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
Combining physical and species‐based approaches improves refugia identification
Oases of the future? Evaluating springs as potential hydrologic refugia in drying climates
Species richness responses to water withdrawal scenarios and minimum flow levels: Evaluating presumptive standards in the Tennessee and Cumberland River basins
Mapping climate change resistant vernal pools in the northeastern U.S.
Ecological islands: Conserving biodiversity hotspots in a changing climate
Landscape topoedaphic features create refugia from drought and insect disturbance in a lodgepole and whitebark pine forest
Springs as hydrologic refugia in a changing climate? A remote sensing approach
Putting flow-ecology relationships into practice: A decision-support system to assess fish community response to water-management scenarios
Automated identification of stream-channel geomorphic features from high‑resolution digital elevation models in West Tennessee watersheds
Ecosystem vulnerability to climate change in the southeastern United States
Insular ecosystems of the southeastern United States—A regional synthesis to support biodiversity conservation in a changing climate
Soil microbial community profiles and functional diversity in limestone cedar glades
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.
Science and Products
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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 (environmentalAuthorsJulia Michalak, Diana Stralberg, Jennifer M. Cartwright, Joshua J. LawlerOases 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 importantAuthorsJennifer 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. StevensSpecies 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 richness rAuthorsLucas Driver, Jennifer M. Cartwright, Rodney Knight, William J. WolfeMapping 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 this contAuthorsJennifer M. Cartwright, Evan H. Campbell GrantEcological 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 are specialAuthorsJennifer M. CartwrightLandscape topoedaphic features create refugia from drought and insect disturbance in a lodgepole and whitebark pine forest
Droughts and insect outbreaks are primary disturbance processes linking climate change to tree mortality in western North America. Refugia from these disturbances—locations where impacts are less severe relative to the surrounding landscape—may be priorities for conservation, restoration, and monitoring. In this study, hypotheses concerning physical and biological processes supporting refugia wereAuthorsJennifer M. CartwrightSprings as hydrologic refugia in a changing climate? A remote sensing approach
Spring‐fed wetlands are ecologically important habitats in arid and semi‐arid regions. Springs have been suggested as possible hydrologic refugia from droughts and climate change; however, springs that depend on recent precipitation or snowmelt for recharge may be vulnerable to warming and drought intensification. Springs that are expected to maintain their ecohydrologic function in a warmer, drieAuthorsJennifer M. Cartwright, Henry M. JohnsonPutting flow-ecology relationships into practice: A decision-support system to assess fish community response to water-management scenarios
This paper presents a conceptual framework to operationalize flow–ecology relationships into decision-support systems of practical use to water-resource managers, who are commonly tasked with balancing multiple competing socioeconomic and environmental priorities. We illustrate this framework with a case study, whereby fish community responses to various water-management scenarios were predicted iAuthorsJennifer M. Cartwright, Casey Caldwell, Steven Nebiker, Rodney KnightAutomated identification of stream-channel geomorphic features from high‑resolution digital elevation models in West Tennessee watersheds
High-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) derived from light detection and ranging (lidar) enable investigations of stream-channel geomorphology with much greater precision than previously possible. The U.S. Geological Survey has developed the DEM Geomorphology Toolbox, containing seven tools to automate the identification of sites of geomorphic instability that may represent sediment sourceAuthorsJennifer M. Cartwright, Timothy H. DiehlEcosystem vulnerability to climate change in the southeastern United States
Two recent investigations of climate-change vulnerability for 19 terrestrial, aquatic, riparian, and coastal ecosystems of the southeastern United States have identified a number of important considerations, including potential for changes in hydrology, disturbance regimes, and interspecies interactions. Complementary approaches using geospatial analysis and literature synthesis integrated informaAuthorsJennifer M. Cartwright, Jennifer CostanzaInsular ecosystems of the southeastern United States—A regional synthesis to support biodiversity conservation in a changing climate
In the southeastern United States, insular ecosystems—such as rock outcrops, depression wetlands, high-elevation balds, flood-scoured riparian corridors, and insular prairies and barrens—occupy a small fraction of land area but constitute an important source of regional and global biodiversity, including concentrations of rare and endemic plant taxa. Maintenance of this biodiversity depends upon rAuthorsJennifer M. Cartwright, William J. WolfeSoil microbial community profiles and functional diversity in limestone cedar glades
Rock outcrop ecosystems, such as limestone cedar glades (LCGs), are known for their rare and endemic plant species adapted to high levels of abiotic stress. Soils in LCGs are thin (< 25 cm), soil-moisture conditions fluctuate seasonally between xeric and saturated, and summer soil temperatures commonly exceed 48 °C. The effects of these stressors on soil microbial communities (SMC) remain largelyAuthorsJennifer M. Cartwright, E. Kudjo Dzantor, Bahram MomenNon-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.
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