Mission Areas
Ecosystems
The USGS Ecosystems Mission Area, the biological research arm of the Department of the Interior (DOI), provides science to help America achieve sustainable management and conservation of its biological resources. This work is done within the broader mission of the USGS to serve the Nation with science that advances understanding of our natural resources and inform land and water stewardship.
Newsletter - EcoNews
This quarterly newsletter highlights ecosystems science and activities coming out of our Science Centers and Cooperative Research Units across the Nation.
EcoNews IssuesWebinar - Friday's Findings
A public webinar series meant to offer our audience an opportunity to discover the Ecosystems science capacity within the USGS.
Upcoming WebinarsWhere's our Science?
Find out where Ecosystems Science Centers, Field Stations, Climate Adaptation Science Centers, and Cooperative Research Units are located.
Browse by LocationNews
Fort Collins Science Center Ecologist Interviewed for National Geographic, NPR
Research ecologist Dr. Amy Yackel Adams was recently interviewed on the invasive tegu lizard for National Geographic and NPR’s Here & Now.
USGS Science at the Wind Wildlife Research Meeting XIII
Scientists from six USGS science centers will be sharing their latest science at this year’s virtual Wind Wildlife Research Meeting, taking place December 1-4, 2020.
Friday's Findings - December 4 2020
The Smart Energy Webtool: Providing Relevant and Accessible Information to Support Energy Development and Management
Date: December 4, 2020 from 2-2:30 p.m. eastern time
Speaker: Mike Duniway, Research Ecologist/Soil Scientist, USGS Southwest Biological Science Center
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Publications
Photoperiodic regulation of pituitary thyroid-stimulating hormone and brain deiodinase in Atlantic salmon
Seasonal timing is important for many critical life history events of vertebrates, and photoperiod is often used as a reliable seasonal cue. In mammals and birds, it has been established that a photoperiod-driven seasonal clock resides in the brain and pituitary, and is driven by increased levels of pituitary thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and...
Irachi, Shotaro; Hall, Daniel J.; Fleming, Mitchell S; Maugers, Gersende; Bjornsson, Bjorn; Dufour, Sylvie; Uchida, Katsuhisa; McCormick, Stephen D. Free-roaming horses disrupt greater sage-grouse lekking activity in the Great Basin
Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; hereafter, sage-grouse) and free-roaming horses (Equus caballus) co-occur within large portions of sagebrush ecosystems within the Great Basin of western North America. In recent decades, sage-grouse populations have declined substantially while concomitant free-roaming horse populations have...
Munoz, Diana A.; Coates, Peter S.; Ricca, Mark A. Elucidating controls on cyanobacteria bloom timing and intensity via Bayesian mechanistic modeling
The adverse impacts of harmful algal blooms (HABs) are increasing worldwide. Lake Erie is a North American Great Lake highly affected by cultural eutrophication and summer cyanobacterial HABs. While phosphorus loading is a known driver of bloom size, more nuanced yet crucial questions remain. For example, it is unclear what mechanisms are...
Del Giudice, Dario; Fang, Shiqi; Scavia, Donald; Davis, Timothy W.; Evans, Mary Anne; Obenour, Daniel R