Science Features Archive

2011

Where do they roam
Natural stream flow suits native trout populations best, according to a new study that is the first to examine the impacts of dam operations on threatened freshwater trout. The study appears in River Research and Applications. Full Story

Bulls Prefer Natural Flow
Natural stream flow suits native trout populations best, according to a new study that is the first to examine the impacts of dam operations on threatened freshwater trout. The study appears in River Research and Applications. Full Story

2010

Wolves in a Different Light
USGS scientists are examining thermal imagery of wolves as one step in assessing impacts of sarcoptic mange on the survival, reproduction and social behavior of wolves in Yellowstone National Park. Full Story

Tracking Grizzlies
Rural areas with human development can lessen grizzly bear survival in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, and innovative bear rub surveys can successfully monitor grizzly population dynamics in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem, according to two new USGS studies by scientists Chuck Schwartz and Kate Kendall. l Full Story l Podcast l

Elk Brucellosis Increases
USGS disease ecologist Paul Cross coauthors a study which suggests brucellosis may be increasing in elk populations in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Full Story.

Where the Bison Roam
USGS scientist Pete Gogan co-authors this newly released report from the IUNC American Bison Specialist Group. Full Story.

Bears & Buildings
USGS Geospatial Liason to Montana Lance Clampitt works with bear project team to map human structures throughout grizzly bear recovery areas, as well as the rest of the state, to predict human impacts on bear habitat. Full Story.

Going-to-the-Sun Road Avalanche Atlas.
USGS researchers Erich Peitzsch and Dan Fagre reveal the first avalanche atlas for the Going-to-the-Sun Road (GTSR) in Glacier National Park. View Video

2009

USGS scientist featured in Salazar piece.
USGS researcher Dan Fagre is featured in a New York Times online web video about Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.
View Video

Where the Bighorn Roam
A new landscape-level modeling tool developed by NOROCK scientist Kim Keating and partners provides video showing how use of space varies with time in two social groups of bighorn sheep in Glacier National Park. This product provides a new tool for visualizing the inherently dynamic nature of animal distributions.
Full Story

Climate Analysis Tools
New climate analysis tools developed by NOROCK scientist Greg Pederson and partners helps natural resource managers understand the implications of global warming on ecosystem processes and services at regional scales.
Full Story

Climate Science Meeting
NOROCK hosts dignitaries from Washington DC for first ever Northern Rockies Climate Science Meeting. Full Story

Crown of the Continent
A collection of videos and audio created by Newsweek on the Crown of the Continent Ecosystem, Glacier National Park, Montana. Full Story

NOROCK Climate Science
Current and emerging research at the Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center (NOROCK) focuses on monitoring and modeling ecosystem responses to climatic variability throughout the western U.S. Full Story

Hair of the Bear
Scientist at NOROCK and partners are beginning a new grizzly bear research project this summer in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE) of northwestern Montana. This work is based on hair collection and DNA analysis methods similar to those used in the 2004 Northern Divide Grizzly Bear Project. Full Story

Fishy Business
Scientist at NOROCK and their partners are conducting research which shows hybridization of native Westslope cutthroat trout with non-native rainbow trout. Full Story

Radar is for the Birds
Scientist at NOROCK and their partners are conducting research that allows them to distinguish between precipitation and birds in NEXRAD weather radar data leading to the development of a landscape model of bird migration. Full Story Listen to the Podcast Radar is for the Birds

Repeat Photo Project Featured in Museum Exhibit
The Repeat Photography project has become an important tool for documenting and analyzing the retreat of glaciers and the images have garnered much interest from the media, academia, and most recently from the art community. Full Story

Results of Landmark Grizzly Bear Study Now Available
A team of more that 200 researchers, consisting of 12 federal, state, and tribal agencies, landowners, universities, and other entities, can see the fruits of their labor featured on the cover of the January 2009 issue of the Journal of Wildlife Management. Full Story

2008

Eye in the Sky
Landsat technology has expanded by the arrival of EarthNow!, an online outreach tool developed to show near-real time satellite imagery from data received from the Landsat 5 and Landsat 7 satellites as they pass over the United States. Full Story

Wildlife and Wind Energy
Wind energy is emerging as a sustainable, domestically available energy source. However, development of wind farms do impact wildlife habitat, bird mortality, and migratory bird routes. Scientists and their partners at NOROCK are studying these impacts and working towards developing predictive tools for land managers that assist in decision making and are protective of wildlife habitat and migration. Full Story

Wildlife as Indicators of Climate Change
Still aren’t certain if climate change is a long term event or temporary trend? Why not look at those that will be most affected by the impacts of climate-change on our Rocky Mountain ecosystems? Scientists at NOROCK are doing just that by beginning two studies that will examine how climate change may be impacting the habitats of native fish and big game species. Full Story

Remote photography is used to learn more about grizzly bears in northwest Montana
Video and photographs are part of a study conducted by USGS Research Biologist Kate Kendall to determine the size and distribution of bear populations in northwestern Montana. Full Story

USGS Global Change Seminar: Ecological Thresholds Relating to Climate Change
USGS Research Ecologist, Dan Fagre, presents on Ecological Thresholds Relating to Climate Change. Podcast was recorded on January 17, 2008 at the USGS National Center in Reston, VA. Podcast

Retreating Glaciers
Glacier National Park’s namesake glaciers have receded rapidly since the Park’s establishment in 1910, primarily due to long-term changes in regional and global climate. These changes have been documented with a series of photographs repeated over the last century. At this rate, the park’s glaciers are predicted to disappear by 2030. Full Story