Applied Landscape Ecology and Remote Sensing
Science Center Objects
We focus on landscape studies of natural and working lands, in particular coastal and inland wetlands and rangelands. We quantify ecosystem benefits, find areas vulnerable to future change, and identify potential for climate mitigation and resilience. We conduct research by scaling field measurements to the regional, state and national scale with remote sensing, geospatial analysis, and modeling. We emphasize the use of open data and open source software to aid tool development for decision makers. All projects include outreach to land managers to support conservation and restoration planning and land management.
AVIRIS image of Rush Ranch, Suisun Marsh, CA (Credit: Kristin Byrd, USGS. Public domain.)
Detailed webpages for research listed below are under the Related Science tab or click the underlined links.
Coastal Wetland Blue Carbon - National remote sensing of carbon stocks for greenhouse gas inventories and local management
Ecological Forecasting - Remote sensing and modeling of dynamic habitats to support short and long-term conservation planning
Rangeland Ecosystem Services - Landscape-scale assessments of opportunities for and risks to ecological benefits of rangelands
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Date published: May 23, 2018Status: ActiveRangeland Ecosystem Services
The Rangeland Ecosystem Services research described below is conducted and managed under the USGS Applied Landscape Ecology and Remote Sensing project and partners.
Contacts: Kristin Byrd, Ph.D.Attribution: Western Geographic Science Center -
Date published: May 23, 2018Status: ActiveEcological Forecasting
The Ecological Forecasting research described below is conducted and managed under the USGS Applied Landscape Ecology and Remote Sensing project and partners.
Contacts: Kristin Byrd, Ph.D.Attribution: Western Geographic Science Center -
Date published: May 23, 2018Status: ActiveCoastal Wetland Blue Carbon
The Coastal Wetland Blue Carbon research described below is conducted and managed under the USGS Applied Landscape Ecology and Remote Sensing project and partners.
Contacts: Kristin Byrd, Ph.D.Attribution: Western Geographic Science Center
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Year Published: 2018A remote sensing-based model of tidal marsh aboveground carbon stocks for the conterminous United States
Remote sensing based maps of tidal marshes, both of their extents and carbon stocks, have the potential to play a key role in conducting greenhouse gas inventories and implementing climate mitigation policies. Our objective was to generate a single remote sensing model of tidal marsh aboveground biomass and carbon that represents nationally...
Byrd, Kristin B.; Ballanti, Laurel; Thomas, Nathan; Nguyen, Dung; Holmquist, James R.; Simard, Marc; Windham-Myers, LisamarieAttribution: Western Geographic Science CenterView CitationByrd, K.B., L.R. Ballanti, N. Thomas, D. Nguyen, J. Holmquist, M. Simard, and L. Windham-Myers. 2018. A remote sensing-based model of tidal marsh aboveground carbon stocks for the conterminous United States. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing 139, 255-271. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isprsjprs.2018.03.019.
Status of tidal marsh mapping for blue carbon inventories
Remote-sensing-based maps of tidal marshes, both of their extents and carbon stocks, will play a key role in conducting greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories.The U.N. Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre has produced a new Global Distribution of Salt Marsh dataset that estimates global salt marsh area at 5.5 Mha.A Tier 1–2 GHG...
Byrd, Kristin B.; Mcowen, Chris; Weatherdon, Lauren; Holmquist, James; Crooks, Stephen A remote sensing-based model of tidal marsh aboveground carbon stocks for the conterminous United States
Remote sensing based maps of tidal marshes, both of their extents and carbon stocks, have the potential to play a key role in conducting greenhouse gas inventories and implementing climate mitigation policies. Our objective was to generate a single remote sensing model of tidal marsh aboveground biomass and carbon that represents nationally...
Byrd, Kristin B.; Ballanti, Laurel; Thomas, Nathan; Nguyen, Dung; Holmquist, James R.; Simard, Marc; Windham-Myers, Lisamarie Remote sensing for wetland mapping and historical change detection at the Nisqually River Delta
Coastal wetlands are important ecosystems for carbon storage and coastal resilience to climate change and sea-level rise. As such, changes in wetland habitat types can also impact ecosystem functions. Our goal was to quantify historical vegetation change within the Nisqually River watershed relevant to carbon storage, wildlife habitat, and wetland...
Ballanti, Laurel; Byrd, Kristin B.; Woo, Isa; Ellings, Christopher Coping with historic drought in California rangelands: Developing a more effective institutional response
Drought response is widely varied depending on both the characteristics of the drought and the ability of individual ranchers to respond.Assistance from institutions during drought has not typically considered preemptive, during, and post-drought response as a strategic approach, which recognizes biophysical, sociological, and economic...
Brown, Joel R.; Alvarez, Pelayo; Byrd, Kristin B.; Deswood, Helena; Elias, Emile; Spiegal, Sheri Adapting California’s ecosystems to a changing climate
Significant efforts are underway to translate improved understanding of how climate change is altering ecosystems into practical actions for sustaining ecosystem functions and benefits. We explore this transition in California, where adaptation and mitigation are advancing relatively rapidly, through four case studies that span large spatial...
