Publications
Listed here are publications, reports and articles by the Land Change Science Program in the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area.
Filter Total Items: 1145
Climatic variability as a principal driver of primary production in the southernmost subalpine Rocky Mountain lake Climatic variability as a principal driver of primary production in the southernmost subalpine Rocky Mountain lake
Mountain lakes are sensitive indicators of anthropogenically driven global change, with lake sediment records documenting increased primary production during the twentieth century. Atmospheric nutrient deposition and warming have been attributed to changes in other Western mountain lakes, however, the intensity of these drivers varies. We analyzed a sediment core representing a 270-year...
Authors
Anna Shampain, Jill Baron, Peter R. Leavitt, Sarah Spaulding
What the cliffs near America’s earliest settlements tell us about climate change What the cliffs near America’s earliest settlements tell us about climate change
Climate change is a big problem for natural habitats, people, and the systems that support society, including roads, water supply, electrical grids, and phone and internet connections. It’s an important theme in politics, economics, and culture. Scientists make computer models to show what the climate might be like in the future, and it looks very different from what we are used to...
Authors
Harry J. Dowsett, Marci M. Robinson
Characterizing vegetation and return periods in avalanche paths using lidar and aerial imagery Characterizing vegetation and return periods in avalanche paths using lidar and aerial imagery
Snow avalanches are a hazard and ecological disturbance across mountain landscapes worldwide. Understanding how avalanche frequency affects forests and vegetation improves infrastructure planning, risk management, and avalanche forecasting. We implemented a novel approach using lidar, aerial imagery, and a random forest model to classify imagery-observed vegetation within avalanche paths...
Authors
Erich Peitzsch, Chelsea Martin-Mikle, Jordy Hendrikx, Karl W. Birkeland, Daniel B. Fagre
Brief communication: Recent estimates of glacier mass loss for western North America from laser altimetry Brief communication: Recent estimates of glacier mass loss for western North America from laser altimetry
Glaciers in western North American outside of Alaska are often overlooked in global studies because their potential to contribute to changes in sea level is small. Nonetheless, these glaciers represent important sources of freshwater, especially during times of drought. Differencing recent ICESat-2 data from a digital elevation model derived from a combination of synthetic aperture radar...
Authors
Brian Menounos, Alex Gardner, Caitlyn Florentine, Andrew Fountain
Urbanization and water management control stream water quality along a mountain to plains transition Urbanization and water management control stream water quality along a mountain to plains transition
Urbanization can have substantial effects on water quality due to altered hydrology and introduction of constituents to water bodies. In arid and semi-arid environments, streams are further stressed by dewatering as a result of diversions. We conducted a high-resolution synoptic survey of two streams in Colorado, USA that transition abruptly from granitic/metamorphic forested mountains...
Authors
Sheila F. Murphy, Robert L. Runkel, Edward G. Stets, Alex J Nolan, Deborah A. Repert
Revisiting the physical processes controlling the tropical atmospheric circulation changes during the Mid-Piacenzian Warm Period Revisiting the physical processes controlling the tropical atmospheric circulation changes during the Mid-Piacenzian Warm Period
The Mid-Piacenzian Warm Period (MPWP; 3.0–3.3 Ma), a warm geological period about three million years ago, has been deemed as a good past analog for understanding the current and future climate change. Based on 12 climate model outputs from Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project Phase 2 (PlioMIP2), we investigate tropical atmospheric circulation (TAC) changes under the warm MPWP and...
Authors
Ke Zhang, Yong Sun, Xuan Zhang, Christian Stepanek, Ran Feng, Daniel Hill, Gerrit Lohmann, Aisling M Dolan, Alan M Haywood, Ayako Abe-Ouchi, Bette Otto-Bliesner, Camille Contoux, Deepak Chandan, Gilles Ramstein, Harry J. Dowsett, Julia C. Tindall, Michiel Baatsen, Ning Tan, William Richard Peltier, Qiang Liu, Wing-Le Chan, Xin Wang, Xu Zhang
Approaches for using CMIP projections in climate model ensembles to address the ‘hot model’ problem Approaches for using CMIP projections in climate model ensembles to address the ‘hot model’ problem
Several recent generation global-climate models were found to have anomalously high climate sensitivities and may not be useful for certain applications. Four approaches for developing ensembles of climate projections for applications that address this issue are:Using an “all models” approach;Screening using equilibrium climate sensitivity and (or) transient climate response;Bayesian...
