Publications
Listed here are publications, reports and articles by the Land Change Science Program in the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area.
Filter Total Items: 1145
Spatio-temporal variability of human-fire interactions on the Navajo Nation Spatio-temporal variability of human-fire interactions on the Navajo Nation
Unraveling the effects of climate and land-use on historical fire regimes provides important insights into broader human-fire-climate dynamics, which are necessary for ecologically-based forest management. We developed a spatial human land-use model for Navajo Nation forests across which we sampled a network of tree-ring fire history sites to reflect contrasting historical land-use...
Authors
Christopher Guiterman, Ellis Margolis, Christopher Baisan, Donald Falk, Craig Allen, Thomas Swetnam
Grazing-induced changes to biological soil crust cover mediate hillslope erosion in a long-term exclosure experiment Grazing-induced changes to biological soil crust cover mediate hillslope erosion in a long-term exclosure experiment
Dryland ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to erosion generated by livestock grazing. Quantifying this risk across a variety of landscape settings is essential for successful adaptive management, particularly in light of a changing climate. In the Upper Colorado River Basin, there are nearly 25 000 km2 of rangelands with underlying soils derived from Mancos Shale, an erodible and...
Authors
Stephen Fick, Jayne Belnap, Michael Duniway
The potential resiliency of a created tidal marsh to sea-level rise The potential resiliency of a created tidal marsh to sea-level rise
The purpose of this study was to determine the elevation dynamics of a created tidal marsh on the North Carolina coast. Deep rod surface elevation tables (RSET) and feldspar marker horizons (MH) were installed in plots to measure net surface elevation changes and to quantify contributing processes. Twelve total plots were placed on four elevation gradient transects (three transects...
Authors
Brock Kamrath, Michael Burchell, Nicole Cormier, Ken Krauss, Darren Johnson
Tidal erosion and upstream sediment trapping modulate records of land-use change in a formerly glaciated New England estuary Tidal erosion and upstream sediment trapping modulate records of land-use change in a formerly glaciated New England estuary
Land clearing, river impoundments, and other human modifications to the upland landscape and within estuarine systems can drive coastal change at local to regional scales. However, as compared with mid-latitude coasts, the impacts of human modifications along sediment-starved formerly glaciated coastal landscapes are relatively understudied. To address this gap, we present a late...
Authors
Justin Shawler, Christopher Hein, Elizabeth Canuel, James Kaste, Gregory Fitzsimons, Ioannis Georgiou, Debra Willard
Landsat time series assessment of invasive annual grasses following energy development Landsat time series assessment of invasive annual grasses following energy development
Invasive annual grasses are of concern in many areas of the Western United States because they tolerate resource variability and have high reproductive capacity, with propagules that are readily dispersed in disturbed areas like those created and maintained for energy development. Early-season invasive grasses “green up” earlier than the most native plants, producing a distinct pulse of...
Authors
Miguel Villarreal, Christopher Soulard, Eric Waller
Study design and methods for a wetland condition assessment on U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service fee-title lands in the Prairie Pothole Region of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana, USA Study design and methods for a wetland condition assessment on U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service fee-title lands in the Prairie Pothole Region of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana, USA
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) manages wetlands and grasslands for wildlife habitat throughout the central North American Prairie Pothole Region (PPR). PPR wetlands, or potholes, are widely recognized as critical habitats for North American migratory waterfowl, waterbirds, and other wildlife. Potholes also provide other ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, flood...
Authors
Brian Tangen, Sheel Bansal, Rachel Fern, Edward S. DeKeyser, Christina Hargiss, David Mushet, Cami Dixon
1200 years of Upper Missouri River streamflow reconstructed from tree rings 1200 years of Upper Missouri River streamflow reconstructed from tree rings
Paleohydrologic records can provide unique, long-term perspectives on streamflow variability and hydroclimate for use in water resource planning. Such long-term records can also play a key role in placing both present day events and projected future conditions into a broader context than that offered by instrumental observations. However, relative to other major river basins across the...
Authors
Justin Martin, Gregory Pederson, Connie Woodhouse, Edward Cook, Gregory McCabe, Erika Wise, Patrick Erger, Larry Dolan, Marketa McGuire, Subhrendu Gangopadhyay, Katherine Chase, Jeremy Littell, Stephen Gray, Scott St. George, Jonathan Friedman, David Sauchyn, Jannine St. Jacques, John King
Climatic controls on the distribution of foundation plant species in coastal wetlands of the conterminous United States: Knowledge gaps and emerging research needs Climatic controls on the distribution of foundation plant species in coastal wetlands of the conterminous United States: Knowledge gaps and emerging research needs
Foundation plant species play a critical role in coastal wetlands, often modifying abiotic conditions that are too stressful for most organisms and providing the primary habitat features that support entire ecological communities. Here, we consider the influence of climatic drivers on the distribution of foundation plant species within coastal wetlands of the conterminous USA. Using...
