Images

The sagebrush steppe of the western U.S., including the site of the 2015 Soda Wildfire pictured here, is vast and encompasses landscapes with variable elevation, weather, water availability, aspect, soil type, and more.

Looking out over a red alder forest with evergreen trees at Cascade Head Preserve in Oregon.

PTT, or platform transmitter terminal, recovered from 22.83 year old male osprey. 

A western purple martin on a snag - or dead tree- in western Oregon. Purple martins require snags for nesting.

Researchers examine a bat (Myotis sp.) to test for the fungus that causes white-nose syndrome.

The Wildcat experimental treatment site in southwest Idaho at the base of the Owyhee Mountains. The brown square was treated with pre-emergent herbicide and is free of cheatgrass, a few native perennial bunchgrasses were able to establish. This image was taken the first Spring after treatment.

A field technician taking a soil core sample at Wildcat, a field site in southwest Idaho. Scientists are studying the effects of herbicides used to control exotic annual grasses on soil.

The USGS is researching how trees and epiphytic lichens are affected by nitrogen deposition in temperate forests.

Cover photo for Shinneman, D.J., Welty, J.L., Arkle, R.S., Pilliod, D.S., Glenn, N.F., McIlroy, S.K., Halford, A.S., 2018, Fuels guide and database for intact and invaded big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) ecological sites—User manual: U.S. Geological Survey Data Series Report 1048, p.

This remote area along the southern Idaho-Oregon border was affected by the 2015 Soda Fire, which burned nearly 400 square miles of sagebrush habitat important to many species of wildlife, as well as federal and private ranchlands.

Scientists sample a rough-skinned newt for the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans, or Bsal, at a pond near Portland, Oregon. Bsal is decimating wild salamander populations in Europe and could emerge in the U.S. thro

This auger is used to collect 1 meter deep soil cores for a carbon budget study associated with the SageSTEP project. SageSTEP is a long-term, multi-disciplinary experiment evaluating sagebrush restoration methods in the Great Basin.

The eagle in the foreground with the wide white tail band is a golden eagle. The other eagles are two adult and one Basic II bald eagles.

USGS scientist Brome McCreary holding a radio telemetry antenna and receiver, tracking Oregon spotted frogs on the Deschutes River in Oregon. This work was part of a study investigating fall movements and overwintering habitat use. 

USGS scientist Jennifer Rowe using radio telemetry to track Oregon spotted frogs in Dead Slough on the Deschutes River, Oregon. This work was part of a study investigating fall movements and overwintering habitat use.

Scientists are studying several weed suppressive bacteria to see if they can be used as a biological control on invasive exotic grasses, such as cheatgrass.

The Altamont Pass Wind Far is located in northern California.

Grass seeds on freshly burned soil at the site of the 2015 Soda Wildfire. Grass seeds were aerially sown to restore native perennial vegetation.

A plot of bunchgrasses that established after the 2015 Soda Wildfire. The site was treated with herbicide the first fall post-fire, then grasses were drill seeded the subsequent year. A fence was installed to exclude livestock. This approach of combining herbicide, seeding, and grazing treatments is known as layering.

Biologists snorkel the Bogachiel River in Washington State to count resident and migratory fish as part of a riverscape survey.

Three USGS scientists prepare to conduct underwater biological surveys of the Bogachiel River, Washington