Cynthia Wallace is a Research Geographer with the U. S. Geological Survey’s Southwest Geographic Science Team.
Her current research uses satellite imagery, spatial analysis and GIS to inform natural resource management, map natural phenomena, and characterize the spatial and temporal variability of the landscape. She earned a Ph. D. in Geography and Regional Development from the University of Arizona. Her doctoral research used Fourier transforms and geostatistics to extract temporal and spatial information from remotely sensed data for mapping wildlife habitat. Prior to her position with the USGS, Cynthia worked at the Arizona Remote Sensing Center on the University of Arizona campus, where she contributed to several interdisciplinary projects. Cynthia also has a background in geology: she earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and geology from the University of Minnesota at Duluth, a Masters degree in geology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and she worked as a minerals exploration geologist for over 12 years.
Professional Experience
11/04 to present: Research Geographer, U.S. Geological Survey
2/02 to 11/04: Geographer, U.S. Geological Survey
6/95 to 11/02: Research Assistant, Arizona Remote Sensing Center, U. of Arizona Raster and vector data processing and analysis, primarily for land use and land cover mapping change detection, and landscape trend analysis; generation, interpretation and analysis of data using a variety of image processing, GIS, and statistical software packages; grant, proposal, and report writing
9/95 to 2/02: Graduate Research and Teaching Assistant, Department of Geography and Regional Development, U. of Arizona
Investigate and apply geostatistics and signal processing techniques to remote sensing data to extract measures of landscape structure and temporal dynamics. Interpret and apply research results to characterize habitat and environments. Instructor: Introduction to Remote Sensing
1/93 to 7/93: Owner/Instructor of an after-school mathematics program
Established an after school math class using a Kumon franchise.
1985 to 1993: District Geologist (9/91-1/93), Advanced Geologist (1-85 to 3-90), Pennzoil Sulphur Company, Houston, Texas
Responsible for domestic frontier exploration program as District Geologist.
1981 to 1985: Exploration Geologist, Duval Corporation, Tucson, Arizona
Exploration for sulfur and potash, phosphate and borates.
9/78 to 6/80: Research Assistant, Geology and Geophys. Dept., U. of Wi.-Madison,
Structure determinations and identification of crystalline solids using x-ray diffraction and electron microprobe techniques.
Education and Certifications
PhD in Geography University of Arizona-Tucson 2002
MA in Geography University of Arizona-Tucson 1987
MS in Geology University of Wisconsin-Madison 1980
BS in Math and Geology University of Minnesota-Duluth 1978, Magna cum Laude
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 26
Climate and land change impacts on future managed wetland habitat: A case study from California’s Central Valley
ConceptCalifornia’s Central Valley provides critical habitat for migratory waterbirds, yet only 10% of naturally occurring wetlands remain. Competition for limited water supplies and climate change will impact the long-term viability of these intensively managed habitats.ObjectivesForecast the distribution, abundance, and connectivity of surface water and managed wetland habitats, using 5 spatiall
Authors
Tamara S. Wilson, Elliott Matchett, Kristin B. Byrd, Erin Conlisk, Matthew E. Reiter, Cynthia Wallace, Lorraine E. Flint, Alan L. Flint, Monica Mei Jeen Moritsch
Quantifying drought’s influence on moist soil seed vegetation in California’s Central Valley through remote sensing
Across the Central Valley of California, millions of wintering waterfowl rely on moist soil seed (MSS) plants that grow in managed seasonal wetlands as a critical source of food. Estimates of MSS plant production are used to set waterfowl habitat targets yet this information is not well known. We created the first Central Valley-wide time series maps of MSS plant distributions and productivity. We
