Green treefrogs call from their favorite habitat, rivers and lakes. They’re native to Louisiana and Florida, where these were recorded. Credit: Paul Moler, used with permission.