USGS Wildland Fire Science
USGS science helps understand the causes, consequences, and benefits of wildfire and helps prevent and manage larger, catastrophic events.
USGS Drought Science
Helping managers understand the interactions that determine the magnitude and impact of drought on water availability and ecosystems across the Nation
Ecosystems Science at USGS
Ecosystems Mission Area
The USGS Ecosystems Mission Area provides science that directly benefits the health, safety, and prosperity of the American people by providing trusted and timely information to help address the Nation’s toughest management and conservation issues impacting public lands and the surrounding communities that benefit from them.
USGS Science for Food & Water Security
USGS Ecosystems Mission Area science helps ensure safe and abundant domestic food and water supplies, ensuring all Americans access to livelihoods and traditions that connect generations with each other and the outdoors and strengthen America’s self-reliance
USGS Science for Public Safety & Security
Science within the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area provides a critical advantage in addressing public safety, infrastructure, and security issues surrounding natural disasters and changing landscapes, strengthening America’s ability to be a hazard ready Nation.
USGS Science for Economic Growth
Science provided by the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area helps boost America’s economy by providing practical tools to implement cost-effective management and development strategies that supports the Nation’s economic growth and protects our natural heritage.
News
Alaska Park Science: USGS and National Park Service Partners in Research
USGS Wildlife Health Awareness Day: Implications of highly pathogenic avian influenza to ecosystem health
Western Fisheries Research Center Institutional Animal Care and Use Meeting - April 20, 2026
Publications
Distribution and abundance of Least Bell’s Vireo (Vireo bellii pusillus) and Southwestern Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii extimus) at the Hansen Dam Basin, Los Angeles County, California—2025 data summary Distribution and abundance of Least Bell’s Vireo (Vireo bellii pusillus) and Southwestern Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii extimus) at the Hansen Dam Basin, Los Angeles County, California—2025 data summary
Letter from leadership Letter from leadership
Extrinsic factors similarly affect nest survival of a threatened shorebird in natural and human-created habitats Extrinsic factors similarly affect nest survival of a threatened shorebird in natural and human-created habitats
Science
KWIC Science: Rapid response products to meet resource managers’ priority science needs
Fish and Aquatic Ecology
