Publications
Listed here are publications, reports and articles by the Land Change Science Program in the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area.
Filter Total Items: 1284
Climate-smart wetlands can mitigate the wetland-methane feedback loop Climate-smart wetlands can mitigate the wetland-methane feedback loop
Climate change is intensifying wetland methane emissions, reinforcing a feedback loop that accelerates warming and threatens wetlands’ role as natural climate solutions. We propose climate-smart interventions for wetland protection, restoration, and management that explicitly account for methane dynamics. Targeted interventions can weaken methane feedback while safeguarding ecological...
Authors
Irena F. Creed, Emily A. Ury, Kenneth J. Anderson, Sheel Bansal, Pascal Badiou, Victoria Dombrowik, Philip B. Duffy, Vincent Gauci, Adam Gold, Meredith A. Holgerson, Bunyod Holmatov, Lauren Kinsman-Costello, Tatiana Lobato-de Magalhães, Danielle R. Monteverde, Eric J. Ward, Zhen Zhang, Brian Buma
Post-fire soil hydrologic response and recovery in northern California (USA) Post-fire soil hydrologic response and recovery in northern California (USA)
Background Wildfires abruptly change landscapes by altering soil properties and vegetation cover. These changes are thought to reduce soil infiltration capacity, making landscapes susceptible to runoff and erosion. However, post-fire soil response is complex and likely varies across locations and time.Aims Here, we aim to understand regional post-fire soil response and recovery by...
Authors
Corina Cerovski-Darriau, Kimberlie Perkins, Courtney Creamer, Jeff P. Prancevic, Jonathan D. Stock
Simulating past and future refugia for temperate trees in northern Italy Simulating past and future refugia for temperate trees in northern Italy
During the Quaternary, trees responded to the climatic changes of glacial–interglacial cycles with large-scale range shifts. Over cold glacials, temperate tree species contracted their ranges and survived in areas known as refugia. Several studies point to the Euganean Hills (Colli Euganei), in Veneto, northern Italy, as one of the northernmost European refugia of temperate tree species...
Authors
Azzurra Pistone, Paul D. Henne, Petra Boltshauser-Kaltenrieder, Willy Tinner, Christoph Schworer
Building resilience in dryland ecosystems: A climate adaptation strategy menu for pinyon–juniper woodlands Building resilience in dryland ecosystems: A climate adaptation strategy menu for pinyon–juniper woodlands
Pinyon–juniper (PJ) woodlands, one of the most extensive mature and old-growth woodland types in the Western United States, provide critical ecological, cultural, and economic benefits but face increasing threats from climate change, altered disturbance regimes, invasive species, and pests. We developed the PJ Woodland Climate Adaptation Management Menu, a decision support tool designed...
Authors
Jesse Gray, Mandy L. Slate, Alyson Ennis, Courtney Peterson, John B. Bradford, Adam Roy Noel, Michael C. Duniway, Tara B. Bishop, Ian P. Barrett, Chris Domschke, Joel T. Humphries, Nicole N. Barger
Changes in suspended sediment concentration along tidal rivers of the Chesapeake Bay: The tidal freshwater “sediment shadow” Changes in suspended sediment concentration along tidal rivers of the Chesapeake Bay: The tidal freshwater “sediment shadow”
Transport of terrigenic sediment from nontidal watersheds into estuaries has important impacts on coastal habitat quality, pollutant transport, and resilience to sea-level rise. However, relatively little is known about changes in suspended sediment as nontidal rivers encounter tide, transition into tidal rivers through the tidal freshwater zone (TFZ), and enter saline portions of...
Authors
Gregory B. Noe, Rebecca Murphy, Ken W. Krauss
The role of groundwater in contributing to surface water salinization in the Upper Colorado River Basin The role of groundwater in contributing to surface water salinization in the Upper Colorado River Basin
Freshwater salinization impacts the availability of water for human use and ecosystem needs worldwide. It has been estimated that total dissolved solids (TDS) in the Colorado River Basin cause $350 million/year in damages and substantial resources are devoted to reducing TDS loading to streams. This study describes the development and application of coupled watershed models that enable...
Authors
Matthew P. Miller, Olivia L. Miller, Patrick C. Longley, Daniel R. Wise, Morgan C. McDonnell, Noah M. Schmadel, Jay R. Alder
Initial condition uncertainty exerts a large and persistent influence on model simulations of ecosystem carbon dynamics in California Initial condition uncertainty exerts a large and persistent influence on model simulations of ecosystem carbon dynamics in California
Uncertainties in terrestrial ecosystem models limit their predictive power. Efforts to reduce projection error have rarely focused on constraining uncertainty in the initial state of the ecosystem, however, despite evidence that matching model initial conditions to real-world observations reduces overall model bias. Here we use an integrated land change and carbon gain-loss model to...