Authors
Ryan Boyles, Catherine A. Nikiel, Brian W. Miller, Jeremy Littell, Adam J. Terando, Imtiaz Rangwala, Jay R. Alder, Derek H. Rosendahl, Adrienne M. Wootten
A global assessment of environmental and climate influences on wetland macroinvertebrate community structure and function A global assessment of environmental and climate influences on wetland macroinvertebrate community structure and function
Estimating organisms' responses to environmental variables and taxon associations across broad spatial scales is vital for predicting their responses to climate change. Macroinvertebrates play a major role in wetland processes, but studies simultaneously exploring both community structure and community trait responses to environmental gradients are still lacking. We compiled a global...
Authors
Luis B. Epele, Emilio A. Williams-Subiza, Matthew S. Bird, Aurelie Boissezon, Dani Boix, Elaine Demierre, Conor Fair, Patricia Garcia, Stephanie Gascon, Marta G. Grech, Hamish S. Greig, Michael Jeffries, Jamie M. Kneitel, Olga Loskutova, Leonardo Maltchik, Luz M. Manzo, Gabriela Mataloni, Kyle McLean, Musa C. Mlambo, Beat Oertli, Mateus M. Pires, Jordi Sala, Erica E. Scheibler, Cristina Stenert, Haitao Wu, Scott A Wissinger, Darold P. Batzer
Establishing quantitative benchmarks for soil erosion and ecological monitoring, assessment, and management Establishing quantitative benchmarks for soil erosion and ecological monitoring, assessment, and management
Soil erosion can have a multitude of negative impacts on agroecosystems and society and there remains an urgent need for tools to support its management. Quantitative benchmarks based on holistic understanding of erosion processes, ecosystem function, and land use objectives can be used with monitoring data and models to inform assessments and make objective and actionable decisions...
Authors
Nicholas P. Webb, Brandon L. Edwards, Alexandra Heller, Sarah E. McCord, Jeremy W. Schallner, Ronald S. Treminio, Brandi E. Wheeler, Nelson G. Stauffer, Sheri Spiegal, Michael C. Duniway, Alexander C.E. Traynor, Emily Kachergis, Carrie-Ann Houdeshell
Recent increases in annual, seasonal, and extreme methane fluxes driven by changes in climate and vegetation in boreal and temperate wetland ecosystems Recent increases in annual, seasonal, and extreme methane fluxes driven by changes in climate and vegetation in boreal and temperate wetland ecosystems
Climate warming is expected to increase global methane (CH4) emissions from wetland ecosystems. Although in situ eddy covariance (EC) measurements at ecosystem scales can potentially detect CH4 flux changes, most EC systems have only a few years of data collected, so temporal trends in CH4 remain uncertain. Here, we use established drivers to hindcast changes in CH4 fluxes (FCH4) since...
Authors
Sarah Feron, Avni Malhotra, Sheel Bansal, Etienne Fluet-Chouinard, Gavin McNicol, Sarah Knox, Kyle Delwiche, Raul Cordero, Zutao Ouyang, Zhen Zhang, Benjamin Poulter, Robert B. Jackson
Scattered tree death contributes to substantial forest loss in California Scattered tree death contributes to substantial forest loss in California
In recent years, large-scale tree mortality events linked to global change have occurred around the world. Current forest monitoring methods are crucial for identifying mortality hotspots, but systematic assessments of isolated or scattered dead trees over large areas are needed to reduce uncertainty on the actual extent of tree mortality. Here, we mapped individual dead trees in...
Authors
Yang Cheng, Stefan Oehmcke, Martin Brandt, Lisa Micaela Rosenthal, Adrian Das, Anton Vrieling, Sassan Saatchi, Fabien Wagner, Maurice Mugabowindekwe, Wim Verbruggen, Claus Beier, Stephanie Horion
Saltwater intrusion and sea level rise threatens U.S. rural coastal landscapes and communities Saltwater intrusion and sea level rise threatens U.S. rural coastal landscapes and communities
The United States (U.S.) coastal plain is subject to rising sea levels, land subsidence, more severe coastal storms, and more intense droughts. These changes lead to inputs of marine salts into freshwater-dependent coastal systems, creating saltwater intrusion. The penetration of salinity into the coastal interior is exacerbated by groundwater extraction and the high density of...
Authors
Kiera O’Donnell, Emily S. Bernhardt, Xi Yang, Ryan Emanuel, Marcelo Ardon, Manuel Lerdau, Alex Manda, Anna Braswell, Todd BenDor, Eric Edwards, Elizabeth Frankenberg, Ashley Helton, John Kominoski, Amy Lesen, Lindsay Naylor, Gregory E. Noe, Kate Tully, Elliott White, Justin Wright