Publications
Listed here are publications, reports and articles by the Land Change Science Program in the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area.
Filter Total Items: 1284
Bayesian approaches to proxy uncertainty quantification in paleoecology: A mathematical justification and practical integration Bayesian approaches to proxy uncertainty quantification in paleoecology: A mathematical justification and practical integration
Paleoenvironmental data are essential for reconstructing environmental conditions in the distant past, and these reconstructions strongly depend on proxies and age–depth models. Proxies are indirect measurements that substitute for variables that cannot be directly measured, such as past precipitation. Conversely, an age–depth model is a tool that correlates the observed proxy with a...
Authors
Marco A. Aquino-Lopez, Lysanna Anderson, Joan-Albert Sanchez-Cabeza, Ana Carolina Ruiz-Fernandez, J. Andres Christen
Trees have similar growth responses to first-entry fires and reburns following long-term fire exclusion Trees have similar growth responses to first-entry fires and reburns following long-term fire exclusion
Managing fire ignitions for resource benefit decreases fuel loads and reduces the risk of high-severity fire in fire-suppressed dry conifer forests. However, the reintroduction of low-severity wildfire can injure trees, which may decrease their growth after fire. Post-fire growth responses could change from first-entry fires to reburns, as first-entry fires reduce fuel loads and the...
Authors
Kevin G. Willson, Ellis Q. Margolis, Mathew D. Hurteau
Aboveground carbon stocks across a hydrological gradient: Ghost forests to non-tidal freshwater forested wetlands Aboveground carbon stocks across a hydrological gradient: Ghost forests to non-tidal freshwater forested wetlands
Upper estuarine forested wetlands (UEFWs) play an important role in the sequestration of atmospheric carbon (C), which is facilitated by their position at the boundary of terrestrial and maritime environments but threatened by sea level rise. This study assessed the change in aboveground C stocks along the estuarine–riverine hydrogeomorphic gradient spanning salt-impacted freshwater...
Authors
Christopher J. Shipway, Jamie A. Duberstein, William H. Conner, Ken Krauss, Gregory B. Noe, Stefanie L. Whitmire
Forest cover lessens hurricane impacts on peak streamflow Forest cover lessens hurricane impacts on peak streamflow
Cyclonic storms (i.e., hurricanes) are powerful disturbance events that often cause widespread forest damage. Storm-related canopy damage reduces rainfall interception and evapotranspiration, but impacts on streamflow regimes are poorly understood. We quantify streamflow changes in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria in September 2017, and evaluate whether forest cover and storm...
Authors
Jazlynn S. Hall, Martha A. Scholl, James B. Shanley, Serena Matt, Maria Uriarte
Pre-fire assessment of post-fire debris flow hazards in the Santa Fe Municipal Watershed Pre-fire assessment of post-fire debris flow hazards in the Santa Fe Municipal Watershed
Background Wildfires are increasing in size and severity due to climate change combined with overstocked forests. Fire increases the likelihood of debris flows, posing significant threats to life, property, and water supplies. Aims We conducted a debris-flow hazard assessment of the Santa Fe Municipal Watershed (SFMW) to answer two questions: (1) where are debris flows most likely to...
Authors
Manuel K. Lopez, Ellis Q. Margolis, Anne C. Tillery, S. Bassett, Alan Hook
The effect of drying boreal lakes on plants, soils, and microbial communities in lake margin habitats The effect of drying boreal lakes on plants, soils, and microbial communities in lake margin habitats
Decadal scale lake drying in interior Alaska results in lake margin colonization by willow shrub and graminoid vegetation, but the effects of these changes on plant production, biodiversity, soil properties, and soil microbial communities are not well known. We studied changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) and nitrogen (N) storage, plant and microbial community composition, and soil...
Authors
Vijay P. Patil, Jack McFarland, Kimberly Wickland, Kristen L. Manies, Mark Winterstein, Teresa N. Hollingsworth, Eugénie S. Euskirchen, Mark P. Waldrop
Glaciers and ice caps outside Greenland Glaciers and ice caps outside Greenland
No abstract available.
Authors
D. Burgess, G. Wolken, B. Wouters, L.M. Andreassen, Caitlyn Florentine, J. Kohler, B. Luks, F. Palsson, Louis C. Sass, L. Thomson, T. Thorsteinsson
The relationship between maturation size and maximum tree size from tropical to boreal climates The relationship between maturation size and maximum tree size from tropical to boreal climates
The fundamental trade-off between current and future reproduction has long been considered to result in a tendency for species that can grow large to begin reproduction at a proportionately larger size. Due to the prolonged time required to reach maturity, estimates of tree maturation size remain unavailable and we lack a global view on the generality and the shape of this trade-off...
