Publications
Listed here are publications, reports and articles by the Land Change Science Program in the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area.
Filter Total Items: 1265
Ecological thresholds and transformations due to climate change: The role of abiotic stress Ecological thresholds and transformations due to climate change: The role of abiotic stress
An ecological threshold is the point at which a comparatively small environmental change triggers an abrupt and disproportionately large ecological response. In the face of accelerating climate change, there is concern that abrupt ecosystem transformations will become more widespread as critical ecological thresholds are crossed. There has been ongoing debate, however, regarding the...
Authors
Michael Osland, John B. Bradford, Lauren T. Toth, Matthew J. Germino, James B. Grace, Judith Z. Drexler, Camille L. Stagg, Eric E. Grossman, Karen M. Thorne, Stephanie Romanach, Davina L. Passeri, Gregory B. Noe, Jessica R. Lacy, Ken Krauss, Kurt P. Kowalski, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, Neil K. Ganju, Nicholas Enwright, Joel A. Carr, Kristin B. Byrd, Kevin J. Buffington
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Ecosystems Land Change Science Program, California Water Science Center, Eastern Ecological Science Center, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Southwest Biological Science Center, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC), Western Geographic Science Center, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center , Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center
A nationwide evaluation of crowd-sourced ambient temperature data A nationwide evaluation of crowd-sourced ambient temperature data
Growing concerns about heat in urban areas paired with the sparsity of weather stations have resulted in individuals drawing on data from citizen science sensor networks to fill in data gaps. The PurpleAir are the most widely-used low-cost air quality sensors in the contiguous United States with 14,777 deployed between 1 Jan 2017 and 20 July 2021. Although the air quality data from...
Authors
Priyanka deSouza, Peter Christian Ibsen, Daniel M. Westervelt, Ralph Kahn, Benjamin Zaitchik, Patrick Kinney
Equilibrium line altitudes, accumulation areas, and the vulnerability of glaciers in Alaska Equilibrium line altitudes, accumulation areas, and the vulnerability of glaciers in Alaska
The accumulation area ratio (AAR) of a glacier reflects its current state of equilibrium, or disequilibrium, with climate and its vulnerability to future climate change. Here, we present an inventory of glacier-specific annual accumulation areas and equilibrium line altitudes (ELAs) for over 3000 glaciers in Alaska and northwest Canada (88% of the regional glacier area) from 2018 to 2022...
Authors
Lucas Zeller, Daniel McGrath, Louis C. Sass, Caitlyn Florentine, Jacob Downs
The North American greenhouse gas budget: Emissions, removals, and integration for CO2, CH4, and N2O (2010–2019): Results From the Second REgional Carbon Cycle Assessment and Processes Study (RECCAP2) The North American greenhouse gas budget: Emissions, removals, and integration for CO2, CH4, and N2O (2010–2019): Results From the Second REgional Carbon Cycle Assessment and Processes Study (RECCAP2)
Accurate accounting of greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions and removals is central to tracking progress toward climate mitigation and for monitoring potential climate-change feedbacks. GHG budgeting and reporting can follow either the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change methodologies for National Greenhouse Gas Inventory (NGHGI) reporting or use atmospheric-based “top-down” (TD)...