Authors
Kristin B. Byrd, Austen Lorenz, James Anderson, Cynthia Wallace, Kara Moore-O'Leary, Jennifer Isola, Ricardo Ortega, Matt Reiter
Quantifying drought’s influence on moist soil seed vegetation in California’s Central Valley through time-series remote sensing
Californias Central Valley, USA is a critical component of the Pacific Flyway despite loss of more than 90% of its wetlands. Moist soil seed (MSS) wetland plants are now produced by mimicking seasonal flooding in managed wetlands to provide an essential food resource for waterfowl. Managers need MSS plant area and productivity estimates to support waterfowl conservation, yet this remains unknown a
Authors
Kristin B. Byrd, Austen Lorenz, James Anderson, Cynthia Wallace, Kara Moore-O'Leary, Jennifer Isola, Ricardo Ortega, Matt Reiter
Fallow-land Algorithm based on Neighborhood and TemporalAnomalies (FANTA) to map planted versus fallowed croplands usingMODIS data to assist in drought studies leading to water and foodsecurity assessments
An important metric to monitor for optimizing water use in agricultural areas is the
amount of cropland left fallowed, or unplanted. Fallowed croplands are difficult to
model because they have many expressions; for example, they can be managed and
remain free of vegetation or be abandoned and become weedy if the climate for that
season permits. We used 250 m, 8-day composite Moderate Resolution Im
Authors
Cynthia Wallace, Prasad S. Thenkabail, Jesus R. Rodriguez, Melinda K. Brown
Multi-index time series monitoring of drought and fire effects on desert grasslands
The Western United States is expected to undergo both extended periods of drought and longer wildfire seasons under forecasted global climate change and it is important to understand how these disturbances will interact and affect recovery and composition of plant communities in the future. In this research paper we describe the temporal response of grassland communities to drought and fire in sou
Authors
Miguel L. Villarreal, Laura M. Norman, Steven Buckley, Cynthia S.A. Wallace, Michelle A. Coe
Cumulative drought and land-use impacts on perennial vegetation across a North American dryland region
Question
The decline and loss of perennial vegetation in dryland ecosystems due to global change pressures can alter ecosystem properties and initiate land degradation processes. We tracked changes of perennial vegetation using remote sensing to address the question of how prolonged drought and land-use intensification have affected perennial vegetation cover across a desert region in the early
Authors
Seth M. Munson, A. Lexine Long, Cynthia Wallace, Robert H. Webb
Remote sensing of Sonoran Desert vegetation structure and phenology with ground-based LiDAR
Long-term vegetation monitoring efforts have become increasingly important for understanding ecosystem response to global change. Many traditional methods for monitoring can be infrequent and limited in scope. Ground-based LiDAR is one remote sensing method that offers a clear advancement to monitor vegetation dynamics at high spatial and temporal resolution. We determined the effectiveness of LiD
Authors
Joel B. Sankey, Seth M. Munson, Robert H. Webb, Cynthia S.A. Wallace, Cesar M. Duran
Influence of monsoon-related riparian phenology on yellow-billed cuckoo habitat selection in Arizona
Aim: The western yellow-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus occidentalis), a Neotropical migrant bird, is facing steep population declines in its western breeding grounds owing primarily to loss of native habitat. The favoured esting habitat for the cuckoo in the south-western United States is low-elevation riparian forests and woodlands. Our aim was to explore relationships between vegetation phe
Authors
