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Western Geographic Science Center

The WGSC is responsible for research and applications to understand coupled human-environmental systems in the face of land change and delivering pertinent information to decision makers on the vulnerability and resilience of these systems.  WGSC scientists collaborate with partners to advance the goals of the USGS Core Science Systems and Ecosystems Mission Areas and their programs. 

News

The science that transformed a dry streambed into an oasis

The science that transformed a dry streambed into an oasis

Employee Shoutout: Laura Norman Receives the Geological Society of America's 2024 Farouk El-Baz Award for Desert Research

Employee Shoutout: Laura Norman Receives the Geological Society of America's 2024 Farouk El-Baz Award for Desert Research

Human-Built Natural Infrastructure in Dryland Streams (NIDS) - Lessons from the “20-Year Crew” #BetheBeaver

Human-Built Natural Infrastructure in Dryland Streams (NIDS) - Lessons from the “20-Year Crew” #BetheBeaver

Publications

Birdwatching preferences reveal synergies and tradeoffs among recreation, carbon, and fisheries ecosystem services in Pacific Northwest estuaries, USA

Coastal ecosystems provide multiple ecosystem services that are valued in diverse ways. The Nisqually River Delta (the Delta), an estuary in Puget Sound, Washington, U.S.A., is co-managed by the Nisqually Indian Tribe and the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. In an ecosystem services assessment, we used different service-appropriate methods including citizen science, statistical
Authors
Kristin B. Byrd, Isa Woo, Laurie Anne Hall, Emily J. Pindilli, Monica Moritsch, Anthony Good, Susan E. W. De La Cruz, Melanie J. Davis, Glynnis Nakai

U.S. Geological Survey climate science plan—Future research directions

Executive Summary Climate is the primary driver of environmental change and is a key consideration in defining science priorities conducted across all mission areas in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Recognizing the importance of climate change to its future research agenda, the USGS’s Climate Science Steering Committee requested the development of a Climate Science Plan to identify future rese
Authors
Tamara Wilson, Ryan P. Boyles, Nicole DeCrappeo, Judith Z. Drexler, Kevin D. Kroeger, Rachel A. Loehman, John M. Pearce, Mark P. Waldrop, Peter D. Warwick, Anne M. Wein, Sara L. Zeigler, T. Douglas Beard,

Will there be water? Climate change, housing needs, and future water demand in California

Climate change in California is expected to alter future water availability, impacting water supplies needed to support future housing growth and agriculture demand. In groundwater-dependent regions like California's Central Coast, new land-use related water demand and decreasing recharge is already stressing depleted groundwater basins. We developed a spatially explicit state-and-transition simul
Authors
Tamara Wilson, Paul Selmants, Ryan M Boynton, James H. Thorne, N. Van Schmidt, Timothy Thomas

Science

Young and Young at Heart

Young and Young-at-Heart is an early-career group based at Moffett Field, CA.
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Young and Young at Heart

Young and Young-at-Heart is an early-career group based at Moffett Field, CA.
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Impacts of Anthropogenic Land Cover Changes on Wildlife Bioenergetics and Landscape Connectivity

In order to maintain viable populations, wildlife require not only contiguous habitat but also the bodily ability to move through the landscape. The spatial expansion of human development can block or slow the movement of wildlife.
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Impacts of Anthropogenic Land Cover Changes on Wildlife Bioenergetics and Landscape Connectivity

In order to maintain viable populations, wildlife require not only contiguous habitat but also the bodily ability to move through the landscape. The spatial expansion of human development can block or slow the movement of wildlife.
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Global Crop Water Productivity and Savings through waterSMART (GCWP)

The waterSMART (Sustain and Manage America’s Resources for Tomorrow) project places technical information and tools in the hands of stakeholders that allow them to answer pertinent questions regarding water availability. Two goals of waterSMART are to 1) establish water availability and its use based on an understanding of the past and present water users and to 2) project water availability and...
link

Global Crop Water Productivity and Savings through waterSMART (GCWP)

The waterSMART (Sustain and Manage America’s Resources for Tomorrow) project places technical information and tools in the hands of stakeholders that allow them to answer pertinent questions regarding water availability. Two goals of waterSMART are to 1) establish water availability and its use based on an understanding of the past and present water users and to 2) project water availability and...
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