About
Changes in the environment, land use, and climate can have significant impacts on our Nation’s economy, natural resources, infrastructure, as well as water, food, and energy security. Research conducted by the Ecosystems' Land Change Science Program provides scientific data to improve projections of change under different management scenarios and strengthen our ability to respond and adapt.
Who We Are and What We Do
Program Mission
The Program is at the frontier of interdisciplinary and integrated scientific research understanding patterns, processes, and impacts (past, present, and future) of changing climate, environment, and land use on the Earth system.
Program Objectives
The Program aims to address pressing socioenvironmental challenges by developing science applications that inform decision making. Current focuses are:
- Understanding the processes that influence cycling of water, nutrients, and carbon in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems including the impacts of environmental extremes and disturbance.
- Documenting patterns of change, developing a process-based understanding of drivers of change, as well as predicting ecosystem response to change in land use/land cover, environmental conditions, and climate.
- Using paleoclimate and instrumental records to document magnitudes, patterns, and impacts of past and recent change on North American ecosystems and use this knowledge to improve future climate models.
To address these goals, research is carried out in many ecosystems, including wetlands, tundra and sea ice, rangelands, forests, drylands, freshwater, coastal and marine systems, and mountain ecosystems, as well as some urban areas, across North America with the help of partners around the world.
