Adam Terando, Ph.D.
Adam Terando is a USGS Research Ecologist (Climate Impacts) with the Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center. His work focuses on the impacts of global change on ecosystems in the Southeast and U.S. Caribbean, and the complex human-environment relationships that drive these processes.
Biography
A geographer and climatologist by training, Dr. Terando received his Ph.D. in Geography from Pennsylvania State University where he examined the relationship between climate extremes and future crop yields in the U.S. At the Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center, the overarching goal of his research is to gain insights that will benefit the public and natural resource managers in their efforts to understand and adapt to rapid global climate and land use changes. Currently, his work focuses on four research themes:
1. Uncertainty characterization and quantification for global change predictions
2. Global Climate Model Downscaling
3. Future urbanization and land use change
4. Wildfires, prescribed fire, and climate change
Projects include:
- Developing multi-model ensemble projections of ecologically relevant climate variables for Puerto Rico and the US Caribbean
- Vital Futures: Conservation adaptation planning for landscape and climate change
- Climate change & patch dynamics: Implications for the conservation of amphibians in tropical environments
- Developing long-term urbanization scenarios for the Appalachian and Gulf Coastal Plain and Ozarks LCCs
- Synthesis of climate model downscaling products for the southeastern United States
- Assessing climate-sensitive ecosystems in the southeastern U.S.
- SERAP - Southeast Regional Assessment Project
In addition, Adam serves as the federal coordinating lead author for the Southeast chapter of the National Climate Assessment (NCA) and as a chapter author for the U.S. Caribbean regional chapter of the NCA. He is also a member of the Puerto Rico Climate Change Council (PRCCC) and an editor of the Puerto Rico State of the Climate report.
Highlighted Publications:
Costanza, J. and A. Terando, 2019. Landscape connectivity planning for adaptation to future climate and land-use change. Current Landscape Ecology Reports, 4, 1-13.
Carter, L., A. Terando, K. Dow, K. Hiers, K.E. Kunkel, A. Lascurain, D. Marcy, M. Osland, and P. Schramm, 2018. Southeast. In Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States: Fourth National Climate Assessment, Volume II [Reidmiller, D.R., C.W. Avery, D.R. Easterling, K.E. Kunkel, K.L.M. Lewis, T.K. Maycock, and B.C. Stewart (eds.)]. U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, USA.
Terando, A.J., E. Youngsteadt, E. Meineke, and S. Prado, 2017. Ad hoc instrumentation methods in ecological studies produce highly biased temperature measurements. Ecology and Evolution, 7, 9890-9904.
Terando, A.J., B. Reich, K. Pacifici, J. Costanza, A. McKerrow, and J. Collazo, 2016: Uncertainty quantification and propagation for projections of extremes in monthly area burned under climate change: A case study in the coastal plain of Georgia, USA. In, Natural Hazard Uncertainty Assessment: Modeling and Decision Support, American Geophysical Union. K. Riley et al., Eds., doi: 10.1002/9781119028116.ch16.
Van Beusekom, W.A. Gould, A.J. Terando, and J. Collazo, 2015: Climate change and water resources in a tropical island system: Propagation of uncertainty from statistically downscaled climate models to hydrologic models. International Journal of Climatology, DOI: 10.1002/joc.4560.
Terando, A.J., J. Costanza, C. Belyea, R.R. Dunn, A. McKerrow, and J. Collazo, 2014: The Southern Megalopolis: Using the past to predict the future of urban sprawl in the Southeast U.S. PLoS ONE 9(7): e102261. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0102261
Recent Publications (last five years):
Clement, M., J. Nichols, J. Collazo, A. Terando, J. Hines, and S. Williams, 2019. Partitioning global change: assessing the relative importance of changes in climate and land cover for changes in avian distribution. Ecology and Evolution, https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4890.
Costanza, J. and A. Terando, 2019. Landscape connectivity planning for adaptation to future climate and land-use change. Current Landscape Ecology Reports, 4, 1-13.
Carter, L., A. Terando, K. Dow, K. Hiers, K.E. Kunkel, A. Lascurain, D. Marcy, M. Osland, and P. Schramm, 2018. Southeast. In Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States: Fourth National Climate Assessment, Volume II [Reidmiller, D.R., C.W. Avery, D.R. Easterling, K.E. Kunkel, K.L.M. Lewis, T.K. Maycock, and B.C. Stewart (eds.)]. U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, USA.
