Dr. Jennifer Cartwright is the Science Coordinator for the Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center.
Jennifer Cartwright is the Science Coordinator for the Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center (CASC). She is an ecologist with a background in GIS and hydrology and a focus on supporting effective natural-resource management. Her research has concerned climate-change impacts on a variety of terrestrial, wetland, and freshwater ecosystems across North America. Jen has overseen studies of forest drought impacts on local-to-regional scales, modeling of wetland ecohydrology leveraging remote sensing and field observations, identification of refugia from climate change, and assessments of climate impacts to at-risk ecosystems and species. She has been affiliated with the USGS Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center since 2009 and received her Ph.D. in Biology from Tennessee State University in 2014.
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. in Biology, Tennessee State University
Science and Products
A forested wetland at a climate-induced tipping-point: 17-year demographic evidence of widespread tree recruitment failure
Identifying climate-resistant vernal pools: Hydrologic refugia for amphibian reproduction under droughts and climate change
Increasing hydroperiod in a karst-depression wetland based on 165 years of simulated daily water levels
Improving species status assessments under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and implications for multispecies conservation challenges worldwide
Science needs of southeastern grassland species of conservation concern: A framework for species status assessments
Topographic, soil, and climate drivers of drought sensitivity in forests and shrublands of the Pacific Northwest, USA
Stressor identification framework of biological impairment in Mississippi streams to support watershed restoration and TMDL development
Unfamiliar territory: Emerging themes for ecological drought research and management
Legacy effects of hydrologic alteration in playa wetland responses to droughts
A guidebook to spatial datasets for conservation planning under climate change in the Pacific Northwest
Climate‐change refugia: Biodiversity in the slow lane
Disturbance refugia within mosaics of forest fire, drought, and insect outbreaks
Non-USGS Publications**
**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.
Clarifying Science Needs for Determining the Impact of Climate Change on Harmful Algal Blooms in Southeastern United States
Vernal Pool Inundation Models
Climate- and Land-Cover-Induced Shifts in the Distribution and Abundance of Invasive Fish and Their Impacts on Native Fish Communities in the Tennessee and Cumberland River Basins
Understanding Impacts on Southeastern Grasslands from Climate Change, Urban Expansion, and Invasive Species
Clarifying Science Needs for Southeastern Grasslands
Climate Refugia and Resilience Atlas: Identifying Priority Areas for Conserving Species of Concern in a Changing Climate
Webinar: Drought Refugia: Remote Sensing Approaches and Management Applications
Mapping Climate Change Resistant Vernal Pools in the Northeastern U.S.
Identifying and Evaluating Refugia from Drought and Climate Change in the Pacific Northwest
Webinar: Climate-sensitive, Insular Ecosystems of the Southeastern U.S.: The State of the Science and a Case Study of Limestone Cedar Glades in the Central Basin of Tennessee
Assessing Climate-Sensitive Ecosystems in the Southeastern U.S.
Climate and stage observations and hydrologic model results for Sinking Pond at Arnold Engineering Development Complex, Tennessee
Inundation observations and inundation model predictions for vernal pools of the northeastern United States
Analysis of drought sensitivity in the Pacific Northwest (Washington, Oregon, and Idaho) from 2000 through 2016
Analysis of remotely-sensed vegetation conditions during droughts and a mountain pine beetle outbreak, Gearhart Mountain Wilderness, Oregon
Delineation and characterization of remotely sensed vegetation conditions in spring-dependent ecosystems, Harney County, Oregon
Streamflow and fish community diversity data for use in developing ecological limit functions for the Cumberland Plateau, northeastern Middle Tennessee and southwestern Kentucky, 2015
Science and Products
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 26
A forested wetland at a climate-induced tipping-point: 17-year demographic evidence of widespread tree recruitment failure
Regeneration and survival of forested wetlands are affected by environmental variables related to the hydrologic regime. Climate change, specifically alterations to precipitation patterns, may have outsized effects on these forests. In Tennessee, USA, precipitation has increased by 15% since 1960. The goal of our research was to assess the evidence for whether this change in precipitation patternsAuthorsJonathan Evans, Sarah McCarthy-Neumann, Angus Pritchard, Jennifer M. Cartwright, William J. WolfeIdentifying climate-resistant vernal pools: Hydrologic refugia for amphibian reproduction under droughts and climate change
Vernal pools of the northeastern United States provide important breeding habitat for amphibians but may be sensitive to droughts and climate change. These seasonal wetlands typically fill by early spring and dry by mid-to-late summer. Because climate change may produce earlier and stronger growing-season evapotranspiration combined with increasing droughts and shifts in precipitation timing, manaAuthorsJennifer M. Cartwright, Toni Lyn Morelli, Evan H. Campbell GrantIncreasing hydroperiod in a karst-depression wetland based on 165 years of simulated daily water levels
