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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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A USGS Ecosystems Mission Area Newsletter

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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

Firelight - Vol. 4 | Issue 2

Firelight - Vol. 4 | Issue 2

Lessons Learned from Marsh-Focused Management Actions at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge

Lessons Learned from Marsh-Focused Management Actions at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge

Environmental DNA monitoring leads to early detection of invasive zebra mussel DNA in the Colorado River, Utah

Environmental DNA monitoring leads to early detection of invasive zebra mussel DNA in the Colorado River, Utah

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Publications

Application of novel encounter and predation models to the natural behavior of slimy sculpin Cottus cognatus Application of novel encounter and predation models to the natural behavior of slimy sculpin Cottus cognatus

Sculpins play a critical mid-trophic role in lacustrine food webs, converting production by benthic and migrating pelagic invertebrates into biomass available to higher trophic levels. Although sculpin diets and habitat choices are relatively well described, much less is known about their in situ behavior which governs trophic interactions and, in part, prey behavior. We measured the...
Authors
Eden J Forbes, Jonah T. Ballard, Brian O’Malley, Jason D Stockwell
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Great Lakes Science Center

Thermal habitat use of lake trout in Lake Erie Thermal habitat use of lake trout in Lake Erie

Understanding the thermal habitat use of fish populations is vital for effective rehabilitation or management, particularly in the face of climate change, given limited thermal tolerances of some species. In Lake Erie, lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) rehabilitation efforts by means of stocking have been ongoing for four decades. However, high water temperatures and lengthening periods...
Authors
Tyler Reid Funnell, Travis O. Brenden, Susanna Q. Keilig, Corey Krabbenhoft, Richard Kraus, Tom MacDougall, James Markham, Charles Murray, Jason Robinson, Christopher C. Wilson, Christopher S. Vandergoot
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Great Lakes Science Center

Assessing low-dose copper treatment for dreissenid mussels: Effects on nontarget organisms Assessing low-dose copper treatment for dreissenid mussels: Effects on nontarget organisms

Zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha), an invasive dreissenid mussel, have been established and caused considerable effects in many North American aquatic ecosystems. In response, copper-based pesticides have been used to manage zebra mussel populations. We evaluated the effects of a low-dose (60 µg Cu/L for 10 d) copper-based molluscicide for zebra mussel suppression on nontarget species...
Authors
Angelique D. Dahlberg, Matthew T. Barbour, James A. Luoma, Todd J. Severson, Jeremy K. Wise, Matthew J. Meulemans, David Hammond, Nicholas B.D. Phelps, Diane L. Waller
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
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Science

A Peregrine Falcon (band# 1266-00837, color marker 87/BU Silver on Black/Green) sitting on a branch. Plymouth County, MA.

USGS Bird Science by Flyway—Summer 2026 Highlights

Connecting state agencies and biologists to the breadth of partner-driven science that USGS supports in your flyway.
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Species Management Research Program
USGS Bird Science by Flyway—Summer 2026 Highlights

USGS Bird Science by Flyway—Summer 2026 Highlights

Connecting state agencies and biologists to the breadth of partner-driven science that USGS supports in your flyway.
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Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey - Traditional and Eastern Survey Areas

Redesigning the Eastern Breeding Waterfowl Population and Habitat Survey

USGS and partners are revising the design of a key waterfowl survey to increase management efficiency and cost-effectiveness, and inform annual harvest regulations in the U.S. and Canada.
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Species Management Research Program, Eastern Ecological Science Center
Redesigning the Eastern Breeding Waterfowl Population and Habitat Survey

Redesigning the Eastern Breeding Waterfowl Population and Habitat Survey

USGS and partners are revising the design of a key waterfowl survey to increase management efficiency and cost-effectiveness, and inform annual harvest regulations in the U.S. and Canada.
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USFWS Plane

Evaluating the Design of the Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey

The Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey (WBPHS) is a primary source of waterfowl population status and trend information for management of ducks in North America. The survey has not been reviewed in several decades, and since the last review new analysis approaches and information needs have created a need to reassess the design, scope of inference, and analysis of the survey to...
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Species Management Research Program, Eastern Ecological Science Center
Evaluating the Design of the Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey

Evaluating the Design of the Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey

The Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey (WBPHS) is a primary source of waterfowl population status and trend information for management of ducks in North America. The survey has not been reviewed in several decades, and since the last review new analysis approaches and information needs have created a need to reassess the design, scope of inference, and analysis of the survey to...
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