Publications
Listed here are publications, reports and articles by the Land Change Science Program in the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area.
Filter Total Items: 1145
Enriched groundwater seeps in two Vermont headwater catchments are hotspots of nitrate turnover Enriched groundwater seeps in two Vermont headwater catchments are hotspots of nitrate turnover
Groundwater seeps in upland catchments are often enriched relative to stream waters, higher in pH, Ca2+ and sometimes NO3¯. These seeps could be a NO3¯ sink because of increased denitrification potential but may also be ‘hotspots’ for nitrification because of the relative enrichment. We compared seep soils with nearby well-drained soils in two upland forested watersheds in Vermont that...
Authors
Amninder Kaur, Donald S. Ross, James Shanley, Anna Yatzor
Slow climate velocities of mountain streams portend their role as refugia for cold-water biodiversity Slow climate velocities of mountain streams portend their role as refugia for cold-water biodiversity
The imminent demise of montane species is a recurrent theme in the climate change literature, particularly for aquatic species that are constrained to networks and elevational rather than latitudinal retreat as temperatures increase. Predictions of widespread species losses, however, have yet to be fulfilled despite decades of climate change, suggesting that trends are much weaker than...
Authors
Daniel Isaak, Michael Young, Charles Luce, Steven Hostetler, Seth J. Wenger, Erin Peterson, Jay Ver Hoef, Matthew Groce, Dona Horan, David Nagel
Tracking millennial-scale Holocene glacial advance and retreat using osmium isotopes: Insights from the Greenland ice sheet Tracking millennial-scale Holocene glacial advance and retreat using osmium isotopes: Insights from the Greenland ice sheet
High-resolution Os isotope stratigraphy can aid in reconstructing Pleistocene ice sheet fluctuation and elucidating the role of local and regional weathering fluxes on the marine Os residence time. This paper presents new Os isotope data from ocean cores adjacent to the West Greenland ice sheet that have excellent chronological controls. Cores MSM-520 and DA00-06 represent distal to...
Authors
Alan Rooney, David Selby, Jeremy Llyod, David Roberts, Andreas Luckge, Bradley Sageman, Nancy Prouty
Overestimation of marsh vulnerability to sea level rise Overestimation of marsh vulnerability to sea level rise
Coastal marshes are considered to be among the most valuable and vulnerable ecosystems on Earth, where the imminent loss of ecosystem services is a feared consequence of sea level rise. However, we show with a meta-analysis that global measurements of marsh elevation change indicate that marshes are generally building at rates similar to or exceeding historical sea level rise, and that...
Authors
Matthew L. Kirwan, Stijn Temmerman, Emily Skeehan, Glenn Guntenspergen, Sergio Fagherazzi
The Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project (PlioMIP) Phase 2: Scientific objectives and experimental design The Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project (PlioMIP) Phase 2: Scientific objectives and experimental design
The Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project (PlioMIP) is a co-ordinated international climate modelling initiative to study and understand climate and environments of the Late Pliocene, as well as their potential relevance in the context of future climate change. PlioMIP examines the consistency of model predictions in simulating Pliocene climate and their ability to reproduce climate...
Authors
Alan Haywood, Harry Dowsett, Aisling Dolan, David Rowley, Ayako Abe-Ouchi, Bette Otto-Bliesner, Mark Chandler, Stephen Hunter, Daniel Lunt, Matthew Pound, Ulrich Salzmann
Coherent late-Holocene climate-driven shifts in the structure of three Rocky Mountain lakes Coherent late-Holocene climate-driven shifts in the structure of three Rocky Mountain lakes
Large-scale atmospheric pressure centers, such as the Aleutian and Icelandic Low, have a demonstrated relationship with physical lake characteristics in contemporary monitoring studies, but the responses to these phenomena are rarely observed in lake records. We observe coherent changes in the stratification patterns of three deep (>30 m) lakes inferred from fossil diatom assemblages as...
Authors
Jeffery R. Stone, Jasmine Saros, Gregory Pederson
The differing biogeochemical and microbial signatures of glaciers and rock glaciers The differing biogeochemical and microbial signatures of glaciers and rock glaciers
Glaciers and rock glaciers supply water and bioavailable nutrients to headwater mountain lakes and streams across all regions of the American West. Here we present a comparative study of the metal, nutrient, and microbial characteristics of glacial and rock glacial influence on headwater ecosystems in three mountain ranges of the contiguous U.S.: The Cascade Mountains, Rocky Mountains...
Authors
Timothy Fegel, Jill Baron, Andrew Fountain, Gunnar Johnson, Edward Hall
Using science-policy integration to improve ecosystem science and inform decision-making: Lessons from U.S. LTERs Using science-policy integration to improve ecosystem science and inform decision-making: Lessons from U.S. LTERs
This Special Session took place on 12 August 2015 at the 100th Meeting of the Ecological Society of America in Baltimore, Maryland, and was conceived of and coordinated by the Science Policy Exchange. The Science Policy Exchange (SPE) is a boundary- spanning organization established to work at the interface of science and policy to confront pressing environmental challenges . SPE was...
Authors
Pamela Templer, Kathleen Lambert, Marissa Weiss, Jill Baron, Charles Driscoll, David Foster
DOI/GTN-P Climate and active-layer data acquired in the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, 1998–2014 DOI/GTN-P Climate and active-layer data acquired in the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, 1998–2014
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 2014; 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 E. Urban, Gary Clow
The physiology of mangrove trees with changing climate The physiology of mangrove trees with changing climate
Mangrove forests grow on saline, periodically flooded soils of the tropical and subtropical coasts. The tree species that comprise the mangrove are halophytes that have suites of traits that confer differing levels of tolerance of salinity, aridity, inundation and extremes of temperature. Here we review how climate change and elevated levels of atmospheric CO2 will influence mangrove...
Authors
Catherine Lovelock, Ken Krauss, Michael Osland, Ruth Reef, Marilyn Ball
Holocene climate variability and anthropogenic impacts from Lago Paixban, a perennial wetland in Peten, Guatemala Holocene climate variability and anthropogenic impacts from Lago Paixban, a perennial wetland in Peten, Guatemala
Analyses of an ~ 6 m sediment core from Lago Paixban in Peten, Guatemala, document the complex evolution of a perennial wetland over the last 10,300 years. The basal sediment is comprised of alluvial/colluvial fill deposited in the early Holocene. The absence of pollen and gastropods in the basal sediments suggests intermittently dry conditions until ~ 9000 cal yr. BP (henceforth BP)...
Authors
David Wahl, Richard D. Hansen, Roger Byrne, Lysanna Anderson, T. Schreiner
By
Geology, Energy, and Minerals Mission Area, Ecosystems Land Change Science Program, Energy Resources Program, Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program, Mineral Resources Program, National Laboratories Program, Science and Decisions Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center
Long-term reactive nitrogen loading alters soil carbon and microbial community properties in a subalpine forest ecosystem Long-term reactive nitrogen loading alters soil carbon and microbial community properties in a subalpine forest ecosystem
Elevated nitrogen (N) deposition due to increased fossil fuel combustion and agricultural practices has altered global carbon (C) cycling. Additions of reactive N to N-limited environments are typically accompanied by increases in plant biomass. Soil C dynamics, however, have shown a range of different responses to the addition of reactive N that seem to be ecosystem dependent. We...
Authors
Claudia Boot, Ed Hall, Karolien Denef, Jill Baron