Elizabeth Chornesky; David Ackerly; Paul Beier; Davis, Frank W.; Flint, Lorraine E.; Lawler, Joshua J.; Moyle, Peter B.; Moritz, Max A.; Scoonover, Mary ; Byrd, Kristin B.; Alvarez, Pelayo; Heller, Nicole E.; Micheli, Elisabeth; Weiss, Stuart Forecasting tidal marsh elevation and habitat change through fusion of Earth observations and a process model
Reducing uncertainty in data inputs at relevant spatial scales can improve tidal marsh forecasting models, and their usefulness in coastal climate change adaptation decisions. The Marsh Equilibrium Model (MEM), a one-dimensional mechanistic elevation model, incorporates feedbacks of organic and inorganic inputs to project elevations under sea-...
Byrd, Kristin B.; Windham-Myers, Lisamarie; Leeuw, Thomas; Downing, Bryan D.; Morris, James T.; Ferner, Matthew C. A hybrid model for mapping relative differences in belowground biomass and root: Shoot ratios using spectral reflectance, foliar N and plant biophysical data within coastal marsh
Broad-scale estimates of belowground biomass are needed to understand wetland resiliency and C and N cycling, but these estimates are difficult to obtain because root:shoot ratios vary considerably both within and between species. We used remotely-sensed estimates of two aboveground plant characteristics, aboveground biomass and % foliar N to...
Jessica L. O'Connell; Byrd, Kristin B.; Maggi Kelly Prospective HyspIRI global observations of tidal wetlands
Tidal wetlands are highly productive and act as critical habitat for a wide variety of plants, fish, shellfish, and other wildlife. These ecotones between aquatic and terrestrial environments also provide protection from storm damage, run-off filtering, and recharge of aquifers. Many wetlands along coasts have been exposed to stress-inducing...
Kevin Turpie; Victor Klemas; Byrd, Kristin B.; Maggi Kelly; Young-Heon Jo Integrated climate and land use change scenarios for California rangeland ecosystem services: wildlife habitat, soil carbon, and water supply
Context In addition to biodiversity conservation, California rangelands generate multiple ecosystem services including livestock production, drinking and irrigation water, and carbon sequestration. California rangeland ecosystems have experienced substantial conversion to residential land use and more intensive agriculture. Objectives To...
Byrd, Kristin B.; Flint, Lorraine E.; Alvarez, Pelayo; Casey, Frank; Sleeter, Benjamin M.; Soulard, Christopher E.; Flint, Alan L.; Sohl, Terry L. Evaluation of sensor types and environmental controls on mapping biomass of coastal marsh emergent vegetation
There is a need to quantify large-scale plant productivity in coastal marshes to understand marsh resilience to sea level rise, to help define eligibility for carbon offset credits, and to monitor impacts from land use, eutrophication and contamination. Remote monitoring of aboveground biomass of emergent wetland vegetation will help address this...
Byrd, Kristin B.; O'Connell, Jessica L.; Di Tommaso, Stefania; Kelly, Maggi Remotely-sensed indicators of N-related biomass allocation in Schoenoplectus acutus
Coastal marshes depend on belowground biomass of roots and rhizomes to contribute to peat and soil organic carbon, accrete soil and alleviate flooding as sea level rises. For nutrient-limited plants, eutrophication has either reduced or stimulated belowground biomass depending on plant biomass allocation response to fertilization. Within a...
O’Connell, Jessica L.; Byrd, Kristin B.; Kelly, Maggi-
Date published: January 1, 2017Biomass/Remote Sensing dataset: 30m resolution tidal marsh biomass samples and remote sensing data for six regions in the conterminous United States
Remote sensing based maps of tidal marshes, both of their extents and carbon stocks, have the potential to play a key role in conducting greenhouse gas inventories and implementing climate mitigation policies. Our objective was to generate a single remote sensing model of tidal marsh aboveground biomass and carbon that represents nationally diverse tidal marshes within the conterminous United...
Attribution: Western Geographic Science Center -
Date published: January 1, 2017
Biomass Field Plot dataset: Tidal marsh biomass field samples for six regions in the conterminous United States
Remote sensing based maps of tidal marshes, both of their extents and carbon stocks, have the potential to play a key role in conducting greenhouse gas inventories and implementing climate mitigation policies. Our objective was to generate a single remote sensing model of tidal marsh aboveground biomass and carbon that represents nationally diverse tidal marshes within the conterminous United...
Attribution: Western Geographic Science Center -
Date published: January 1, 2016
Data release for journal article titled, "Forecasting tidal marsh elevation and habitat change through fusion of Earth observations and a process model"
Reducing uncertainty in data inputs at relevant spatial scales can improve tidal marsh forecasting models, and their usefulness in coastal climate change adaptation decisions. The Marsh Equilibrium Model (MEM), a one-dimensional mechanistic elevation model, incorporates feedbacks of organic and inorganic inputs to project elevations under sea-level rise (SLR) scenarios. We tested th
Attribution: Western Geographic Science Center
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Date published: March 25, 2015
Home on the California Range, Year 2100: Land Use and Climate Change Could Impact Wildlife, Water Supplies
Grassland habitats on rangelands in California’s Central Valley and surrounding foothills could decline by as much as 37 percent by 2100 due to changes in land use and climate, according to new scientific projections by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Attribution: Northeast, Region 1: North Atlantic-Appalachian
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Date published: December 14, 2017Calculating Carbon: Tidal Marsh Contributions
Dr. Kristin Byrd, a Research Physical Scientist with the USGS Western Geographic Science Center in Menlo Park, CA presented her work on modeling the aboveground biomass and carbon of tidal marshes across the U.S. Posted on NASA Landsat science page
Attribution: Western Geographic Science Center