Research Interests: Wetland ecosystem ecology, focusing on the interactive influences of hydrology, geomorphology, climate, and biology on nitrogen, phosphorus, carbon, and sediment biogeochemistry and transport in watersheds, as well as plant community ecology and restoration ecology.
Greg Noe has been a Research Ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Reston, VA, since 2002, where he leads the Wetland Ecosystem Ecology & Biogeochemistry Laboratory (WEEBL) in the Florence Bascom Geoscience Center. Dr. Noe’s research centers on wetland ecosystem ecology and watershed processes. His dissertation research identified the complex controls on annual plant germination in the salt marshes of southern California. This was followed by post-doctoral research on phosphorus biogeochemistry and enrichment effects in the Florida Everglades. When joining the USGS, he started a research program on nutrient cycling, transport, and retention in wetlands associated with floodplains.
He is currently the Immediate Past President of the Society of Wetland Scientists, serves on the Science and Technical Advisory Committee of the Chesapeake Bay Program, serves on the editorial board of Wetlands and previously of Wetlands Ecology and Management, is the recipient of the President's Service Award from the Society of Wetland Scientists, and has served on the program committees of national and international scientific conferences and numerous graduate student committees. Greg is a recipient of the Meritorius Service Award from the Department of the Interior.
Current projects:
- Quantifying and modeling nutrient retention by riverine floodplains from site to watershed scales across the U.S.
- Evaluating the impacts of watershed restoration on water quality and stream health in the Chesapeake
- Identifying the effects of sea level rise, salinization, and sediment availability on tidal freshwater wetland ecosystem resilience along the Atlantic Coast
- Measuring the water quality functions in created wetlands, stream restoration projects, and floodplain restorations, and how to optimize their design
Science and Products
Leveraging Existing USGS Streamgage Data to Map Flood-Prone Areas
Leveraging Existing USGS Streamgage Data to Map Flood-Prone Areas
New study shows importance of streambank erosion and floodplain deposition on sediment, phosphorus, and nitrogen sources and transport in the Chesapeake watershed
New Review of Sediment Science Informs Choices of Management Actions in the Chesapeake
New information on chemical and physical characteristics of streams and floodplains across the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware River watersheds
Impacts of coastal and watershed changes on upper estuaries: causes and implications of wetland ecosystem transitions along the US Atlantic and Gulf Coasts
Type of Wetlands Affect How Much Nitrogen is Removed from the Bay’s Tidal Rivers
Science Summary—Assessing Effects of Sea-level Rise on Upstream Ecosystem Conditions
Quantifying Floodplain Ecological Processes and Ecosystem Services in the Delaware River Watershed
Hydrogeomorphic data along transitioning Coastal Plain rivers (Mattaponi and Pamunkey Rivers): implications for a rising sea level
Modeling impacts of drought-induced salinity intrusion on carbon fluxes and storage in tidal freshwater forested wetlands
Simulated Methane and Nitrous Oxide Emissions under Drought-induced Saltwater Intrusion in Tidal Freshwater Forested Wetlands
Predictions of floodplain and streambank geomorphic change and flux of sediment and nutrients, and streambed characteristics, for stream reaches in the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware River watersheds
Physico-chemical characteristics and sediment and nutrient fluxes of floodplains, streambanks, and streambeds in the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware River watersheds
Geomorphometry for Streams and Floodplains in the Chesapeake and Delaware Watersheds
Modeling soil pore water salinity response to drought in tidal freshwater forested wetlands
Carbon budget assessment of tidal freshwater forested wetland and oligohaline marsh ecosystems along the Waccamaw and Savannah rivers, U.S.A. (2005-2016)
Data on soil denitrification potential and physico-chemical characteristics of tidal freshwater forested wetlands in Virginia.
Data supporting the study to evaluate the effectiveness of floodplain reconnection on water quality functions along Pocomoke River, Maryland.
