Publications
Listed here are publications, reports and articles by the Land Change Science Program in the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area.
Filter Total Items: 1145
From bottom-up to top-down control of invertebrate herbivores in a retrogressive chronosequence From bottom-up to top-down control of invertebrate herbivores in a retrogressive chronosequence
In the long-term absence of disturbance, ecosystems often enter a decline or retrogressive phase which leads to reductions in primary productivity, plant biomass, nutrient cycling and foliar quality. However, the consequences of ecosystem retrogression for higher trophic levels such as herbivores and predators, are less clear. Using a post-fire forested island-chronosequence across which
Authors
Anne Kempel, Eric Allan, Martin Gossner, Malte Jochum, James Grace, David A. Wardle
Ice and ocean constraints on early human migrations into North America along the Pacific Coast Ice and ocean constraints on early human migrations into North America along the Pacific Coast
Founding populations of the first Americans likely occupied parts of Beringia during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). The timing, pathways, and modes of their southward transit remain unknown, but blockage of the interior route by North American ice sheets between ~26 and 14 cal kyr BP (ka) favors a coastal route during this period. Using models and paleoceanographic data from the North...
Authors
Summer Praetorius, Jay Alder, Alan Condron, Alan Mix, Maureen Walczak, Beth Caissie, Jon Erlandson
Livestock removal increases plant cover across a heterogeneous dryland landscape on the Colorado Plateau Livestock removal increases plant cover across a heterogeneous dryland landscape on the Colorado Plateau
Livestock removal is increasingly used as a management option to mitigate the negative impacts of grazing-related disturbances on rangelands. Removal generally increases plant cover, but it is unclear when, where, and by how much plant and soil cover changes can be expected. On the Colorado Plateau, complex geology, topography, soils, and climate all interact to mediate the relationship...
Authors
Brandon McNellis, Anna Knight, Travis Nauman, Samuel Norton Chambers, C.W. Brungard, S.E. Fick, C.G. Livensperger, C.G. Borthwick, Michael Duniway
Masting is shaped by tree-level attributes and stand structure, more than climate, in a Rocky Mountain conifer species Masting is shaped by tree-level attributes and stand structure, more than climate, in a Rocky Mountain conifer species
Masting describes the spatiotemporal variability in seed production by a population of plants. Both abiotic and biotic factors drive masting, but the importance of these factors can vary among individuals and populations. To better understand how a changing climate, altered disturbance regimes, or novel management strategies might affect future seed production, we quantified the joint...
Authors
Andreas Wion, Ian Pearse, Kyle Rodman, Thomas Veblen, Miranda Redmond
Microfaunal recording of recent environmental changes in the Herschel Basin, western Arctic Ocean Microfaunal recording of recent environmental changes in the Herschel Basin, western Arctic Ocean
Microfaunal assemblages of benthic foraminifera, ostracods, and tintinnids from two marine sediment cores retrieved from the Herschel Basin of the Canadian Beaufort Sea shelf document relationships with environmental parameters such as salinity, sea-ice cover, and turbulence. Cores YC18-HB-GC01 and PG2303-1 were collected at 18 and 32 m water depth, respectively. At these sites, sediment
Authors
Jade Falardeau, Anne de Vernal, Marit-Solveig Seidenkrantz, Thomas Cronin, Laura Gemery, Leo Chassiot, Michael Fritz, Vladislav Carnero-Bravo, Claude Hillaire-Marcel, Philippe Archambault
Dissolved carbon export by large river systems is influenced by source area heterogeneity Dissolved carbon export by large river systems is influenced by source area heterogeneity
Rivers and streams export inorganic and organic carbon derived from contributing landscapes and so downstream carbon fluxes are important quantitative indicators of change in ecosystem function and for the full accounting of terrestrial carbon budgets. Carbon concentration-discharge (C-Q) relationships in rivers provide important information about carbon source and behavior in watersheds...
Authors
Edward Stets, Robert Striegl, Kimberly Wickland, Mark Dornblaser, Sydney Foks
An aridity threshold model of fire sizes and annual area burned in extensively forested ecoregions of the western USA An aridity threshold model of fire sizes and annual area burned in extensively forested ecoregions of the western USA
Wildfire occurrence varies among regions and through time due to the long-term impacts of climate on fuel structure and short-term impacts on fuel flammability. Identifying the climatic conditions that trigger extensive fire years at regional scales can enable development of area burned models that are both spatially and temporally robust, which is crucial for understanding the impacts...
