http://gallery.usgs.gov/images/logos/usgs_only.jpg http://gallery.usgs.gov/ en-us OC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications Web Group) http://gallery.usgs.gov/images/USGS.gif http://gallery.usgs.gov/ http://gallery.usgs.gov/videos/594 Fog and wind are ever present on Santa Rosa Island -- one of the Channel Islands offshore of Los Angeles and southern California. Fog condenses on twigs and leaves of island woodland plants, dripping and soaking into the ground. These “cloud forests” harvest the fog and provide critical water for wildlife and the ecosystem.

But grazing in decades past nearly eliminated the native woodlands and changed the fog ecosystem and island hydrology. Now, USGS scientist Kathryn McEachern is working with Channel Island National Park scientists and other collaborators to restore the cloud forests of Santa Rosa Island. As they return, the forests will again harvest water for the island, returning moisture to soils, springs and streams.

]]> http://gallery.usgs.gov/videos/435 USGS biologists are using GPS technology to track carnivores as they cross the highways of urban Southern California. USGS Western Ecological Research Center biologists Erin Boydston and Lisa Lyren attached GPS tracking collars to wild bobcats to shed light on how these carnivores are using highway under-crossings to travel between habitats, and whether urban development in Los Angeles and Orange County landscapes is shifting wildlife behavior. GIS specialist Bill Perry explains in this Google Earth animation.

]]>