USGS Newsroom

Dramatic Links Found Between Climate Change, Elk, Plants, and Birds
Released: 1/9/2012 11:30:00 AM
Missoula, MT – Climate change in the form of reduced snowfall in mountains is causing powerful and cascading shifts in mountainous plant and bird communities through the increased ability of elk to stay at high elevations over winter and consume plants, according to a groundbreaking study in Nature Climate Change.

Satellite Tracking Helps Russian Tanker Navigate Critical Sea Duck Habitat
Released: 1/6/2012 1:01:22 PM
On its way to deliver emergency fuel to Nome, Alaska, the Russian tanker Renda will move through an area used by wintering spectacled eiders, a federally threatened sea duck. But, to protect the ducks and their wintering habitat, resource managers from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and navigators from the U.S. Coast Guard are using satellite telemetry information from the U.S. Geological Survey to plot a route for the tanker that minimizes impacts to this species and its habitat.

Salt Water Alone Unlikely to Halt Burmese Python Invasion
Released: 1/4/2012 1:00:00 PM
Invasive Burmese python hatchlings from the Florida Everglades can withstand exposure to salt water long enough to potentially expand their range through ocean and estuarine environments, according to research in the latest issue of the Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology.

Citizen Scientists Key to Success for National Midwinter Bald Eagle Survey
Released: 1/3/2012 6:56:17 PM
A key annual event in the recovery of Bald Eagle populations takes place January 4-18, when hundreds of citizen scientists take to the field for the 34th annual Midwinter Bald Eagle Survey.

New Research Shows How Much Food is Needed by Seabirds
Released: 12/22/2011 2:00:00 PM
An international group of scientists, including one from the U.S. Geological Survey, has shown that many seabirds begin to suffer when the food available for them in the ocean declines below a critical level.

Mercury Deposition Greater near Major U.S. Cities
Released: 12/20/2011 9:03:43 AM
Atmospheric deposition of mercury is about four-times higher in lakes near several major U.S. cities compared to lakes in remote areas, according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey.

U.S.-Canada Arctic Ocean Survey Partnership Saved Costs, Increased Data
Released: 12/15/2011 5:41:47 PM
A recent mission marked the completion of a five-year collaboration between the United States and Canada to survey the Arctic Ocean.

Baron Named President-Elect of Ecological Society of America
Released: 12/15/2011 8:04:59 AM
U.S. Geological Survey research ecologist Dr. Jill Baron has just been named President-Elect of the Ecological Society of America.

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