Gould, W.A., E.L. Díaz, (co-leads), N.L. Álvarez-Berríos, F. Aponte-González, W. Archibald, J.H. Bowden, L. Carrubba, W. Crespo, S.J. Fain, G. González, A. Goulbourne, E. Harmsen, E. Holupchinski, A.H. Khalyani, J. Kossin, A.J. Leinberger, V.I. Marrero-Santiago, O. Martínez-Sánchez, K. McGinley, P. Méndez-Lázaro, J. Morell, M.M. Oyola, I.K. Parés-Ramos, R. Pulwarty, W.V. Sweet, A. Terando, and S. Torres-González, 2018. U.S. Caribbean. In Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States: Fourth National Climate Assessment, Volume II [Reidmiller, D.R., C.W. Avery, D.R. Easterling, K.E. Kunkel, K.L.M. Lewis, T.K. Maycock, and B.C. Stewart (eds.)]. U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, USA.
Collazo, J.A., A.J. Terando, A. Engman, P.F. Fackler, and T.J. Kwak, 2018. Toward a resilience-based conservation strategy for wetlands in Puerto Rico: meeting challenges posed by environmental change. Wetlands, https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-018-1080-z.
Terando, A.J., S. Prado, and E. Youngsteadt, 2018. Construction of a compact low-cost radiation shield for air temperature sensors in ecological field studies. Journal of Visualized Experiments, e58273.
Bhardwaj, A., V. Misra, A. Mishra, A. Wootten, R. Boyles, J.H. Bowden, and A.J. Terando, 2018. Downscaling future climate change projections over Puerto Rico using a non-hydrostatic atmospheric model. Climatic Change, 147, 133-147.
Sanchez, G.M., J.W. Smith, A. Terando, G. Sun, and R.K. Meentemeyer, 2018. Spatial patterns of development drive water use. Water Resources Research, 54, 1633-1649.
Terando, A.J., E. Youngsteadt, E. Meineke, and S. Prado, 2018: Accurate near surface air temperature measurements are necessary to gauge large-scale ecological responses to global climate change. Ecology and Evolution (Reply to Letter to the Editor), 8, 5233-5234.
Terando, A.J., E. Youngsteadt, E. Meineke, and S. Prado, 2017. Ad hoc instrumentation methods in ecological studies produce highly biased temperature measurements. Ecology and Evolution, 7, 9890-9904.
Dowdy, K.E., J.A. Collazo, K. Pacifici, B.J. Reich, A.R. Puente-Rolón, and A.J. Terando, 2017: Occupancy and abundance of Elutherodactylus wightmanae and E. brittoni along elevational gradients in west-central Puerto Rico. Caribbean Naturalist, 40, 1-18.
Dowdy, K.E., J.A. Collazo, K. Pacifici, B.J. Reich, A.R. Puente-Rolón, and A.J. Terando, 2017. Occupancy and abundance of Eleutherodactylus frogs in coffee plantations in Puerto Rico. Herpetologica, 73, 297-306.
Enquist, C., S. Jackson, G. Garfin, F. Davis, L. Gerber, J. Littell, J. Tank, A. Terando, et al., 2017. Foundations of Translational Ecology. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 15, 541-550.
Littell, J.S., A.J. Terando, and T.L. Morelli, 2017: Balancing research and service to decision makers. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 15, 598.
Schwartz, M., J.K. Hiers, F.W. Davis, G. Garfin, S.T. Jackson, A.J. Terando, et al., 2017. Developing a translational ecology workforce. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 15, 587-596.
Wootten, A., A. Terando, B. Reich, R. Boyles, F. Semazzi, 2017. Characterizing sources of uncertainty from global climate models and downscaling techniques. Journal of Applied Climatology and Meteorology, 56, 3245-3262.
Terando, A.J., B. Reich, K. Pacifici, J. Costanza, A. McKerrow, and J. Collazo, 2016: Uncertainty quantification and propagation for projections of extremes in monthly area burned under climate change: A case study in the coastal plain of Georgia, USA. In, Natural Hazard Uncertainty Assessment: Modeling and Decision Support, American Geophysical Union. K. Riley et al., Eds, doi: 10.1002/9781119028116.ch16.
Wootten, A., J.H. Bowden, R. Boyles, and A. Terando, 2016: The sensitivity of WRF downscaled precipitation in Puerto Rico in cumulus parameterization and interior grid nudging. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, 55, 2263-2281.
