Publications
Listed here are publications, reports and articles by the Land Change Science Program in the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area.
Filter Total Items: 1145
Paleohydrological context for recent floods and droughts in the Fraser River Basin, British Columbia, Canada Paleohydrological context for recent floods and droughts in the Fraser River Basin, British Columbia, Canada
The recent intensification of floods and droughts in the Fraser River Basin (FRB) of British Columbia has had profound cultural, ecological, and economic impacts that are expected to be exacerbated further by anthropogenic climate change. In part due to short instrumental runoff records, the long-term stationarity of hydroclimatic extremes in this major North American watershed remains...
Authors
Rebecca Lynn Brice, Bethany Coulthard, Inga Homfeld, Laura Dye, Kevin Anchukaitis
Experimental tree mortality does not induce marsh transgression in a Chesapeake Bay low-lying coastal forest Experimental tree mortality does not induce marsh transgression in a Chesapeake Bay low-lying coastal forest
Transgression into adjacent uplands is an important global response of coastal wetlands to accelerated rates of sea level rise. “Ghost forests” mark a signature characteristic of marsh transgression on the landscape, as changes in tidal inundation and salinity cause bordering upland tree mortality, increase light availability, and the emergence of tidal marsh species due to reduced...
Authors
David Walters, Joel A. Carr, Alyssa Hockaday, Joshua A Jones, Eliza McFarland, Katya Kovalenko, Matthew L. Kirwan, Donald R. Cahoon, Glenn R. Guntenspergen
What determines the effectiveness of Pinyon-Juniper clearing treatments? Evidence from the remote sensing archive and counter-factual scenarios What determines the effectiveness of Pinyon-Juniper clearing treatments? Evidence from the remote sensing archive and counter-factual scenarios
In the intermountain western US, expansion of Pinyon (Pinus edulis) and Juniper (Juniperus spp.) woodlands (PJ) into grasslands and shrublands is a pervasive phenomenon, and an example of the global trend towards enhanced woody growth in drylands. Due to the perceived impacts of these expansions on ecosystem services related to biodiversity, hydrology, soil stability, fire prevention...
Authors
Stephen E. Fick, Travis W. Nauman, Colby C. Brungard, Michael C. Duniway
Empirically validated drought vulnerability mapping in the mixed conifer forests of the Sierra Nevada Empirically validated drought vulnerability mapping in the mixed conifer forests of the Sierra Nevada
Severe droughts are predicted to become more frequent in the future, and the consequences of such droughts on forests can be dramatic, resulting in massive tree mortality, rapid change in forest structure and composition, and substantially increased risk of catastrophic fire. Forest managers have tools at their disposal to try to mitigate these effects but are often faced with limited...
Authors
Adrian Das, Michele R Slaton, Jeffrey Mallory, Gregory P. Asner, Roberta E. Martin, Paul Hardwick
Crowding, climate, and the case for social distancing among trees Crowding, climate, and the case for social distancing among trees
In an emerging era of megadisturbance, bolstering forest resilience to wildfire, insects, and drought has become a central objective in many western forests. Climate has received considerable attention as a driver of these disturbances, but few studies have examined the complexities of climate–vegetation–disturbance interactions. Current strategies for creating resilient forests often...
Authors
Tucker J. Furniss, Adrian Das, Phillip J. van Mantgem, Nathan L. Stephenson, James A. Lutz
Beyond bulk: Density fractions explain heterogeneity in global soil carbon abundance and persistence Beyond bulk: Density fractions explain heterogeneity in global soil carbon abundance and persistence
Understanding the controls on the amount and persistence of soil organic carbon (C) is essential for predicting its sensitivity to global change. The response may depend on whether C is unprotected, isolated within aggregates, or protected from decomposition by mineral associations. Here, we present a global synthesis of the relative influence of environmental factors on soil organic C
Authors
Katherine Heckman, Caitlin E. Hicks Pries, Corey Lawrence, Craig Rasmussen, Susan E. Crow, Alison M. Hoyt, Sophie F. von Fromm, Zheng Shi, Shane Stoner, Casey McGrath, Jeffery Beem-Miller, Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Joseph C. Blankinship, Marco Keiluweit, Erika Marín-Spiotta, J. Grey Monroe, Alain F. Plante, Joshua Schimel, Carlos A. Sierra, Aaron Thompson, Rota Wagai
Retreat and regrowth of the Greenland Ice Sheet during the Last Interglacial as simulated by the CESM2-CISM2 coupled climate–ice sheet model Retreat and regrowth of the Greenland Ice Sheet during the Last Interglacial as simulated by the CESM2-CISM2 coupled climate–ice sheet model
During the Last Interglacial, approximately 129 to 116 ka (thousand years ago), the Arctic summer climate was warmer than the present, and the Greenland Ice Sheet retreated to a smaller extent than its current state. Previous model-derived and geological reconstruction estimates of the sea-level contribution of the Greenland Ice Sheet during the Last Interglacial vary widely. Here, we...