Authors
Valentin Journe, Michał Bogdziewicz, Benoit Courbaud, Georges Kunstler, Tong Qiu, Marie-Claire Aravena Acuña, Davide Ascoli, Yves Bergeron, Daniel Berveiller, Thomas Boivin, Raul Bonal, Thomas Caignard, Maxime Cailleret, Rafael Calama, J. Julio Camarero, Chia-Hao Chang-Yang, Jerome Chave, Francesco Chianucci, Thomas Curt, Andrea Cutini, Adrian J. Das, Evangelia Daskalakou, Hendrik Davi, Nicolas Delpierre, Sylvain Delzon, Michael Dietze, Sergio Donoso Calderon, Laurent Dormont, Josep Maria Espelta, William Farfan-Rios, Michael Fenner, Jerry F. Franklin, Catherine A. Gehring, Gregory S. Gilbert, Georg Gratzer, Cathryn H. Greenberg, Arthur Guignabert, Qinfeng Guo, Andrew Hacket-Pain, Arndt Hampe, Qingmin Han, Mick E. Hanley, Janneke Hille Ris Lambers, Jan Holik, Kazuhiko Hoshizaki, Ines Ibanez, Jill F. Johnstone, Johannes M. H. Knops, Richard K. Kobe, Hiroko Kurokawa, Jonathan G. A. Lageard, Jalene M. LaMontagne, Mateusz Ledwon, Francois Lefevre, Theodor Leininger, Jean-Marc Limousin, James A. Lutz, Diana Macias, Anders Marell, Eliot J. B. McIntire, Emily V. Moran, Renzo Motta, Jonathan A. Myers, Thomas A. Nagel, Shoji Naoe, Mahoko Noguchi, Julian Norghauer, Michio Oguro, Jean-Marc Ourcival, Robert Parmenter, Ian S. Pearse, Ignacio M. Perez-Ramos, Lukasz Piechnik, Tomasz Podgorski, John Poulsen, Miranda D. Redmond, Chantal D. Reid, Pavel Samonil, C. Lane Scher, William H. Schlesinger, Barbara Seget, Shubhi Sharma, Mitsue Shibata, Miles Silman, Michael A. Steele, Nathan L. Stephenson, Jacob N. Straub, Samantha Sutton, Jennifer J. Swenson, Margaret Swift, Peter A. Thomas, Maria Uriarte, Giorgio Vacchiano, Amy V. Whipple, Thomas G. Whitham, S. Joseph Wright, Kai Zhu, Jess K. Zimmerman, Magdalena Zywiec, James S. Clark
Observing glacier elevation changes from spaceborne optical and radar sensors – an inter-comparison experiment using ASTER and TanDEM-X data Observing glacier elevation changes from spaceborne optical and radar sensors – an inter-comparison experiment using ASTER and TanDEM-X data
Observations of glacier mass changes are key to understanding the response of glaciers to climate change and related impacts, such as regional runoff, ecosystem changes, and global sea level rise. Spaceborne optical and radar sensors make it possible to quantify glacier elevation changes, and thus multi-annual mass changes, on a regional and global scale. However, estimates from a...
Authors
Livia Piermattei, Michael Zemp, Christian Sommer, Fanny Brun, Matthias H. Braun, Liss M. Andreassen, Joaquin M. C. Belart, Etienne Berthier, Atanu Bhattacharya, Laura Boehm Vock, Tobias Bolch, Amaury Dehecq, Ines Dussaillant, Daniel Falaschi, Caitlyn Florentine, Dana Floricioiu, Christian Ginzler, Gregoire Guillet, Romain Hugonnet, Andreas Kaab, Owen King, Christoph Klug, Friedrich Knuth, Lukas Krieger, Jeff La Frenierre, Robert McNabb, Christopher McNeil, Rainer Prinz, Louis C. Sass, Thorsten Seehaus, David Shean, Desiree Treichler, Anja Wendt, Ruitang Yang
Projected changes in mangrove distribution and vegetation structure under climate change in the southeastern United States Projected changes in mangrove distribution and vegetation structure under climate change in the southeastern United States
Aim The climate change-induced transition from grass-dominated marshes to woody-plant-dominated mangrove forests has the potential to impact the ecosystem goods and services provided by coastal wetlands. To better anticipate and prepare for these impacts, there is a need to advance understanding of future changes in mangrove distribution and coastal wetland vegetation structural...
Authors
Remi Bardou, Michael Osland, Jahson B. Alemu I, Laura Colleen Feher, David P. Harlan, Steven B. Scyphers, Christine C. Shepard, Savannah H. Swinea, Kalaina Thorne, Jill E. Andrew, A. Randall Hughes
Seasonal drought treatments impact plant and microbial uptake of nitrogen in a mixed shrub grassland on the Colorado Plateau Seasonal drought treatments impact plant and microbial uptake of nitrogen in a mixed shrub grassland on the Colorado Plateau
For many drylands, both long- and short-term drought conditions can accentuate landscape heterogeneity at both temporal (e.g., role of seasonal patterns) and spatial (e.g., patchy plant cover) scales. Furthermore, short-term drought conditions occurring over one season can exacerbate long-term, multidecadal droughts or aridification, by limiting soil water recharge, decreasing plant...
Authors
Rebecca A Finger-Higgens, David L. Hoover, Anna C. Knight, Savannah Wilson, Tara Boyce Belnap Bishop, Robin H. Reibold, Sasha C. Reed, Michael C. Duniway
The geochronology of White Sands Locality 2 is resolved The geochronology of White Sands Locality 2 is resolved
Rhode et al. (2024) allege that there are many “unresolved issues” with the geochronology of White Sands National Park (WHSA) Locality 2. They suggest there are substantial age offsets due to hard-water effects in the aquatic plants that were dated and that radiocarbon ages of pollen may be anomalously old due to reworking. In their view, the luminescence ages are likely to be maximum...
Authors
Jeffrey S. Pigati, Kathleen B. Springer, Harrison J. Gray, Matthew R. Bennett, David Bustos