Publications
Listed here are publications, reports and articles by the Land Change Science Program in the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area.
Filter Total Items: 1145
Biodiversity effects on grape quality depend on variety and management intensity Biodiversity effects on grape quality depend on variety and management intensity
Interactions between plants can be beneficial, detrimental or neutral. In agricultural systems, competition between crop and spontaneous vegetation is a major concern. We evaluated the relative support for three non-exclusive ecological hypotheses about interactions between crop and spontaneous plants based on competition, complementarity or facilitation.The study was conducted in Swiss...
Authors
Magdalena Steiner, James Grace, Sven Bacher
A graphical causal model for resolving species identity effects and biodiversity–ecosystem function correlations: comment A graphical causal model for resolving species identity effects and biodiversity–ecosystem function correlations: comment
In a recent paper, Schoolmaster, Zirbel, and Cronin (SZC) (2020) claim “Formal causal analysis show[s] that biodiversity–ecosystem function (BEF) correlations are non-causal associations.” If this conclusion is accepted as true, it suggests a reconsideration of much of our current understanding of how biodiversity relates to the functioning of ecosystems. On the surface, it is easy to...
Authors
James Grace, Michel Loreau, Bernhard Schmid
Ostracod eye size: A taxonomy-free indicator of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum sea level Ostracod eye size: A taxonomy-free indicator of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum sea level
Deep-time sea-level changes associated with the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) are of great interest to paleoceanographers and paleontologists, especially in shallow marine settings, like the Atlantic Coastal Plain PETM sections of the Eastern North American Continental Shelf. Accurate paleo-water depth reconstruction is essential to properly interpret and contextualize any PETM
Authors
Skye Y Tian, Moriaki Yasuhara, Marci Robinson, Huai-Hsuan M Huang
Complex sedimentary processes in large coastal embayments and their potential for coastal morphological and paleo tropical cyclone studies: A case study from Choctawhatchee Bay Western Florida, U.S.A Complex sedimentary processes in large coastal embayments and their potential for coastal morphological and paleo tropical cyclone studies: A case study from Choctawhatchee Bay Western Florida, U.S.A
Storminess and sea-level can both have a significant impact on landforms in cyclone-prone coastal regions, although much of our understanding comes from short-timescale modern observations. This study aims to understand the variability of sediment transport and deposition in the Choctawhatchee Bay/Santa Rosa Island in the northern Gulf of Mexico, establishing the dominant sediment...
Authors
P. Ranasinghe, Jeffrey Donnelly, R. L. Evans, Jessica Rodysill, N. Nanayakkara, Peter van Hengstum, Andrea Hawkes, Richard Sullivan, Michael Toomey
History of Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA: Since the termination of Lake Bonneville History of Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA: Since the termination of Lake Bonneville
During the past half century or so diverse histories of Great Salt Lake have been written from differing perspectives and all of them have contributed ideas and essential data. The published literature, however, can be confusing and misleading. In this chapter, we review and provide context for a number of those publications. This chapter is intended as a summary of what is known, what...
Authors
Charles Oviatt, Genevieve Atwood, Robert Thompson
Diatom record of holocene moisture variability in the San Bernardino Mountains, California, USA. Diatom record of holocene moisture variability in the San Bernardino Mountains, California, USA.
Lower Bear Lake, in the San Bernardino Mountains, contains a Holocene paleohydrology record for southern California. The diatom and sediment geochemistry record indicates that the region experienced a wet Early Holocene followed by a gradual decrease in precipitation, which was punctuated by four strong and five weak pluvial episodes. The Lower Bear Lake record is compared with that of...
Authors
Scott Starratt, Matthew Kirby, Kristine Glover
Quantifying diagenesis, contributing factors, and resulting isotopic bias in benthic foraminifera using the Foraminiferal Preservation Index: Implications for geochemical proxy records Quantifying diagenesis, contributing factors, and resulting isotopic bias in benthic foraminifera using the Foraminiferal Preservation Index: Implications for geochemical proxy records
Geochemical records generated from the calcite tests of benthic foraminifera, especially those of the genera Cibicidoides and Uvigerina, provide the basis for proxy reconstructions of past climate. However, the extent to which benthic foraminifera are affected by postdepositional alteration is poorly constrained. Furthermore, how diagenesis may alter the geochemical composition of...
