Ecosystems Mission Area

The Ecosystems Mission Area is one of six mission areas of the United States Geological Survey.
EMA provides independent biological, ecological, and environmental-health science that informs management of public lands and natural resources overseen by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

WWW Official Site

History

Origins (1849–1972)

DOI was created in 1849 to manage federal lands and resources.
Congress established the USGS in 1879, initially to conduct nationwide geologic mapping.
Beginning in the 1930s, USGS launched Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units with land-grant universities to train conservation scientists and conduct applied wildlife research.
The Endangered Species Act spurred demand for nationwide surveys of plants and animals.
In 1975 USGS opened the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wisconsin, to investigate wildlife-disease outbreaks.

National Biological Survey and Biological Resources Division (1993–2009)

In 1993 DOI consolidated biological research from several bureaus into the National Biological Survey to provide “a sound scientific basis” for resource management.
Three years later the NBS was transferred to USGS as the Biological Resources Division. BRD expanded nationwide ecosystem programs, including:

North American Breeding Bird Survey.
Gap Analysis Project for mapping species–habitat “gaps” in the conservation estate.
An enlarged network of CRUs.

Creation of the Ecosystems Mission Area (2010)

USGS reorganised in October 2010, moving from discipline-based divisions to six integrated mission areas. The BRD's functions were absorbed into the new Ecosystems Mission Area.

2015 – USGS merged the National Wetlands Research Center and the Southeast Ecological Science Center to create the Wetland and Aquatic Research Center.
2020 – The Climate Adaptation Science Centers, the Land Change Science/Climate R&D program, and the Environmental Health Program were realigned under EMA, broadening its climate- and contaminant-science portfolio.

Recent developments (2020s)

EMA now focuses on climate resilience, invasive species, emerging wildlife diseases, wildfire and drought impacts, and data modernisation.
In 2024 USGS released Annual NLCD, providing nationwide land-cover maps for every year 1985–2023 to track habitat change.

Programs and research

Biological Threats – invasive species, wildlife disease, and biosecurity. Hosts the public Nonindigenous Aquatic Species database and environmental-DNA early-warning tools.
Climate Adaptation Science Centers – one national and nine regional CASCs that co-produce applied climate-impact research with managers and tribes.
Cooperative Research Units – federal–state–university partnerships training graduate students and delivering decision-support science.
Land Management Research – ecological effects of energy, forestry, recreation, and urban development.
Species Management Research – population dynamics, habitat requirements, and recovery metrics for game and non-game species.
Environmental Health – contaminants, harmful algal blooms, and zoonotic pathogens.
Land Change Science – remote-sensing analyses such as the National Land Cover Database.

Scientific contributions

Long-term datasets underpin population-trend assessments.
Discovery of the fungal pathogen causing white-nose syndrome in bats.
Invasive-species risk mapping and nationwide NAS alerts.
Open-access land-cover products enable quantification of wildfire, drought, and urban expansion.

Partnerships

EMA collaborates with DOI bureaus, NOAA, EPA, NASA, state wildlife agencies, NGOs, and international partners on cross-border monitoring programmes such as the Breeding Bird Survey.

Impact

EMA science supports implementation of the Endangered Species Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and federal invasive-species policy. Its impartial data guide land-use planning, wildfire-risk forecasts, and coastal-resilience strategies across the United States.