Large-Scale Restoration Science
Large-Scale Restoration Science
Alaska Bioregions and Arctic
Coastal Ecosystems
Deserts
Freshwater Systems
Grasslands: Great Plains and Prairie Potholes
Western Forests and Mountains
USGS works collaboratively with partners to improve the stewardship and restoration of ecosystems across the country. Many of these projects are large-scale, crossing multiple organizational and state boundaries and occasionally bridging scientific and engineering disciplines. The primary outcomes of these projects are restoring critical ecosystems and their biological communities.
Priority Landscapes
Priority Landscapes
USGS works collaboratively with partners to improve the stewardship and restoration of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems across the country. The potential of this work is revitalizing local economies and improving the quality and safety of life. Some of the science projects are within a dedicated sub-program known as Priority Ecosystem Science (PES).
Management and Restoration Science
Management and Restoration Science
The Nation’s ecosystems are complex, dynamic, and exposed to a rapidly changing climate among other threats. USGS scientists study how ecosystems function, the impacts of stressors, and make predictions about their future.
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Joint Ecosystem Modeling: Wader Distribution & Evaluation Modeling (WADEM)
WADEM (Wader Distribution Evaluation Modeling) is a JEM model that estimates species-specific habitat suitability across the landscape for Great Egret ( Ardea alba), White Ibis ( Eudocimus albus), and Wood Stork ( Mycteria americana).
Long-Term Vegetation Change on the Colorado Plateau
The Colorado Plateau, centered around the four corners area of the Southwest, and includes much of Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico, is a large and important component of U.S. drylands. This important home to mountains, desert basins, dramatic canyons, arid woodlands, and grasslands is also one of North America’s most rapidly warming hot spots, with rates of warming of up to 2-3° C within...
Wetland Forest Regeneration Dynamics and Productivity in Southeastern Cypress Swamp Ecosystems
Relict forests (i.e., forests unable to reestablish after disturbance) may develop in the southeastern U.S. in future predicted extreme temperature, flooding, and drought.
Grazing resources for integrated conservation of bison and native prairie at Badlands National Park, South Dakota
Badlands National Park (BADL) contains one of the largest protected expanses of mixed-grass prairie in the United States, much of which supports a herd of nearly wild bison. The park nevertheless is too small to accommodate bison’s natural nomadic behavior, which in the past resulted in their ephemeral but intense influence on Great Plains grasslands. This research is assessing the spatial...
An adaptive management framework to control invasive annual brome grasses in Northern Great Plains parks (ABAM)
Invasion by annual brome grasses (cheatgrass and Japanese brome) and other exotic annual grasses into National Park Service units (parks) in the Northern Great Plains (NGP) impacts park ecological and historical landscape integrity. The Annual Brome Adaptive Management (ABAM) decision support tool (DST) was built to support vegetation management decision making, particularly regarding these...
Decision support for restoration and management of Service-owned native prairies: Implications for grassland bird communities
More than 100,000 ha of native tallgrass and mixed-grass prairies are managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) in the northern Great Plains. Although prairies in this region evolved with grazing, fire, and climatic variability, management of FWS grasslands often has been passive and involved extended periods of rest. In 2008, the USGS and the FWS initiated a collaborative effort, the...
Improving wildlife habitat through management and restoration of native prairies on lands under Fish and Wildlife Service ownership
The extent of native prairie throughout the north-central United States has sharply declined since European settlement, and much that remains has been invaded by introduced cool-season grasses, reducing floristic diversity and quality. On lands under its ownership, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working to restore native prairie integrity by reducing occurrence of introduced species under...
Quantifying ecosystem services provided by depressional wetlands in the Upper Mississippi
Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center has conducted multiple research efforts related to developing methodology for quantifying the environmental and societal services provided by prairie-pothole wetland ecosystems. In this effort, we are exploring the feasibility of applying methodologies similar to those developed wetland ecosystems within the Prairie Pothole Region to other landscapes where...
Development, application, and refinement of a systems model for prairie wetlands
NPWRC is developing, applying, and refining an integrated, process-based, systems model for prairie-pothole wetlands to facilitate forecasts of how climate and land-use change will affect wetland processes and biota. The Pothole Hydrology Linked System Simulator model (PHyLiSS) simulates changes in hydrology, water chemistry, plant communities, invertebrates, and other biota as a result of altered...
Importance of wetlands in intensively farmed landscapes to duck production
The Prairie Pothole Region of the northern Great Plains annually hosts 50–80% of North America’s ducks during the breeding season. Accordingly, there are significant government and private funds that go to conservation for the purposes of improving duck production in the region. The Prairie Pothole Region ecosystem has a number of stressors, intensive agriculture being chief among them. The...
Integrating climate change scenario planning into National Park Service resource management
Resource managers are tasked with managing complex systems with inherent uncertainty around how those systems might change with time and respond to management actions in a changing climate. Scenario planning—often implemented as a qualitative, participatory exercise for exploring multiple possible futures—is a valuable tool for addressing uncertainty. At the same time, quantitative information on...
Quantifying the effects of land-use change and bioenergy crop production on ecosystem services in the Northern Great Plains
Rising commodity crop prices, increased federal subsidies for biofuels, such as corn-based ethanol and soy-based biodiesel, and reduction in U.S. Farm Bill conservation programs have facilitated rapid land-use changes in the Northern Great Plains (NGP). Although renewable biofuels are touted as a mechanism for increasing energy security and potentially reducing greenhouse gas emissions, little is...