Publications
Listed here are publications, reports and articles by the Land Change Science Program in the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area.
Filter Total Items: 1284
Salinity, water level, and forest structure contribute to baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) rhizosphere and endosphere community structure Salinity, water level, and forest structure contribute to baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) rhizosphere and endosphere community structure
As rising sea levels alter coastal ecosystems, there is a pressing need to examine the effects of saltwater intrusion on coastal communities. Using 16S Illumina profiling, we characterized the communities of baldcypress tree (Taxodium distichum) root endosphere and rhizosphere soil bacteria. Our study utilized established sites along salinity and flooding gradients in the United States...
Authors
Candice Y Lumibao, Elizabeth Kimbrough, Steven Formel, Richard Day, Andrew From, William H. Conner, Ken Krauss, Sunshine A Van Bael
Nutrients and warming interact to force mountain lakes into unprecedented ecological state Nutrients and warming interact to force mountain lakes into unprecedented ecological state
While deposition of reactive nitrogen (N) in the 20th century has been strongly linked to changes in diatom assemblages in high-elevation lakes, pronounced and contemporaneous changes in other algal groups suggest additional drivers. We explored the origin and magnitude of changes in two mountain lakes from the end of the Little Ice Age at ca. 1850, to ca. 2010, using lake sediments. We...
Authors
Isabella A. Oleksy, Jill S. Baron, Peter Leavitt, Sarah A. Spaulding
Height-related changes in forest composition, not tree vulnerability, explain increasing mortality with height during an extreme drought Height-related changes in forest composition, not tree vulnerability, explain increasing mortality with height during an extreme drought
Recently, Stovall et al.1 (hereafter SSY) showed that during an extreme drought, remotely sensed mortality of tall trees was more than double that of short trees. They interpreted this to be a consequence of inherently greater hydraulic vulnerability of tall trees, and suggested that tall-tree vulnerability should thus generalize more broadly. Here we reassess their conclusions using
Authors
Nathan L. Stephenson, Adrian J. Das
The role of warm, dry summers and variation in snowpack on phytoplankton dynamics in high-elevation lakes The role of warm, dry summers and variation in snowpack on phytoplankton dynamics in high-elevation lakes
Abstract Climate change is altering biogeochemical, metabolic, and ecological functions in lakes across the globe. Historically, mountain lakes in temperate regions have been unproductive due to brief ice-free seasons, a snowmelt-driven hydrograph, cold temperatures, and steep topography with low vegetation and soil cover. We tested the relative importance of winter and summer weather...
Authors
Isabella A. Oleksy, Whitney Beck, R. Lammers, Cara Steger, Cody Wilson, Kyle Christensen, Kim Vincent, Pieter Johnson, Jill Baron
Wildfire-driven changes in hydrology mobilize arsenic and metals from legacy mine waste Wildfire-driven changes in hydrology mobilize arsenic and metals from legacy mine waste
Wildfires burning in watersheds that have been mined and since revegetated pose unique risks to downstream water supplies. A wildfire near Boulder, Colorado that burned a forested watershed recovering from mining disturbance that occurred 80-160 years ago allowed us to 1) assess arsenic and metal contamination in streams draining the burned area for a five-year period after the wildfire...
Authors
Sheila F. Murphy, R. Blaine McCleskey, Deborah A. Martin, JoAnn M. Holloway, Jeffrey H. Writer
Wildfire-driven forest conversion in western North American landscapes Wildfire-driven forest conversion in western North American landscapes
Changing disturbance regimes and climate can overcome forest ecosystem resilience. Following high-severity fire, forest recovery may be compromised by lack of tree seed sources, warmer and drier postfire climate, or short-interval reburning. A potential outcome of the loss of resilience is the conversion of the prefire forest to a different forest type or nonforest vegetation. Conversion...
Authors
Jonathan D. Coop, Sean A. Parks, Camile S Stevens-Rumann, Shelley D. Crausbay, Philip E. Higuera, Matthew D. Hurteau, Alan J. Tepley, Ellen Whitman, Timothy J Assal, Brandon M. Collins, Kimberley T Davis, Solomon Z. Dobrowski, Donald A. Falk, Paula J. Fornwalt, Peter Z Fule, Brian J. Harvey, Van R. Kane, Caitlin E. Littlefield, Ellis Q. Margolis, Malcolm North, Marc-André Parisien, Susan Prichard, Kyle C. Rodman
The Great Acceleration of fragrances and PAHs archived in an ice core from Elbrus, Caucasus The Great Acceleration of fragrances and PAHs archived in an ice core from Elbrus, Caucasus
The Great Acceleration of the anthropogenic impact on the Earth system is marked by the ubiquitous distribution of anthropogenic materials throughout the global environment, including technofossils, radionuclides and the exponential increases of methane and carbon dioxide concentrations. However, personal care products as direct tracers of human domestic habits are often overlooked. Here...
