Gregory Noe
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
Input data of WRTDS models to determine trends in the sediment loads of Coastal Plain rivers
Increasing floodplain connectivity through urban stream restoration increases nutrient and sediment retention
Sediment dynamics and implications for management: State of the science from long‐term research in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, USA
Modeling soil porewater salinity response to drought in tidal freshwater forested wetlands
Sustaining Environmental Capital Initiative summary report
Patterns of denitrification potential in tidal freshwater forested wetlands
The Life of P: A biogeochemical and sociopolitical challenge in the Everglades
The effects of restored hydrologic connectivity on floodplain trapping vs. release of phosphorus, nitrogen, and sediment along the Pocomoke River, Maryland USA
Typha (cattail) invasion in North American wetlands: Biology, regional problems, impacts, ecosystem services, and management
Sediment trapping and carbon sequestration in floodplains of the lower Atchafalaya Basin, LA: Allochthonous vs. autochthonous carbon sources
Adaptive management assists reintroduction as higher tides threaten an endangered salt marsh plant
The impact of late Holocene land-use change, climate variability, and sea-level rise on carbon storage in tidal freshwater wetlands on the southeastern United States Coastal Plain
Controls of the spatial variability of denitrification potential in nontidal floodplains of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, USA
Bank‐derived material dominates fluvial sediment in a suburban Chesapeake Bay watershed
Science and Products
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Filter Total Items: 26
Input data of WRTDS models to determine trends in the sediment loads of Coastal Plain rivers
Input data for WRTDS models to determine changes in sediment loads in Coastal Plain Rivers of the Atlantic Coast, United States.Increasing floodplain connectivity through urban stream restoration increases nutrient and sediment retention
Data collected to measure the effects of urban stream restoration on increasing hydrologic connectivity to floodplains and resulting floodplain ecosystem geomorphic and soil attributes, sediment and nutrient loading, and rates of nutrient biogeochemistry processes (denitrification; N and P mineralization). - Multimedia
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 56
Sediment 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 synAuthorsGregory B. Noe, Matt J. Cashman, Katherine Skalak, Allen C. Gellis, Kristina G. Hopkins, Doug L. Moyer, James S. Webber, Adam Benthem, Kelly O. Maloney, John Brakebill, Andrew Sekellick, Michael J. Langland, Qian Zhang, Gary W. Shenk, Jennifer L. D. Keisman, Cliff R. HuppModeling soil porewater salinity response to drought in tidal freshwater forested wetlands
There is a growing concern about the adverse effects of saltwater intrusion via tidal rivers, streams and creeks into tidal freshwater forested wetlands (TFFW) due to sea‐level rise (SLR) and intense and extended drought events. However, the magnitude and duration of porewater salinity in exceedance of plant salinity stress threshold (2 practical salinity units, psu) and the controlling factors reAuthorsHongqing Wang, Ken W. Krauss, Gregory B. Noe, Camille L. Stagg, Christopher M. Swarzenski, Jamie A. Duberstein, William H. Conner, Donald L. DeAngelisSustaining Environmental Capital Initiative summary report
Federal agencies need credible scientific information to determine the production and value of ecosystem services in an efficient and timely manner. The U.S. Geological Survey addresses this scientific information need through the Sustaining Environmental Capital Initiative project. The project has relied on U.S. Geological Survey expertise related to water, fisheries, advanced modeling, and econoAuthorsChristopher Huber, James Meldrum, Rudy Schuster, Zachary H. Ancona, Kenneth J. Bagstad, Scott M. Beck, Daren Carlisle, Peter R. Claggett, Fabiano Franco, Heather S. Galbraith, Michelle Haefele, Kristin R Hoelting, Dianna M. Hogan, Kristina G. Hopkins, Tim Kern, Collin B. Lawrence, Stacy Lischka, John B. Loomis, Julie M. Mueller, Gregory B. Noe, Emily J. Pindilli, Brian Quay, Darius J. Semmens, Wilson Sinclair, Daniel E. Spooner, Brian Voigt, Barabara St. John WhitePatterns of denitrification potential in tidal freshwater forested wetlands
Limited evidence for spatial patterns of denitrification in tidal freshwater forested wetlands (TFFWs), seemingly due to high spatial variability in the process, is surprising considering the various spatial gradients of its biogeochemical and hydrogeomorphic controls in these ecosystems. Because certain physical environmental gradients may be useful for the prediction of denitrification in TFFWs,AuthorsAlicia R. Korol, Gregory B. NoeThe Life of P: A biogeochemical and sociopolitical challenge in the Everglades