Cynthia S.A. Wallace, Miguel L. Villarreal, Charles van Riper
Phenology-based, remote sensing of post-burn disturbance windows in rangelands
Wildland fire activity has increased in many parts of the world in recent decades. Ecological disturbance by fire can accelerate ecosystem degradation processes such as erosion due to combustion of vegetation that otherwise provides protective cover to the soil surface. This study employed a novel ecological indicator based on remote sensing of vegetation greenness dynamics (phenology) to estimate
Authors
Joel B. Sankeya, Cynthia S.A. Wallace, Sujith Ravi
Desert fires fueled by native annual forbs: effects of fire on communities of plants and birds in the lower Sonoran Desert of Arizona
In 2005, fire ignited by humans swept from Yuma Proving Grounds into Kofa National Wildlife Refuge, Arizona, burning ca. 9,255 ha of Wilderness Area. Fuels were predominantly the native forb Plantago ovata. Large fires at low elevations were rare in the 19th and 20th centuries, and fires fueled by native vegetation are undocumented in the southwestern deserts. We estimated the area damaged by fire
Authors
Todd C. Esque, Robert H. Webb, Cynthia S.A. Wallace, Charles van Riper, Chris McCreedy, Lindsay A. Smythe
Mapping landscape phenology preference of yellow-billed cuckoo with AVHRR data
We mapped habitat for threatened Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccycus americanus occidentalis) in the State of Arizona using the temporal greenness dynamics of the landscape, or the landscape phenology. Landscape phenometrics were derived from Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data for 1998 and 1999 by using Fourier harmonic analysis to analyz
Authors
Cynthia S.A. Wallace, Miguel L. Villarreal, Charles van Riper
Biodiversity losses and conservation trade-offs: Assessing future urban growth scenarios for a North American trade corridor
The Sonoran Desert and Apache Highlands ecoregions of North America are areas of exceptionally high plant and vertebrate biodiversity. However, much of the vertebrate biodiversity is supported by only a few vegetation types with limited distributions, some of which are increasingly threatened by changing land uses. We assessed the impacts of two future urban growth scenarios on biodiversity in a b
Authors
Miguel L. Villarreal, Laura M. Norman, Cynthia S.A. Wallace, Kenneth G. Boykin
Non-USGS Publications**
Lowry, J.H., Jr., R.D. Ramsey, K. Boykin, D. Bradford, P. Comer, S. Falzarano, W. Kepner, J. Kirby, L. Langs, J. Prior-Magee, G. Manis, L. O’Brien, T. Sajwaj, K.A. Thomas, W. Rieth, S. Schrader, D. Schrupp, K. Schulz, B. Thompson, C. Velasquez, C. Wallace, E. Waller and B. Wolk. 2005. Southwest Regional Gap Analysis Project: Final Report on Land Cover Mapping Methods, RS/GIS Laboratory, Utah State University, Logan, Utah.
Brooks, M.L., J.R. Matchett, C. Wallace, and T. Esque. 2004. Fuels and fire hazard assessment in a desert ecosystem. Arid Lands Newsletter, Vol. 55
Hutchinson, C.F.; Marsh, S.E.; Wallace, C.S.A.; Walker, J.J.; Mauz, K.; Krausman, P.R.; Boyd, H.;, Enns, R.M.; Salazar, H.; Howery, L.D.; and Trobia E. 2000. Informing the Elk Debate: Applying NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) Data to Natural Resource Management Conflicts in the Western States: National Park Service Annual Report, University of Arizona. 51p.
Wallace, C.S.A.; Watts, J. M. and Yool, S. R. 2000. Characterizing the Landscape Structure of Vegetation Communities in the Mojave Desert Using Geostatistical Techniques: Computers and Geosciences. v. 26, no. 4, p. 397-410.
O’Brien, J. Prior-Magee, D. Bradford and B. Thompson,2006. Land cover classification and mapping. Chapter 2 in J.S. Prior-Magee, ed. Southwest Regional Gap Analysis Final Report. U.S. Geological Survey, Gap Analysis Program, Moscow, ID.
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Buffelgrass
Mapping When and Where Invasive Buffelgrass is Green at Saguaro National Park in Arizona.
