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Publications

Listed here are publications, reports and articles by the Land Change Science Program in the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area.

Filter Total Items: 1145

Hydroclimatology of the Missouri River basin Hydroclimatology of the Missouri River basin

Despite the importance of the Missouri River for navigation, recreation, habitat, hydroelectric power, and agriculture, relatively little is known about the basic hydroclimatology of the Missouri River basin (MRB). This is of particular concern given the droughts and floods that have occurred over the past several decades and the potential future exacerbation of these extremes by climate...
Authors
Erika Wise, Connie Woodhouse, Gregory McCabe, Gregory Pederson, Jeannine-Marie St. Jacques

Accommodating state shifts within the conceptual framework of the wetland continuum Accommodating state shifts within the conceptual framework of the wetland continuum

The Wetland Continuum is a conceptual framework that facilitates the interpretation of biological studies of wetland ecosystems. Recently summarized evidence documenting how a multi-decadal wet period has influenced aspects of wetland, lake and stream systems in the southern prairie-pothole region of North America has revealed the potential for wetlands to shift among alternate states...
Authors
David Mushet, Owen McKenna, James LaBaugh, Ned Euliss, Donald Rosenberry

Monitoring global tree mortality patterns and trends. Report from the VW symposium ‘Crossing scales and disciplines to identify global trends of tree mortality as indicators of forest health’ Monitoring global tree mortality patterns and trends. Report from the VW symposium ‘Crossing scales and disciplines to identify global trends of tree mortality as indicators of forest health’

From the 21stto the 23rdJune 2017, the Herrenhausen castle inHannover/Germany hosted a diverse and large crowd with morethan 70 tree physiologists, forest ecologists, forest inventoryexperts, remote-sensing scientists, and vegetation modele rs. Par-ticipants from six continent s and from more than 20 countriesgathered to discuss how to improve the scientific determination ofglobal-scale...
Authors
Henrik Hartmann, Bernhard Schuldt, Tanja Sanders, Cate Macinnis-Ng, Hans Boehmer, Craig Allen, Andreas Bolte, Thomas Crowther, Matthew Hansen, Belinda Medlyn, Nadine Ruehr, William Anderegg

Pronounced centennial-scale Atlantic Ocean climate variability correlated with Western Hemisphere hydroclimate Pronounced centennial-scale Atlantic Ocean climate variability correlated with Western Hemisphere hydroclimate

Surface-ocean circulation in the northern Atlantic Ocean influences Northern Hemisphere climate. Century-scale circulation variability in the Atlantic Ocean, however, is poorly constrained due to insufficiently-resolved paleoceanographic records. Here we present a replicated reconstruction of sea-surface temperature and salinity from a site sensitive to North Atlantic circulation in the...
Authors
Kaustubh Thirumalai, Terrence Quinn, Yuko Okumura, Julie Richey, Judson Partin, Richard Z. Poore, Eduardo Moreno-Chamarro

A molecular investigation of soil organic carbon composition across a subalpine catchment A molecular investigation of soil organic carbon composition across a subalpine catchment

The dynamics of soil organic carbon (SOC) storage and turnover are a critical component of the global carbon cycle. Mechanistic models seeking to represent these complex dynamics require detailed SOC compositions, which are currently difficult to characterize quantitatively. Here, we address this challenge by using a novel approach that combines Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy...
Authors
Hsiao-Tieh Hsu, Corey Lawrence, Matthew Winnick, John Bargar, Katharine Maher

Resource competition model predicts zonation and increasing nutrient use efficiency along a wetland salinity gradient Resource competition model predicts zonation and increasing nutrient use efficiency along a wetland salinity gradient

A trade-off between competitive ability and stress tolerance has been hypothesized and empirically supported to explain the zonation of species across stress gradients for a number of systems. Since stress often reduces plant productivity, one might expect a pattern of decreasing productivity across the zones of the stress gradient. However, this pattern is often not observed in coastal...
Authors
Donald Schoolmaster, Camille Stagg

Sea surface temperature estimates for the mid-Piacenzian Indian Ocean—Ocean Drilling Program sites 709, 716, 722, 754, 757, 758, and 763 Sea surface temperature estimates for the mid-Piacenzian Indian Ocean—Ocean Drilling Program sites 709, 716, 722, 754, 757, 758, and 763

Despite the wealth of global paleoclimate data available for the warm period in the middle of the Piacenzian Stage of the Pliocene Epoch (about 3.3 to 3.0 million years ago [Ma]; Dowsett and others, 2013, and references therein), the Indian Ocean has remained a region of sparse geographic coverage in terms of microfossil analysis. In an effort to characterize the surface Indian Ocean...
Authors
Marci Robinson, Harry Dowsett, Danielle Stoll

Southeast Southeast

The Southeast includes vast expanses of coastal and inland low-lying areas, the southern portion of the Appalachian Mountains, numerous high-growth metropolitan areas, and large rural expanses. These beaches and bayous, fields and forests, and cities and small towns are all at risk from a changing climate. While some climate change impacts, such as sea level rise and extreme downpours...
Authors
Lynne Carter, Adam Terando, Kirstin Dow, Kevin Hiers, Kenneth Kunkel, Aranzazu Lascurain, Doug Marcy, Michael Osland, Paul Schramm

Ecological changes in the nannoplankton community across a shelf transect during the onset of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum Ecological changes in the nannoplankton community across a shelf transect during the onset of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum

Warming and other environmental changes during the Paleocene‐Eocene thermal maximum (PETM) led to profound shifts in the composition and structure of nannoplankton assemblages. Here we analyze the nature of these changes in expanded records from the Cambridge‐Dorchester and Mattawoman Creek‐Billingsley Road cores in Maryland. These cores comprise part of a transect of five paleoshelf...
Authors
Isabel Leon y Leon, Timothy Bralower, Jean Self-Trail

DOI/GTN-P climate and active-layer data acquired in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, 1998-2019 DOI/GTN-P climate and active-layer data acquired in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, 1998-2019

This report provides data collected by the climate monitoring array of the U.S. Department of the Interior on Federal lands in Arctic Alaska over the period August 1998 to July 2019; this array is part of the Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost (DOI/GTN-P). In addition to presenting data, this report also describes monitoring, data collection, and quality-control methods. The array...
Authors
Frank Urban, Gary Clow

Northeast Northeast

The distinct seasonality of the Northeast’s climate supports a diverse natural landscape adapted to the extremes of cold, snowy winters and warm to hot, humid summers. This natural landscape provides the economic and cultural foundation for many rural communities, which are largely supported by a diverse range of agricultural, tourism, and natural resource-dependent industries (see Ch...
Authors
Lesley-Ann Dupigny-Giroux, Ellen Mecray, Mary Lemcke-Stampone, Glenn Hodgkins, Erika Lentz, Katherine Mills, Erin Lane, Rawlings Miller, David Hollinger, William Solecki, Gregory Wellenius, Perry Sheffield, Anthony McDonald, Christopher Caldwell

Model-based scenario planning to inform climate change adaptation in the Northern Great Plains—Final report Model-based scenario planning to inform climate change adaptation in the Northern Great Plains—Final report

Public Summary We worked with managers in two focal areas to plan for the uncertain future by integrating quantitative climate change scenarios and simulation modeling into scenario planning exercises. In our central North Dakota focal area, centered on Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site, managers are concerned about how changes in flood severity and growing conditions...
Authors
Amy Symstad, Brian W. Miller, Jonathan Friedman, Nicholas Fisichelli, Andrea Ray, Erika Rowland, Gregor Schuurman
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