Khalyani, A.H., W.A. Gould, E. Harmsen, A.J. Terando, and J. Collazo, 2016: Climate change implications for tropical islands: Interpolating and interpreting statistically downscaled GCM projections for management and planning. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, 55, 265-282.
Van Beusekom, W.A. Gould, A.J. Terando, and J. Collazo, 2015: Climate change and water resources in a tropical island system: Propagation of uncertainty from statistically downscaled climate models to hydrologic models. International Journal of Climatology, DOI: 10.1002/joc.4560.
Costanza, J., A. Terando, A.J. McKerrow, and J. Collazo, 2015: Modeling climate change, urbanization, and fire effects on Pinus palustris ecosystems in the southeastern U.S. Journal of Environmental Management, 151, 186-199.
Youngsteadt, E., A.G. Dale, A.J. Terando, R.R. Dunn, and S.D. Frank, 2015: Do cities simulate climate change? A comparison of herbivore response to urban and global warming. Global Change Biology, doi: 10.1111/gcb.12692.
Terando, A.J., J. Costanza, C. Belyea, R.R. Dunn, A. McKerrow, and J. Collazo, 2014: The Southern Megalopolis: Using the past to predict the future of urban sprawl in the Southeast U.S. PLoS ONE 9(7): e102261. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0102261
Peer Reviewed Reports
Runkle, J., K. Kunkel, L. E. Stevens, S. Champion, D. Easterling, A. Terando, L. Sun, B.C. Stewart, and G. Landers, 2018: Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands State Climate Summary. NOAA Technical Report NESDIS 149-PR, 4pp.
Jenni, K.E., Goldhaber, M.B., Betancourt, J.L., Baron, J.S., Bristol, R.S., Cantrill, Mary, Exter, P.E., Focazio, M.J., Haines, J.W., Hay, L.E., Hsu, Leslie, Labson, V.F., Lafferty, K.D., Ludwig, K.A., Milly, P.C., Morelli, T.L., Morman, S.A., Nassar, N.T., Newman, T.R., Ostroff, A.C., Read, J.S., Reed, S.C., Shapiro, C.D., Smith, R.A., Sanford, W.E., Sohl, T.L., Stets, E.G., Terando, A.J., Tillitt, D.E., Tischler, M.A., Toccalino, P.L., Wald, D.J., Waldrop, M.P., Wein, Anne, Weltzin, J.F., and Zimmerman, C.E., 2017: Grand challenges for integrated USGS science—A workshop report: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2017–1076, 94 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20171076.
Costanza, J., S. Beck, M. Pyne, A. Terando, M. Rubino, R. White, and J. Collazo, 2016: Assessing climate-sensitive ecosystems in the southeastern United States. USGS Open-File Report, 2016-1073.
Wootten, A., K. Smith, R. Boyles, A. Terando, L. Stefanova, V. Misra, T. Smith, D. Blodgett, and F. Semazzi, 2014: Downscaled climate projections for the Southeast U.S.: Evaluation and use for ecological applications. USGS Open File Report 2014-1190.
Terando, A., S. Traxler, and J. Collazo, 2014: Landscape and climate science and scenarios for Florida: A workshop sponsored by the Peninsular Florida Landscape Conservation Cooperative and North Carolina State University. USGS Open File Report 2014-1150.
Sun, G., P.V. Caldwell, A.P. Georgakakos, S. Arumugam, J. Cruise, R.T. McNider, A. Terando, P.A. Conrads, J. Feldt, V. Misra, L. Romolo, T.C. Rasmussen, S.G. McNulty, and D.A. Marion, 2013: Impacts of climate change and variability on water resources in the Southeast USA. In, Climate of the Southeast United States: Variability, Change, Impacts, and Vulnerability. Washington DC, Island Press. K.T. Ingram, K. Dow, and L. Carter, Eds.
Dow, K., L. Carter, A. Brosius, E. Diaz, R. Durbrow, R. Evans, S. Fauver, T. Hayden, B. Howard, K. Jacobs, g. Landers, S. McNulty, J. Nicholson, D. Quattrochi, L. Rimer, S. Shuford, S. Stiles, and A. Terando, 2013: Climate adaptations in the Southeast USA. In, Climate of the Southeast United States: Variability, Change, Impacts, and Vulnerability. NCA Regional Input Reports. K.T. Ingram et al., Eds. DOI 10.5822/978-1-61091-509-0_13.