Integrated modeling of climate and land change impacts on future dynamic wetland habitat – a case study from California’s Central Valley
This dataset consists of raster geotiff and tabular outputs of annual map projections of land use and land cover for the California Central Valley for the period 2011-2101 across 5 future scenarios. Four of the scenarios were developed as part of the Central Valley Landscape Conservation Project. The 4 original scenarios include a Bad-Business-As-Usual (BBAU; high water, poor management), Californ
Science and Products
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 26
Climate and land change impacts on future managed wetland habitat: A case study from California’s Central Valley
ConceptCalifornia’s Central Valley provides critical habitat for migratory waterbirds, yet only 10% of naturally occurring wetlands remain. Competition for limited water supplies and climate change will impact the long-term viability of these intensively managed habitats.ObjectivesForecast the distribution, abundance, and connectivity of surface water and managed wetland habitats, using 5 spatiallAuthorsTamara S. Wilson, Elliott Matchett, Kristin B. Byrd, Erin Conlisk, Matthew E. Reiter, Cynthia Wallace, Lorraine E. Flint, Alan L. Flint, Monica Mei Jeen MoritschQuantifying drought’s influence on moist soil seed vegetation in California’s Central Valley through remote sensing
Across the Central Valley of California, millions of wintering waterfowl rely on moist soil seed (MSS) plants that grow in managed seasonal wetlands as a critical source of food. Estimates of MSS plant production are used to set waterfowl habitat targets yet this information is not well known. We created the first Central Valley-wide time series maps of MSS plant distributions and productivity. WeAuthorsKristin B. Byrd, Austen Lorenz, James Anderson, Cynthia Wallace, Kara Moore-O'Leary, Jennifer Isola, Ricardo Ortega, Matt ReiterQuantifying drought’s influence on moist soil seed vegetation in California’s Central Valley through time-series remote sensing
Californias Central Valley, USA is a critical component of the Pacific Flyway despite loss of more than 90% of its wetlands. Moist soil seed (MSS) wetland plants are now produced by mimicking seasonal flooding in managed wetlands to provide an essential food resource for waterfowl. Managers need MSS plant area and productivity estimates to support waterfowl conservation, yet this remains unknown aAuthorsKristin B. Byrd, Austen Lorenz, James Anderson, Cynthia Wallace, Kara Moore-O'Leary, Jennifer Isola, Ricardo Ortega, Matt ReiterFallow-land Algorithm based on Neighborhood and TemporalAnomalies (FANTA) to map planted versus fallowed croplands usingMODIS data to assist in drought studies leading to water and foodsecurity assessments
An important metric to monitor for optimizing water use in agricultural areas is the amount of cropland left fallowed, or unplanted. Fallowed croplands are difficult to model because they have many expressions; for example, they can be managed and remain free of vegetation or be abandoned and become weedy if the climate for that season permits. We used 250 m, 8-day composite Moderate Resolution ImAuthorsCynthia Wallace, Prasad S. Thenkabail, Jesus R. Rodriguez, Melinda K. BrownMulti-index time series monitoring of drought and fire effects on desert grasslands
The Western United States is expected to undergo both extended periods of drought and longer wildfire seasons under forecasted global climate change and it is important to understand how these disturbances will interact and affect recovery and composition of plant communities in the future. In this research paper we describe the temporal response of grassland communities to drought and fire in souAuthorsMiguel L. Villarreal, Laura M. Norman, Steven Buckley, Cynthia S.A. Wallace, Michelle A. CoeCumulative drought and land-use impacts on perennial vegetation across a North American dryland region
Question The decline and loss of perennial vegetation in dryland ecosystems due to global change pressures can alter ecosystem properties and initiate land degradation processes. We tracked changes of perennial vegetation using remote sensing to address the question of how prolonged drought and land-use intensification have affected perennial vegetation cover across a desert region in the earlyAuthorsSeth M. Munson, A. Lexine Long, Cynthia Wallace, Robert H. WebbRemote sensing of Sonoran Desert vegetation structure and phenology with ground-based LiDAR
Long-term vegetation monitoring efforts have become increasingly important for understanding ecosystem response to global change. Many traditional methods for monitoring can be infrequent and limited in scope. Ground-based LiDAR is one remote sensing method that offers a clear advancement to monitor vegetation dynamics at high spatial and temporal resolution. We determined the effectiveness of LiDAuthorsJoel B. Sankey, Seth M. Munson, Robert H. Webb, Cynthia S.A. Wallace, Cesar M. DuranInfluence of monsoon-related riparian phenology on yellow-billed cuckoo habitat selection in Arizona
