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Powering Progress

How Science Can Fuel the Energy Resources Life Cycle

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USGS Wildland Fire Science

USGS science helps understand the causes, consequences, and benefits of wildfire and helps prevent and manage larger, catastrophic events.

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USGS Drought Science

Helping managers understand the interactions that determine the magnitude and impact of drought on water availability and ecosystems across the Nation

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Ecosystems Science at USGS

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The USGS Ecosystems Mission Area

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EcoNews

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Ecosystems Mission Area

The USGS Ecosystems Mission Area provides science that directly benefits the health, safety, and prosperity of the American people by providing trusted and timely information to help address the Nation’s toughest management and conservation issues impacting public lands and the surrounding communities that benefit from them. 

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USGS Science for Food & Water Security

A view of a farm field in Iowa

USGS Ecosystems Mission Area science helps ensure safe and abundant domestic food and water supplies, ensuring all Americans access to livelihoods and traditions that connect generations with each other and the outdoors and strengthen America’s self-reliance

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USGS Science for Public Safety & Security

Before and after pictures - Hurricane Rita and Holly Beach, Louisiana, USA

Science within the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area provides a critical advantage in addressing public safety, infrastructure, and security issues surrounding natural disasters and changing landscapes, strengthening America’s ability to be a hazard ready Nation. 

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USGS Science for Economic Growth

A pronghorn stands in front of oil and gas development infrastructure, Vernal, Utah

Science provided by the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area helps boost America’s economy by providing practical tools to implement cost-effective management and development strategies that supports the Nation’s economic growth and protects our natural heritage.

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News

Environmental DNA Monitoring Protects Fish Hatchery from Invasive Species

Environmental DNA Monitoring Protects Fish Hatchery from Invasive Species

Voyage into the Past: Stories from the California Current

Voyage into the Past: Stories from the California Current

FORT Updates: From Plains to Peaks - Vol. 4 | Issue 2

FORT Updates: From Plains to Peaks - Vol. 4 | Issue 2

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Publications

Plant diversity shifts with drying and wetting cycles following removal of poplar plantations in Dongting Lake, China Plant diversity shifts with drying and wetting cycles following removal of poplar plantations in Dongting Lake, China

Dongting Lake, the second largest lake in China, plays a crucial role in maintaining regional ecological security by providing key habitats for waterbirds. This study examined how hydrology and topography (ditches and mounds) together generate fine-scale wet–dry gradients that shape species establishment and successional trajectories. Over the past decade, vegetation restoration has been
Authors
Xueer Ma, Chenchen Liu, Lingli Peng, Chengzhu Liu, Beth Middleton, Ting Lei
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center

Resurvey of cross sections on the Green River in Browns Park, Colorado and Utah Resurvey of cross sections on the Green River in Browns Park, Colorado and Utah

This study resurveyed ten previously established cross sections and established eight new cross sections on the Green River in Browns Park to document changes in channel width, depth, and area since earlier surveys conducted in 1994. The measured area of the channel cross sections on the Green River in Browns Park generally increased between the initial surveys and 2019. This increase in...
Authors
Ronald E. Griffiths, David J. Topping, Joel A. Unema, Keith A. Kohl
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Southwest Biological Science Center

A simplified two-station approach for modeling metabolism in dam tailwaters subject to diel flow variation A simplified two-station approach for modeling metabolism in dam tailwaters subject to diel flow variation

Tailwaters are ubiquitous and highly managed ecosystems whose food webs often rely disproportionately on autochthonous energy. In situ continuous dissolved oxygen data are increasingly being used to estimate gross primary productivity and ecosystem respiration in rivers, but this approach is complicated in tailwaters, where upriver discontinuities (i.e., dams) violate commonly employed...
Authors
Ian Wesley Bishop, Bridget Deemer, Theodore Kennedy, Robert A. Payn, Robert O. Hall, Charles B. Yackulic
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Southwest Biological Science Center
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Science

Image: Hawaiian Hoary Bat

Ecology and Distribution of the Endangered Hawaiian Hoary Bat

The ‘ōpe‘ape‘a (Hawaiian hoary bat, Lasiurus semotus) is listed as endangered due to population declines and a lack of knowledge on its distribution, abundance, and habitat needs. In order to help inform management for and recovery of this species, USGS-PIERC in collaboration with other agencies has conducted studies on the bat’s distribution, abundance, population genetics, food habitats, and...
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Species Management Research Program, Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center
Ecology and Distribution of the Endangered Hawaiian Hoary Bat

Ecology and Distribution of the Endangered Hawaiian Hoary Bat

The ‘ōpe‘ape‘a (Hawaiian hoary bat, Lasiurus semotus) is listed as endangered due to population declines and a lack of knowledge on its distribution, abundance, and habitat needs. In order to help inform management for and recovery of this species, USGS-PIERC in collaboration with other agencies has conducted studies on the bat’s distribution, abundance, population genetics, food habitats, and...
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Photo of farms in the Black Earth Creek watershed, Wis.

Land application of waste to US farmland: Understanding the scope and environmental implications to aid best practices

USGS is studying how different waste materials are reused on farmland and what they might mean for people and the environment. These wastes can offer benefits, but they can also carry substances we don’t fully understand. Because little is known about what’s in these waste materials or how they move through soil and water, more information is needed. USGS research helps fill these gaps so...
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Contaminant Biology, Environmental Health Program, Toxic Substances Hydrology, Central Midwest Water Science Center, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center, Oklahoma-Texas Water Science Center
Land application of waste to US farmland: Understanding the scope and environmental implications to aid best practices

Land application of waste to US farmland: Understanding the scope and environmental implications to aid best practices

USGS is studying how different waste materials are reused on farmland and what they might mean for people and the environment. These wastes can offer benefits, but they can also carry substances we don’t fully understand. Because little is known about what’s in these waste materials or how they move through soil and water, more information is needed. USGS research helps fill these gaps so...
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Male bighorn sheep

Bighorn Sheep and Mountain Goat Research in Western National Park Units

Mountain goat and bighorn sheep are iconic symbols of many national lands in the West and are economically important as big game species on some public lands and as tourist attractions in and around national parks. Both species have limited distributions that can be difficult to observe and face multiple stressors including disease, increasing recreation in remote areas, and shifting weather...
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Species Management Research Program, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center
Bighorn Sheep and Mountain Goat Research in Western National Park Units

Bighorn Sheep and Mountain Goat Research in Western National Park Units

Mountain goat and bighorn sheep are iconic symbols of many national lands in the West and are economically important as big game species on some public lands and as tourist attractions in and around national parks. Both species have limited distributions that can be difficult to observe and face multiple stressors including disease, increasing recreation in remote areas, and shifting weather...
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