Species Biology

The Conasauga River in northwest Georgia and southeast Tennessee harbors the majority of mussel diversity still found in the Georgia portion of the Upper Coosa Basin. While the Conasauga historically supported at least 44 mussel species, only about 20 species remain.

USGS aims to integrate biological and hydrological models to help develop management tools to deal with the projected ecological consequences of rising sea level in coastal south Florida.

The 2011 (Draft) Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement on Migratory Bird Hunting (EIS) offers four alternatives concerning the timing of the regulatory process for setting waterfowl hunting seasons. The no-change alternative involves a process by which most proposals for hunting seasons are developed in response to survey information that becomes available in early summer, such as breeding...

USGS uses weather surveillance radar data and landscape-scale habitat metrics to model bird-habitat connections along the western coast of the Gulf of Mexico.

Population trends suggest that the Florida Grasshopper Sparrow may go extinct within five years. USGS research aims to collect demographic information to help identify the current status of the species.

USGS is working to develop hierarchical models that will help analyze population-level surveys and sampling protocols, including presence-absence, point-count, multiple observer, removal, and capture-recapture.

Fish otoliths - ear bones - can be used to identify the fish nursery habitat used by estuarine fish.

"BearTrak" is an app that provides a central repository for Louisiana Black Bear tracking data, allowing managers to access information more quickly and reliably.

Long-term capture-recapture research in the Everglades National Park provides baseline information on the Diamondback Terrapin, a species that may be threatened by human disturbances.

USGS assesses how federally endangered sea turtles use the habitat in and around a no-take area in the Dry Tortugas National Park.

Seamounts may be biodiversity hotspots, oases, islands, and centers for endemism in the deep sea. USGS and partners explore these possibilities within the Greater and Lesser Antilles Transition Zone.

The federally threatened piping plover relies on sand-beach habitat year-round for nesting, foraging, and roosting, habitat that is particularly vulnerable to loss and degradation from coastal development, recreation activities, erosion, and sea-level rise.