Priority Landscapes
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: 99
Biological Objectives for the Gulf Coast: Biological Planning Units & Target Species Population Objectives
The USGS partnered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and its conservation partners to develop 16 Biological Planning Units (BPU) and six Aquatic Extensions and compile population objectives for 166 species that are representative of habitats within each BPU.
Strategic Habitat Conservation for Brown Pelican
WARC researchers partnered with managers and species experts to develop a Bayesian network model and a geospatial habitat characteristics dataset to predict the number of Brown Pelican breeding pairs on islands in the northern Gulf.
Carbon and Water Budgeting Along Upper Estuaries: Developing Linkages to Environmental Change
WARC Researchers are studying carbon, water, and nutrient cycling in upper estuarine wetlands.
Assessing Environmental Stress in Mature Mangrove Stands: Linkages to Nutrient Loading
WARC Researchers are comparing tree and root growth, soil CO2 flux, and surface elevation change between fertilized and unfertilized mangrove forests to assess the potential impact of increased nutrient loading and to help rate mangrove stand vulnerability.
Wetland Carbon Working Group: Improving Methodologies and Estimates of Carbon and Greenhouse Gas Flux in Wetlands
WARC researchers are working to quantify the impacts of future climate and land use/land cover change on greenhouse gas emissions and reductions.
Understanding Impacts of Sea-Level Rise and Land Management on Critical Coastal Marsh Habitat
To ensure successful restoration of coastal wetlands, WARC researchers will measure carbon cycling processes that indicate ecosystem health and sustainability.
Impacts of coastal and watershed changes on upper estuaries: causes and implications of wetland ecosystem transitions along the US Atlantic and Gulf Coasts
Estuaries and their surrounding wetlands are coastal transition zones where freshwater rivers meet tidal seawater. As sea levels rise, tidal forces move saltier water farther upstream, extending into freshwater wetland areas. Human changes to the surrounding landscape may amplify the effects of this tidal extension, impacting the resiliency and function of the upper estuarine wetlands. One visible...
Mapping High Marsh along the Northern Gulf Coast
USGS is collaborating with Mississippi State University to investigate the effects of fire on Gulf marshes. The project will include mapping high marsh and monitoring black rail, yellow rail, and mottled duck responses to prescribed fire application.
Applications of Advanced Tracking and Modeling Tools with Burmese Pythons across South Florida's Landscape
Researchers will determine movement rates and habitat-use patterns of pythons across the South Florida landscape by conducting a telemetry study tracking pythons simultaneously in several locations
Habitat Selection of the Burmese Python in the Florida Everglades
Researchers plotted locations of radio-tagged pythons to create a habitat suitability model.
Spatial Ecology of Bobcats in the Greater Everglades
WARC researchers will estimate the density and distribution of bobcats in relation to environmental variables through the development of spatially explicit capture-recapture and occupancy models.
Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council Monitoring and Assessment Program Development
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and USGS will jointly lead the development of foundational components for region-wide monitoring.