Publications
Listed here are publications, reports and articles by the Land Change Science Program in the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area.
Filter Total Items: 1284
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
Inventorying ponds through novel size-adaptive object mapping using Sentinel-1/2 time series Inventorying ponds through novel size-adaptive object mapping using Sentinel-1/2 time series
Ponds are an important source of greenhouse gases (GHGs) to the atmosphere, yet evaluating their role in global biogeochemical cycling is currently hampered by limitations in quantifying their global distribution. Existing satellite-derived estimates of lake distributions have difficulty identifying small lakes (5–10 ha) and ponds (
Authors
Denghong Liu, Xioalin Zhu, Meredith Holgerson, Sheel Bansal, Xiangtao Xu
Twentieth century extreme precipitation detected in a high-resolution, coastal lake-sediment record from California Twentieth century extreme precipitation detected in a high-resolution, coastal lake-sediment record from California
California faces increasing economic and societal risks from extreme precipitation and flooding associated with atmospheric rivers (ARs) under projected twenty-first century climate warming. Lake sediments can retain signals of past extreme precipitation events, allowing reconstructions beyond the period of instrumental records. Here, we calibrate AR-related extreme precipitation from...
Authors
Clarke Alexandra Knight, David Wahl, Jason A. Addison, Mark Baskaran, R. Scott Anderson, Marie Rhondelle Champagne, Lysanna Anderson, Liubov S. Presnetsova, Beth E. Caissie, Scott W. Starratt
Mangrove freeze resistance and resilience across a tropical-temperate transitional zone Mangrove freeze resistance and resilience across a tropical-temperate transitional zone
Freeze events govern the distribution and structure of mangrove ecosystems, especially in tropical-temperate transitional zones. Understanding mangrove responses to freezing is crucial for predicting their poleward expansion under climate change. However, there is a need for field-based measurements of mangrove freeze resistance and resilience.After an extreme winter storm in December...
Authors
Yiyang Kang, David A. Kaplan, Michael Osland
Direct measurements of firn-density evolution from 2016 to 2022 at Wolverine Glacier, Alaska Direct measurements of firn-density evolution from 2016 to 2022 at Wolverine Glacier, Alaska
Knowledge of snow and firn-density change is needed to use elevation-change measurements to estimate glacier mass change. Additionally, firn-density evolution on glaciers is closely connected to meltwater percolation, refreezing and runoff, which are key processes for glacier mass balance and hydrology. Since 2016, the U.S. Geological Survey Benchmark Glacier Project has recovered firn...
Authors
Max Stevens, Louis C. Sass, Caitlyn Florentine, Christopher J. McNeil, Emily Baker, Katherine Eleanore Bollen
When and where can coastal wetland restoration increase carbon sequestration as a natural climate solution? When and where can coastal wetland restoration increase carbon sequestration as a natural climate solution?
Coastal wetlands are hotspots of carbon sequestration, and their conservation and restoration can help to mitigate climate change. However, there remains uncertainty on when and where coastal wetland restoration can most effectively act as a Natural Climate Solution (NCS). Here, we synthesize current understanding to illustrate the requirements for coastal wetland restoration to benefit...
Authors
Scott F. Jones, Ariane Arias-Ortiz, Dennis Baldocchi, Meagan J. Eagle, Daniel A. Friess, Catrina Gore, Gregory B. Noe, Stefanie Nolte, Patty Oikawa, Adina Paytan, Jacqueline L. Raw, Brian J. Roberts, Kerrylee Rogers, Charles A Schutte, Camille L. Stagg, Karen M. Thorne, Eric J. Ward, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Eric S. Yando