Authors
Paul D. Henne, Todd Hawbaker
Modeled production, oxidation, and transport processes of wetland methane emissions in temperate, boreal, and Arctic regions Modeled production, oxidation, and transport processes of wetland methane emissions in temperate, boreal, and Arctic regions
Wetlands are the largest natural source of methane (CH4) to the atmosphere. The eddy covariance method provides robust measurements of net ecosystem exchange of CH4, but interpreting its spatiotemporal variations is challenging due to the co-occurrence of CH4 production, oxidation, and transport dynamics. Here, we estimate these three processes using a data-model fusion approach across...
Authors
Masahito Ueyama, Sarah Knox, Kyle Delwiche, Sheel Bansal, William Riley, Dennis Baldocchi, Takashi Hirano, Gavin McNicol, Karina Schafer, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Benjamin Poulter, Robert Jackson, Kuang-Yu Chang, Jiquan Chen, Housen Chu, Ankur Desai, Sebastien Gogo, Hiroki Iwata, Minseok Kang, Ivan Mammarella, Matthias Peichl, Oliver Sonnentag, Eeva-Stiina Tuittila, Youngryel Ryu, Eugenie Euskirchen, Mathias Goeckede, Adrien Jacotot, Mats Nilsson, Torsten Sachs
Evaluating the spatial and temporal variability of groundwater uptake by riparian vegetation in a humid southeastern US catchment Evaluating the spatial and temporal variability of groundwater uptake by riparian vegetation in a humid southeastern US catchment
In environments with shallow water tables, vegetation may use groundwater to support transpiration (TG). This process has been carefully studied in some arid climates but rarely in humid climates—even those with severe droughts and seasonal water deficits. As such, the role of TG in humid-catchment hydrology is poorly constrained. We analysed water table fluctuations from nine monitoring...
Authors
Jeffrey Riley, Luke Pangle, Brent Aulenbach
Maximizing the water quality benefits of wetlands in croplands Maximizing the water quality benefits of wetlands in croplands
Key Takeaways Nutrient loads from croplands continue to negatively affect surface water quality, despite considerable investments in and adoption of agricultural conservation practices aimed at reducing nutrient losses. Numerous studies indicate that effective restoration and management of wetlands in and adjacent to cultivated croplands could reduce surface and subsurface nutrient loads...
Authors
Owen McKenna, Caryn Ross, Joseph Prenger
Vulnerable waters are essential to watershed resilience Vulnerable waters are essential to watershed resilience
Watershed resilience is the ability of a watershed to maintain its characteristic system state while concurrently resisting, adapting to, and reorganizing after hydrological (for example, drought, flooding) or biogeochemical (for example, excessive nutrient) disturbances. Vulnerable waters include non-floodplain wetlands and headwater streams, abundant watershed components representing...
Authors
Charles R. Lane, Irena F. Creed, Heather Golden, Scott Leibowitz, David M. Mushet, Mark Rains, Qiusheng Wu, Ellen D’Amico, Laurie C. Alexander, Genevieve Ali, Nandita Basu, Micah Bennett, Jay Christensen, Matthew Cohen, Tim Covino, Ben DeVries, Ryan Hill, Kelsey Jencso, Megan Lang, Daniel McLaughlin, Donald O. Rosenberry, Jennifer Rover, Melanie Vanderhoof
Anthropogenic landcover impacts fluvial dissolved organic matter composition in the Upper Mississippi River Basin Anthropogenic landcover impacts fluvial dissolved organic matter composition in the Upper Mississippi River Basin
Landcover changes have altered the natural carbon cycle; however, most landcover studies focus on either forest conversion to agriculture or urban, rarely both. We present differences in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations and dissolved organic matter (DOM) molecular composition within Upper Mississippi River Basin low order streams and rivers draining one of three dominant...
Authors
Derrick Vaughn, Anne Kellerman, Kimberly Wickland, Robert Striegl, David Podgorski, Jon Hawkings, Jaap Nienhuis, Mark Dornblaser, Edward Stets, Robert G. M. Spencer