The vast forests and grasslands of the U.S. have given way to an incredibly diverse and unique set of mammals. They are home to some of the largest mammals in the world such as bison and grizzly bears, as well as small rodents and bats that, despite their size, shape their ecosystems in a big way.

The Forest Service recognizes the interdependence between mammal populations and healthy forests. As predators and prey, mammals occupy both extremes of the food chain and are key to balancing the countless variables that define ecosystems. Forest Service research provides managers and decision-makers with the tools and knowledge to help protect, enhance, and restore mammal habitats and minimize the effects of disturbances from land management, fire, urbanization, disease, and climate change.

• Elk, deer, and cattle drive ecosystem patterns and processes and have million-dollar impacts on recreation and hunting, agriculture, and natural resource management. Forest Service research helps inform the often-contentious balance of protecting these ungulates and their habitats while controlling the damage that unmanaged populations can have on agricultural crops, tree plantations, and healthy forest ecosystems.

• Bats are the second most diverse group of mammals and perform many significant functions in forested ecosystems, including insect population control and nutrient cycling. Today almost half of the bat species in the U.S. are in decline due to loss of habitat and disease, putting the ecosystems they are integral to sustaining at risk. The Forest Service is a leader in research to inform bat conservation approaches including forest-habitat relations, ecosystem services provided by bats, the effects of forest management on bats, and monitoring bat population status. The Forest Service is also a leader in monitoring the spread and impacts of white-nose syndrome and developing and applying measures to reduce its impacts on bat populations and bat conservation approaches.

• Forest carnivores such as lynx, black and brown bears, wolves, coyotes, and wolverines are apex predators whose absence can tip the balance of the entire ecosystem. They are highly sensitive to the influence of human development in their habitat, and the Forest Service conducts research to understand how to sustainably coexist and support these iconic species.
   
• Diverse populations of small mammals, such as rodents and weasels, are a highly influential component of the web of life in forest ecosystems. They are both predators and prey, forming the connections between insects, fish, birds, and apex predators, and often catalyze forest recovery through their ability to quickly recolonize and disperse seeds.

Featured Work

• Forest Service scientists and partners at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Park Service, and National Institute of Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS) are working to design a framework for monitoring and tracking bat populations in North America.

• Beaver dams can help control flooding, raise groundwater levels, and improve surface water flows. Forest Service researchers are helping to identify ways to successfully introduce beaver-supported stream restoration projects in rangelands.   

• Mesocarnivores such as fisher, marten, lynx, wolverine and others are an important part of forest ecosystems, but they are often difficult to detect, occur in low densities, and have large home ranges. Forest Service scientists have developed a multispecies mesocarnivore multiregional monitoring approach that focuses on 'conservation states' to better understand trends in mesocarnivores and to develop more effective local and regional goal - efficient monitoring and management strategies.

• To support conservation efforts, our scientists are working to better understand the habitat of the Eastern Spotted Skunk, an increasingly rare species that is undergoing substantial population declines throughout much of its range. 

• The National Genomics Center for Wildlife and Fish Conservation is housed with Forest Service Research and Development and is a state-of-the-art facility for advanced research providing expertise in DNA sequencing and environmental and forensic DNA sampling. The Center partners across agencies to provide cost-effective and reliable genetic and genomic data for species monitoring.

• Forest Service scientists and partners studied impacts of dispersed (skiing and snowmobiling) and developed (ski areas) winter recreation on Canada lynx to better understand how lynx may modify behavior in response to these activities.