Publications
Listed here are publications, reports and articles by the Land Change Science Program in the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area.
Filter Total Items: 1145
The impacts of mangrove range expansion on wetland ecosystem services in the southeastern United States: Current understanding, knowledge gaps, and emerging research needs The impacts of mangrove range expansion on wetland ecosystem services in the southeastern United States: Current understanding, knowledge gaps, and emerging research needs
Climate change is transforming ecosystems and affecting ecosystem goods and services. Along the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic coasts of the southeastern United States, the frequency and intensity of extreme freeze events greatly influences whether coastal wetlands are dominated by freeze-sensitive woody plants (mangrove forests) or freeze-tolerant grass-like plants (salt marshes). In...
Authors
Michael Osland, A. Randall Hughes, Anna R. Armitage, Steven B. Scyphers, Just Cebrian, Savannah H. Swinea, Christine C. Shepard, Michael S. Allen, Laura Feher, James A. Nelson, Cherie L. O’Brien, Colt R. Sanspree, Delbert L. Smee, Caitlin M. Snyder, Andrew P. Stetter, Philip W. Stevens, Kathleen M. Swanson, Lauren H. Williams, Janell M. Brush, Joseph Marchionno, Remi Bardou
Oxygen isotopes of land snail shells in high latitude regions Oxygen isotopes of land snail shells in high latitude regions
The present study investigates the environmental significance of the oxygen isotopic composition of several modern land snail species collected along two north-to-south transects in Alaska and Scandinavia at latitudes between 60 and 70 °N. We tested the hypothesis that land snail shell δ18O values primarily track precipitation δ18O. The results show that shell δ18O values from...
Authors
Catherine Nield, Yurena Yanes, Jeffrey S. Pigati, Jason A. Rech, Ted von Proschwitz, Jeffrey C. Nekola
Perils of life on the edge: Climatic threats to global diversity patterns of wetland macroinvertebrates Perils of life on the edge: Climatic threats to global diversity patterns of wetland macroinvertebrates
Climate change is rapidly driving global biodiversity declines. How wetland macroinvertebrate assemblages are responding is unclear, a concern given their vital function in these ecosystems. Using a data set from 769 minimally impacted depressional wetlands across the globe (467 temporary and 302 permanent), we evaluated how temperature and precipitation (average, range, variability)...
Authors
Luis B. Epele, Marta G. Grech, Emilio A. Williams-Subiza, Cristina Stenert, Kyle McLean, Hamish S. Greig, Leonardo Maltchik, Mateus M. Pires, Matthew S. Bird, Aurelie Boissezon, Dani Boix, Eliane Demierre, Patricia E. García, Stephanie Gascón, Michael Jeffries, Jamie M. Kneitel, Olga Loskutov, Luz M. Manzo, Gabriela Mataloni, Musa C. Mlambo, Beat Oertli, Jordi Sala, Erica E. Scheibler, Haitao Wu, Scott A Wissinger, Darold P. Batzer
Response to comment on “Evidence of humans in North America during the Last Glacial Maximum” Response to comment on “Evidence of humans in North America during the Last Glacial Maximum”
Madsen et al. question the reliability of calibrated radiocarbon ages associated with human footprints discovered recently in White Sands National Park, New Mexico, USA. On the basis of the geologic, hydrologic, stratigraphic, and chronologic evidence, we maintain that the ages are robust and conclude that the footprints date to between ~23,000 and 21,000 years ago.Madsen et al. (1)...
Authors
Jeffrey S. Pigati, Kathleen B. Springer, Matthew R. Bennett, David Bustos, Thomas M. Urban, Vance T. Holliday, Sally C. Reynolds, Daniel Odess
Paleoclimatology and paleoceanography perspectives on integrated, coordinated, open, networked (ICON) science Paleoclimatology and paleoceanography perspectives on integrated, coordinated, open, networked (ICON) science
This article is composed of three independent commentaries about the state of Integrated, Coordinated, Open, Networked (ICON) principles (Goldman et al., 2021, https://doi.org/10.1002/essoar.10508554.1) in the AGU section paleoclimatology and paleoceanography (P&P), and a discussion on the opportunities and challenges of adopting them. Each commentary focuses on a different topic:...
