Publications
Listed here are publications, reports and articles by the Land Change Science Program in the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area.
Filter Total Items: 1284
The 4.2 ka event, ENSO, and coral reef development The 4.2 ka event, ENSO, and coral reef development
Variability of sea-surface temperature related to shifts in the mode of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) has been implicated as a possible forcing mechanism for the global-scale changes in tropical and subtropical precipitation known as the 4.2 ka event. We review records of coral reef development and paleoceanography from the tropical eastern Pacific (TEP) to evaluate the...
Authors
Lauren T. Toth, Richard B. Aronson
Reconstructing precipitation in the tropical South Pacific from dinosterol 2H/1H ratios in lake sediment Reconstructing precipitation in the tropical South Pacific from dinosterol 2H/1H ratios in lake sediment
The South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ) is the Southern Hemisphere’s largest precipitation feature supplying freshwater to 11 million people. Despite its significance, little is known about the location and intensity of SPCZ precipitation prior to instrumental records, hindering attempts to predict precipitation changes in a warming world. Here we use sedimentary molecular fossils to...
Authors
Ashley E. Maloney, Daniel B. Nelson, Julie N. Richey, Matthew Prebble, David A. Sear, Jonathan D. Hassall, Peter G. Langdon, Ian W. Croudace, Atun Zawadzki, Julian P. Sachs
Early-warning signals of individual tree mortality based on annual radial growth Early-warning signals of individual tree mortality based on annual radial growth
Tree mortality is a key driver of forest dynamics and its occurrence is projected to increase in the future due to climate change. Despite recent advances in our understanding of the physiological mechanisms leading to death, we still lack robust indicators of mortality risk that could be applied at the individual tree scale. Here, we build on a previous contribution exploring the...
Authors
Maxime Cailleret, Vasilis Dakos, Steven Jansen, Elisabeth M. R. Robert, Tuomas Aakala, Mariano M. Amoroso, Joe A. Antos, Christof Bigler, Harald Bugmann, Marco Caccianaga, Jesus-Julio Camarero, Paolo Cherubini, Marie R. Coyea, Katarina Cufar, Adrian J. Das, Hendrik Davi, Guillermo Gea-Izquierdo, Sten Gillner, Laurel J. Haavik, Henrik Hartmann, Ana-Maria Heres, Kevin R. Hultine, Pavel Janda, Jeffrey M. Kane, Viachelsav I. Kharuk, Thomas Kitzberger, Tamir Klein, Tom Levanic, Juan-Carlos Linares, Fabio Lombardi, Harri Makinen, Ilona Mészáros, Juha M. Metsaranta, Walter Oberhuber, Andreas Papadopoulos, Any Mary Petritan, Brigitte Rohner, Gabriel Sanguesa-Barreda, Jeremy M. Smith, Amanda B. Stan, Dejan B. Stojanovic, Maria-Laura Suarez, Miroslav Svoboda, Volodymyr Trotsiuk, Ricardo Villalba, Alana R. Westwood, Peter H. Wyckoff, Jordi Martínez-Vilalta
Warming effects of spring rainfall increase methane emissions from thawing permafrost Warming effects of spring rainfall increase methane emissions from thawing permafrost
Methane emissions regulate the near‐term global warming potential of permafrost thaw, particularly where loss of ice‐rich permafrost converts forest and tundra into wetlands. Northern latitudes are expected to get warmer and wetter, and while there is consensus that warming will increase thaw and methane emissions, effects of increased precipitation are uncertain. At a thawing wetland...
Authors
Rebecca B. Neumann, C.J. Moorberg, J.D. Lundquist, J.C. Turner, Mark P. Waldrop, Jack W. McFarland, E.S. Euskirchen, C.W. Edgar, M. R. Turetsky
Evidence for conservative transport of dissolved organic carbon in major river basins in the Gulf of Maine Watershed Evidence for conservative transport of dissolved organic carbon in major river basins in the Gulf of Maine Watershed
Transport and fate of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in rivers are important aspects of the carbon cycle and the critical linkage between terrestrial, aquatic, and marine systems. Recent studies have quantified fluvial export to the marine environment in many systems, but in-stream losses of DOC are poorly constrained. This study compares DOC yields (kg C/ha) between the area-weighted...