Authors
Benjamin Poulter, Guillermo Murray-Tortarolo, Daniel J. Hayes, Philippe Ciais, Robbie M. Andrew, Ana Bastos, Brendan Byrne, David Butman, Josep G. Canadell, Abhishek Chatterjee, Grant Domke, Andrew F. Feldman, Kelsey Foster, Neha Hunka, Robert B. Jackson, Werner A. kurz, Ayia Lindquist, Maodian Liu, Ingrid Luijkx, Arnaud Mialon, Anna M. Michalak, John Miller, Wolfgang A. Obermeier, Naiqin Pan, James T. Randerson, Peter A. Raymond, Pierre Regnier, Laure Resplandy, Gerard Rocher-Ros, Nemesio Rodriquez-Fernandez, Judith A. Rosentreter, Julio Cesar Salazar-Neira, Suzanne E. Tank, Hanqin Tan, Rodrigo Vargas, Yohanna Villalobos, Jonathan A. Wang, Xinyuan Wei, Kimberly Wickland, Christopher J. Williams, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Christopher W. Woodall, Qing Ying, Zhen Zhang
An enhanced national-scale urban tree canopy cover dataset for the United States An enhanced national-scale urban tree canopy cover dataset for the United States
Moderate-resolution (30-m) national map products have limited capacity to represent fine-scale, heterogeneous urban forms and processes, yet improvements from incorporating higher resolution predictor data remain rare. In this study, we applied random forest models to high-resolution land cover data for 71 U.S. urban areas, moderate-resolution National Land Cover Database (NLCD) Tree...
Authors
Lucila Marie Corro, Kenneth J. Bagstad, Mehdi Heris, Peter Christian Ibsen, Karen Schleeweis, Jay E. Diffendorfer, Austin Troy, Kevin Megown, Jarlath P.M. O'Neil-Dunne
Optimizing sampling across transect-based methods improves the power of agroecological monitoring data Optimizing sampling across transect-based methods improves the power of agroecological monitoring data
Transect-based monitoring has long been a valuable tool in ecosystem monitoring to measure multiple ecosystem attributes. The line-point intercept (LPI), vegetation height, and canopy gap intercept methods comprise a set of core methods, which provide indicators of ecosystem condition. However, users often struggle to design a sampling strategy that optimizes the ability to detect...
Authors
Sarah E. McCord, Nicholas P. Webb, Justin W. Van Zee, Ericha M. Courtright, Benjamin J Billings, Michael C. Duniway, Brandon L. Edwards, Emily Kachergis, Daniel N Moriasi, Brian Morra, Aleta Nafus, Beth A. Newingham, Drew A. Scott, David Toledo
Distribution and disturbances of ditches across salt marshes of the Northeast U.S. with implications for management and restoration Distribution and disturbances of ditches across salt marshes of the Northeast U.S. with implications for management and restoration
Effective management of valuable coastal systems, such as salt marshes requires an understanding of the complex stressors influencing their continued threat of drowning. However, efforts to determine the effects of one potential stressor, ditches, have produced diverging results complicating management efforts. Ditches (linear trenches dug to drain salt marshes for agriculture and...
Authors
Erin K. Peck, Julie E. Walker, Kate Ackerman, Joel A. Carr, Maureen D. Correll, Zafer Defne, Linda A. Deegan, Mitchell J. Eaton, Neil K. Ganju, Mitch Hartley, Catherine Johnson, Jason J Mercer, Katharine J. Ruskin, Jonathan D. Woodruff, Brian Yellen
Rapid butterfly declines across the United States during the 21st century Rapid butterfly declines across the United States during the 21st century
Reports of declining insect populations have received widespread media attention, but evidence for declines has been variable across regions and taxonomic groups. Edwards et al. examined trends in the most surveyed taxon: butterflies (see the Perspective by Inouye). Combining data from 35 citizen science programs across the continental US, the authors found declines in overall butterfly...
Authors
Collin B. Edwards, Elise F. Zipkin, Erica H. Henry, Nick M. Haddad, Matthew L. Forister, Kevin J. Burls, Steven P. Campbell, Elizabeth E. Crone, Jay Diffendorfer, Margaret R. Douglas, Ryan G. Drum, Candace E. Fallon, Jeffrey Glassberg, Eliza M. Grames, Richard G. Hatfield, Shiran V. Hershcovich, Scott Hoffman-Black, Elise A. Larsen, Wendy Leuenberger, Mary J. Linders, Travis Longcore, Daniel A. Marschalek, James Michielini, Naresh Neupane, Leslie Ries, Arthur M. Shapiro, Ann B. Swengel, Scott R. Swengel, Douglas J. Taron, Braeden Van Deynze, Jerome Wiedmann, Wayne E. Thogmartin, Cheryl B. Schultz
Land-use and socioeconomic time-series reveal legacy of redlining on present-day gentrification within a growing United States city Land-use and socioeconomic time-series reveal legacy of redlining on present-day gentrification within a growing United States city
Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) maps illustrated patterns of segregation in United States cites in the 1930s. As the causes and drivers of demographic and land-use segregation vary over years, these maps provide an important spatial lens in determining how patterns of segregation spatially and temporally developed during the past century. Using a high-resolution land-use time series...