Authors
Paul C. Selmants, Benjamin M. Sleeter, Colin J. Daniel
Seasons and seasonality in lakes: Synthesis amid global change Seasons and seasonality in lakes: Synthesis amid global change
Seasonality in environmental conditions plays a fundamental role in shaping lake ecosystems. However, patterns of seasonality vary worldwide, and these patterns are shifting over time amid global change. Thus, it is increasingly important to evaluate how seasons and seasonality are represented in lake ecosystem research. Here, we used a literature review and global data analysis to...
Authors
Abigail S. Lewis, David C. Richardson, Dexter W. Howard, Cayelan C. Carey, Benjamin M. Kraemer, Yael Amitai, Sheel Bansal, Elvira Eyto, Hans-Peter Grossart, Kathryn K. Hoffman, Rachel A. Hovel, Lesley B. Knoll, Isabella Oleksy, Arianto Santoso, Martin Schmid, Robert Schwefel, Dietmar Straile, Xinyu Sun, Gesa A. Weyhenmeyer, Whitney M. Woelmer, Sabine Wollrab, Petr Znachor
The Python Energy Balance model for Snow and Ice (PEBSI): Application and tradeoff analysis on Gulkana Glacier, Alaska The Python Energy Balance model for Snow and Ice (PEBSI): Application and tradeoff analysis on Gulkana Glacier, Alaska
Glacier energy-balance models offer mechanistic insights into glacier mass balance under a changing climate, yet their considerable data requirements hinder large-scale applications. Here we present the open-source Python Energy Balance model for Snow and Ice (PEBSI), which includes physically based albedo evolution using the Snow, Ice and Aerosol Radiative (SNICAR) model. PEBSI is...
Authors
Claire V. Wilson, David R. Rounce, Louis Sass, Albin Wells, Emily H. Baker, Mark Flanner, S. Mackenzie Skiles
A synthesis of plant mass mortality events in coastal ecosystems A synthesis of plant mass mortality events in coastal ecosystems
Around the world, mass mortality events are disrupting the ecological and economic stability of shorelines. To better understand mechanisms of mass mortality in coastal ecosystems, we provide a global synthesis of over 250 reports of plant mass mortality events in six coastal ecosystems: coastal freshwater forests, tidal freshwater marshes, salt marshes, mangrove forests, seagrass...
Authors
Camille L. Stagg, Emily Fromenthal, Judith Z. Drexler, Eric E. Grossman, Michael J. Osland, Karen M. Thorne
Net CO2 emissions from dry inland waters persist in the presence of vegetation Net CO2 emissions from dry inland waters persist in the presence of vegetation
Many inland waters are shrinking due to shifts in climate and water diversion for human uses. As they dry out, their exposed sediments emit large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere. However, current global estimates of CO2 emissions from dry inland waters are derived exclusively from bare sediment dark-chamber measurements that do not account for the colonization of...
Authors
K. Sharma, Soren Brothers, S. Bernal, Núria Catalán, P. Keller, M. Koschorreck, S. Kosten, C. Leigh, D. von Schiller, A. Pastor, A. Larrañaga, A. Ari, A. Camacho-Santamans, A. Grinham, A. Lupon, A. Linkhorst, A. Elosegi, B. Obrador, B. D. Eyre, C. Trochine, C. C. Muniz, C. Feijoo, C. Duvert, E. Moreno-Ostos, E. Jacqueline Garcia, E. S. Oliveria, F. Cuassolo, H. R. Fernandez, J. Yeo, J. Oakes, J. R. Paranaíba, J. Pegg, J. Anselmo, J. J. Montes-Perez, L. van den Heuvel, L. Ran, L. L. Wilkinson, L. Gomez-Gener, M. Arroita, M. Shanafield, M. L. Gultemirian, M. I. Arce, M. Cobo, M. M. Sanchez-Montoya, N. Barros, N. Wells, N. Karakaya, P. Erturk Ari, Q. Struik, R. Aben, R. Rimas, S. Kumar, Sheel Bansal, S. Sarkar, S. Rodriguez-Gomez, T. Huang, T. Silverthorn, T. Datry, V. Diaz Villanueva, R. Marce
Moving toward a more human-oriented analysis of urban heat: Examining differences of heat exposure intensity at busy commuting locations Moving toward a more human-oriented analysis of urban heat: Examining differences of heat exposure intensity at busy commuting locations
Examining urban thermal environments has become a critical area of research spanning epidemiology, urban planning, and ecology. While traditional metrics like air temperature (Tair) and satellite-derived surface temperature dominate urban heat studies, these measures often fail to reflect how people actually experience thermal exposure intensity. More human-oriented metrics, such as mean...
Authors
Peter Christian Ibsen, Melissa R. McHale, Priyanka deSouza, Logan Steinharter, Carl Green, Jay E. Diffendorfer, Travis Warziniak