Authors
Thomas G. Huntington, Collin S. Roesler, George R. Aiken
Remobilization of old permafrost carbon to Chukchi Sea sediments during the end of the last deglaciation Remobilization of old permafrost carbon to Chukchi Sea sediments during the end of the last deglaciation
Climate warming is expected to destabilize permafrost carbon (PF‐C) by thaw‐erosion and deepening of the seasonally thawed active layer and thereby promote PF‐C mineralization to CO2 and CH4. A similar PF‐C remobilization might have contributed to the increase in atmospheric CO2 during deglacial warming after the last glacial maximum. Using carbon isotopes and terrestrial biomarkers...
Authors
Jannik Martens, Birgit Wild, Christof Pearce, Tommaso Tesi, August Andersson, Lisa Broder, Matt O’Regan, Martin Jakobsson, Martin Skold, Laura Gemery, Thomas M. Cronin
Little islands recording global events: Late Quaternary sea level history and paleozoogeography of Santa Barbara and Anacapa Islands, Channel Islands National Park, California Little islands recording global events: Late Quaternary sea level history and paleozoogeography of Santa Barbara and Anacapa Islands, Channel Islands National Park, California
Marine terraces are common on the Pacific Coast of North America and record interglacial high-sea stands superimposed on either stable or tectonically rising crustal blocks. Despite many years of study of these landforms in southern California, little work on terraces has been conducted on the two smallest of the California Channel Islands, Santa Barbara Island (SBI) and Anacapa Island...
Authors
Daniel R. Muhs, Lindsey T. Groves
Increasing temperature seasonality may overwhelm shifts in soil moisture to favor shrub grass dominance in Colorado Plateau drylands Increasing temperature seasonality may overwhelm shifts in soil moisture to favor shrub grass dominance in Colorado Plateau drylands
Ecosystems in the southwestern U.S. are hotspots for climate change, and are predicted to experience continued warming and drying. In these water-limited systems, the balance between herbaceous and woody plant abundance impacts biodiversity and ecosystem processes, highlighting the need to understand how climate change will influence functional composition. However, variability in topo...
Authors
Jennifer R. Gremer, Caitlin M. Andrews, Jodi R. Norris, Lisa P. Thomas, Seth M. Munson, Michael C. Duniway, John B. Bradford
The geology and paleontology of Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument, Nevada The geology and paleontology of Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument, Nevada
On December 19, 2014, Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument, located in the Las Vegas Valley of southern Nevada, was established by Congress as the 405th unit of the National Park Service to “conserve, protect, interpret, and enhance for the benefit of present and future generations the unique and nationally important paleontological, scientific, educational, and recreational...
Authors
Kathleen B. Springer, Jeffrey S. Pigati, Eric Scott
The Las Vegas Formation The Las Vegas Formation
The Las Vegas Formation was established in 1965 to designate the distinctive light-colored, fine-grained, fossil-bearing sedimentary deposits exposed in and around the Las Vegas Valley, Nevada. In a coeval designation, the sediments were subdivided into informal units with stratigraphic and chronologic frameworks that have persisted in the literature. Use of the Las Vegas Formation name...
Authors
Kathleen B. Springer, Jeffrey S. Pigati, Craig R. Manker, Shannon A. Mahan
The planktonic foraminiferal response to the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum on the Atlantic coastal plain The planktonic foraminiferal response to the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum on the Atlantic coastal plain
Planktonic foraminiferal assemblages in two cores from Maryland and New Jersey show evidence for significant changes in surface ocean habitats on the continental shelf during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). At both sites, significant assemblage shifts occur immediately before the onset of the event. These changes include the appearance of abundant triserial/biserial species...
Authors
Caitlin M. Livsey, Tali Babila, Marci M. Robinson, Timothy J. Bralower
Coastal wetlands: A synthesis Coastal wetlands: A synthesis
This book and this synthesis address the pressing need for better management of coastal wetlands worldwide because these wetlands are disappearing at an alarming rate; in some countries the loss is 70%–80% in the last 50 years. Managing requires understanding. Although our understanding of the functioning of coastal wetland ecosystems has grown rapidly over the past decade, still much...
Authors
Charles S. Hopkinson, Eric Wolanski, Donald R. Cahoon, Gerardo M. E. Perillo, Mark M. Brinson