Publications
Listed here are publications, reports and articles by the Land Change Science Program in the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area.
Filter Total Items: 1265
Pollen records, postglacial: Southeastern North America Pollen records, postglacial: Southeastern North America
Pollen records from the unglaciated southeastern region of North America provide an overview of biogeographic changes associated with vegetational migration northward following the retreat of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Changing insolation during the Holocene affected forest composition on the Coastal Plain, and rising sea level controlled the distribution of marsh and forested wetlands...
Authors
Debra A. Willard
Dynamic treeline and cryosphere response to pronounced mid-Holocene climatic variability in the US Rocky Mountains Dynamic treeline and cryosphere response to pronounced mid-Holocene climatic variability in the US Rocky Mountains
Climate-driven changes in high-elevation forest distribution and reductions in snow and ice cover have major implications for ecosystems and global water security. In the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem of the Rocky Mountains (United States), recent melting of a high-elevation (3,091 m asl) ice patch exposed a mature stand of whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) trees, located ~180 m in...
Authors
Gregory T. Pederson, Daniel K. Stahle, David B McWethy, Matthew Toohey, Johann Jungclaus, Craig Lee, Justin T. Martin, Mio Alt, Nickolas E. Kichas, Nathan J. Chellman, Joseph R. McConnell, Cathy Whitlock
Sequoia groves of Yosemite: Visitor use and impacts monitoring Sequoia groves of Yosemite: Visitor use and impacts monitoring
Despite being long-lived and massive, giant sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum (Lindl.) J. Bucholz) are susceptible to erosion given their relatively shallow root structure. Human-caused soil compaction and vegetation loss through social trails are primary drivers of erosion in giant sequoia groves, particularly for trees that are near formal trails and access roads. We develop a method...
Authors
Sheri A. Shiflett, Jeffery S. Jenkins, Rachel F. Mattos, Peter Christian Ibsen, Nicole D. Athearn
Intersection of wildfire and legacy mining poses risk to water quality Intersection of wildfire and legacy mining poses risk to water quality
Mining and wildfires are both landscape disturbances that pose elevated and substantial hazards to water supplies and ecosystems due to increased erosion and transport of sediment, metals, and debris to downstream waters. The risk to water supplies may be amplified when these disturbances occur in the same watershed. This work describes mechanisms by which the intersection of mining and...
Authors
Sheila F. Murphy, Johanna Blake, Brian A. Ebel, Deborah A. Martin
Intra-urban variations in land surface phenology in a semi-arid environment Intra-urban variations in land surface phenology in a semi-arid environment
Urban vegetation is growing in importance as cities use 'green infrastructure' to mitigate the impacts of climate change, reduce extreme heat, and improve human health and comfort. However, due to the heterogeneity of city landscapes, urban vegetation experiences a diverse range of environmental conditions, potentially leading to differences in growing season timing and length within...
Authors
Ben Crawford, Kathy Kelsey, Peter Christian Ibsen, Amanda Rees, Amanda Charobee
Controls on lake pelagic primary productivity: Formalizing the nutrient-color paradigm Controls on lake pelagic primary productivity: Formalizing the nutrient-color paradigm
Understanding controls on primary productivity is essential for describing ecosystems and their responses to environmental change. Lake primary production is strongly controlled by inputs of nutrients and colored dissolved organic matter. While past studies have developed mathematical models of this nutrient-color paradigm, broad empirical tests of these models are scarce. We used data...
Authors
Isabella Oleksy, Christopher T. Solomon, Stuart E. Jones, Carly Olson, Brittni Bertolet, Rita Adrian, Sheel Bansal, Jill Baron, Soren Brothers, Sudeep Chandra, Hsiu-Mei Chou, William Colom-Montero, Joshua Culpeper, Elvira de Eyto, Matthew Farragher, Sabine Hilt, Kristen T. Holeck, Garabet Kazanjian, Marcus Klaus, Jennifer Klug, Jan Kohler, Alo Laas, Erik Lundin, Alice Parkes, Kevin C. Rose, Lars Rustam, James A. Rusak, Facundo Scordo, Michael J. Vanni, Piet Verburg, Gesa A. Weyhenmeyer
Salt marsh habitats and diamondback terrapins in a rapidly changing climate: A review Salt marsh habitats and diamondback terrapins in a rapidly changing climate: A review
The impacts associated with global climate change (e.g., sea-level rise, tropical storms, and warming temperatures) are expected to alter predator–prey interactions, foundation species, and plant community structure in coastal ecosystems. While the complex dynamics of these habitats have been examined under future climate predictions, few ecosystem models incorporate influences from...