Stream Channel and Floodplain Metric Toolbox and User Guide
Floodplain sedimentation, bank erosion, and biogeochemical cycling of sediment and nutrients in Smith Creek (Virginia) 2012-2015
Quantifying connectivity and its effects on sediment budgeting for an agricultural basin, Chesapeake Bay Watershed, United States
Modeling impacts of drought-induced salinity intrusion on carbon dynamics in tidal freshwater forested wetlands
Streambank and floodplain geomorphic change and contribution to watershed material budgets
Power analysis for detecting the effects of best management practices on reducing nitrogen and phosphorus fluxes to the Chesapeake Bay watershed, USA
The statistical power to detect regional temporal trends in riverine contaminants in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, USA
Watershed and estuarine controls both influence plant community and tree growth changes in tidal freshwater forested wetlands along two U.S. mid-Atlantic rivers
The Chesapeake Bay program modeling system: Overview and recommendations for future development
Belowground productivity varies by assessment technique, vegetation type, and nutrient availability in tidal freshwater forested wetlands transitioning to marsh
Time marches on, but do the causal pathways driving instream habitat and biology remain consistent?
Tidal wetland resilience to increased rates of sea level rise in the Chesapeake Bay: Introduction to the special feature
Mapping stream and floodplain geomorphic characteristics with the Floodplain and Channel Evaluation Tool (FACET) in the Mid-Atlantic Region, United States
Sediment dynamics and implications for management: State of the science from long‐term research in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, USA
Floodplain and Channel Evaluation Tool (FACET)
The Floodplain and Evaluation Tool (FACET) is an open-source python tool that maps the floodplain extent and derives reach-scale summaries of stream and floodplain geomorphic measurements from high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs).
Floodplain and Channel Evaluation Tool: FACET
Science and Products
- Science
Leveraging Existing USGS Streamgage Data to Map Flood-Prone Areas
We will develop reproducible workflows in R and Python to combine already existing and underutilized field data collected as part of the USGS streamgage network with remotely sensed data to map flood-prone areas for various recurrence intervals in both gaged and ungaged stream reaches.Leveraging Existing USGS Streamgage Data to Map Flood-Prone Areas
We will develop reproducible workflows in R and Python to combine already existing and underutilized field data collected as part of the USGS streamgage network with remotely sensed data to map flood-prone areas for various recurrence intervals in both gaged and ungaged stream reaches.New study shows importance of streambank erosion and floodplain deposition on sediment, phosphorus, and nitrogen sources and transport in the Chesapeake watershed
Issue: As Chesapeake Bay Program partners work to reduce pollution, knowing sources of sediment, phosphorus, and nitrogen transported to the Bay is critical for effective and efficient management. Streams and their associated floodplains have an important influence on the transport of nutrients and sediment through the Chesapeake watershed and into tidal waters. The USGS is conducting...New Review of Sediment Science Informs Choices of Management Actions in the Chesapeake
Issue: The Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) is pursuing restoration efforts to improve habitats and associated water quality for fisheries, both in the watershed and estuary. Excess sediment decreases light in tidal waters for submerged aquatic vegetation, harms oysters, carries contaminants, and impairs stream health throughout the watershed. The CBP is implementing management actions and policies...New information on chemical and physical characteristics of streams and floodplains across the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware River watersheds
Issue: Improving stream health is an important outcome of the Chesapeake Bay Program partnership. Stream conditions are important for recreational fisheries, and mitigating the amount of nutrients, sediment, and contaminants delivered to the Bay.Impacts of coastal and watershed changes on upper estuaries: causes and implications of wetland ecosystem transitions along the US Atlantic and Gulf Coasts
Estuaries and their surrounding wetlands are coastal transition zones where freshwater rivers meet tidal seawater. As sea levels rise, tidal forces move saltier water farther upstream, extending into freshwater wetland areas. Human changes to the surrounding landscape may amplify the effects of this tidal extension, impacting the resiliency and function of the upper estuarine wetlands. One visible...Type of Wetlands Affect How Much Nitrogen is Removed from the Bay’s Tidal Rivers
Issue: Wetlands are important for removing nitrogen from rivers entering the Chesapeake Bay. More information is needed on how much nitrogen wetlands can remove.Science Summary—Assessing Effects of Sea-level Rise on Upstream Ecosystem Conditions
