Acidified soils caused toxic aluminum in 66 percent of 565 assessed streams. Diatoms and aquatic macroinvertebrates were moderately to severely affected. These effects have not improved in areas surveyed in the early 1980s
They're abundant in this area, but hard to count reliably. We outline a procedure for estimating the population sizes so that we can determine whether they're increasing or dwindling. We must both listen for their calls and visually confirm them.
We removed non-native fish from a section of the river and the endangered native species humpback chub increased in abundance. But it is not yet clear that decreased competition explains the rebound in population.
Wildlife you see in a national park or other reserved area don't know about the park boundary. Bobcat, martens, mink, and moose need different types of living space and habitat. Development outside the park affects their ability to inhabit the park.
Using genetic analysis of organic material found in aquatic environments it is possible to detect the presence of organisms without necessarily observing or capturing individuals. Explains terms, methods, and prospective utility of this approach.
A template database for recording information on individual isolates of aquatic pathogens affecting a variety of aquatic species such as fish or shellfish. Tracks collection, history, geography, gene sequence, and diagnostic info. Uses FileMaker Pro.
Updated summaries of research in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska, on caribou, muskoxen, predators (grizzly bears, wolves, golden eagles), polar bears, snow geese and their wildlife habitats with maps of land-cover and vegetation.
Previous analysis showed this area to have reduced macroinvertebrate biodiversity, an important measure of ecosystem health. New observations indicate that conditions have improved; report includes methods and results of sampling.
Small wetlands in this large area have hosted migratory birds for a long time, but with changes in agricultural practice and regional climate those habitats may not remain hospitable to the wild populations.
A geologic and oceanographic study of the waters and Continental Shelf of Gulf of the Farallones adjacent to the San Francisco Bay region. The results of the study provide a scientific basis to evaluate and monitor human impact on the marine environment.
A web-enabled database that provides for the capture, curation, integration, and delivery of bioassessment data collected by USGS, principally macroinvertebrate, algae, fish, and supporting habitat data from rivers and streams.
Homepage for the Biochemistry and Physiology Branch in Columbia, MO, which develops analytical techniques (cell bioassay/immunoassay) on toxicity related to fish and wildlife; and conducts research in microbiology and physiology.
Study of the processes by which the conversion occurred of the Palouse bioregion from perennial native grass, shrub, and forest vegetation to agriculture and the interactions between human cultures and environment.
Bird banding is used to study the movement, survival and behavior of birds. The Bird Banding Laboratory Site has links to the value, procedure and history of bird banding, how to report bird bands (English & Spanish), and resources for birders.
Manual for research program on the nesting habits of sea turtles of the Virgin Islands, with descriptions of species, nesting behavior, observation methods, record keeping, tagging, and tissue sample collection. (PDF file, 121 pp.)
Buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare) poses a problem in the deserts of the United States, growing in dense stands and introducing a wildfire risk in an ecosystem not adapted to fire. This report explains what we are doing to help mitigate its effects.
Three themes of ongoing research: forecasting polar bear and walrus population response to changing marine ecosystems; measuring wildlife population changes in the Arctic coastal plain, and wildlife communities in the boreal-Arctic transition zone.
Changes in Arctic sea ice and permafrost will likely affect populations of wildlife. Migratory birds such as loons rely on freshwater lakes in the Arctic for nesting and food supply; we are studying how their populations are affected by these changes.
Loss of sea ice has increased ocean wave action, changing coastal habitats. For some geese this has been a positive change, increasing the amount of coastal area that supports vegetation the geese feed on.
Identification of epiphytes (plants obtaining moisture and nutrients from the air and rain and usually living on another plant) on seaweed in Tampa Bay, Florida. Abstract of symposium presentation with photos.
Coverage of the Coastal Prairie Ecology Research (CPER) Team, National Wetlands Research Center, providing scientific information to aid the conservation, management, and restoration of ecosystems in the greater coastal prairie region.
Changes in both the ocean and coastal ecosystems may have negative effects on sea otter populations in the coastal Northwest and Alaska. A study underway will examine these factors and the overall health of sea otter populations.
Overview of research of the Ecology Branch on the ecological consequences of habitat degradation due to altered environment, nonindigenous species, and atmospheric alterations. Includes links to staff and research projects.
The Contaminant Biology Program investigates contaminant exposure and effects on fish, wildlife, and other organisms, their habitat and ecosystems. Links include description of projects, research centers, and news.
