Agricultural Land & Water
How humans utilize land to yield food and other natural products is reflected in these images of agricultural lands and waters.
Arid Environments
Some exceptionally tolerant plants and animals are included in these desert images.
Caves
Only by applying light can one really visualize – and record in images – underground environments.
Ecological Processes
Ecology consists of the study of individuals, populations and ecosystems, and how they all interact. It also includes the study of the processes that affect change, such as overpopulation, colonization of new islands, and habitat changes.
Forests
In a forest, trees grow close to one another, forming a predominantly continuous canopy.
Geology
Geology is the study of Earth's history and processes. These images of soils, minerals, rocks, fossils and geological proccesses are examples of geology's wide scope in the study of nature.
Grasslands
The steppes, prairies, llanos, pampas, savannas, meadows, and rangelands of the world are all forms of grasslands – lands that can get very dry, and that are dominated by grass or grass-like species.
Mixed Environments
Whether an environment is considered to have a 'mixed' habitat or not (and thus whether its image is included here) depends on how the habitats were defined, and the scale at which they were observed. Images covering larger scales, such as aerial photography, are more likely to show mixed environments.
Mountains & Mesas
Mountains, mesas, and buttes are the remnants of land that has been pushed above the surrounding landscape and then eroded.
Polar & Alpine Environments
The Arctic and Antarctic polar environments contain beautiful scenery and habitats with diverse life. This gallery also contains images of the tundra environments that exist in high mountains above the timberline.
Scrub & Heaths
Due to poor soil, fire, or other major disturbances, some habitats contain only small woody shrubs and other low vegetation. Thus scrublands, heaths, and moorlands of the world can present wide vistas.
Tropical Environments
Tropical environments share a relatively unchanging day length, but otherwise they can differ tremendously due to rainfall and soil types. These factors account for tropical environments ranging from dry deserts to dense, incredibly tall rainforests.
Urban Environments
The word "urban" is used to describe environments within a city, but this collection also includes other types of developed environments: suburbs, villages, roads and more.
Volcanic Environments
Although many images in this collection are of stark, moonscape-like scenes after recent volcanic activity, many are of lush, healthy ecosystems within craters or other geothermal sites.
Water & Wetlands
As illustrated by this collection, a "body of water" can be a tiny rain puddle, a powerful ocean, or anything in between.