Aim: The western yellow-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus occidentalis), a Neotropical migrant bird, is facing steep population declines in its western breeding grounds owing primarily to loss of native habitat. The favoured esting habitat for the cuckoo in the south-western United States is low-elevation riparian forests and woodlands. Our aim was to explore relationships between vegetation pheAuthorsCynthia S.A. Wallace, Miguel L. Villarreal, Charles van RiperPhenology-based, remote sensing of post-burn disturbance windows in rangelands
Wildland fire activity has increased in many parts of the world in recent decades. Ecological disturbance by fire can accelerate ecosystem degradation processes such as erosion due to combustion of vegetation that otherwise provides protective cover to the soil surface. This study employed a novel ecological indicator based on remote sensing of vegetation greenness dynamics (phenology) to estimateAuthorsJoel B. Sankeya, Cynthia S.A. Wallace, Sujith RaviDesert fires fueled by native annual forbs: effects of fire on communities of plants and birds in the lower Sonoran Desert of Arizona
In 2005, fire ignited by humans swept from Yuma Proving Grounds into Kofa National Wildlife Refuge, Arizona, burning ca. 9,255 ha of Wilderness Area. Fuels were predominantly the native forb Plantago ovata. Large fires at low elevations were rare in the 19th and 20th centuries, and fires fueled by native vegetation are undocumented in the southwestern deserts. We estimated the area damaged by fireAuthorsTodd C. Esque, Robert H. Webb, Cynthia S.A. Wallace, Charles van Riper, Chris McCreedy, Lindsay A. SmytheMapping landscape phenology preference of yellow-billed cuckoo with AVHRR data
We mapped habitat for threatened Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccycus americanus occidentalis) in the State of Arizona using the temporal greenness dynamics of the landscape, or the landscape phenology. Landscape phenometrics were derived from Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data for 1998 and 1999 by using Fourier harmonic analysis to analyzAuthorsCynthia S.A. Wallace, Miguel L. Villarreal, Charles van RiperBiodiversity losses and conservation trade-offs: Assessing future urban growth scenarios for a North American trade corridor
The Sonoran Desert and Apache Highlands ecoregions of North America are areas of exceptionally high plant and vertebrate biodiversity. However, much of the vertebrate biodiversity is supported by only a few vegetation types with limited distributions, some of which are increasingly threatened by changing land uses. We assessed the impacts of two future urban growth scenarios on biodiversity in a bAuthorsMiguel L. Villarreal, Laura M. Norman, Cynthia S.A. Wallace, Kenneth G. BoykinNon-USGS Publications**
Lowry, J.H., Jr., R.D. Ramsey, K. Boykin, D. Bradford, P. Comer, S. Falzarano, W. Kepner, J. Kirby, L. Langs, J. Prior-Magee, G. Manis, L. O’Brien, T. Sajwaj, K.A. Thomas, W. Rieth, S. Schrader, D. Schrupp, K. Schulz, B. Thompson, C. Velasquez, C. Wallace, E. Waller and B. Wolk. 2005. Southwest Regional Gap Analysis Project: Final Report on Land Cover Mapping Methods, RS/GIS Laboratory, Utah State University, Logan, Utah.Brooks, M.L., J.R. Matchett, C. Wallace, and T. Esque. 2004. Fuels and fire hazard assessment in a desert ecosystem. Arid Lands Newsletter, Vol. 55Hutchinson, C.F.; Marsh, S.E.; Wallace, C.S.A.; Walker, J.J.; Mauz, K.; Krausman, P.R.; Boyd, H.;, Enns, R.M.; Salazar, H.; Howery, L.D.; and Trobia E. 2000. Informing the Elk Debate: Applying NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) Data to Natural Resource Management Conflicts in the Western States: National Park Service Annual Report, University of Arizona. 51p.Wallace, C.S.A.; Watts, J. M. and Yool, S. R. 2000. Characterizing the Landscape Structure of Vegetation Communities in the Mojave Desert Using Geostatistical Techniques: Computers and Geosciences. v. 26, no. 4, p. 397-410.O’Brien, J. Prior-Magee, D. Bradford and B. Thompson,2006. Land cover classification and mapping. Chapter 2 in J.S. Prior-Magee, ed. Southwest Regional Gap Analysis Final Report. U.S. Geological Survey, Gap Analysis Program, Moscow, ID.**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
- Science
Buffelgrass
Mapping When and Where Invasive Buffelgrass is Green at Saguaro National Park in Arizona. - Data
Integrated modeling of climate and land change impacts on future dynamic wetland habitat – a case study from California’s Central Valley
This dataset consists of raster geotiff and tabular outputs of annual map projections of land use and land cover for the California Central Valley for the period 2011-2101 across 5 future scenarios. Four of the scenarios were developed as part of the Central Valley Landscape Conservation Project. The 4 original scenarios include a Bad-Business-As-Usual (BBAU; high water, poor management), Californ - News