Describes the Conte Anadromous Fish Laboratory of the Leetown Science Center, which performs research directed towards restoration and protection of anadromous fish with lists of research projects and facilities.
The Crater Lake Data Clearinghouse website is a gateway to information and data on Crater Lake with links to data downloads of bathymetry, maps and imagery, a fly-by movie, photos, and information on geology, maps, history, and biota.
Interactive maps and databases showing geospatial, biologic, and ecological aspects of the upper Mississippi River. Includes water quality, fish species, and vegetation distribution as well as geographic reference information.
Population size, foaling, deaths, age structure, sex ratio, age-specific survival rates, and more over a 14 year time span. This information will help land and wildlife managers find the best maintenance and conservation strategies.
Proposed removal of dams will change the characteristics of stream flow and will affect fish that swim upstream to spawn. A mathematical model of the river flow tells us where the likely problems will be located and how the flow will change.
Maps of the ranges of tree species in North America compiled by Elbert Little and others were digitized for use in USGS vegetation and climate modeling studies. Can be downloaded as ArcView shapefiles and in PDF graphic files.
Using satellite telemetry and field studies to track pintail ducks during spring migration north from California's Central Valley plus pintails in New Mexico and Texas. Includes links to migration maps, journal, duck calls, and field methods.
The Vegetation Drought Response Index is a drought monitoring and mapping tool integrating satellite observations of vegetation and climate with land cover, soil characteristics, and other environmental factors.
Research and monitoring to develop fundamental understanding of ecosystem function and distributions, physical and biological components and trophic dynamics for freshwater, terrestrial, and marine ecosystems and the human and fish and wildlife communitie
Comparison of water in two adjacent watersheds before and after implementing a brush management strategy in one of the watersheds helps us see what water resource characteristics are sensitive to brush management and how.
Sixty-five sampling sites, selected by a statistical design to represent lengths of perennial streams in North Dakota, were chosen to be sampled for water chemistry and mercury in fish tissue to establish unbiased baseline data.
Sixty-five sampling sites, selected by a statistical design to represent lengths of perennial streams in North Dakota, were chosen to be sampled for fish and aquatic insects (macroinvertebrates) to establish unbiased baseline data.
Study of wildland fire history and fire ecology such as plants in the Sierra Nevada forests, California shrublands, the Mojave, and Sonoran deserts to develop management techniques that will reduce hazards.
Explains how we assessed the quality of a wetland as indicated by its plant species composition and abundance for marsh and swamp sites, to summarize the effectiveness of restoration projects in Louisiana.
Papers from Forum on Wildlife Telemetry, Snowmass Village, CO, 1997 about innovations in transmitting and receiving systems, attachment techniques, collection of data using telemetry, data processing and analysis. Available as *.zip file to download.
Program to keep common species common by identifying those species and plant communities that are not adequately represented in existing conservation lands. Links to projects, applications, status maps, and a searchable database.
Highlights research studies involving genetics and genomics, includes a glossary of terms on the subject, a directory of scientists involved in this type of work, and description of research facilities through which USGS carries out genetic studies
Describes the value of molecular biology genetic tools in enhancing the delineation of the genetic diversity and the effects of environmental degradation on living species. Links to research, which differentiated two species of sage-grouse.
Review of the size of breeding populations of Giant Canada geese by states in the Mississippi, Atlantic, Central, and Pacific flyways and the management problems caused by rapid increases of local breeding populations.
Proxy methods allow us to estimate ancient ocean temperatures but only if the method is calibrated using modern samples for which we measure the temperature. This is a proxy method using a sediment trap to collect planktonic foraminifera.
Overview of Klamath ecological research and links to USGS Klamath studies on ground water, nutrients, sediment oxygen demand, and fish response to water quality, sucker ecology, publications, bibliographies, and data.
Description of the use of a miniature video-camera system deployed at nests of passerine species in North Dakota to videotape predation of eggs or nestlings by animals such as mice, ground squirrels, deer, cowbirds and others.
Describes the diversity of habitat types in which invasive lionfish have been reported within Florida's coastal waters, based on lionfish sightings recored in our Nonindigenous Aquatic Species database.
Links to research projects that will improve the ability to detect, monitor, and predict the effects of invasive species, including exotic animals, on native ecosystems of the Pacific Southwest (California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona).
Macroinvertebrate data collected by USGS or USFS from 73 sites from 2000 to 2007 and algal data collected from up to 26 sites between 2000 and 2001 in the Eagle River watershed, with emphasis on methods of sample collection and data processing.