A synthesis published in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment addresses what is known about the ecosystem consequences of freshwater tides extending upstream into formerly nontidal rivers. The USGS and its partners, with support from the Climate and Land Use Change Mission Area, published an article that summarizes the known effects of sea-level rise pushing freshwater tides upstream into...Quantifying Floodplain Ecological Processes and Ecosystem Services in the Delaware River Watershed
Floodplain and wetland areas provide critical ecosystem services to local and downstream communities by retaining sediments, nutrients, and floodwaters. The loss of floodplain functionality due to land use conversion and degradation reduces the provisioning of these services. Assessing, quantifying, and valuing floodplain ecosystem services provide a framework to estimate how floodplain systems... - Data
Filter Total Items: 14
Hydrogeomorphic data along transitioning Coastal Plain rivers (Mattaponi and Pamunkey Rivers): implications for a rising sea level
Data on changing hydrogeomorphic characteristics along river gradients from nontidal through tidal freshwater to oligohaline reaches along the Mattaponi and Pamunkey Rivers, Virginia. Shapefile data include location and elevation profiles of the river valleys along multiple digital cross-sections from lidar digital elevation models, satellite visible imagery, and geographic information system analModeling impacts of drought-induced salinity intrusion on carbon fluxes and storage in tidal freshwater forested wetlands
A biogeochemistry model was developed to examine plant gross primary productivity (GPP), net primary productivity (NPP), plant respiration, soil respiration, soil organic carbon sequestration rate and storage under scenarios of drought and normal conditions at Tidal Freshwater Forested Wetlands (TFFW) sites along the Waccamaw River and Savannah River in the Southeastern United States.Simulated Methane and Nitrous Oxide Emissions under Drought-induced Saltwater Intrusion in Tidal Freshwater Forested Wetlands
This dataset contains the result of simulated daily emissions of methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) from the soils in Tidal Freshwater Forested Wetlands (TFFW) along the Waccamaw River (SC, USA) and the Savannah River (GA and SC, USA) under drought-induced saltwater intrusion using a process-driven biogeochemistry model.Predictions of floodplain and streambank geomorphic change and flux of sediment and nutrients, and streambed characteristics, for stream reaches in the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware River watersheds
Input predictor variables and output predictions from statistical modeling of floodplains, streambanks, and streambeds for each NHDPlusV2 stream reach in the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware River watersheds of the U.S. Mid-Atlantic. Random Forest statistical models using either 1) characteristics of upstream drainage area, or 2) characteristics of upstream drainage area (Wieczorek et al. 2018, https:/Physico-chemical characteristics and sediment and nutrient fluxes of floodplains, streambanks, and streambeds in the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware River watersheds
Dataset includes site averages of measurements of floodplain and streambank sediment physico-chemistry and long-term (dendrogeomorphic) vertical and lateral geomorphic change, and reach scale floodplain width, streambank height, channel width, and streambed particle size. This information was used to calculate fluxes of sediment, fine sediment, sediment-C, sediment-N, and sediment-C of floodplainsGeomorphometry for Streams and Floodplains in the Chesapeake and Delaware Watersheds
Geomorphometry for Streams and Floodplains in the Chesapeake and Delaware Watersheds was generated as part of the project Quantifying Floodplain Ecological Processes and Ecosystem Services in the Delaware River Watershed funded through the William Penn Foundation's Delaware Watershed Research fund. This dataset contains geomorphometry for streams and floodplains in the Chesapeake and Delaware RiveModeling soil pore water salinity response to drought in tidal freshwater forested wetlands
Model generated soil pore water salinity (psu) values under scenarios of drought and normal conditions at Tidal Freshwater Forested Wetlands (TFFW) sites along the Waccamaw River and Savannah River in the Southeastern United States.Carbon budget assessment of tidal freshwater forested wetland and oligohaline marsh ecosystems along the Waccamaw and Savannah rivers, U.S.A. (2005-2016)
Data to support carbon (C) budget assessment of tidal freshwater forested wetland and oligohaline marsh ecosystems along the Waccamaw and Savannah rivers, U.S.A. This work represents the first estimates of C standing stocks, C mass balance, soil C burial, and lateral C export to aquatic environments in tidal freshwater forested wetlands undergoing transition to oligohaline marsh.Data on soil denitrification potential and physico-chemical characteristics of tidal freshwater forested wetlands in Virginia.
