# U.S. habitat lessons: locations and image credits Checked 7 September 2026. Twelve representative local relationships, not an inventory of all U.S. species. Markers locate parks, refuges or named coastal examples. They are not surveyed habitat boundaries, exact species ranges, sensitive nest locations or live sightings. Alaska and Hawaii are resized insets. The base image is NASA Blue Marble, July 2004; a color does not identify a plant species or current conditions. State geometry uses Census-derived atlas outlines. ## Minnesota Valley FWS published refuge visitor-location coordinate; a regional orientation marker, not a breeding record. [Location/context source](https://www.fws.gov/refuge/minnesota-valley/visit-us) · Longitude/latitude: -93.216674, 44.8598974. ## Badlands prairie This marks one park where bison live. It is not their complete current or historical range. [National Park Service — Parks from space](https://www.nps.gov/articles/parks-in-space.htm) · NPS representative Badlands National Park coordinate 43.68584846, -102.482942. Park locator, not bison sighting or bison range. ## Ajo Mountain Drive Arizona is a place to find this example. Saguaros grow in only part of the Sonoran Desert, not throughout Arizona or every desert. [National Park Service — Organ Pipe Desert Ranger Guide, p. 8](https://www.nps.gov/orpi/upload/Desert-Ranger-Guide.pdf) · Ajo Mountain Drive stop 7 explicitly locates a saguaro at N32°0.6552′ W112°43.8415′. Converted arithmetically. This is an example stop, not a species observation feed. ## Redwood parks The pin locates one forest in California. The natural coastal band also reaches southern Oregon; most of either state is not coast-redwood forest. [UNESCO — Redwood National and State Parks](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/134/) · Published property location: N41 22 26 W123 59 53; converted arithmetically, not a specific tree. ## Monterey Bay coast Authored approximate locator for the Monterey Bay coastal region, oriented with NOAA sanctuary geography. Not a kelp extent, an otter observation or a sampled station. [Location/context source](https://montereybay.noaa.gov/science/characterization/kelp-forests.html) · Longitude/latitude: -121.95, 36.7. ## Great Smoky Mountains Representative park locator from the existing NPS-based park catalog. Not an animal observation or habitat boundary. [Location/context source](https://www.nps.gov/grsm/index.htm) · Longitude/latitude: -83.53, 35.68. ## Carolina Sandhills FWS refuge visitor-location coordinate; not a nest tree or sensitive species observation. [Location/context source](https://www.fws.gov/refuge/carolina-sandhills/visit-us) · Longitude/latitude: -80.225046, 34.5040161. ## Shark River estuary South Florida is one coastal example. Mangroves do not cover the whole state, and Florida is not their only home. [USGS — South Florida hydrology site locations](https://sofia.usgs.gov/exchange/sfl_hydro_data/sitelist.html) · Shark River below Gunboat Island: N25°22′29.75″ W81°02′12.11″. A published water-monitoring location in the mangrove estuary, not a mangrove extent or specimen point. ## Rocky Mountain park Representative park locator from the existing NPS-based park catalog. Not an animal observation or habitat boundary. [Location/context source](https://www.nps.gov/romo/index.htm) · Longitude/latitude: -105.58, 40.4. ## Katmai waterways Representative park locator from the existing NPS-based park catalog. Not an animal observation or habitat boundary. [Location/context source](https://www.nps.gov/katm/index.htm) · Longitude/latitude: -155, 58.5. ## Denali winter habitat Representative park locator from the existing NPS-based park catalog. Not an animal observation or habitat boundary. [Location/context source](https://www.nps.gov/dena/index.htm) · Longitude/latitude: -150.5, 63.33. ## Haleakalā on Maui Representative park locator from the existing NPS-based park catalog. Not an animal observation or habitat boundary. [Location/context source](https://www.nps.gov/hale/index.htm) · Longitude/latitude: -156.17, 20.72. ## Photographs Individual rights apply to each image. Government hosting alone does not establish reuse permission. Whole compositions are displayed; resized/compressed copies retain their original image licenses. ### monarch An adult monarch drinks nectar from Joe Pyeweed flowers. Its caterpillar stage needs milkweed; this photograph illustrates adult food, not the refuge’s exact location. Emily Weiser / USGS · Public domain · [Public domain](https://www.usgs.gov/information-policies-and-instructions/copyrights-and-credits) · [Original source](https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/monarch-joe-pyeweed-plant) · [Local image](/wildlife/monarch.webp). Local educational display copy. ### bison