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Priority Landscapes

Much of the work done by USGS WARC scientists occurs in areas of management concern, such as the Mississippi River Delta and the Florida Everglades. This place-based research focuses on understanding the biological and physical processes that influence change to inform management strategies across these large geographic areas.

Filter Total Items: 107

Nekton References and Targets: Assessing the Abundance and Density of Fish and Invertebrates Associated with Louisiana’s Marsh Habitat

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is leading a Monitoring and Adaptive Management (MAM) activity with USGS collaborators to establish reference ranges and restoration targets, assess data gaps for focal nekton species and/or guilds associated with Louisiana’s estuarine and coastal habitats, implement the fixed-area sampling strategy to quantify fishes and invertebrates...
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Nekton References and Targets: Assessing the Abundance and Density of Fish and Invertebrates Associated with Louisiana’s Marsh Habitat

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is leading a Monitoring and Adaptive Management (MAM) activity with USGS collaborators to establish reference ranges and restoration targets, assess data gaps for focal nekton species and/or guilds associated with Louisiana’s estuarine and coastal habitats, implement the fixed-area sampling strategy to quantify fishes and invertebrates...
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Natural Resource Damage and Assessment (NRDA) Program- DOI Monitoring and Adaptive Management Technical Assistance

WARC researchers are providing support to Louisiana Monitoring and Adaptive Management activities.
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Quantifying Changes in Wetland Area and Habitat Types in the Deepwater Horizon Louisiana Restoration Area 1985-Present with Remote Sensing

USGS researchers will quantify wetland change and wetland vegetation community type change through the analyses of aerial vegetation survey data and investigate potential relationships between Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and marsh elevation change.
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Quantifying Changes in Wetland Area and Habitat Types in the Deepwater Horizon Louisiana Restoration Area 1985-Present with Remote Sensing

USGS researchers will quantify wetland change and wetland vegetation community type change through the analyses of aerial vegetation survey data and investigate potential relationships between Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and marsh elevation change.
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Beach Compaction and the Impacts of Tilling on Nesting Sea Turtles and Foraging Shorebirds

Researchers are investigating beach compaction, the incubation environment for turtle nests, and shorebird nest abundance at beaches throughout the southeastern United States to better understand the impacts of beach compaction to nesting turtles and foraging seabirds.
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Beach Compaction and the Impacts of Tilling on Nesting Sea Turtles and Foraging Shorebirds

Researchers are investigating beach compaction, the incubation environment for turtle nests, and shorebird nest abundance at beaches throughout the southeastern United States to better understand the impacts of beach compaction to nesting turtles and foraging seabirds.
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Ecological Modeling to Support the Biscayne Bay and Southeastern Everglades Ecosystem Restoration (BBSEER) Project

The Biscayne Bay and Southeastern Everglades Ecosystem Restoration (BBSEER) project will use Bayesian networks developed within the Everglades Vulnerability Analysis framework but with an expanded set of predicted vegetation types to build a spatially explicit model predicting annual probability of vegetation types in response to hydrologic and other landscape factors.
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Ecological Modeling to Support the Biscayne Bay and Southeastern Everglades Ecosystem Restoration (BBSEER) Project

The Biscayne Bay and Southeastern Everglades Ecosystem Restoration (BBSEER) project will use Bayesian networks developed within the Everglades Vulnerability Analysis framework but with an expanded set of predicted vegetation types to build a spatially explicit model predicting annual probability of vegetation types in response to hydrologic and other landscape factors.
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Mangrove Forest Responses to Sea-Level Rise in the Greater Everglades

USGS researchers will utilize long-term soil elevation change data to help advance understanding of soil elevation dynamics and ecological transformations due to climate change within coastal wetlands of the Greater Everglades.
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Mangrove Forest Responses to Sea-Level Rise in the Greater Everglades

USGS researchers will utilize long-term soil elevation change data to help advance understanding of soil elevation dynamics and ecological transformations due to climate change within coastal wetlands of the Greater Everglades.
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Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) Program-Louisiana Outer Coast Restoration: North Breton Island Component-Monitoring and Adaptive Management

In order to enhance habitat for nesting Brown Pelicans, terns, Black Skimmers, and gulls, the USFWS has contracted with USGS to conduct project monitoring on North Breton Island from FY23 to FY31. Monitoring conducted by USGS will facilitate evaluation of habitat characteristics and determine restoration success or need for adaptive management.
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Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) Program-Louisiana Outer Coast Restoration: North Breton Island Component-Monitoring and Adaptive Management

In order to enhance habitat for nesting Brown Pelicans, terns, Black Skimmers, and gulls, the USFWS has contracted with USGS to conduct project monitoring on North Breton Island from FY23 to FY31. Monitoring conducted by USGS will facilitate evaluation of habitat characteristics and determine restoration success or need for adaptive management.
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Developing General Coastal Vegetation Maps for Coastal Morphodynamic Models

The USGS is collaborating with researchers from other agencies, academia, and industry to predict coastal impacts from hurricanes. The results from this study will better inform coastal morphological change models, which will lead to improved hurricane impact projections.
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Developing General Coastal Vegetation Maps for Coastal Morphodynamic Models

The USGS is collaborating with researchers from other agencies, academia, and industry to predict coastal impacts from hurricanes. The results from this study will better inform coastal morphological change models, which will lead to improved hurricane impact projections.
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Barriers and Opportunities for Landward Migration of Coastal Wetlands along Texas' Upper and Middle Coast

Researchers at WARC will use data and models to produce probabilistic maps of current and future wetland inundation, coastal wetland extent, and coastal and wetland trangression.
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Barriers and Opportunities for Landward Migration of Coastal Wetlands along Texas' Upper and Middle Coast

Researchers at WARC will use data and models to produce probabilistic maps of current and future wetland inundation, coastal wetland extent, and coastal and wetland trangression.
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Demographic Analysis of the Endangered Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow

USGS researchers will examine how hydrology and landscape vegetation changes impact Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow survival and population growth.
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Demographic Analysis of the Endangered Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow

USGS researchers will examine how hydrology and landscape vegetation changes impact Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow survival and population growth.
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Comparing EverForecast to the South Florida Water Management District’s Position Analysis

USGS will compare the EverForecast hydrologic forecast, the South Florida Water Management District's Position Analysis, and observed water level recordings from gages located across the Everglades landscape to examine which forecast performs better during the wet and dry seasons; wet, dry, or average years; or in different areas of the Everglades.
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Comparing EverForecast to the South Florida Water Management District’s Position Analysis

USGS will compare the EverForecast hydrologic forecast, the South Florida Water Management District's Position Analysis, and observed water level recordings from gages located across the Everglades landscape to examine which forecast performs better during the wet and dry seasons; wet, dry, or average years; or in different areas of the Everglades.
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Natural Resource Damage and Assessment (NRDA) Program-Louisiana’s Monitoring and Adaptive Management

The USGS is participating in the Louisiana-Trustee Implementation Group Monitoring and Adaptive Management work group to assess the injuries caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and to select the appropriate restoration measures to compensate the public for the injury to coastal and marine resources.
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Natural Resource Damage and Assessment (NRDA) Program-Louisiana’s Monitoring and Adaptive Management

The USGS is participating in the Louisiana-Trustee Implementation Group Monitoring and Adaptive Management work group to assess the injuries caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and to select the appropriate restoration measures to compensate the public for the injury to coastal and marine resources.
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