James Grace, Ph.D.
James Grace is a Senior Research Scientist at the USGS Wetland and Aquatic Research Center.
BACKGROUND
2015 - present Senior Research Scientist. U.S. Geological Survey, ST
2002 - 2014 Senior Research Ecologist, U.S. Geological Survey, GS-15
1993 - 2019 Adjunct Professor, Department of Biology, University of Louisiana
2002 – 2005 Affiliate Faculty, School of Renewable Natural Resources, LSU
1992 - 2002 Research Ecologist, U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Division
1990 - 1993 Professor, Department of Botany, Louisiana State University
1985 - 1990 Associate Professor, Department of Botany, Louisiana State Univ.
1989 Visiting Professor, Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium
1986 Visiting Scientist, Div. Wildlife, CSIRO, Darwin, Australia
1980‑1985 Assistant Professor, Dept. Botany and Microbiology, Univ. Arkansas summer
After graduate school, he held faculty positions at the University of Arkansas and Louisiana State University, where he reached the level of Full Professor. In 2000, he received the millennium Meritorious Research Award from the Society of Wetland Scientists and in 2003 received the National Science Excellence Award from the U.S. Geological Survey. He was selected to be a Fellow of the Ecological Society of America and promoted to the Senior Scientist ranks in 2014. Since 2019 he has been designated as a ‘Highly-Cited Researcher’ by the Web of Science in recognition of his scientific impact during the past decade. In 2021 he received the Presidential Rank Award, which is given out by the President of the United States and is the highest performance award given to career senior scientists and administrators. He has published over 200 papers and reports, including 3 books, one on competitive interactions, one on community analysis, and one on structural equation modeling. As of 2020, Grace has given over 200 invited lectures and workshops in 9 countries during his career.
For more information, search 'Jim Grace USGS'.
Education and Certifications
Ph.D., Michigan State University
M.S., Clemson University
B.S., Biology, Presbyterian College
Science and Products
Connecting the dots: a collaborative USGS-NPS effort to expand the utility of monitoring data
Combined effects of compact cevelopment, transportation investments, and road user pricing on vehicle miles traveled in urbanized areas
Quantifying restoration effectiveness using multi-scale habitat models: implications for sage-grouse in the Great Basin
Getting the message across: using ecological integrity to communicate with resource managers
Structural equation models of VMT growth in US urbanised areas.
Functional diversity supports the physiological tolerance hypothesis for plant species richness along climatic gradients
Resilience to stress and disturbance, and resistance to Bromus tectorum L. invasion in cold desert shrublands of western North America
Direct and indirect effects of land use on floral resources and flower-visiting insects across an urban landscape
Evidence that acidification-induced declines in plant diversity and productivity are mediated by changes in below-ground communities and soil properties in a semi-arid steppe
Conditions favouring Bromus tectorum dominance of endangered sagebrush steppe ecosystems
Predicting ecosystem stability from community composition and biodiversity
Controls of biological soil crust cover and composition shift with succession in sagebrush shrub-steppe
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Connecting the dots: a collaborative USGS-NPS effort to expand the utility of monitoring data
The Natural Resource Challenge (National Park Service 1999) was a call to action. It constituted a mandate for monitoring based on the twin premises that (1) natural resources in national parks require active management and stewardship if we are to protect them from gradual degradation, and (2) we cannot protect what we do not understand. The intent of the challenge was embodied in its originaAuthorsJames B. Grace, Donald R. Schoolmaster, E. William Schweiger, Brian R. Mitchell, Kathryn Miller, Glenn R. GuntenspergenCombined effects of compact cevelopment, transportation investments, and road user pricing on vehicle miles traveled in urbanized areas
Vehicle miles traveled (VMT) is the primary determinant of traffic congestion, vehicle crashes, greenhouse gas emissions, and other effects of transportation. Two previous studies have sought to explain VMT levels in urbanized areas. This study updates and expands on previous work with more recent data, additional metrics, and structural equation modeling (SEM) to explain VMT levels in 315 urbanizAuthorsReid Ewing, Shima Hamidi, Frank Gallivan, Arthur C. Nelson, James B. GraceQuantifying restoration effectiveness using multi-scale habitat models: implications for sage-grouse in the Great Basin
A recurrent challenge in the conservation of wide-ranging, imperiled species is understanding which habitats to protect and whether we are capable of restoring degraded landscapes. For Greater Sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), a species of conservation concern in the western United States, we approached this problem by developing multi-scale empirical models of occupancy in 211 randomly locAuthorsRobert S. Arkle, David S. Pilliod, Steven E. Hanser, Matthew L. Brooks, Jeanne C. Chambers, James B. Grace, Kevin C. Knutson, David A. Pyke, Justin L. WeltyGetting the message across: using ecological integrity to communicate with resource managers
This chapter describes and illustrates how concepts of ecological integrity, thresholds, and reference conditions can be integrated into a research and monitoring framework for natural resource management. Ecological integrity has been defined as a measure of the composition, structure, and function of an ecosystem in relation to the system’s natural or historical range of variation, as well as peAuthorsBrian R. Mitchell, Geraldine L. Tierney, E. William Schweiger, Kathryn M. Miller, Don Faber-Langendoen, James B. GraceStructural equation models of VMT growth in US urbanised areas.