Authors
Marco Vecchiato, Andrea Gambaro, Natalie M. Kehrwald, Patrick Ginot, Stanislav Kutuzov, Vladimir Mikhalenko, Carlo Barbante
Frequency of extreme freeze events controls the distribution and structure of black mangroves (Avicennia germinans) near their northern range limit in coastal Louisiana Frequency of extreme freeze events controls the distribution and structure of black mangroves (Avicennia germinans) near their northern range limit in coastal Louisiana
Aim Climate change is expected to result in the tropicalization of coastal wetlands in the northern Gulf of Mexico, as warming winters allow tropical mangrove forests to expand their distribution poleward at the expense of temperate salt marshes. Data limitations near mangrove range limits have hindered understanding of the effects of winter temperature extremes on mangrove distribution...
Authors
Michael Osland, Richard Day, Thomas C. Michot
Small gradients in salinity have large effects on stand water use in freshwater wetland forests Small gradients in salinity have large effects on stand water use in freshwater wetland forests
Salinity intrusion is responsible for changes to freshwater wetland watersheds globally, but little is known about how wetland water budgets might be influenced by small increments in salinity. We studied a forested wetland in South Carolina, USA, and installed sap flow probes on 72 trees/shrubs along a salinity gradient. Species investigated included the trees baldcypress (Taxodium...
Authors
Jamie A. Duberstein, Ken Krauss, M.J. Baldwin, Scott T. Allen, William H. Conner, John S. Salter, Michael Miloshis
The Fire and Tree Mortality Database, for empirical modeling of individual tree mortality after fire The Fire and Tree Mortality Database, for empirical modeling of individual tree mortality after fire
Wildland fires have a multitude of ecological effects in forests, woodlands, and savannas across the globe. A major focus of past research has been on tree mortality from fire, as trees provide a vast range of biological services. We assembled a database of individual-tree records from prescribed fires and wildfires in the United States. The Fire and Tree Mortality (FTM) database...
Authors
C. Alina Cansler, Sharon M. Hood, J. Morgan Varner, Phillip J. van Mantgem, Michelle C. Agne, Robert A. Andrus, Matthew P. Ayres, Bruce D. Ayres, Jonathan D. Bakker, Michael A. Battaglia, Barbara J. Bentz, Carolyn R. Breece, James K. Brown, Daniel R. Cluck, Tom W. Coleman, R. Gregory Corace, W. Wallace Covington, Douglas S. Cram, James B. Cronan, Joseph E. Crouse, Adrian J. Das, Ryan S. Davis, Darci M. Dickinson, Stephen A Fitzgerald, Peter Z. Fule, Lisa M. Ganio, Lindsay M. Grayson, Charles B. Halpern, Jim L. Hanula, Brian J. Harvey, J. Kevin Hiers, David W. Huffman, MaryBeth Keifer, Tara L. Keyser, Leda N. Kobziar, Thomas E. Kolb, Crystal A. Kolden, Karen E. Kopper, Jason R. Kreitler, Jesse K. Kreye, Andrew M. Latimer, Andrew P. Lerch, Maria J. Lombardero, Virginia L. McDaniel, Charles W. McHugh, Joel D. McMillin, Jason J. Moghaddas, Joseph J. O’Brien, Daniel D. B. Perrakis, David W. Peterson, Susan J. Pritchard, Robert A. Progar, Kenneth F. Raffa, Elizabeth D. Reinhardt, Joseph C. Restaino, John P. Roccaforte, Brendan M. Rogers, Kevin C. Ryan, Hugh D. Safford, Alyson E. Santoro, Timothy M. Shearman, Alice M. Shumate, Carolyn H. Sieg, Sheri L. Smith, Rebecca J. Smith, Nathan L. Stephenson, Mary Stuever, Jens T. Stevens, Michael T. Stoddard, Walter G. Thies, Nicole M. Vaillant, Shelby A. Weiss, Douglas J. Westlind, Travis J. Woolley, Micah C. Wright
Sediment dynamics and implications for management: State of the science from long‐term research in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, USA Sediment dynamics and implications for management: State of the science from long‐term research in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, USA
This review aims to synthesize the current knowledge of sediment dynamics using insights from long‐term research conducted in the watershed draining to the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the U.S., to inform management actions to restore the estuary and its watershed. The sediment dynamics of the Chesapeake are typical of many impaired watersheds and estuaries around the world...
Authors
Gregory B. Noe, Matthew J. Cashman, Katherine Skalak, Allen C. Gellis, Kristina G. Hopkins, Douglas L. Moyer, James S. Webber, Adam J. Benthem, Kelly O. Maloney, John Brakebill, Andrew J. Sekellick, Michael J. Langland, Qian Zhang, Gary W. Shenk, Jennifer L. D. Keisman, Cliff R. Hupp
Divergent biotic and abiotic filtering of root endosphere and rhizosphere soil fungal communities along ecological gradients Divergent biotic and abiotic filtering of root endosphere and rhizosphere soil fungal communities along ecological gradients
Plant roots assemble two distinct microbial compartments: the rhizosphere (microbes in soil surrounding roots) and the endosphere (microbes within roots). Our knowledge of fungal community assembly in these compartments is limited, especially in wetlands. We tested the hypothesis that biotic factors would have direct effects on rhizosphere and endosphere assembly, while abiotic factors...
Authors
Candice Y Lumibao, Elizabeth Kimbrough, Richard Day, William H. Conner, Ken Krauss, Sunshine A Van Bael