Occurrence, photos, and characteristics of some species of the colonial tunicate genus Didemnum, nuisance species that reproduce rapidly and foul marine habitats (including shellfish aquacultures and fishing grounds), ship's hulls, and maritime structure
Special handling must be used because these one-celled organisms break down easily if dried, and the scientific analysis is enhanced by identifying smaller specimens. Shows how they are sampled, prepared, and studied using optical and electon microscopy.
Plan for an upcoming study, at the microbiological scale, of the benthic communities (including corals) that reside in and around mid-Atlantic canyons, which are located at the edge of the continental shelf.
Information on mollusks and uses of the identification of fossil mollusks in the fields of biostratigraphy, geochronology, paleocoeanography, paleoecology and ecosystems history. Links to experts and related USGS projects.
Georeferenced high-resolution mapping of bathymetry of the West Florida Shelf, Gulf of Mexico of areas suspected to be critical benthic habitats for fisheries. Includes links to images, data, metadata, and TIFF image files.
The National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) is a biomedical laboratory assessing the impact of disease on wildlife and identifying the role of various pathogens in wildlife losses. Site has links to news, programs, publications and metadata.
Homepage for the National Land Cover Data (NLCD), a land cover classification scheme, for the United States based on data derived from Landsat Thematic Mapper satellite data. Includes links to description, products, accuracy, and program partners.
This study reconstructs past interactions among ecosystem factors, native species, and human land use in the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem to provide a context for future management to sustain both ecological and human communities.
A national information resource for locating biogeographic accounts of non-indigenous aquatic species in the U.S. Provided are scientific reports, online/real-time queries, spatial data sets, regional contact lists, and general information.
Brief descriptions of programs of research on aquatic nonindigenous plants and animals at the Florida Integrated Science Center with links to descriptions, videos, posters, and reports on various exotic plant and animals species.
Trapping education manual for the beginning or inexperienced trapper intended to provide information on North Dakota's predators and furbearing animals and the basics on how to trap them using good trapping skills and sound fur management.
Description of scientific focus and research at the Northern Appalachian Field Lab on mining land use impacts and mediation, aquatic ecology, effects of dam removal, and invasive plant and animal species.
Project to assess the grizzly bear population size, trend, and survival in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE) in Montana to improve the long-term survival for this threatened species. With description, DNA identification means and photos.
Homepage for the Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, Jamestown, ND, with links to announcements, science prgorams, biological resources finder, publications search option, contacts, and answers to common questions about the Center
Retrieval system to locate websites on publications and compilations on biological resources. Searches can be made by type, such as checklists, distribution, and regional overviews, by taxon, and by geography, including global, U.S., and Canada.
Site to learn about, view, and order digital image vegetation condition (greenness) maps of the conterminous U.S. based on the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) with imagery from Advanced High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR).
Geographical isolation of the Hawaiian Islands has resulted in the evolution of endemic species unique in the world. Research at the Center aims at preventing the further extinction of these species. Links to projects, publications and other data.
Core web page from America's first wildlife experiment station and a leading wildlife management refuge, the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, Maryland with links to projects, publications, library, contacts, and how to get there.
Biomonitoring projects studying the status and trends of the nation's environmental resources and programs studying amphibians and birds. Links to long-term programs, resources and references, and related links.
Links to ornithology programs at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD, including large scale survey analysis of bird populations, research tools, datasets and analyses, bird identification, and seasonal bird lists.
List of plant specimens and photo gallery of plants in the collection of the herbarium at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, a reference collection of plants occurring in the area lying between Baltimore, Maryland and Washington D.C.
Site for the Platte River Program in Nebraska an area that is a critical staging area for migratory waterbirds of the Central Flyway. Includes links to color-infrared aerial photos, 1938 historic aerial photos, and Cottonwood Ranch research site.
Report on effects of the increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide on plants and animals, especially birds, in the Great Plains including effects of carbon dioxide fertilization, ultraviolet radiation, climate change, and harmful effects on bird habitats.
The Raptor Information System (RIS) collection and bibliographic database have been transferred to The Peregrine Fund. The RIS records are being subsumed into the bibliography posted on the website of the Global Raptor Information Network (GRIN).
One of the greatest challenges for conserving grassland, prairie scrub, and shrub-steppe ecosystems is maintaining prairie dog populations across the landscape. Of the four species of prairie dogs found in the United States, the Utah prairie dog (Cynomys
Research results (publications, photographs, maps) on ecological processes within the Mojave Desert Ecosystem to provide land managers with scientific understanding and tools needed to conserve and restore threatened desert landscapes.
