Mark Wimer

Bats make up one-fifth of all mammalian species worldwide and are found on every continent except Antarctica. They contribute to overall ecosystem health by suppressing pest insects and pollinating plants and spreading seeds. Eight North American bat species are listed as federally endangered or threatened, and more than one-half are of current conservation concern in the United States, Canada, or...

USGS research into environmental stressors (e.g., climate, drought, floods, wildland fire) and anthropogenic stressors (e.g., energy production, urban encroachment, water abatement) provides managers with information to reduce or eliminate impacts from stressors to fish and wildlife populations and advances our understanding of the efficacy of conservation and adaptation actions to mitigate land...

Reptile intro

Native plants

To understand information needs and respond to the many challenges in bird conservation, USGS scien­tists participate in Flyway committees, on Joint Venture boards and working groups, in professional organizations, and in other conservation partnerships. These activities con­nect USGS scientists to conservation partners with whom they work to address substantial challenges. More than one hundred...

Ecosystems—whether agricultural, urban, or natural—depend on pollinators, great and small. Pollinators in the form of bees, birds, butterflies, bats, and even moths provide vital, but often invisible services, from contributing to biodiverse terrestrial wildlife and plant communities to supporting healthy watersheds. Pollinator declines worldwide have been noted as land-use and climate changes...

Marine mammals

Across the country, USGS scientists research amphibians to help other agencies manage this historically underappreciated and now declining group. Our scientists have learned that no single threat explains global amphibian declines; instead, a variety of local and global factors are contributing. Habitat loss, disease, contaminants, and other threats are all part of the pattern.

USGS science in support of the Department of the Interior's Bison Conservation Initiative.

The Challenge: A Breeding Bird Atlas (BBA) is a widespread survey method that provides distribution maps for all bird species that nest in a specific state or province. Hundreds of participants fan out over several seasons to their assigned blocks on a systematic survey grid; they search for breeding evidence such as a male/female pair of a species on a branch (“possibly breeding”), or an adult...