USGS

The 2020 fire season in western North American was among the most extreme on record.

Tidal marsh wetlands worldwide have been lost due to human impacts. Tidal marshes are critical to many wildlife taxa and have become the focus of many restoration projects. In the Suisun Marsh of California, part of the San Francisco Bay Estuary and the largest brackish marsh on the U.S.

During late summer and autumn, Pacific walruses are resting on shore north of the Bering Strait more often and in larger numbers in both the United States and Russia.  Historically, walruses rested primarily on floating sea ice over their offshore foraging grounds in this region, but climate warming has reduced availability of sea ice.  With greater numbers of walruses gathering on shore, USGS scientists and collabor

Many wildlife species reside in sensitive habitats that make detection and monitoring difficult.  For waterfowl, measuring brood production can serve as an early indicator of habitat quality and provide important insight into understanding overall ecosystem drivers.

As part of a broader trial of noninvasive methods to research wild wolves (Canis lupus) in the Superior National Forest (SNF), Minnesota, the USGS Wolf and Deer Project (Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center) explored whether wolves could be remotely monitored using a new, inexpensive (approximately $80 USD in 2019), remotely deployable, passive acoustic recording device.

Mule deer are known to avoid human disturbances, including energy infrastructure and development. By combining remote sensing data, GIS modeling, and information on energy expenditure of mule deer, researchers developed a spatiotemporal model to map the minimum energy expenditure required for mule deer to traverse a landscape with increasing levels of oil and gas development on the northern Colorado Plateau.

Disturbances to animals can cause changes in behavior. Therefore, it is critical for wildlife managers to understand what disturbances may impact animals and how animals adapt to them. USGS scientists analyzed the relationship between human-based disturbance and animal movement and habitat use.

Waterfowl rely on continent-wide wetland networks supporting migratory pathways that connect important breeding and wintering grounds. Globally, 30 to 90% of these networks are threatened or have been heavily modified or destroyed by human development.

Waterfowl populations within California's Central Valley are unusual among most North American waterfowl populations in that the region contains both resident and migratory populations of several species.  The region supports 60% of the waterfowl and waterbirds that stopover for at least part of the year along the Pacific Flyway, a major north-south migratory pathway.

The USGS, in collaboration with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the