Data
Our interdisciplinary, integrated science teams develop various data sets in support of the USGS mission areas. This information then aids natural resource managers in decision making and support of the complex issues they face in today's world. The data and tools listed here are official USGS data releases.
Filter Total Items: 296
Greater sage-grouse genetic warning system, western United States (ver 1.1, January 2023)
Genetic variation is a well-known indicator of population fitness yet is not typically included in monitoring programs for sensitive species. Additionally, most programs monitor populations at one scale, which can lead to potential mismatches with ecological processes critical to species’ conservation. Recently developed methods generating hierarchically nested population units (i.e., clusters of
Predicted Pinyon Jay (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus) densities across the western United States, 2008-2020
Management intended to benefit a target species may also affect non-target species that co-occur over space and time. Pinyon jay (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus) populations experienced long-term declines and rely on habitat that could be lost to conifer removal programs for greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus). Using 13 years of point count data (2008-2020) collected across the western Unit
Greater sage-grouse network-prioritized functional connectivity cumulative current map (raster)
Conserving genetic connectivity is fundamental to species persistence, yet rarely is made actionable into spatial planning for imperiled species. Climate change and habitat degradation have added urgency to embrace connectivity into networks of protected areas. Our two-step process integrates a network model with a functional connectivity model, to identify population centers important to maintain
Landscape and connectivity metrics based on invasive annual grass cover from 2016-2018 summarized at 15 kilometer grid cells in the Great Basin, USA
The spatial context of invasions is increasingly recognized as important for the success and efficiency of management actions. This information can be key for managing invasive grasses that threaten native ecosystems. We calculated landscape metrics and circuit-based centrality for invasive grasses using a source input raster of weighted-average annual herbaceous cover from 2016-2018 (Maestas et a
Metabarcode sequencing of aquatic environmental DNA from the Potomac River Watershed, 2015-2020
Biological indicator taxa have long been used for integrative assessments of water quality, particularly benthic invertebrate groups such as arthropods. While standardized protocols have been developed to calculate 'biological index' scores based on the abundances of these taxa, such systems are challenging to implement at large scales due to the sampling effort required, taxonomic expertise neede
Sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) scale of effect for Greater Sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) population trends in southwest Wyoming, USA 2003-2019
The distance within which populations respond to features in a landscape (scale of effect) can indicate how disturbance and management may affect wildlife. Using annual counts of male Greater Sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) attending 584 leks in southwest Wyoming (2003-2019) and estimates of sagebrush cover from the Rangeland Condition Monitoring Assessment and Projection (RCMAP), we used
U.S. range-wide spatial prediction layers of lek persistence probabilities for greater sage-grouse
This dataset contains two predictive lek (breeding site) persistence raster layers covering the U.S. greater sage-grouse distribution. In the United States, locations where males display and breed with females (i.e., leks) are often monitored annually by state wildlife agencies, providing valuable information on the persistence of birds in the surrounding areas. A U.S. range-wide lek database was
Training dataset for NABat Machine Learning V1.0
Bats play crucial ecological roles and provide valuable ecosystem services, yet many populations face serious threats from various ecological disturbances. The North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat) aims to assess status and trends of bat populations while developing innovative and community-driven conservation solutions using its unique data and technology infrastructure. To support scalab
Occurrence data and models for woody riparian native and invasive plant species in the conterminous western USA
We developed habitat suitability models for occurrence of three invasive riparian woody plant taxa of concern to Department of Interior land management agencies, as well as for three dominant native riparian woody taxa. Study taxa were non-native tamarisk (saltcedar; Tamarix ramosissima, Tamarix chinensis), Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia) and Siberian elm (Ulmus pumila) and native plains/Fr
Soil and surface water nitrogen and caffeine data from 2019, and 2019-2020 trail counts of hikers in Loch Vale Watershed, Rocky Mountain National Park
Daily visitor use in Rocky Mountain National Park has increased substantially since 2014, raising questions about the impact of human waste on water quality in popular areas without latrines. Human urine contributes nitrogen, and the ecological and biogeochemical effects of nitrogen from atmospheric deposition have long been the topic of study in Loch Vale watershed, Rocky Mountain National Park.
INHABIT species potential distribution across the contiguous United States (ver. 3.0, February 2023)
We developed habitat suitability models for invasive plant species selected by Department of Interior land management agencies. We applied the modeling workflow developed in Young et al. 2020 to species not included in the original case studies. Our methodology balanced trade-offs between developing highly customized models for a few species versus fitting non-specific and generic models for numer
Hierarchically nested and biologically relevant range-wide monitoring frameworks for greater sage-grouse, western United States
We produced 13 hierarchically nested cluster levels that reflect the results from developing a hierarchical monitoring framework for greater sage-grouse across the western United States. Polygons (clusters) within each cluster level group a population of sage-grouse leks (sage-grouse breeding grounds) and each level increasingly groups lek clusters from previous levels. We developed the hierarchic