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New study estimates 765 grizzly bears reside in northwest Montana

It has been estimated that 765 grizzly bears reside in northwest Montana. USGS biologist Katherine Kendall at Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center (NOROCK) has been actively photographing and recording grizzly bears and black bears with remote cameras. Using hair snag samples collected from barbed wire hair traps and bear rub trees for genetic More...

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Mysterious Bat Die-Off

Hibernating bats are dying by the tens of thousands in the northeastern United States, and a growing circle of top scientists is anxiously trying to figure out why. The mystery affliction, reported in New York, Vermont and Massachusetts, is dubbed "white-nose syndrome" because many affected bats had visible halos of white fungus around their More...

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Monitoring black-footed ferrets during reestablishment of free-ranging populations: Discussion of alternative methods and recommended minimum standards

Although the monitoring of black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes) populations following reintroductions has not been haphazard, several ferret recovery groups since 1994 have recommended development of uniform standards prescribing minimum methods, intensities, and frequencies of monitoring that would provide data on population size, mortality More...

  • black footed ferret publication

Using Genetic Modeling to Assess the Health and Status of Manatee Populations

Biologists in the Sirenia Project at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Florida Integrated Science Center (FISC) in Gainesville, FL, are currently identifying and mapping the genetic material of manatees. Their goal is to better understand and predict the manatee's ability to react to environmental stimuli, such as prolonged periods of cold More...

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Sea Otter Mortality

Recent increases in the frequency and variety of infectious diseases in the southern sea otter may jeopardize the population recovery of this threatened species. This information sheet includes a list of selected publications.

  • sea otter with its head poking out of the ocean

Vegetation responses to natural regulation of elk in Rocky Mountain National Park

A quasi-experimental situation exists in Rocky Mountain National Park, where elk (Cervus elaphus) populations have increased 3-fold since 1968 following their release from artificial controls within the park. Increases in elk habitat use and decreases in deer habitat use were observed. Significant increases in cover of mosses and lichens occurred More...

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Bats of Jewel Cave

In 1995, the Fort Collins Science Center, Biological Resources Discipline, United States Geological Survey initiated a cooperative study with the National Park Service to study the bats of Jewel Cave National Monument. The major goals of this project were to define distribution patterns and roosting habits of bats in the area. One of the More...

  • Paul Cryan during a bat survey at Jewel Cave

America's Wild Horses and Burros: Research for Management

This site is in part a hybridization of two of the most popular pre-existing sites about the wild horse research. Three research and development tasks are featured, which are counting wild horses and burros by combining and field-testing aerial survey techniques (this work assists the BLM in obtaining more accurate population estimates, on which More...

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Influence of Grazing on Biotic Crusts in a Central Washington Landscape

This project addresses one of the Bureau of Land Management's key research needs: Understanding the influence of grazing on the integrity of biotic soil crusts in semiarid rangelands. Grazing is planned to resume on parts of the Horse Heaven Hills near Richland, Washington based upon an Environmental Assessment (EA) by the Spokane District office More...

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Polar Bear Research at the Alaska Science Center

Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are one of 4 marine mammal species managed by the U.S. Department of Interior. The USGS Alaska Science Center conducts research on polar bears to better inform Departmental policy makers regarding conservation of the species and its habitat. Studies are focused primarily on population dynamics and habitat use. The More...

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Sea Otter Studies at WERC

Sea otters (Enhydra lutris) are keystone predators in the nearshore environment of the eastern Pacific Ocean, in a food web composed of sea otter, sea urchin, and kelp forest. Without sea otters, the kelp forest can be overgrazed by sea urchins, which in turn can affect other species that depend on this ecosystem. This resource provides links to More...

  • A sea otter floats on its back while grooming

Brazos Field Research Station

The BFRS works cooperatively with team members from CERC and with faculty and graduate students of Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences at Texas A&M University in research areas represented by the branch structure of the CERC including toxicology, ecology, biochemistry and physiology, environmental chemistry, ecogeography, and information More...

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