Jacobs, K.R., A. Terando, and E.L. Diaz, 2012: Working Group 1: Geophysical and chemical scientific knowledge. In Puerto Rico’s State of the Climate: Assessing Puerto Rico’s Social-Ecological Vulnerabilities in a Changing Climate, E. Diaz and K. Jacobs, eds.
Terando, A. and A. McKerrow, 2010: Seeing the forest fire through the trees: Integrating multiple data streams to model the presettlement fire regime in the longleaf pine ecosystem. In Proceedings of the Second All-USGS Modeling Conference, February 11-14, 2008: Painting the Big Picture. USGS Scientific Investigations Report 2009-5013. S.R. Brady, eds.
Science and Products
Geo Data Portal: Translating Climate Data for Geographic Analysis
View this webinar to learn about the Geo Data Portal
Landscape connectivity planning for adaptation to future climate and land-use change
Purpose of ReviewWe examined recent literature on promoting habitat connectivity in the context of climate change (CC) and land-use change (LUC). These two global change forcings have wide-reaching ecological effects that are projected to worsen in the future. Improving connectivity is a common adaptation strategy, but CC and LUC can also degrade...
Costanza, Jennifer K.; Terando, Adam J. 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...
Reidmiller, D. R.; Avery, C. W.; Easterling, D. R.; Kunkel, K. E.; Lewis, K. L. M.; Maycock, T. K.; Stewart, B. C.; Carter, Lynne; Terando, Adam J.; Dow, Kirstin; Hiers, Kevin; Kunkel, Kenneth E.; Lascurain, Aranzazu R.; Marcy, Doug; Osland, Michael J.; Schramm, Paul U.S. Caribbean
Historically, the U.S. Caribbean region has experienced relatively stable seasonal rainfall patterns, moderate annual temperature fluctuations, and a variety of extreme weather events, such as tropical storms, hurricanes, and drought. However, the Caribbean climate is changing and is projected to be increasingly variable as levels of...
Reidmiller, D. R.; Avery, C. W.; Easterling, D. R.; Kunkel, K. E.; Lewis, K. L. M.; Maycock, T. K.; Stewart, B. C.; Gould, William A.; Diaz, Ernesto L.; Álvarez-Berríos, Nora L.; Aponte-González, Felix; Archibald, Wayne; Bowden, Jared H.; Carrubba, Lisamarie; Crespo, Wanda; Fain, Stephen J.; González, Grizelle; Goulbourne, Annmarie; Harmsen, Eric; Holupchinski, Eva; Khalyani, Azad H.; Kossin, James P.; Leinberger, Amanda J.; Marrero-Santiago, Vanessa I.; Martínez-Sánchez, Odalys; McGinley, Kathleen; Méndez-Lázaro, Pablo; Morrell, Julio; Meléndez Oyola, Melissa; Parés-Ramos, Isabel K.; Pulwarty, Roger; Sweet, William V.; Terando, Adam J.; Torres-González, Sigfredo Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands
Average annual temperature for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands has increased by more than 1.5°F since 1950. Under a higher emissions pathway, historically unprecedented warming is projected by the end of the 21st century, including increases in extreme heat events. Future changes in total precipitation are uncertain, but extreme...
Champion, Sarah; Easterling, David; Terando, Adam J.; Sun, Liqiang; Stewart, Brooke C.; Landers, Glenn; Runkle, Jennifer; Kunkel, Kenneth E.; Stevens, Laura E.; Champion, Sarah; Easterling, David; Terando, Adam; Sun, Liqiang; Stewart, Brooke C.; Landers, Glenn Spatial patterns of development drive water use
Water availability is becoming more uncertain as human populations grow, cities expand into rural regions and the climate changes. In this study, we examine the functional relationship between water use and the spatial patterns of developed land across the rapidly growing region of the southeastern United States. We quantified the spatial pattern...
Sanchez, G.M.; Smith, J.W.; Terando, Adam J.; Sun, G.; Meentemeyer, R.K. Occupancy and abundance of Eleutherodactylus wightmanae and E. brittoni along elevational gradients in west-central Puerto Rico
Populations of Eleutherodactylus species in Puerto Rico have declined in recent decades due to habitat loss and long-term climatic changes. The conservation of these habitat specialists requires an understanding of factors influencing their abundance and distribution, which at present is scant. We estimated occupancy probability and the...
