Publications
Listed here are publications, reports and articles by the Land Change Science Program in the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area.
Filter Total Items: 1145
Projected future vegetation changes for the northwest United States and southwest Canada at a fine spatial resolution using a dynamic global vegetation model. Projected future vegetation changes for the northwest United States and southwest Canada at a fine spatial resolution using a dynamic global vegetation model.
Future climate change may significantly alter the distributions of many plant taxa. The effects of climate change may be particularly large in mountainous regions where climate can vary significantly with elevation. Understanding potential future vegetation changes in these regions requires methods that can resolve vegetation responses to climate change at fine spatial resolutions. We...
Authors
Sarah Shafer, Patrick J. Bartlein, Elizabeth M. Gray, Richard T. Pelltier
Linking microbial community structure and microbial processes: An empirical and conceptual overview Linking microbial community structure and microbial processes: An empirical and conceptual overview
A major goal of microbial ecology is to identify links between microbial community structure and microbial processes. Although this objective seems straightforward, there are conceptual and methodological challenges to designing studies that explicitly evaluate this link. Here, we analyzed literature documenting structure and process responses to manipulations to determine the frequency...
Authors
R.L. Bier, Emily S. Bernhardt, Claudia M. Boot, Emily B. Graham, Edward K. Hall, Jay T. Lennon, Diana R. Nemergut, Brooke B. Osborne, Clara Ruiz-Gonzalez, Joshua P. Schimel, Mark P. Waldrop, Matthew D. Wallenstein
Taking a systems approach to ecological systems Taking a systems approach to ecological systems
Increasingly, there is interest in a systems-level understanding of ecological problems, which requires the evaluation of more complex, causal hypotheses. In this issue of the Journal of Vegetation Science, Soliveres et al. use structural equation modeling to test a causal network hypothesis about how tree canopies affect understorey communities. Historical analysis suggests structural...
Authors
James B. Grace
Adaptive invasive species distribution models: A framework for modeling incipient invasions Adaptive invasive species distribution models: A framework for modeling incipient invasions
The utilization of species distribution model(s) (SDM) for approximating, explaining, and predicting changes in species’ geographic locations is increasingly promoted for proactive ecological management. Although frameworks for modeling non-invasive species distributions are relatively well developed, their counterparts for invasive species—which may not be at equilibrium within...
Authors
Daniel R. Uden, Craig R. Allen, David G. Angeler, Lucia Corral, Kent A. Fricke
On the reconstruction of palaeo-ice sheets: Recent advances and future challenges On the reconstruction of palaeo-ice sheets: Recent advances and future challenges
Reconstructing the growth and decay of palaeo-ice sheets is critical to understanding mechanisms of global climate change and associated sea-level fluctuations in the past, present and future. The significance of palaeo-ice sheets is further underlined by the broad range of disciplines concerned with reconstructing their behaviour, many of which have undergone a rapid expansion since the...
Authors
Chris R. Stokes, Lev Tarasov, Robin Blomdin, Thomas M. Cronin, Timothy G. Fisher, Richard Gyllencreutz, Clas Hattestrand, Jakob Heyman, Richard C. A. Hindmarsh, Anna L. C. Hughes, Martin Jakobsson, Nina Kirchner, Stephen J. Livingstone, Martin Margold, Julian B. Murton, Riko Noormets, W. Richard Peltier, Dorothy M. Peteet, David J. W. Piper, Frank Preusser, Hans Renssen, David H. Roberts, Didier M. Roche, Francky Saint-Ange, Arjen P. Stroeven, James T. Teller
Effects of Hydrocarbon Extraction on Landscapes of the Appalachian Basin Effects of Hydrocarbon Extraction on Landscapes of the Appalachian Basin
An important and sometimes overlooked aspect of contemporary natural gas exploration, development, and delivery activities is the geographic profile and spatial footprint that these activities have on the land surface. The function of many ecosystems and the goods and services they provide, in large part, are the result of their natural spatial arrangement on the landscape. Shale-gas...
Authors
Terry E. Slonecker, Lesley E. Milheim, Coral M. Roig-Silva, Siddiq S. Kalaly
Chemical and biotic characteristics of prairie lakes and large wetlands in south-central North Dakota—Effects of a changing climate Chemical and biotic characteristics of prairie lakes and large wetlands in south-central North Dakota—Effects of a changing climate
The climate of the prairie pothole region of North America is known for variability that results in significant interannual changes in water depths and volumes of prairie lakes and wetlands; however, beginning in July 1993, the climate of the region shifted to an extended period of increased precipitation that has likely been unequaled in the preceding 500 years. Associated changing...
Authors
David M. Mushet, Martin B. Goldhaber, Christopher T. Mills, Kyle I. McLean, Vanessa M. Aparicio, R. Blaine McCleskey, JoAnn M. Holloway, Craig A. Stockwell
Larger trees suffer most during drought in forests worldwide Larger trees suffer most during drought in forests worldwide
The frequency of severe droughts is increasing in many regions around the world as a result of climate change. Droughts alter the structure and function of forests. Site- and region-specific studies suggest that large trees, which play keystone roles in forests and can be disproportionately important to ecosystem carbon storage and hydrology, exhibit greater sensitivity to drought than...
Authors
Amy C. Bennett, Nathan G. McDowell, Craig D. Allen, Kristina J. Anderson-Teixeira
A Green's function approach for assessing the thermal disturbance caused by drilling deep boreholes in rock or ice A Green's function approach for assessing the thermal disturbance caused by drilling deep boreholes in rock or ice
A knowledge of subsurface temperatures in sedimentary basins, fault zones, volcanic environments and polar ice sheets is of interest for a wide variety of geophysical applications. However, the process of drilling deep boreholes in these environments to provide access for temperature and other measurements invariably disturbs the temperature field around a newly created borehole...
Authors
Gary D. Clow
Two Holocene paleofire records from Peten, Guatemala: Implications for natural fire regime and prehispanic Maya land use Two Holocene paleofire records from Peten, Guatemala: Implications for natural fire regime and prehispanic Maya land use
Although fire was arguably the primary tool used by the Maya to alter the landscape and extract resources, little attention has been paid to biomass burning in paleoenvironmental reconstructions from the Maya lowlands. Here we report two new well-dated, high-resolution records of biomass burning based on analysis of macroscopic fossil charcoal recovered from lacustrine sediment cores...
Authors
Lysanna Anderson, David B. Wahl
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
Landscape structure affects specialists but not generalists in naturally fragmented grasslands Landscape structure affects specialists but not generalists in naturally fragmented grasslands
Understanding how biotic communities respond to landscape spatial structure is critically important for conservation management as natural landscapes become increasingly fragmented. However, empirical studies of the effects of spatial structure on plant species richness have found inconsistent results, suggesting that more comprehensive approaches are needed. In this study, we asked how...
Authors
Jesse Miller, Ellen Ingman Damschen, Susan P. Harrison, James B. Grace
Subglacial discharge at tidewater glaciers revealed by seismic tremor Subglacial discharge at tidewater glaciers revealed by seismic tremor
Subglacial discharge influences glacier basal motion and erodes and redeposits sediment. At tidewater glacier termini, discharge drives submarine terminus melting, affects fjord circulation, and is a central component of proglacial marine ecosystems. However, our present inability to track subglacial discharge and its variability significantly hinders our understanding of these processes...
Authors
Timothy C. Bartholomaus, Jason M. Amundson, Jacob I. Walter, Shad O’Neel, Michael E. West, Christopher F. Larsen