The hydrology of seasonally inundated depression wetlands can be highly sensitive to climatic fluctuations. Hydroperiod—the number of days per year that a wetland is inundated—is often of primary ecological importance in these systems and can vary interannually depending on climate conditions. In this study we re-examined an existing hydrologic model to simulate daily water levels in Sinking Pond,AuthorsJennifer M. Cartwright, William J. WolfeImproving species status assessments under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and implications for multispecies conservation challenges worldwide
Despite its successes, the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) has proven challenging to implement due to funding limitations, workload backlog, and other problems. As threats to species survival intensify and as more species come under threat, the need for the ESA and similar conservation laws and policies in other countries to function efficiently has grown. Attempts by the U.S. Fish and WildlifeAuthorsReed Noss, Jennifer M. Cartwright, Dwayne Estes, Theo Witsell, Gregg Elliott, Daniel S. Adams, Matthew A. Albrecht, Ryan Boyles, Patrick Comer, Chris Doffitt, JoVonn G. Hill, William C. Hunter, Wesley M. Knapp, Mike Marshall, Jason R. Singhurst, Christopher Tracey, Jeffrey L. Walck, Alan WeakleyScience needs of southeastern grassland species of conservation concern: A framework for species status assessments
The unglaciated southeastern United States is a biodiversity hotspot, with a disproportionate amount of this biodiversity concentrated in grasslands. Like most hotspots, the Southeast is also threatened by human activities, with the total reduction of southeastern grasslands estimated as 90 percent (upwards to 100 percent for some types) and with many threats escalating today. This report summarizAuthorsReed F. Noss, Jennifer M. Cartwright, Dwayne Estes, Theo Witsell, K. Gregg Elliott, Daniel S. Adams, Matthew A. Albrecht, Ryan Boyles, Patrick J. Comer, Chris Doffitt, Don Faber-Langendoen, JoVonn G. Hill, William C. Hunter, Wesley M. Knapp, Mike Marshall, Milo Pyne, Jason R. Singhurst, Christopher Tracey, Jeffrey L. Walck, Alan WeakleyTopographic, soil, and climate drivers of drought sensitivity in forests and shrublands of the Pacific Northwest, USA
Climate change is anticipated to increase the frequency and intensity of droughts, with major impacts to ecosystems globally. Broad-scale assessments of vegetation responses to drought are needed to anticipate, manage, and potentially mitigate climate-change effects on ecosystems. We quantified the drought sensitivity of vegetation in the Pacific Northwest, USA, as the percent reduction in vegetatAuthorsJennifer M. Cartwright, Caitlin E. Littlefield, Julia Michalak, Joshua J. Lawler, Solomon DobrowskiStressor identification framework of biological impairment in Mississippi streams to support watershed restoration and TMDL development
The Clean Water Act (CWA) requires States to identify waters that are impaired for designated uses. These waters are published through a State’s §303(d) list. The CWA also requires that a total maximum daily load (TMDL) be completed for each water body to calculate the maximum amount of contaminants that can be present in that water body and still meet water-quality standards. The Mississippi DepaAuthorsMatthew B. Hicks, Jennifer M. CartwrightUnfamiliar territory: Emerging themes for ecological drought research and management
Novel forms of drought are emerging globally, due to climate change, shifting teleconnection patterns, expanding human water use, and a history of human influence on the environment that increases the probability of transformational ecological impacts. These costly ecological impacts cascade to human communities, and understanding this changing drought landscape is one of today’s grand challenges.AuthorsShelley D. Crausbay, Julio L. Betancourt, John B. Bradford, Jennifer M. Cartwright, William C. Dennison, Jason B. Dunham, Carolyn Armstrong Enquist, Abby G. Frazier, Kimberly R. Hall, Jeremy S. Littell, Charlie H. Luce, Richard Palmer, Aaron R. Ramirez, Imtiaz Rangwala, Laura Thompson, Brianne M. Walsh, Shawn CarterLegacy effects of hydrologic alteration in playa wetland responses to droughts
Wetland conservation increasingly must account for climate change and legacies of previous land-use practices. Playa wetlands provide critical wildlife habitat, but may be impacted by intensifying droughts and previous hydrologic modifications. To inform playa restoration planning, we asked: (1) what are the trends in playa inundation? (2) what are the factors influencing inundation? (3) how is plAuthorsMicah T. Russell, Jennifer M. Cartwright, Gail H. Collins, Ryan A. Long, Jan H. EitelA guidebook to spatial datasets for conservation planning under climate change in the Pacific Northwest