• Phosphorus (P) is an essential element for all life forms, yet to understand its life cycle and impact we need to grasp not only the biogeochemical life of P, but also how P intersects with human activities and values. • Phosphorus is the limiting nutrient in the oligotrophic Everglades ecosystem. Thus, the anthropogenic addition of P to the landscape and its subsequent transport, transformationAuthorsVictor H. Rivera-Monroy, Jessica Cattelino, Jeffrey R Wozniak, Katrina Schwartz, Gregory B. Noe, Edward Castaneda-Moya, Gregory R KochThe effects of restored hydrologic connectivity on floodplain trapping vs. release of phosphorus, nitrogen, and sediment along the Pocomoke River, Maryland USA
River channelization and artificial levees have decreased the hydrologic connectivity of river-floodplain systems around the world. In response, restoration through enhancing connectivity has been advocated to improve the functions of floodplains, but uncertain benefits and the possibility of phosphate release from re-flooded soils has limited implementation. In this study, we measured change in fAuthorsGregory B. Noe, Kathy Boomer, Jaimie Gillespie, Cliff R. Hupp, Mario Martin-Alciati, Kelly Floro, Edward R. Schenk, Amy K. Jacobs, Steve StranoTypha (cattail) invasion in North American wetlands: Biology, regional problems, impacts, ecosystem services, and management
Typha is an iconic wetland plant found worldwide. Hybridization and anthropogenic disturbances have resulted in large increases in Typha abundance in wetland ecosystems throughout North America at a cost to native floral and faunal biodiversity. As demonstrated by three regional case studies, Typha is capable of rapidly colonizing habitats and forming monodominant vegetation stands due to traits sAuthorsSheel Bansal, Shane Lishawa, Sue Newman, Brian Tangen, Douglas Wilcox, Dennis Albert, Michael J. Anteau, Michael J Chimney, Ryann L. Cressey, Edward S. DeKeyser, Kenneth J Elgersam, Sarah A Finkelstein, Joanna Freeland, Richard Grosshans, Page E. Klug, Daniel J Larkin, Beth A. Lawrence, George Linz, Joy Marburger, Gregory B. Noe, Clint R.V. Otto, Nicholas Reo, Jennifer Richards, Curtis J. Richardson, LeRoy Rodgers, Amy J Shrank, Dan Svedarsky, Steven E. Travis, Nancy Tuchman, Arnold van der Valk, Lisamarie Windham-MyersSediment trapping and carbon sequestration in floodplains of the lower Atchafalaya Basin, LA: Allochthonous vs. autochthonous carbon sources
Recent studies suggest that about 2 Pg of organic C is stored on floodplains worldwide. The present study indicates the Atchafalaya River, fifth largest river in the United States in terms of discharge, traps 30 mm/y of sediment on average within its floodplain, which is the highest average non‐episodic rate of fluvial deposition on the U.S. Coastal Plain. We installed sediment sampling stations aAuthorsCliff R. Hupp, Daniel E. Kroes, Gregory B. Noe, Edward R. Schenk, Richard H. DayAdaptive management assists reintroduction as higher tides threaten an endangered salt marsh plant
In theory, extirpated plant species can be reintroduced and managed to restore sustainable populations. However, few reintroduced plants are known to persist for more than a few years. Our adaptive‐management case study illustrates how we restored the endangered hemiparasitic annual plant, Chloropyron maritimum subsp. maritimum (salt marsh bird's beak), to Sweetwater Marsh, San Diego Bay NationalAuthorsGregory B. Noe, Meghan Fellows, Lorraine Parsons, Janelle West, John C. Callaway, Sally Trnka, Mark Wegener, Joy ZedlerThe impact of late Holocene land-use change, climate variability, and sea-level rise on carbon storage in tidal freshwater wetlands on the southeastern United States Coastal Plain
This study examines Holocene impacts of changes in climate, land use, and sea-level rise (SLR) on sediment accretion, carbon accumulation rates (CAR), and vegetation along a transect of tidal freshwater forested wetlands (TFFW) to oligohaline marsh along the Waccamaw River, South Carolina (4 sites) and along the Savannah River, Georgia (4 sites). We use pollen, plant macrofossils, accretion, and CAuthorsMiriam Jones, Christopher E. Bernhardt, K. W. Krauss, Gregory B. NoeControls of the spatial variability of denitrification potential in nontidal floodplains of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, USA
Identifying floodplains with high rates of denitrification will help prioritize restoration projects for the removal of nitrogen. Currently, relationships of denitrification with hydrogeomorphic, physiographic, and climate (i.e., largescale) characteristics of floodplains are relatively unknown, even though these characteristics have datasets (e.g., geographic mapping tools) that are publicly avaiAuthorsAlicia R. Korol, Gregory B. Noe, Changwoo AhnBank‐derived material dominates fluvial sediment in a suburban Chesapeake Bay watershed
Excess fine sediment is a leading cause of ecological degradation within the Chesapeake Bay watershed. To effectively target sediment mitigation measures, it is necessary to identify and quantify the delivery of sediment sources to local waterbodies.This study examines the contributions of sediment sources within Upper Difficult Run, a suburbanized watershed in Fairfax County, Virginia. A source sAuthorsMatt J. Cashman, Allen C. Gellis, Lillian Gorman Sanisaca, Gregory B. Noe, Vanessa Cogliandro, Anna Baker - Software
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