Authors
A Belem, T Bell, H L Burdett, D Ibarra, N Kaushal, B Keenan, A Klimaszewski-Patterson, Madelyn Jean Mette, S Naeher, O D Onafeso, C Panmei, S Ratnayake, O Truax
The impact of future climate on wetland habitat in a critical migratory waterfowl corridor of the Prairie Pothole Region The impact of future climate on wetland habitat in a critical migratory waterfowl corridor of the Prairie Pothole Region
Depressional wetlands are extremely sensitive to changes in temperature and precipitation, so understanding how wetland inundation dynamics respond to changes in climate is essential for describing potential effects on wildlife breeding habitat. Millions of depressional basins make up the largest wetland complex in North America known as the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR). The wetland...
Authors
Owen P. McKenna
Reconciling models and measurements of marsh vulnerability to sea level rise Reconciling models and measurements of marsh vulnerability to sea level rise
Tidal marsh survival in the face of sea level rise (SLR) and declining sediment supply often depends on the ability of marshes to build soil vertically. However, numerical models typically predict survival under rates of SLR that far exceed field-based measurements of vertical accretion. Here, we combine novel measurements from seven U.S. Atlantic Coast marshes and data from 70...
Authors
Daniel J. Coleman, Mark Schuerch, Stijn Temmerman, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, Christopher G. Smith, Matthew L. Kirwan
Climate and land change impacts on future managed wetland habitat: A case study from California’s Central Valley Climate and land change impacts on future managed wetland habitat: A case study from California’s Central Valley
Concept California’s Central Valley provides critical habitat for migratory waterbirds, yet only 10% of naturally occurring wetlands remain. Competition for limited water supplies and climate change will impact the long-term viability of these intensively managed habitats.Objectives Forecast the distribution, abundance, and connectivity of surface water and managed wetland habitats...
Authors
Tamara Wilson, Elliott Matchett, Kristin B. Byrd, Erin Conlisk, Matthew E. Reiter, Cynthia Wallace, Lorraine E. Flint, Alan L. Flint, Monica Mei Jeen Moritsch
Coastal paleogeography of the Pacific Northwest, USA, for the last 12,000 years accounting for three-dimensional earth structure Coastal paleogeography of the Pacific Northwest, USA, for the last 12,000 years accounting for three-dimensional earth structure
Predictive modeling of submerged archaeological sites requires accurate sea-level predictions in order to reconstruct coastal paleogeography and associated geographic features that may have influenced the locations of occupation sites such as rivers and embayments. Earlier reconstructions of the paleogeography of parts of the western U.S. coast used an assumption of eustatic sea level...
Authors
Jorie Clark, Jay R. Alder, Marisa Borreggine, Jerry X Mitrovica, Konstantin Latychev
Understanding rates of change: A case study using fossil pollen records from California to assess the potential for and challenges to a regional data synthesis Understanding rates of change: A case study using fossil pollen records from California to assess the potential for and challenges to a regional data synthesis
Insights into the rates at which ecosystems and vegetation respond to a changing climate is fundamental to anticipating impacts of projected climate change. Characterization of vegetation change over millennia to centuries has potential to make an important contribution toward this goal, and regional scale syntheses of fossil pollen data can provide the foundation for this understanding...
Authors
Lysanna Anderson, David Wahl, T. Bhattacharya
A quantitative soil-geomorphic framework for developing and mapping ecological site groups A quantitative soil-geomorphic framework for developing and mapping ecological site groups
Land management decisions need context about how landscapes will respond to different circumstances or actions. As ecologists’ understanding of nonlinear ecological dynamics has evolved into state-and-transition models (STMs), they have put more emphasis on defining and mapping the soil, geomorphological, and climate parameters that mediate these dynamics. The US Department of...
Authors
Travis W. Nauman, Samuel S Burch, Joel T. Humphries, Anna C. Knight, Michael C. Duniway
Exposure of cultural resources to 21st-century climate change: Towards a risk management plan Exposure of cultural resources to 21st-century climate change: Towards a risk management plan
Anthropogenic climate change during the 21st century presents a significant challenge to the protection of cultural resources (CRs) on federal lands that encompass ∼ 28% of the U.S. In particular, CRs on this land base may be adversely affected by a wide range of climate-change hazards, including damage by sea-level rise, enhanced deterioration by increasing temperature and precipitation...
Authors
Jorie Clark, Jeremy Littell, Jay R. Alder, Nathan Teats