This guidebook provides user-friendly overviews of a variety of spatial datasets relevant to conservation and management of natural resources in the face of climate change in the Pacific Northwest, United States. Each guidebook chapter was created using a standardized template to summarize a spatial dataset or a group of closely related datasets. Datasets were selected according to standardized crAuthorsJennifer M. Cartwright, Travis Belote, Kyle W. Blasch, Steve Campbell, Jeanne C. Chambers, Raymond J. Davis, Solomon Dobrowski, Jason B. Dunham, Diana Gergel, Daniel Isaak, Kristin Jaeger, Meade Krosby, Jesse Langdon, Joshua J. Lawler, Caitlin E. Littlefield, Charles H. Luce, Jeremy D Maestas, Anthony Martinez, Arjan J.H. Meddens, Julia Michalak, Sean A. Parks, Wendy Peterman, Ken Popper, Chris Ringo, Roy Sando, Michael Schindel, Diana Stralberg, David M. Theobald, Nathan Walker, Chad Wilsey, Zhiqiang Yang, Andrew YostClimate‐change refugia: Biodiversity in the slow lane
Climate‐change adaptation focuses on conducting and translating research to minimize the dire impacts of anthropogenic climate change, including threats to biodiversity and human welfare. One adaptation strategy is to focus conservation on climate‐change refugia (that is, areas relatively buffered from contemporary climate change over time that enable persistence of valued physical, ecological, anAuthorsToni Lyn Morelli, Cameron W. Barrows, Aaron R. Ramirez, Jennifer M. Cartwright, David D. Ackerly, Tatiana D. Eaves, Joseph L. Ebersole, Meg A. Krawchuk, Benjamin Letcher, Mary Frances Mahalovich, Garrett Meigs, Julia Michalak, Constance I. Millar, Rebecca M. Quinones, Diana Stralberg, James H. ThorneDisturbance refugia within mosaics of forest fire, drought, and insect outbreaks
Disturbance refugia – locations that experience less severe or frequent disturbances than the surrounding landscape – provide a framework to highlight not only where and why these biological legacies persist as adjacent areas change but also the value of those legacies in sustaining biodiversity. Recent studies of disturbance refugia in forest ecosystems have focused primarily on fire, with a growAuthorsMeg A. Krawchuk, Garrett Meigs, Jennifer M. Cartwright, Jonathan D. Coop, Raymond J. Davis, Andres Holz, Crystal A. Kolden, Arjan J.H. MeddensNon-USGS Publications**
Cartwright, J. 2014. Soil ecology of a rock outcrop ecosystem: Abiotic stresses, soil respiration, and microbial community profiles in limestone cedar glades. Ph.D. dissertation, Tennessee State University**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
Clarifying Science Needs for Determining the Impact of Climate Change on Harmful Algal Blooms in Southeastern United States
The southeast United States has many lakes, streams and reservoirs that serve as important drinking water sources, recreational, agricultural, and ecological uses. Unfortunately, harmful algal blooms are becoming more common in these waters, causing health issues for humans and animals. While it is clear that nutrients stimulate algae growth, it isn’t clear if there are other parameters that stimu...Vernal Pool Inundation Models
This website provides an application for exploring modeling results from a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) project titled Mapping Climate Change Resistant Vernal Pools in the Northeastern U.S. The purpose of this project was to improve understanding of the factors that control inundation patterns in vernal pools of the northeastern United States, so as to identify pools that might function as...Climate- and Land-Cover-Induced Shifts in the Distribution and Abundance of Invasive Fish and Their Impacts on Native Fish Communities in the Tennessee and Cumberland River Basins
The climate of the Southeast is changing rapidly. As streams warm and streamflow dynamics change due to climate and land-cover changes, previously unsuitable habitats may become hospitable for invasive species. Warmwater and large-river adapted invasive species such as Asian carps may move upstream as habitats that were previously too cold or had too little flow become welcoming environments for tUnderstanding Impacts on Southeastern Grasslands from Climate Change, Urban Expansion, and Invasive Species
Much of the biodiversity of the southeastern U.S. is found in grasslands, including meadows, prairies, glades, and savannas. These grasslands provide vital habitat to a variety of plants and animals, but many grassland types have undergone over 90% loss due to fire suppression and urban sprawl. The remaining grassland patches—remnants—now face emerging threats from invasive species and climate cha...Clarifying Science Needs for Southeastern Grasslands
Grasslands are plant communities that have few or no trees, or have open canopies that allow for the development of a grassy groundcover. Grasslands in the southeastern U.S. support rare plant and animal species and in some cases qualify as global or regional hotspots of biodiversity. Yet the Southeast’s grasslands have been reduced by approximately 90% since European settlement, as the result ofClimate Refugia and Resilience Atlas: Identifying Priority Areas for Conserving Species of Concern in a Changing Climate
Climate change threatens many wildlife species across the Pacific Northwest. As the climate continues to change, wildlife managers are faced with the ever-increasing challenge of allocating scarce resources to conserve at-risk species, and require more information to prioritize sites for conservation. However, climate change will affect species differently in different places. In fact, some placesWebinar: Drought Refugia: Remote Sensing Approaches and Management Applications
View this webinar to learn how scientists are working to identify drought refugia in the Pacific Northwest.Mapping Climate Change Resistant Vernal Pools in the Northeastern U.S.