Denitrification measurements and ecosystem attributes in hummock-hollow microtopography of tidal freshwater forested wetlands along longitudinal riverine positions (upper, middle, and lower tidal river sites, and nearby upstream nontidal forested floodplains) of the adjoining Pamunkey and Mattaponi Rivers, Virginia.Data supporting the study to evaluate the effectiveness of floodplain reconnection on water quality functions along Pocomoke River, Maryland.
Data release, including sedimentation, inorganic nutrient release, pre-restoration soil physico-chemistry, post-restoration soil physico-chemistry, and GPS location of plots.Stream Channel and Floodplain Metric Toolbox and User Guide
The Stream Channel and Floodplain Metric Toolbox was developed to demonstrate the feasibility of mapping fluvial geomorphic features from high-resolution bare-earth elevation data. A Python toolbox for ArcGIS was built to calculate key metrics describing channel and floodplain geometry. Channel and Floodplain Metric Toolbox provides this ability in an automated fashion, allowing for regional analyFloodplain sedimentation, bank erosion, and biogeochemical cycling of sediment and nutrients in Smith Creek (Virginia) 2012-2015
This USGS Data Release represents tabular data for chemical and physical attributes, rates of deposition, erosion, and mineralization of bank and floodplain sediments and soils from five study sites in the Smith Creek watershed between 2012 and 2015. The data release was produced in compliance with the new 'open data' requirements as a way to make the scientific products associated with USGS resea - Multimedia
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 43
Quantifying connectivity and its effects on sediment budgeting for an agricultural basin, Chesapeake Bay Watershed, United States
Excessive sediment runoff as a result of anthropogenic activities is a major concern for watershed ecologic health. This study sought to determine the sources, storage, and delivery of sediment using a sediment budget approach for the predominantly pasture and forested Smith Creek watershed, Virginia United States, a tributary to the Chesapeake Bay. Utilizing a novel combination of the Universal SModeling impacts of drought-induced salinity intrusion on carbon dynamics in tidal freshwater forested wetlands
Tidal freshwater forested wetlands (TFFW) provide critical ecosystem services including essential habitat for a variety of wildlife species and significant carbon sinks for atmospheric carbon dioxide. However, large uncertainties remain concerning the impacts of climate change on the magnitude and variability of carbon fluxes and storage across a range of TFFW. In this study, we developed a procesStreambank and floodplain geomorphic change and contribution to watershed material budgets
Stream geomorphic change is highly spatially variable but critical to landform evolution, human infrastructure, habitat, and watershed pollutant transport. However, measurements and process models of streambank erosion and floodplain deposition and resulting sediment fluxes are currently insufficient to predict these rates in all perennial streams over large regions. Here we measured long-term latPower analysis for detecting the effects of best management practices on reducing nitrogen and phosphorus fluxes to the Chesapeake Bay watershed, USA
In 2010 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency established the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) which is a “pollution diet” that aims to reduce the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus entering the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the United States, by 25 and 24% percent, respectively. To achieve this goal the TMDL requires the implementation of Best Management Practices (BMPs), which are acceThe statistical power to detect regional temporal trends in riverine contaminants in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, USA
Chemical contamination of riverine ecosystems is largely a result of urbanization, industrialization, and agricultural activities occurring on adjacent terrestrial landscapes. Land management activities (e.g., Best Management Practices) are an important tool used to reduce point and non-point sources of pollution. However, the ability to confidently make inferences about the efficacy of land managWatershed and estuarine controls both influence plant community and tree growth changes in tidal freshwater forested wetlands along two U.S. mid-Atlantic rivers
