Ecosystems Science at USGS
USGS Landscape Science Strategy
Science informing decision making on public lands and across all of our Nation’s landscapes.
Science informing decision making on public lands and across all of our Nation’s landscapes.
USGS Wildland Fire Science
USGS science helps understand the causes, consequences, and benefits of wildfire and helps prevent and manage larger, catastrophic events.
USGS science helps understand the causes, consequences, and benefits of wildfire and helps prevent and manage larger, catastrophic events.
Ecosystems Mission Area
The USGS Ecosystems Mission Area provides science to help America achieve sustainable management and conservation of biological resources in wild and urban spaces, and places in between.
Newsletter - EcoNews
Newsletter - EcoNews
This quarterly newsletter highlights ecosystems science and activities coming out of our Science Centers and Cooperative Research Units across the Nation.
Webinar - Friday's Findings
Webinar - Friday's Findings
A public webinar series meant to offer our audience an opportunity to discover the Ecosystems science capacity within the USGS.
Where's our Science?
Where's our Science?
Find out where Ecosystems Science Centers, Field Stations, Climate Adaptation Science Centers, and Cooperative Research Units are located.
News
To protect coastal communities from hurricanes, call the... coral reef veterinarian?
To protect coastal communities from hurricanes, call the... coral reef veterinarian?
New USGS data-driven tools can aid restoration of mine lands across America
New USGS data-driven tools can aid restoration of mine lands across America
The 2024 Southern Sea Otter Census and Statistical Model Development
The 2024 Southern Sea Otter Census and Statistical Model Development
Publications
Projected sea-level rise and high tide flooding at San Juan National Historic Site, Puerto Rico
IntroductionNational parks and preserves in the South Atlantic-Gulf Region contain valuable coastal habitats such as tidal wetlands and mangrove forests, as well as irreplaceable historic buildings and archeological sites located in low-lying areas. These natural and cultural resources are vulnerable to accelerated sea-level rise and escalating high tide flooding events. Through a Natural Resource
Parasite abundance-occupancy relationships across biogeographic regions: Joint effects of niche breadth, host availability and climate
Changing biodiversity and environmental conditions may allow multi-host pathogens to spread among host species and affect prevalence. There are several widely acknowledged theories about mechanisms that may influence variation in pathogen prevalence, including the controversially debated dilution effect and abundance-occupancy relationship hypotheses. Here, we explore such abundance-occupancy rela
Remote sensing for monitoring mine lands and recovery efforts
Under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Ecosystem Restoration Program, the U.S. Department of the Interior has invested in assessing and recovering degraded ecosystems to promote healthy human communities and wildlife habitats. One priority established by the program is the need to address degraded ecosystems associated with mine lands, including active, inactive, and abandoned mines. Mine lands o
Science
Developing a Process for Listing Injurious Wildlife Species
This project will develop a transparent process for prioritizing species for listing as injurious, likely to cause damage or harm, under the Lacey Act. Building upon previously developed "horizon scan" and "watchlist" products, this process will identify potentially invasive species that present the greatest risk to lands, waters, and other assets managed by the U.S. Department of the Interior.
California Sea Otter Surveys and Research
WERC collaborates with other research scientists to conduct annual population surveys of the southern sea otter -- a federally listed threatened species. In coordination with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and other institutions, ongoing surveys and research continues to inform the southern sea otter recovery plan for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and contributes to our...
Passage, migration and critical habitat of Atlantic (Acipenser oxyrhinchus oxyrhinchus) and shortnose (Acipenser brevirostrum) sturgeons in New England waters.
USGS scientists are studying the passage, migration and critical habitat of the Atlantic ( Acipenser oxyrhinchus oxyrhinchus ) and shortnose ( Acipenser brevirostrum ) sturgeon in New England waters to provide managers with population-specific details upon which effective steps can be taken to protect these endangered species.