Monroe, Kelen D. ; Collazo, Jaime A.; Pacifici, Krishna; Reich, Brian J.; Puente-Rolón, Alberto R.; Terando, Adam J. Ad hoc instrumentation methods in ecological studies produce highly biased temperature measurements
In light of global climate change, ecological studies increasingly address effects of temperature on organisms and ecosystems. To measure air temperature at biologically relevant scales in the field, ecologists often use small, portable temperature sensors. Sensors must be shielded from solar radiation to provide accurate temperature measurements...
Terando, Adam J.; Youngsteadt, Elsa; Meineke, Emily K.; Prado, Sara G. Developing a translational ecology workforce
We define a translational ecologist as a professional ecologist with diverse disciplinary expertise and skill sets, as well as a suitable personal disposition, who engages across social, professional, and disciplinary boundaries to partner with decision makers to achieve practical environmental solutions. Becoming a translational ecologist...
Schwartz, Mark W.; Hiers, J. Kevin; Davis, Frank W.; Garfin, Gregg; Jackson, Stephen T.; Terando, Adam J.; Woodhouse, Connie A.; Morelli, Toni Lyn; Williamson, Matthew A.; Brunson, Mark W.
Grand challenges for integrated USGS science—A workshop report
Executive SummaryThe U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has a long history of advancing the traditional Earth science disciplines and identifying opportunities to integrate USGS science across disciplines to address complex societal problems. The USGS science strategy for 2007–2017 laid out key challenges in disciplinary and interdisciplinary arenas,...
Jenni, Karen E.; Goldhaber, Martin B.; Betancourt, Julio L.; Baron, Jill S.; Bristol, R. Sky; Cantrill, Mary; Exter, Paul E.; Focazio, Michael J.; Haines, John W.; Hay, Lauren E.; Hsu, Leslie; Labson, Victor F.; Lafferty, Kevin D.; Ludwig, K.A.; Milly, Paul C. D.; Morelli, Toni L.; Morman, Suzette A.; Nassar, Nedal T.; Newman, Timothy R.; Ostroff, Andrea C. ; Read, Jordan S.; Reed, Sasha C.; Shapiro, Carl D.; Smith, Richard A.; Sanford, Ward E.; Sohl, Terry L.; Stets, Edward G.; Terando, Adam J.; Tillitt, Donald E.; Tischler, Michael A.; Toccalino, Patricia L.; Wald, David J.; Waldrop, Mark P.; Wein, Anne; Weltzin, Jake F.; Zimmerman, Christian E. Occupancy and abundance of Eleutherodactylus frogs in coffee plantations in Puerto Rico
Shaded coffee plantations are of conservation value for many taxa, particularly for resident avifauna in the face of extensive landscape changes. Yet, little is known about the value of coffee plantations for amphibians because there are scant demographic data to index their value among species with different habitat preferences. We estimated the...
Monroe, Kelen D. ; Collazo, Jaime A.; Pacifici, Krishna; Reich, Brian J.; Puente-Rolón, Alberto R.; Terando, Adam J. Uncertainty quantification and propagation for projections of extremes in monthly area burned under climate change: A case study in the coastal plain of Georgia, USA: Chapter 16
Human‐caused climate change is predicted to affect the frequency of hazard‐linked extremes. Unusually large wildfires are a type of extreme event that is constrained by climate and can be a hazard to society but also an important ecological disturbance. This chapter focuses on changes in the frequency of extreme monthly area burned by wildfires...
Riley, Karin L.; Webley, Peter; Thompson, Matthew; Terando, Adam J.; Reich, Brian J.; Pacifici, Krishna; Costanza, Jennifer; McKerrow, Alexa; Collazo, Jaime A. The sensitivity of WRF downscaled precipitation in Puerto Rico to cumulus parameterization and interior grid nudging
The sensitivity of the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF) simulated precipitation over Puerto Rico is evaluated using multiple combinations of cumulus parameterization (CP) schemes and interior grid nudging. NCEP-DOE AMIP-II reanalysis (R-2) is downscaled to 2- km horizontal grid spacing with both convective permitting simulations (CP...
Wootten, A.; Bowden, J.H.; Boyles, R.; Terando, Adam J.