Authors
Margaret M. Lamont, Michael J. Osland, Melissa M. Baustian
Modeling the responses of blue carbon fluxes in Mississippi River Deltaic Plain brackish marshes to climate change induced hydrologic conditions Modeling the responses of blue carbon fluxes in Mississippi River Deltaic Plain brackish marshes to climate change induced hydrologic conditions
Carbon fluxes in tidal brackish marshes play a critical role in determining coastal wetland carbon sequestration and storage, thus affecting carbon crediting of coastal wetland restoration. In this study, a process-driven wetland biogeochemistry model, Wetland Carbon Assessment Tool DeNitrification-DeComposition was applied to nine brackish marsh sites in Mississippi River (MR) Deltaic...
Authors
Hongqing Wang, Ken Krauss, Zhaohua Dai, Gregory B. Noe, Carl C. Trettin
Visual interpretation of high-resolution aerial imagery: A tool for land managers Visual interpretation of high-resolution aerial imagery: A tool for land managers
Remotely sensed imagery from various collection platforms (e.g., satellites, crewed and uncrewed aircraft) are used by biologists and other conservation personnel to support management activities ranging from monitoring invasive species to assessing land cover and vegetation characteristics. Although remote sensing–based vegetation indices and models have been developed and used for some
Authors
Brian Tangen, Rebecca L. Esser, Benjamin A. Walker
GNSS reflectometry from low-cost sensors for continuous in situ contemporaneous glacier mass balance and flux divergence GNSS reflectometry from low-cost sensors for continuous in situ contemporaneous glacier mass balance and flux divergence
Recent advances in remote sensing have produced global glacier surface elevation change data. Parsing these elevation change signals into contributions from the climate (i.e. climatic mass balance) and glacier dynamics (i.e. flux divergence) is critical to enhance our process-based understanding of glacier change. In this study, we evaluate three approaches for direct, continuous...
Authors
Albin Wells, David R. Rounce, Louis C. Sass, Caitlyn Florentine, Adam Garbo, Emily Baker, Christopher J. McNeil
Formation of vertical columnar seismic structures and seafloor depressions by groundwater discharge in the drowned Miami Terrace platform and overlying deep-water carbonates, southeastern Florida Formation of vertical columnar seismic structures and seafloor depressions by groundwater discharge in the drowned Miami Terrace platform and overlying deep-water carbonates, southeastern Florida
The presence of vertical cross-formational fluid migration passageways within sedimentary basins can profoundly impact aquifer and reservoir fluid-flow and their identification is fundamental to informing management of subsurface fluid resources (groundwater, oil, gas). In an onshore and offshore southeastern part of Florida, 2D/3D seismic-reflection and bathymetry data document ∼153...
Authors
Kevin J. Cunningham, Richard L. Westcott, Sean Norgard, Edward Robinson, Harry J. Dowsett, Marci M. Robinson
Identifying and filling critical knowledge gaps can optimize financial viability of blue carbon projects in tidal wetlands Identifying and filling critical knowledge gaps can optimize financial viability of blue carbon projects in tidal wetlands
One of the world’s largest “blue carbon” ecosystems, Louisiana’s tidal wetlands on the US Gulf of Mexico coast, is rapidly being lost. Louisiana’s strong legal, regulatory, and monitoring framework, developed for one of the world’s largest tidal wetland systems, provides an opportunity for a programmatic approach to blue carbon accreditation to support restoration of these ecologically...
Authors
Tim J.B. Carruthers, S. Jones, Megan K. Terrell, Jonathan F. Scheibly, Brendan J. Player, Valerie A. Black, Justin R. Ehrenwerth, Patrick D. Biber, Rod M. Connolly, Steve Crooks, Jason P. Curole, Kelly M. Darnell, Alyssa M. Dausman, Allison L. DeJong, Shawn M. Doyle, Christopher R. Esposito, Daniel A. Friess, James W. Fourqurean, Ioannis Y. Georgiou, Gabriel D. Grimsditch, Songjie He, Eva R. Hillmann, Guerry O. Holm, Jennifer Howard, Hoonshin Jung, Stacy D. Jupiter, Erin P. Kiskaddon, Ken Krauss, Paul S. Lavery, Bingqing Liu, Catherine E. Lovelock, Sarah K. Mack, Peter I. Macreadie, Karen J. McGlathery, J. Patrick Megonigal, Brian J. Roberts, Scott Settelmyer, Lorie W. Staver, Hilary J. Stevens, Ariana Eileen Sutton-Grier, Jorge A. Villa, John R. White, Michelle Waycott