Authors
Aleah Sommers, Bette L. Otto-Bliesner, William Lipscomb, Marcus Lofverstrom, Sarah Shafer, Patrick J. Bartlein, Esther C. Brady, Erik Kluzek, Gunter Leguy, Katherine Thayer-Calder, Robert Tomas
Foreword: Wetland carbon and environmental management Foreword: Wetland carbon and environmental management
No abstract available.
Authors
Scott Covington, Debra A. Willard
California deepwater investigations and groundtruthing (Cal DIG) I: Fault and shallow geohazard analysis offshore Morro Bay California deepwater investigations and groundtruthing (Cal DIG) I: Fault and shallow geohazard analysis offshore Morro Bay
The California Deepwater Investigations and Groundtruthing (Cal DIG) I project focuses on the potential seafloor hazards and impacts of alternative energy infrastructure in the outer continental shelf region offshore of south-central California. This is one of three reports covering a single study area located between Monterey and Point Conception, California in federal waters outside of...
Authors
Maureen A. L. Walton, Charlie K Paull, Guy R. Cochrane, Jason A. Addison, Roberto Gwiazda, Daniel J. Kennedy, Eve M. Lundsten, Antoinette Gabrielle Papesh
Anomalous noble gas solubility in liquid cloud water: Possible implications for noble gas temperatures and cloud physics Anomalous noble gas solubility in liquid cloud water: Possible implications for noble gas temperatures and cloud physics
The noble gas temperature climate proxy is an established tool that has previously been applied to determine the source of groundwater recharge, however, unanswered questions remain. In fractured media (e.g., volcanic islands) recharge can be so rapid that groundwater is significantly depleted in heavy noble gases, indicating that the water has retained noble gas concentrations from...
Authors
Chris M. Hall, M. Clara Castro, Martha A. Scholl, Julien Amalberti, Stephen B. Gingerich
Identifying factors that affect mountain lake sensitivity to atmospheric nitrogen deposition across multiple scales Identifying factors that affect mountain lake sensitivity to atmospheric nitrogen deposition across multiple scales
Increased nitrogen (N) deposition rates over the past century have affected both North American and European mountain lake ecosystems. Ecological sensitivity of mountain lakes to N deposition varies, however, because chemical and biological responses are modulated by local watershed and lake properties. We evaluated predictors of mountain lake sensitivity to atmospheric N deposition...
Authors
Benjamin Burpee, Jasmine Saros, Leora Nanus, Jill S. Baron, Janice Brahney, Kyle Christianson, Taylor Gantz, Andi Heard, Beth Hundey, Karin Koinig, Jiri Kopacek, Katrina Moser, Koren Nydick, Isabella A. Oleksy, Steven Sadro, Ruben Sommaruga, Rolf Vinebrooke, Jason Williams
The Boreal-Arctic Wetland and Lake Dataset (BAWLD) The Boreal-Arctic Wetland and Lake Dataset (BAWLD)
Methane emissions from boreal and arctic wetlands, lakes, and rivers are expected to increase in response to warming and associated permafrost thaw. However, the lack of appropriate land cover datasets for scaling field-measured methane emissions to circumpolar scales has contributed to a large uncertainty for our understanding of present-day and future methane emissions. Here we present...
Authors
David Olefeldt, Mikael Hovemyr, M.A. Kuhn, D Bastviken, T.J. Bohn, J. Connolly, P.M. Crill, E.S. Euskirchen, S.A. Finkelstein, H. Genet, G. Grosse, L.I. Harris, L. Heffernan, M. Helbig, G. Hugelium, R. Hutchins, S. Juutinen, M.J. Lara, A. Malhotra, Kristen L. Manies, A.D. McGuire, S.M. Natali, J. A. O’Donnell, F-J.W. Parmentier, A. Rasanen, C. Schaedel, O. Sonnentag, M. Strack, S.E. Tank, C. C. Treat, R.K. Varner, T. Virtanen, J.D. Watts, R.K. Warren