Authors
Peter Christian Ibsen, Anna Bierbrauer, Lucila Marie Corro, Zachary H. Ancona, Mark Drummond, Kenneth J. Bagstad, Jay E. Diffendorfer
Book review: Ecology of Dakota landscapes: Past, present, and future, by W. Carter Johnson and Dennis H. Knight Book review: Ecology of Dakota landscapes: Past, present, and future, by W. Carter Johnson and Dennis H. Knight
“Ecology of Dakota Landscapes” is an excellent example of fusing observation and scientific studies to describe the origins and development of the landscape of North and South Dakota, the impact of European settlement, the introduction of agriculture to the area, predictions for the future in the face of a changing climate, and a scientific framework for conservation and sustainability...
Authors
Glenn R. Guntenspergen
Community estimate of global glacier mass changes from 2000 to 2023 Community estimate of global glacier mass changes from 2000 to 2023
Glaciers are indicators of ongoing anthropogenic climate change1. Their melting leads to increased local geohazards2, and impacts marine3 and terrestrial4,5 ecosystems, regional freshwater resources6, and both global water and energy cycles7,8. Together with the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, glaciers are essential drivers of present9,10 and future11,12,13 sea-level rise. Previous...
Authors
Michael Zemp, Livia Jakob, Ines Dussaillant, Samuel U. Nussbaumer, Noel Gourmelen, Sophie Dubber, A. Geruo, Sahra Abdullahi, Liss M. Andreassen, Etienne Berthier, Atanu Bhattacharya, Alejandro Blazquez, Laura Boehm Vock, Tobias Bolch, Jason Box, Matthias H. Braun, Fanny Brun, Eric Cicero, William Colgan, Nicolas Eckert, D. Farinotti, Caitlyn Florentine, Dana Floricioiu, Alex Gardner, Christopher Harig, Javed Hassan, Romain Hugonnet, Matthias Huss, Tómas Jóhannesson, Chia-Chun Angela Liang, Chang-Qing Ke, Shfaqat Abbas, Owen King, Marin Kneib, Lukas Krieger, Fabien Maussion, Enrico Mattea, Robert McNabb, Brian Menounos, Evan Miles, Geir Moholdt, Johan Nilsson, F. Palsson, Julia Pfeffer, Livia Piermattei, Stephen Plummer, Andreas Richter, Ingo Sasgen, Lilian Schuster, Thorsten Seehaus, Xiaoyi Shen, Christian Sommer, Tyler Sutterley, Desiree Treichler, Isabella Velicogna, Bert Wouters, Harry Zekollari, Whyjay Zheng
Quantifying regional ecological dynamics using agency monitoring data, ecological site descriptions, and ecological site groups Quantifying regional ecological dynamics using agency monitoring data, ecological site descriptions, and ecological site groups
Information about what ecological conditions are likely, causes or drivers of degradation, and potential management actions to restore degraded lands may support land conservation and restoration decisions. State-and-transition models (STMs) describe persistent plant and ecological conditions that are possible (the “state”) within a given abiotic setting and drivers or actions that can...
Authors
Michael C. Duniway, Anna C. Knight, Travis W. Nauman, Tara B.B. Bishop, Sarah E. McCord, Nicholas P. Webb, C. Jason Williams, Joel T. Humphries