Authors
Robert Poirier, Madison Gaetano, Kimberly Acevedo, Morgan Morgan F. Schaller, Maureen Raymo, Reinhard Kozdon
8,000 years of climate, vegetation, fire and land-use dynamics in the thermo-mediterranean vegetation belt of northern Sardinia (Italy) 8,000 years of climate, vegetation, fire and land-use dynamics in the thermo-mediterranean vegetation belt of northern Sardinia (Italy)
Knowledge about the vegetation history of Sardinia, the second largest island of the Mediterranean, is scanty. Here, we present a new sedimentary record covering the past ~ 8,000 years from Lago di Baratz, north-west Sardinia. Vegetation and fire history are reconstructed by pollen, spores, macrofossils and charcoal analyses and environmental dynamics by high-resolution element...
Authors
Tiziana Pedrotta, Erika Gobet, Christoph Schworer, Giorgia Beffa, Christoph Butz, Paul D. Henne, Cesar Morales-Molino, Salvatore Pasta, Jacqueline Van Leeuwen, Hendrik Vogel, Elias Zwimpfer, Flavio Anselmetti, Martin Grosjean, Willy Tinner
Resistance, resilience, and recovery of dryland soil bacterial communities across multiple disturbances Resistance, resilience, and recovery of dryland soil bacterial communities across multiple disturbances
Dryland ecosystems are sensitive to perturbations and generally slow to recover post disturbance. The microorganisms residing in dryland soils are especially important as they contribute to soil structure and nutrient cycling. Disturbance can have particularly strong effects on dryland soil structure and function, yet the natural resistance and recovery of the microbial components of...
Authors
Blaire Steven, Michala Phillips, Jayne Belnap, La Gallegos-Graves, Cheryl Kuske, Sasha C. Reed
Investigating vegetation responses to underground nuclear explosions through integrated analyses Investigating vegetation responses to underground nuclear explosions through integrated analyses
Vegetation has the potential to respond to underground nuclear explosions, yet these links have not been fully explored. Given the lack of previously described signatures, the changes in vegetation are possibly subtle. The integration of multiple different data streams is potentially a useful approach to improve signal detection. Here, we investigate whether semi-arid vegetation growth...
Authors
Kurt Solander, Adam Collins, Erika Swanson, Ellis Margolis, Brandon Crawford, Elizabeth Miller, Min Chen, Anita Lavadie-Bulnes, Max Ryan, Isaac Borrego, Sanna Sevanto, Emily Schultz-Fellenz
Substantial hysteresis in emergent temperature sensitivity of global wetland CH4 emissions Substantial hysteresis in emergent temperature sensitivity of global wetland CH4 emissions
Wetland methane (CH4) emissions (FCH4) are important in global carbon budgets and climate change assessments. Currently, FCH4 projections rely on prescribed static temperature sensitivity that varies among biogeochemical models. Meta-analyses have proposed a consistent FCH4 temperature dependence across spatial scales for use in models; however, site-level studies demonstrate that FCH4...
Authors
Kuang-Yu Chang, William Riley, Sara Knox, Robert Jackson, Gavin McNicol, Benjamin Poulter, Mika Aurela, Dennis Baldocchi, Sheel Bansal, Gil Bohrer, David Campbell, Alessandro Cescatti, Housen Chu, Kyle Delwiche, Ankur Desai, Eugenie Euskirchen, Matthias Goeckede, Thomas Friborg, Kyle Hemes, Takashi Hirano, Hiroki Iwata, Manuel Helbig, Trevor Keenan, Minseok Kang, Ken Krauss, Annalea Lohila, Bhaskar Mitra, Ivan Mammarella, Akira Miyata, Mats Nilsson, Walter Oechel, Akso Noormets, Matthias Peichl, Michele Reba, Janne Rinne, Dario Papale, Benjamin Runkle, Youngryel Ryu, Torsten Sachs, Karina Schafer, Hans Schmid, Narasinha Shurpali, Oliver Sonnentag, Angela Tang, Margaret Torn, Eeva-Stiina Tuittila, Carlo Trotta, Masahito Ueyama, Rodrigo Vargas, Timo Vesala, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Zhen Zhang, Donatella Zona
Predicted vulnerability of carbon in permafrost peatlands With future climate change and permafrost thaw in western Canada Predicted vulnerability of carbon in permafrost peatlands With future climate change and permafrost thaw in western Canada
Climate warming in high-latitude regions is thawing carbon-rich permafrost soils, which can release carbon to the atmosphere and enhance climate warming. Using a coupled model of long-term peatland dynamics (Holocene Peat Model, HPM-Arctic), we quantify the potential loss of carbon with future climate warming for six sites with differing climates and permafrost histories in Northwestern...
Authors
Claire Treat, Miriam Jones, Jay Alder, A. Sannel, Philip Camill, Steve Frolking