Vehicle miles travelled (VMT) is a primary performance indicator for land use and transportation, bringing with it both positive and negative externalities. This study updates and refines previous work on VMT in urbanised areas, using recent data, additional metrics and structural equation modelling (SEM). In a cross-sectional model for 2010, population, income and freeway capacity are positivelyAuthorsReid Ewing, Shima Hamidi, Frank Gallivan, Arthur C. Nelson, James B. GraceFunctional diversity supports the physiological tolerance hypothesis for plant species richness along climatic gradients
1. The physiological tolerance hypothesis proposes that plant species richness is highest in warm and/or wet climates because a wider range of functional strategies can persist under such conditions. Functional diversity metrics, combined with statistical modeling, offer new ways to test whether diversity-environment relationships are consistent with this hypothesis. 2. In a classic study by R.AuthorsMarko J. Spasojevic, James B. Grace, Susan Harrison, Ellen Ingman DamschenResilience to stress and disturbance, and resistance to Bromus tectorum L. invasion in cold desert shrublands of western North America
Alien grass invasions in arid and semi-arid ecosystems are resulting in grass–fire cycles and ecosystem-level transformations that severely diminish ecosystem services. Our capacity to address the rapid and complex changes occurring in these ecosystems can be enhanced by developing an understanding of the environmental factors and ecosystem attributes that determine resilience of native ecosystemsAuthorsJeanne C. Chambers, Bethany A. Bradley, Cynthia S. Brown, Carla D'Antonio, Matthew J. Germino, James B. Grace, Stuart P. Hardegree, Richard F. Miller, David A. PykeDirect and indirect effects of land use on floral resources and flower-visiting insects across an urban landscape
Although urban areas are often considered to have uniformly negative effects on biodiversity, cities are most accurately characterized as heterogeneous mosaics of buildings, streets, parks, and gardens that include both ‘good’ and ‘bad’ areas for wildlife. However, to date, few studies have evaluated how human impacts vary in direction and magnitude across a heterogeneous urban landscape. In thisAuthorsK.C. Matteson, James B. Grace, E.S. MinorEvidence that acidification-induced declines in plant diversity and productivity are mediated by changes in below-ground communities and soil properties in a semi-arid steppe
Anthropogenic acid deposition–induced soil acidification is one of the major threats to biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and services. Few studies, however, have explored in detail how above-ground changes in plant species richness and productivity resulting from soil acidification are mediated by effects on below-ground biota and soil properties. To increase our understanding of this linkage,AuthorsDima Chen, Zhichun Lan, Xue Bai, James B. Grace, Yongfei BaiConditions favouring Bromus tectorum dominance of endangered sagebrush steppe ecosystems
1. Ecosystem invasibility is determined by combinations of environmental variables, invader attributes, disturbance regimes, competitive abilities of resident species and evolutionary history between residents and disturbance regimes. Understanding the relative importance of each factor is critical to limiting future invasions and restoring ecosystems. 2. We investigated factors potentially controAuthorsMichael D. Reisner, James B. Grace, David A. Pyke, Paul S. DoescherPredicting ecosystem stability from community composition and biodiversity
As biodiversity is declining at an unprecedented rate, an important current scientific challenge is to understand and predict the consequences of biodiversity loss. Here, we develop a theory that predicts the temporal variability of community biomass from the properties of individual component species in monoculture. Our theory shows that biodiversity stabilises ecosystems through three main mechaAuthorsClaire de Mazancourt, Forest Isbell, Allen Larocque, Frank Berendse, Enrica De Luca, James B. Grace, Bart Haegeman, H. Wayne Polley, Christiane Roscher, Bernhard Schmid, David Tilman, Jasper van Ruijven, Alexandra Weigelt, Brian J. Wilsey, Michel LoreauControls of biological soil crust cover and composition shift with succession in sagebrush shrub-steppe
Successional stage may determine strength and causal direction of interactions among abiotic and biotic factors; e.g., species that facilitate the establishment of other species may later compete with them. We evaluated multivariate hypotheses about abiotic and biotic factors shaping biological soil crusts (BSCs) in early and late successional stages. We surveyed vegetation and BSC in the shrub-stAuthorsE. Dettweiler-Robinson, J.D. Bakker, J.B. Grace - News