Vernal pools are small, seasonal wetlands that provide critically important seasonal habitat for many amphibian species of conservation concern. Natural resource managers and scientists in the Northeast, as well as the Northeast Refugia Research Coalition, coordinated by the Northeast CSC, recently identified vernal pools as a priority ecosystem to study, and recent revisions to State Wildlife ActIdentifying and Evaluating Refugia from Drought and Climate Change in the Pacific Northwest
Warmer temperatures and less precipitation in the western U.S. related to climate change are harming many important natural resources, including forests, rivers, and many fish and wildlife species. Climate refugia provide a potential opportunity for conserving resources and biodiversity in the face of climate change. These refugia are places where the climate will likely change less than the surroWebinar: Climate-sensitive, Insular Ecosystems of the Southeastern U.S.: The State of the Science and a Case Study of Limestone Cedar Glades in the Central Basin of Tennessee
View this webinar to learn more about climate-related changes taking place in the Central Basin of Tennessee.Assessing Climate-Sensitive Ecosystems in the Southeastern U.S.
The southeastern U.S. contains a unique diversity of ecosystems that provide important benefits, including habitat for rare wildlife and plants, improved water quality, and recreation opportunities. Understanding how climate change will affect these ecosystems is vital for knowing how best to protect them and the services they supply. The goal of this project was to assess the climate change vulne - Data
Climate and stage observations and hydrologic model results for Sinking Pond at Arnold Engineering Development Complex, Tennessee
This data release includes data-processing scripts, data products, and associated metadata for a study to recalibrate a hydrologic model for Sinking Pond, a 35-hectare seasonally flooded karst depression wetland located at Arnold Engineering Development Complex near Manchester, Tennessee. A hydrologic model for Sinking Pond was originally published by Wolfe and others (2004). That original model uInundation observations and inundation model predictions for vernal pools of the northeastern United States
This data release includes data-processing scripts, data products, and associated metadata for a study to model the hydrology of several hundred vernal pools (i.e., seasonal pools or ephemeral wetlands) across the northeastern United States. More information on this study is available from the project website. This data release consists of several components: (1) an input dataset and associated meAnalysis of drought sensitivity in the Pacific Northwest (Washington, Oregon, and Idaho) from 2000 through 2016
This data release includes data-processing scripts, data products, and associated metadata for a remote-sensing based approach to characterize vegetation sensitivity to droughts from 2000 through 2016 in the U.S. states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. Drought sensitivity analysis was conducted in minimally-disturbed ('intact') forest and shrub-steppe ecosystems, defined as 1-km pixels (i.e., griAnalysis of remotely-sensed vegetation conditions during droughts and a mountain pine beetle outbreak, Gearhart Mountain Wilderness, Oregon
This data release includes data-processing scripts, data products, and associated metadata for a remote-sensing based approach to characterize vegetation conditions within a dry, mixed conifer forest study area in southern Oregon in 2001 (a single year drought without any widespread insect mortality) and 2009 (during a multi-year drought that coincided with a severe outbreak of mountain pine beetlDelineation and characterization of remotely sensed vegetation conditions in spring-dependent ecosystems, Harney County, Oregon
This data release includes data processing scripts, data products, and associated metadata for a novel remote-sensing based approach to assess resilience of spring-dependent ecosystems to inter-annual changes in water availability. This approach uses remotely-sensed Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) to (1) delineate surface moisture zones (SMZs) in the vicinity of mapped springs in a sStreamflow and fish community diversity data for use in developing ecological limit functions for the Cumberland Plateau, northeastern Middle Tennessee and southwestern Kentucky, 2015
This geospatial dataset includes one point feature class file and associated FGDC-compliant metadata representing datasets to support development of ecological limit functions for the Cumberland Plateau in northeastern Middle Tennessee and southeastern Kentucky. Information contained within the dataset represents values of basin characteristics, estimates of streamflow characteristics, measures o - News