The tidal freshwater zone near the estuarine head-of-tide is potentially sensitive to both sea-level rise and associated salinity increases as well as changing watershed inputs of freshwater and nutrients. We evaluated the vegetation response of tidal freshwater forested wetlands (TFFW) to changes in nontidal river versus estuarine controls along the longitudinal gradient of the Mattaponi and PamuThe Chesapeake Bay program modeling system: Overview and recommendations for future development
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest, most productive, and most biologically diverse estuary in the continental United States providing crucial habitat and natural resources for culturally and economically important species. Pressures from human population growth and associated development and agricultural intensification have led to excessive nutrient and sediment inputs entering the Bay, negativelyBelowground productivity varies by assessment technique, vegetation type, and nutrient availability in tidal freshwater forested wetlands transitioning to marsh
Wetlands along upper estuaries are characterized by dynamic transitions between forested and herbaceous communities (marsh) as salinity, hydroperiod, and nutrients change. The importance of belowground net primary productivity (BNPP) associated with fine and coarse root growth also changes but remains the dominant component of overall productivity in these important blue carbon wetlands. AppropriaTime marches on, but do the causal pathways driving instream habitat and biology remain consistent?
Stream ecosystems are complex networks of interacting terrestrial and aquatic drivers. To untangle these ecological networks, efforts evaluating the direct and indirect effects of landscape, climate, and instream predictors on biological condition through time are needed. We used structural equation modeling and leveraged a stream survey program to identify and compare important predictors drivingTidal wetland resilience to increased rates of sea level rise in the Chesapeake Bay: Introduction to the special feature
The papers in this Special Feature are the result of the first Marsh Resilience Summit in the Chesapeake Bay region, which occurred in February 2019. The Chesapeake Bay region has one of the highest rates of relative sea level rise in the U.S., jeopardizing over 1000 km2 of tidal wetlands along with other coastal lands. The goal of the Summit and this collection of articles is to analyze tidal wetMapping stream and floodplain geomorphic characteristics with the Floodplain and Channel Evaluation Tool (FACET) in the Mid-Atlantic Region, United States
Quantifying channel and floodplain geomorphic characteristics is essential for understanding and modeling sediment and nutrient dynamics in fluvial systems. The increased availability of high-resolution elevation data from light detection and ranging (lidar) has helped improve methods for extracting these metrics at a greater accuracy across regional scales. The Floodplain and Channel Evaluation TSediment dynamics and implications for management: State of the science from long‐term research in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, USA
This review aims to synthesize the current knowledge of sediment dynamics using insights from long‐term research conducted in the watershed draining to the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the U.S., to inform management actions to restore the estuary and its watershed. The sediment dynamics of the Chesapeake are typical of many impaired watersheds and estuaries around the world, and this syn - Software
Floodplain and Channel Evaluation Tool (FACET)
The Floodplain and Evaluation Tool (FACET) is an open-source python tool that maps the floodplain extent and derives reach-scale summaries of stream and floodplain geomorphic measurements from high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs).
Floodplain and Channel Evaluation Tool: FACET
FACET is a Python tool that uses open source modules to map the floodplain extent and derive reach-scale summaries of stream and floodplain geomorphic measurements from high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs). Geomorphic measurements include channel width, stream bank height, floodplain width, and stream slope. FACET allows the user to hydrologically condition the DEM, generate the stream - News