Images

Sunlight through an autumn fern (with spores structures) in front of a downed old-growth cedar tree.

Fireweed after fire in Alaska

American crocodiles are restricted in their range within the USA to southern Florida. Decisions on restoration of the Everglades must incorporate protection for this threatened species.

Water levels are critical to the life cycle of alligators. Part of the Everglades restoration plan is to determine what historical water levels and flow rates supported healthy alligator populations.

Great Blue Herons are found throughout much of North America, but are always associated with water. Because they fish by sight, they need relatively shallow water. Release of too much water through the canals north of the Everglades can interfere with their ability to find food.

Calm Lake Michigan morning while sampling dead and dying fish for viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV). This virus has recently emerged in the Great Lakes and caused severe epidemics in many fish species.

Quinault tribal netpen facility in Lake Quinault, for rearing steelhead trout and chinook salmon

An American Alligator in Everglades National Park. The species was once listed as Endangered, but was removed in 1987 after a successful recovery.

Honey bees live and work in highly collaborative, social colonies with a sole reproducing queen, and they make honey by storing nectar from flowering plants in their hives for use during food scarcities.

The USGS researches land use and honey bee health in the northern Great Plains. This research will be useful in equipping land managers and policy makers with the best-available science to improve forage and habitat for pollinators in a part of the country that is undergoing rapid land-use change.

Honey bees live and work in highly collaborative, social colonies with a sole reproducing queen, and they make honey by storing nectar from flowering plants in their hives for use during food scarcities.

The USGS researches land use and honey bee health in the northern Great Plains. This research will be useful in equipping land managers and policy makers with the best-available science to improve forage and habitat for pollinators in a part of the country that is undergoing rapid land-use change.

African rock pythons are the largest snake in Africa, but now some have been found in Florida. They can eat goats, warthogs, and even crocodiles. In Florida, they are an invasive species.

The endangered Devils Hole pupfish lives only in Devils Hole in the Mojave Desert.

A USGS technician collects a water sample at the Faka Union Canal Weir #1, Collier County, Florida. The sample was used to help determine the source of the warm water responsible for the site's popularity among manatees as a warm water refuge.

The Faka Union Canal Weir #1 (Collier County, Florida) helps create a downstream hydrological haven for manatees. During the cold winter months, the right flow conditions can maintain a salinity gradient known as a halocline that traps warm water near the bottom of the residential canals at Port of the Islands.

Freshwater flowing over the Faka Union Canal Weir #1 near Port of the Islands, Collier County, Florida. During cold weather, freshwater flows here can maintain a downstream salinity gradient that creates a warm water refuge for manatees.

A manatee swims downstream from a weir in Faka Union Canal known to create a strong salinity gradient downstream.

This aerial view shows how Faka Union Canal (visible as a straight channel of water) connects the coastal environment, where manatees feed, to freshwater inlets. The Ten Thousand Islands region in the foreground supports sea grass beds where manatees feed.

A manatee feeds on sea grass beds in Ten Thousand Islands region of Florida.

Drought and climate change are causing extensive forest dieback in the U.S. West as well as worldwide. These photos show dead ponderosa pines in the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico killed by a combination of drought stress and attacks by bark beetles on weakened trees.