Kevin Buffington
Biography
EDUCATION
B.S. Biology, 2007, University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire,, Eau Claire, WI.
M.S. Biology, 2010, Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID.
Ph.D. Fisheries and Wildlife, anticipated Mar 2017, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
RESEARCH INTERESTS
- Climate change ecology
- Remote Sensing
- Sea-level rise and salt marsh habitats
- Spatial modeling
- Species Distribution Modeling
- Physiological tolerances
- Wildlife biology
Science and Products
Wetland Carbon Working Group: Improving Methodologies and Estimates of Carbon and Greenhouse Gas Flux in Wetlands
WARC researchers are working to quantify the impacts of future climate and land use/land cover change on greenhouse gas emissions and reductions.
Sea-level Rise Vulnerability of Mangrove Forests in Micronesia and the Pacific
The USGS and partners are studying how mangrove forests in the Federated States of Micronesia may respond to sea-level rise over the coming century. Their projections will help Micronesian communities plan for the future.
The Impact of Sea-Level Rise on Coral Reef and Mangrove Interactions and the Resulting Coastal Flooding Hazards
Ecosystems such as coral reefs and mangroves provide an effective first line of defense against coastal hazards and represent a promising nature-based solution to adapt to sea-level rise. In many areas, coral reefs cause waves to break and lose energy, allowing for sediment to accumulate on the inshore portion of reef flats (i.e. the shallowest, flattest part of a reef) and mangroves to...
Webinar: Sea-Level Rise, El Niño, and Storm Effects on Coastal Tidal Marshes
View this webinar to learn how climate change may affect El Niño events and extreme storms on coastal wetlands.
Climate change vulnerability assessment for the California coastal national monument—Trinidad and Point Arena-Stornetta units
Executive SummaryThe California Coastal National Monument protects islets, reefs, and rock outcropping habitats in six onshore units, including the Trinidad and Point Arena-Stornetta Units.The California Coastal National Monument provides crucial habitat for resident and migratory species of seabirds, marine mammals, and invertebrates, which...
Thorne, Karen M.; Freeman, Chase M.; Buffington, Kevin J.; De La Cruz, Susan E.W.
Sea-level rise vulnerability of mangrove forests on the Micronesian Island of Pohnpei
IntroductionThe mangrove forests across the Federated States of Micronesia provide critical resources and contribute to climate resilience. Locally, mangrove forests provide habitat for fish and wildlife, timber, and other cultural resources. Mangrove forests also protect Micronesian communities from tropical cyclones and tsunamis, providing a...
Thorne, Karen M.; Buffington, Kevin J.
Wetlands in intermittently closed estuaries can build elevations to keep pace with sea-level rise
Sea-level rise is a threat to coastal ecosystems, which have important conservation and economic value. While marsh response to sea-level rise has been well characterized for perennially open estuaries, bar-built intermittently-closed estuaries and their sea-level rise response are seldom addressed in the literature – despite...
Thorne, Karen M.; Buffington, Kevin J.; Jones, Scott; Largier, John L.
Mangrove species’ response to sea-level rise across Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia
Mangrove forests are likely vulnerable to accelerating sea-level rise; however, we lack the tools necessary to understand their future resilience. On the Pacific island of Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia, mangroves are habitat to endangered species and provide critical ecosystem services that support local communities. We developed a...
Buffington, Kevin J.; MacKenzie, Richard A.; Carr, Joel A.; Apwong, Maybeleen; Krauss, Ken W.; Thorne, Karen M. Stress gradients interact with disturbance to reveal alternative states in salt marsh: Multivariate resilience at the landscape scale
Stress gradients influence many ecosystem processes and properties, including ecosystem recovery from and resistance to disturbance. While recent analytical approaches have advanced multivariate metrics of ecosystem resilience that allow quantification of conceptual resilience models and identification of thresholds of state change, these...
Jones, Scott; Stagg, Camille; Yando, Erik S.; James, W. Ryan; Buffington, Kevin J.; Hester, Mark W. Testing the interactive effects of flooding and salinity on tidal marsh plant productivity
Tidal wetlands support plant communities that facilitate carbon storage, accrete soil, and provide habitat for terrestrial and aquatic species. Climate change is likely to alter estuaries through sea-level rise and changing precipitation patterns, although the ecological responses are uncertain. We were interested in plant responses to...
Buffington, Kevin J.; Goodman, Arianna C; Freeman, Chase M.; Thorne, Karen M. Spatiotemporal patterns of mineral and organic matter deposition across two San Francisco Bay-Delta tidal marshes
Sediment deposition in tidal wetlands is a critical process that determines whether vertical growth will keep pace with sea-level rise. However, more information is needed on how sediment deposition varies spatially and temporally across wetlands, including the effects of elevation, tidal inundation, vegetation, and weather. We investigated...
Buffington, Kevin J.; Janousek, Christopher N.; Thorne, Karen M.; Dugger, Bruce D. Flooding regimes increase avian predation on wildlife prey in tidal marsh ecosystems
Within isolated and fragmented populations, species interactions such as predation can cause shifts in community structure and demographics in tidal marsh ecosystems. It is critical to incorporate species interactions into our understanding when evaluating the effects of sea‐level rise and storm surges on tidal marshes. In this study, we...
Thorne, Karen M.; