Publications
Listed here are publications, reports and articles by the Land Change Science Program in the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area.
Filter Total Items: 1145
Evidence of glacial activity during MIS 4 in the Rocky Mountains, Colorado, USA Evidence of glacial activity during MIS 4 in the Rocky Mountains, Colorado, USA
The Ziegler Reservoir fossil site near Snowmass Village, Colorado, provides a rare opportunity to examine environmental conditions in the Rocky Mountains during marine isotope stage (MIS) 4 (71–57 ka). Although recognized as a global-scale cold event, MIS 4 is typically absent from Rocky Mountain glacial chronologies because the geologic evidence was covered or destroyed during the...
Authors
Jeffrey S. Honke, Jeffrey S. Pigati, J. Michael Daniels
PlioMIP: The Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project PlioMIP: The Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project
PlioMIP is a network of paleoclimate modelers and geoscientists who, through the study of the mid-Pliocene Warm Period (mPWP ~3.3–3.0 million years ago), seek to understand the sensitivity of the climate system to forcings and examine how well models reproduce past climate change.
Authors
A. M. Haywood, Harry J. Dowsett
Seasonality of solute flux and water source chemistry in a coastal glacierized watershed undergoing rapid change: Wolverine Glacier watershed, Alaska Seasonality of solute flux and water source chemistry in a coastal glacierized watershed undergoing rapid change: Wolverine Glacier watershed, Alaska
As glaciers around the world rapidly lose mass, the tight coupling between glaciers and downstream ecosystems is resulting in widespread impacts on global hydrologic and biogeochemical cycling. However, a range of challenges make it difficult to conduct research in glacierized systems and our knowledge of seasonally changing hydrologic processes and solute sources and signatures is...
Authors
Anna Bergstrom, Joshua C. Koch, Shad O'Neel, Emily Baker
How will baseflow respond to climate change in the Upper Colorado River Basin? How will baseflow respond to climate change in the Upper Colorado River Basin?
Baseflow is critical to sustaining streamflow in the Upper Colorado River Basin. Therefore, effective water resources management requires estimates of baseflow response to climatic changes. This study provides the first estimates of projected baseflow changes from historical (1984 – 2012) to thirty-year periods centered around 2030, 2050, and 2080 under warm/wet, median, and hot/dry...
Authors
Olivia L. Miller, Matthew P. Miller, Patrick C. Longley, Jay R. Alder, Lindsay A. Bearup, Tom Pruitt, Daniel K. Jones, Annie L. Putman, Christine Rumsey, Tim S. McKinney
Active virus-host interactions at sub-freezing temperatures in Arctic peat soil Active virus-host interactions at sub-freezing temperatures in Arctic peat soil
Background Winter carbon loss in northern ecosystems is estimated to be greater than the average growing season carbon uptake and is primarily driven by microbial decomposers. Viruses modulate microbial carbon cycling via induced mortality and metabolic controls, but it is unknown whether viruses are active under winter conditions (anoxic and sub-freezing temperatures).Results We used...
Authors
Gareth Trubl, Jeffrey A Kimbrel, Jose Liquet-Gonzalez, Erin E. Nuccio, Peter K. Weber, Jennifer Pett-Ridge, Janet K. Jansson, Mark Waldrop, Steve Blazewicz
Influence of permafrost type and site history on losses of permafrost carbon after thaw Influence of permafrost type and site history on losses of permafrost carbon after thaw
We quantified permafrost peat plateau and post-thaw carbon (C) stocks across a chronosequence in Interior Alaska to evaluate the amount of C lost with thaw. Macrofossil reconstructions revealed three stratigraphic layers of peat: (1) a base layer of fen/marsh peat, (2) peat from a forested peat plateau (with permafrost) and, (3) collapse-scar bog peat (at sites where permafrost thaw has...
Authors
Kristen L. Manies, Miriam C. Jones, Mark Waldrop, Mary-Catherine Leewis, Christopher C. Fuller, Robert S. Cornman, Kristen Hoefke
Preface to book: Wetland carbon and environmental management Preface to book: Wetland carbon and environmental management
The idea for this book, including its organization and contents, has its origin in the latest environmental and climate policy requirements in the United States, as well as science advances. In 2007, the U.S. Congress passed the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA), from which Section 712 required U.S. Federal agencies to provide a better understanding of carbon and greenhouse gas...
