Jennifer M Cartwright, Ph.D.
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
Filter Total Items: 27
Disturbance refugia within mosaics of forest fire, drought, and insect outbreaks Disturbance 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...
Authors
Meg A. Krawchuk, Garrett Meigs, Jennifer M. Cartwright, Jonathan D. Coop, Raymond J. Davis, Andres Holz, Crystal A. Kolden, Arjan J.H. Meddens
Combining physical and species‐based approaches improves refugia identification Combining physical and species‐based approaches improves refugia identification
Climate‐change refugia – locations likely to facilitate species persistence under climate change – are increasingly important components of conservation planning. Recent approaches for identifying refugia at broad scales include identifying regions that are projected to experience less severe changes (climatic exposure), that contain a diversity of physical and topographic features...
Authors
Julia Michalak, Diana Stralberg, Jennifer M. Cartwright, Joshua J. Lawler
Oases of the future? Evaluating springs as potential hydrologic refugia in drying climates Oases of the future? Evaluating springs as potential hydrologic refugia in drying climates
Springs in water-limited landscapes are biodiversity hotspots and keystone ecosystems, disproportionately influencing surrounding landscapes despite their often small areas. Some springs served as evolutionary refugia during previous climate drying, supporting relict species in isolated habitats. Understanding whether springs will provide hydrologic refugia from future climate change is...
Authors
Jennifer M. Cartwright, Kathleen A. Dwire, Zach Freed, Samantha J. Hammer, Blair McLaughlin, Louise W. Misztal, Edward J. Schenk, John R. Spencer, Abraham E. Springer, Lawrence E. Stevens
Species richness responses to water withdrawal scenarios and minimum flow levels: Evaluating presumptive standards in the Tennessee and Cumberland River basins Species richness responses to water withdrawal scenarios and minimum flow levels: Evaluating presumptive standards in the Tennessee and Cumberland River basins
Water resource managers are challenged to balance growing water demand with protecting aquatic ecosystems and biodiversity. Management decisions can benefit from improved understanding of water withdrawal impacts on hydrologic regimes and ecological assemblages. This study used Ecological Limit Functions for fish groups within the Tennessee and Cumberland river basins to predict species...
Authors
Lucas Driver, Jennifer M. Cartwright, Rodney Knight, William J. Wolfe
Mapping climate change resistant vernal pools in the northeastern U.S. Mapping climate change resistant vernal pools in the northeastern U.S.
Vernal pools are seasonal wetlands that provide important breeding habitat for a variety of amphibian species. As future climate projections indicate warmer growing seasons and earlier seasonal increases in evapotranspiration, some managers of vernal pools have expressed concern that pools may dry earlier in the season, potentially interfering with completion of amphibian life cycles. In...
Authors
Jennifer M. Cartwright, Evan H. Campbell Grant
Ecological islands: Conserving biodiversity hotspots in a changing climate Ecological islands: Conserving biodiversity hotspots in a changing climate
For decades, botanists have recognized that rare plants are clustered into ecological “islands”: small and isolated habitat patches produced by landscape features such as sinkholes and bedrock outcrops. Insular ecosystems often provide unusually stressful microhabitats for plant growth (eg because of thin soils, high temperatures, extreme pH, or limited nutrients) to which rare species...
Authors
Jennifer M. Cartwright
Non-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 and Products
Filter Total Items: 27
Disturbance refugia within mosaics of forest fire, drought, and insect outbreaks Disturbance 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...
Authors
Meg A. Krawchuk, Garrett Meigs, Jennifer M. Cartwright, Jonathan D. Coop, Raymond J. Davis, Andres Holz, Crystal A. Kolden, Arjan J.H. Meddens
Combining physical and species‐based approaches improves refugia identification Combining physical and species‐based approaches improves refugia identification
Climate‐change refugia – locations likely to facilitate species persistence under climate change – are increasingly important components of conservation planning. Recent approaches for identifying refugia at broad scales include identifying regions that are projected to experience less severe changes (climatic exposure), that contain a diversity of physical and topographic features...
Authors
Julia Michalak, Diana Stralberg, Jennifer M. Cartwright, Joshua J. Lawler
Oases of the future? Evaluating springs as potential hydrologic refugia in drying climates Oases of the future? Evaluating springs as potential hydrologic refugia in drying climates
Springs in water-limited landscapes are biodiversity hotspots and keystone ecosystems, disproportionately influencing surrounding landscapes despite their often small areas. Some springs served as evolutionary refugia during previous climate drying, supporting relict species in isolated habitats. Understanding whether springs will provide hydrologic refugia from future climate change is...
Authors
Jennifer M. Cartwright, Kathleen A. Dwire, Zach Freed, Samantha J. Hammer, Blair McLaughlin, Louise W. Misztal, Edward J. Schenk, John R. Spencer, Abraham E. Springer, Lawrence E. Stevens
Species richness responses to water withdrawal scenarios and minimum flow levels: Evaluating presumptive standards in the Tennessee and Cumberland River basins Species richness responses to water withdrawal scenarios and minimum flow levels: Evaluating presumptive standards in the Tennessee and Cumberland River basins
Water resource managers are challenged to balance growing water demand with protecting aquatic ecosystems and biodiversity. Management decisions can benefit from improved understanding of water withdrawal impacts on hydrologic regimes and ecological assemblages. This study used Ecological Limit Functions for fish groups within the Tennessee and Cumberland river basins to predict species...
Authors
Lucas Driver, Jennifer M. Cartwright, Rodney Knight, William J. Wolfe
Mapping climate change resistant vernal pools in the northeastern U.S. Mapping climate change resistant vernal pools in the northeastern U.S.
Vernal pools are seasonal wetlands that provide important breeding habitat for a variety of amphibian species. As future climate projections indicate warmer growing seasons and earlier seasonal increases in evapotranspiration, some managers of vernal pools have expressed concern that pools may dry earlier in the season, potentially interfering with completion of amphibian life cycles. In...
Authors
Jennifer M. Cartwright, Evan H. Campbell Grant
Ecological islands: Conserving biodiversity hotspots in a changing climate Ecological islands: Conserving biodiversity hotspots in a changing climate
For decades, botanists have recognized that rare plants are clustered into ecological “islands”: small and isolated habitat patches produced by landscape features such as sinkholes and bedrock outcrops. Insular ecosystems often provide unusually stressful microhabitats for plant growth (eg because of thin soils, high temperatures, extreme pH, or limited nutrients) to which rare species...
Authors
Jennifer M. Cartwright
Non-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.