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Wildlife and Terrestrial Ecosystems

An image of a scrub jay with food in its beak, perched on a broken branch

Avian Research and Monitoring at RMRS

Researchers have been studying birds for years to discover more about their various ecosystem roles and assist land managers with planning and conservation.
Remote camera captures a wolverine as it approaches a researcher's trap.

Response of wolverines to winter recreation

Researchers use a novel approach to track movements of both wolverines and snowmobilers, back-country skiers, and other recreationists in the same high-use winter areas.
Ferruginous hawk fitted with a GPS transmitter.

Response of ferruginous hawks to energy development

Researchers fitted ferruginous hawk with GPS transmitters to study their movements relative to oil, gas, and wind energy development.
Rocky mountain fisher are reclusive carnivores living in mature, high-elevation forests (photo by Michael Schwartz).

Populations and habitat of Rocky Mountain fisher

Researchers are building models to predict fishers’ current habitat at a broad scale, as well as potential future habitat under climate change scenarios (photo by Michael Schwartz).
Habitat of the greater sage grouse is increasingly fragmented due to housing development and resource extraction.

Gene flow among breeding areas of greater sage-grouse

Habitat of the greater sage grouse is increasingly fragmented due to housing development and resource extraction, with implications for gene flow among core breeding areas.
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The Wildlife and Terrestrial Ecosystems program is engaged in sustaining species and ecosystems of concern through integrated and multidisciplinary research. The program investigates ecological interactions within and between aquatic and terrestrial plant and animal communities, social and economic values associated with consumptive and non-consumptive uses of fish and wildlife, management of terrestrial and aquatic habitats, and outcomes of land and water uses and natural disturbances on wildlife populations and habitats.