Authors
Ken Krauss, Zhiliang Zhu, Camille Stagg
Potential for carbon and nitrogen sequestration by restoring tidal connectivity and enhancing soil surface elevations in denuded and degraded south Florida mangrove ecosystems Potential for carbon and nitrogen sequestration by restoring tidal connectivity and enhancing soil surface elevations in denuded and degraded south Florida mangrove ecosystems
Mangroves are tidally dependent wetlands that are influenced often by alterations in hydrology associated with coastal developments that impact their distribution, health, and function. Alteration in frequency, depth, duration, and seasonality of tidal inundation can lead to changes in forest condition, although these stress-adapted ecosystems may persist for many years before succumbing...
Authors
N. Cormier, Ken Krauss, Amanda Demopoulos, Brita J. Jessen, Jennifer McClain Counts, Andrew From, Laura L. Flynn
Summary of wetland carbon and environmental management: Path forward Summary of wetland carbon and environmental management: Path forward
Wetlands around the world are under pressure from both anthropogenic sources such as land-use change and accelerating climate change (Erwin, 2009; Moomaw et al., 2018). Storage of carbon resources is a key ecosystem service of wetlands and offer natural solutions to climate change mitigation; policies and management actions could determine the fate of these resources and their...
Authors
Zhiliang Zhu, Ken Krauss, Camille Stagg, Eric Ward, Victoria Woltz
Joint effects of climate, tree size, and year on annual tree growth derived using tree-ring records of ten globally distributed forests Joint effects of climate, tree size, and year on annual tree growth derived using tree-ring records of ten globally distributed forests
Tree rings provide an invaluable long-term record for understanding how climate and other drivers shape tree growth and forest productivity. However, conventional tree-ring analysis methods were not designed to simultaneously account for the effects of climate, tree size, and other drivers on individual growth, which has limited the potential to use tree rings to understand forest...
Authors
Kristina J. Anderson-Teixeira, Valentine Herrmann, Christy Rollinson, Bianca Gonzales, Erika B. Gonzalez-Akre, Neil Pederson, M. Ross Alexander, Craig D. Allen, Raquel Alfaro-Sanchez, Tala Awada, Jennifer L. Baltzer, Patrick J. Baker, Joseph D. Birch, Sarayudh Bunyavejchewin, Paolo Cherubini, Stewart J. Davies, Cameron Dow, Ryan Helcoski, Jakub Kaspar, James A. Lutz, Ellis Q. Margolis, Justin Maxwell, Sean M. McMahon, Camille Piponiot, Sabrina E. Russo, Pavel Šamonil, Anastasia E. Sniderhan, Alan J. Tepley, Ivana Vasickova, Mart Vlam, Pieter A. Zuidema
Land management strategies influence soil organic carbon stocks of prairie potholes of North America Land management strategies influence soil organic carbon stocks of prairie potholes of North America
Soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks of Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) wetlands in the central plains of Canada and the United States are highly variable due to natural variation in biota, soils, climate, hydrology, and topography. Land-use history (cropland, grassland) and land-management practices (drainage, restoration) also affect SOC stocks. We conducted a region-wide assessment of...
Authors
Sheel Bansal, Brian Tangen, Robert A. Gleason, Pascal Badiou, Irena F. Creed
Rapa Nui (Easter Island) Rano Raraku crater lake basin: Geochemical characterization and implications for the Ahu-Moai Period Rapa Nui (Easter Island) Rano Raraku crater lake basin: Geochemical characterization and implications for the Ahu-Moai Period
Rano Raraku, the crater lake constrained by basaltic tuff that served as the primary quarry used to construct the moai statues on Rapa Nui (Easter Island), has experienced fluctuations in lake level over the past centuries. As one of the only freshwater sources on the island, understanding the present and past geochemical characteristics of the lake water is critical to understand if the...
Authors
Elena Argiriadis, Mara Bortolini, Natalie Kehrwald, Marco Roman, Clara Turetta, Shahpara Hanif, Evans Osayuki Erhendi, Jose Miguel Ramirez Aliaga, David B. McWethy, Amy E. Myrbo, Anibal Pauchard, Carlo Barbante, Dario Battistel