Authors
Michael Osland, James B. Grace, Glenn Guntenspergen, Karen Thorne, Joel Carr, Laura Feher
Influence of multi-decadal land use, irrigation practices and climate on riparian corridors across the Upper Missouri River Headwaters Basin, Montana Influence of multi-decadal land use, irrigation practices and climate on riparian corridors across the Upper Missouri River Headwaters Basin, Montana
The Upper Missouri River Headwaters Basin (36,400 km2) depends on its river corridors to support irrigated agriculture and world-class trout fisheries. We evaluated trends (1984-2016) in riparian wetness, an indicator of riparian condition, in peak irrigation months (June, July, August) for 158 km2 of riparian area across the basin using the Landsat Normalized Difference Wetness Index...
Authors
Melanie Vanderhoof, J.R. Christensen, Laurie Alexander
Challenges for monitoring the extent and land use/cover changes in monarch butterflies’ migratory habitat across the United States and Mexico Challenges for monitoring the extent and land use/cover changes in monarch butterflies’ migratory habitat across the United States and Mexico
This paper presents a synopsis of the challenges and limitations presented by existing and emerging land use/ land cover (LULC) digital data sets when used to analyze the extent, habitat quality, and LULC changes of the monarch (Danaus plexippus) migratory habitat across the United States of America (US) and Mexico. First, the characteristics, state of the knowledge, and issues related...
Authors
Rafael Moreno-Sanchez, James Raines, James E. Diffendorfer, Mark Drummond, Jessica Manko
Review of indicators for comparing environmental effects across energy sources Review of indicators for comparing environmental effects across energy sources
Robust, quantitative comparisons of environmental effects across energy sources can support development of energy planning strategies that meet growing demand while managing and minimizing undesirable effects on environmental resources. Multicriteria analyses of energy systems often use a suite of indicators to make such comparisons, but those indicators and their units of measure vary...
Authors
Monica Dorning, James E. Diffendorfer, Scott Loss, Kenneth Bagstad
Large loss of CO2 in winter observed across pan-arctic permafrost region Large loss of CO2 in winter observed across pan-arctic permafrost region
Recent warming in the Arctic, which has been amplified during the winter1,2,3, greatly enhances microbial decomposition of soil organic matter and subsequent release of carbon dioxide (CO2)4. However, the amount of CO2 released in winter is not known and has not been well represented by ecosystem models or empirically based estimates5,6. Here we synthesize regional in situ observations...
Authors
Susan Natali, Jennifer Watts, Stefano Potter, Brendan Rogers, Sarah Ludwig, Anne-Katrin Selbmann, Patrick F. Sullivan, Benjamin W. Abbott, Kyle Arndt, Leah Birch, Mats P. Bjorkman, Anthony Bloom, Gerardo Celis, Torben Christiensen, Casper Christiansen, Roisin Commane, Elisabeth Cooper, Patrick Crill, Claudia Czimczik, Sergey Davydov, Jinyang Du, Jocelyn Egan, Bo Elberling, Eugenie Euskirchen, Thomas Friborg, Helene Genet, Mathias Gockede, Jordan Goodrich, Paul Grogan, Manuel Helbig, Elchin Jafarov, Julie Jastrow, Aram Kalhori, Yongwon Kim, John S Kimball, Lars Kutzbach, Mark Lara, Klaus Larsen, Michael M Loranty, Magnus Lund, Massimo Lupascu, Nima Madani, Avni Malhorta, Jack McFarland, David McGuire, Anders Michelson, Christina Minions, Walter Oechel, David Olefeldt, Frans-Jan Parmentier, Norbert Pirk, Benjamin Poulter, William Quinton, Fereidoun Rezanezhad, David Risk, Torsten Sachs, Kevin Schaefer, Neils Schmidt, Edward Schuur, Philipp Semenchuk, Gaius Shaver, Oliver Sonnentag, Gregory Starr, Claire Treat, Mark Waldrop, Yihui Wang, Jeffrey Welker, Christian Wille, Xiaofeng Xu, Zhen Zhang, Qianlai Zhuang, Donatella Zona