Shows how we can use remote sensing to study natural phenomena that vary seasonally but whose timing is affected by both shorter- and longer-term variations in climate or other, similar environmental conditions.
Links to science programs on upper Midwest river inventory and monitoring with links to databases on macroinvertebrates, fisheries, vegetation, water quality, bathymetry, floodplain forest, wildlife, sediment, contaminants and nutrients.
Life history and identification of Salvinia species, a floating, rootless tree fern and a noxious aquatic weed. Site includes posters, instructions on submitting sightings, how to subscribe to a listserv on the weed, and a bibliography.
Webpage on research on sea otters (Euhydra lutris) in the nearshore environment of the eastern Pacific Ocean with information on status of otters on the coast of Alaska, Washington, and California and link to fact sheet in PDF format.
The U.S. Geological Survey established a sediment trap in the northern Gulf of Mexico to collect time-series data on the flux and assemblage composition of live planktic foraminifers. This report provides an update of the 2008 time-series data to include
Describes how social scientists and natural resource managers work together to develop cooperation and public help in solving complex natural resource issues. Links to the use of public surveys in a project for black-tailed prairie dog management.
Document on the National Vegetation Classification Standard with information on applications, background, development, characteristics, nomenclature standards, relationship to other classifications, and how to do vegetation mapping.
Description of the Status and Trends program, which monitors the abundance, distribution, productivity, and health of the Nation's living resources, detecting and evaluating changes in these variables over time.
This report is major publication on national biological resources that compiles and presents status and trends information for use by resource managers and the public. Presents detail information on ecosystems, plants, and animals.
Change in streams accompanying land and water use may affect benthic invertebrate assemblage composition and structure through changes in density of invertebrates or taxa richness, the number of different species living in the stream.
Report on the status of the biota and ecological factors of the inland lakes of the Great Lakes Cluster Parks: Indiana Dunes, Sleeping Bear Dunes,and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshores and Isle Royale and Voyageurs National Parks. (PDF file, 321 p.)
Combined with supporting research in reproductive physiology, identification of spawning habitat, and early life history this result provides new understanding of environmental factors that might affect reproduction of this endangered species.
Report prepared for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with descriptions of exotic aquatic species introduced in the southeast United States with information on populations, geographic distribution, and origins.
Concerted effort to monitor, analyze, and record sightings of non-native (introduced) aquatic species throughout the United States. Explains characteristics of the database that is compiled by this program.
Report on the captive breeding program at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center to help save endangered whooping cranes. Site links to natural history information on whooping cranes, why they are endangered, cool facts on cranes, and a photo gallery.
Gateway to useful USGS websites for recreation in nature watching and exploring, boating, camping, climbing, fishing, hiking, biking, and hunting, with links to maps, real-time streamflow, geology, photos, and plant and animal information.
The USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program is a cooperative effort with the National Park Service (NPS) to classify, describe, and map vegetation communities in over 270 U.S. national park units with links to overview, standards, products, and applications.
Outlines tactical problems that make it difficult for beach managers to use scientific information to make beach closure and advisory decisions. Explains methodologies we are using to address those problems and better prepare local decision makers.
This endangered species prefers native trees in large, continuous areas of riparian habitat. Armed with this information, resource managers may identify and preserve areas favorable to this population.
We use moderate resolution satellite data to assess live fuel condition for estimating fire danger. Using 23 years of vegetation condition measurements, we are able to determine the relative greenness of wildland vegetation susceptible to burning.
Describes investigative techniques focused on genetic characteristics of individuals and populations, and explains how this information helps improve existing natural populations and potentially impede invasive populations.
Over 30 years of substantial warming, the timing of life cycle events in maize here has changed, threatening the crop yield by exposing the plant at sensitive phases in its life cycle to increased heat and drought, and lowering the weight of its grains.
Summarizes studies that took place in this ecoregion. Some studies occurred in areas without post-fire management, and others in moderately or intensively managed areas. Some of the research also occurred immediately after a wildfire, and other work occur
Report of a pilot study to classify vegetation communities in parts of the Smoky Mountains National Park by sampling vegetation in selected areas with information on field methods and data analysis and lists of communities identified.
Identification manual with colored photos of species of puddle ducks, diving ducks, geese, mergansers, swans, cranes, herons, egrets, pelicans and cormorants. Also includes information on ordering print copy and downloading as *.zip file.