Science Tools for Managers

USGS scientists are developing a team science curriculum to teach researchers from different fields and backgrounds how to work collaboratively and creatively to address complex environmental challenges, such as the impacts of climate change.

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires federal public land managers to assess potential environmental impacts of proposed actions. The USGS, Bureau of Land Management, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Colorado State University, and North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center are working together to develop science syntheses that can facilitate considerations of climate change in...

The Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) framework is a decision-making tool that helps resource managers make informed strategies for responding to ecological changes resulting from climate change.

Soil-climate describes the temperature and moisture conditions important for plant growth and function. Soil condition patterns determine which vegetation is most abundant, thus controlling which habitats, invasive species, fuels, and economic activities are present in a region. Here, we use a model to simulate the vertical movement of water in a soil profile to provide insights into landscape...

Scenario planning is a powerful tool to help decision makers plan for an uncertain future. Through this process, people consider different ways the climate could change and explore how these changes would affect resources important to them. USGS scientists work with natural and cultural resource managers to use climate change scenario planning to prepare for a wide range of possible futures.

Water levels in the Great Lakes are fluctuating in ways that we have not seen in the past, with both historically low- and high-water levels occurring in the last decade. Expectations are that larger and more frequent water-level fluctuations will occur in response to climate change. The increased variability in lake levels has implications for the management of invasive plants found in the coasta

The Bonnet Carré spillway (BCS) is a flood-control structure along the Lower Mississippi River designed to prevent flooding in the city of New Orleans by diverting excess water into the nearby Lake Pontchartrain estuary. Alarmingly, the BCS was opened as many times over the past decade (2011–2020) as it had been over the six prior decades combined (1951–2010), with devastating effects on the estua

Invasive species have had devastating effects on Pacific Island biodiversity, ecosystem services, food, infrastructure, culture, and public health. Meanwhile, climate change is expected to worsen droughts and wildfires, increase storm severity, and raise the temperature, acidity, and sea level, all of which exacerbate invasive species issues and complicate management. Invasive species managers in

Mosquito-borne disease is the biggest threat to Hawai‘i’s remaining native forest birds, of which more than half are threatened or endangered. Currently, disease-carrying mosquitoes are unable to move into colder high-elevation forests, but as the islands warm due to climate change, mosquitoes are steadily moving into the last native bird strongholds. Mosquito suppression efforts are planned for t

Scientific information can be used to help individuals, communities, and governments alike make more informed decisions. However, for people to become aware of the science that could inform their decisions and its relevance to their lives and decisions, it must be communicated effectively. Multiple obstacles prevent this from happening, including scientists’ lack of time and communication expertis

The Gulf of Mexico coast of Louisiana and Texas faces threats from increasingly destructive extreme weather, heat, subsidence, and coastal erosion. Inland areas also face stronger storms, floods, and shifts in land development patterns. Increasing drought and extreme heat in Texas and New Mexico also exacerbate fires and floods. All of these regions are culturally rich, rapidly changing areas wher

Invasions of exotic annual grasses (EAGs like cheatgrass have caused major losses of native shrubs and grasses in western U.S. rangelands. They also decrease the productivity and carbon storage in these ecosystems, which is expected to create dryer soils that may cause further losses in plant productivity. This cycle is the hallmark of desertification – or, fertile lands turning into deserts. Ma