A bison stands among prairie grasses. Exposed Badlands rock and living grassland can be neighbors. National Park Service · Public domain · [Public domain](https://www.usgs.gov/information-policies-and-instructions/copyrights-and-credits) · [Original source](https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/american-bison-3) · [Local image](/wildlife/bison.webp). Local educational display copy. ### saguaro Saguaros on a rocky slope in Saguaro National Park, Arizona. Our locator visits another Sonoran example, Ajo Mountain Drive. Daniel Winkler / USGS · Public domain · [Public domain](https://www.usgs.gov/information-policies-and-instructions/copyrights-and-credits) · [Original source](https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/saguaro-cacti-a-rocky-slope-sonoran-desert-az) · [Local image](/wildlife/saguaro.webp). Local educational display copy. ### redwood Redwood trunks rise above a green forest floor. This is a coastal forest example, not every California landscape. National Park Service · Public domain · [Public domain](https://www.usgs.gov/information-policies-and-instructions/copyrights-and-credits) · [Original source](https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/redwoods-redwood-national-park) · [Local image](/wildlife/redwood.webp). Local educational display copy. ### mangroves Red mangrove prop roots reach into tidal water in the Everglades. The submerged tangle provides shelter for small marine animals. G. Lynn Wingard / USGS · Public domain · [Public domain](https://www.usgs.gov/information-policies-and-instructions/copyrights-and-credits) · [Original source](https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/mangrove-forest-shark-river-slough-everglades-national-park) · [Local image](/wildlife/mangroves.webp). Local educational display copy. ### pika An American pika carries vegetation in its mouth. Rocky shelter and nearby food plants belong in the same habitat story. NPS / Ann Schonlau · [Public domain](https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/disclaimer.htm) · [Original source](https://www.nps.gov/romo/learn/nature/pikas.htm) · [Local image](/habitats/pika.webp). Local educational display copy. ### caribou Caribou forage with light snow on the ground in Denali. Snow conditions help determine which food they can reach. NPS / Katie Thoreson · [Public domain](https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/disclaimer.htm) · [Original source](https://www.nps.gov/articles/caribouhabitat.htm) · [Local image](/habitats/caribou.webp). Local educational display copy. ### nene Nēnē and their young stand in grass. These native Hawaiian geese also use open land habitats. NPS / Jill Peters · [Public domain](https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/disclaimer.htm) · [Original source](https://www.nps.gov/hale/learn/nature/haleakala-nene.htm) · [Local image](/habitats/nene.webp). Local educational display copy. ### bear Brown bears gather beside a Katmai waterway. Food and animal activity change with the season; this is not a year-round promise of the same scene. NPS / Bryanna Plog · [Public domain](https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/disclaimer.htm) · [Original source](https://www.nps.gov/katm/index.htm) · [Local image](/habitats/bear.webp). Local educational display copy. ### salamander A Jordan’s salamander in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee. This species belongs to the lungless salamander family. Fredlyfish4 · [CC BY-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) · [Original source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Plethodon_jordani_2.JPG) · [Local image](/habitats/salamander.jpg). Local educational display copy. ### woodpecker A red-cockaded woodpecker feeds a young bird at a pine cavity in Georgia. The same habitat relationship is taught at our Carolina Sandhills example. John Maxwell / USFWS · [Public domain](https://www.fws.gov/help/policies-and-notices) · [Original source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Red-cockaded_woodpecker_feeding_young_(5806270700).jpg) · [Local image](/habitats/woodpecker.webp). Whole photograph resized within 1000×800 pixels and compressed to WebP quality 82; no crop, recoloring or generated scenery. ### otter A southern sea otter rests at the water’s surface among kelp. This NOAA photograph comes from Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary’s gallery. Amity Wood / NOAA · [Public domain](https://montereybay.noaa.gov/gallery/photos-and-videos.html) · [Original source](https://montereybay.noaa.gov/gallery/photos-and-videos.html) · [Local image](/habitats/otter.webp). Whole photograph resized within 1000×800 pixels and compressed to WebP quality 82; no crop, recoloring or generated scenery.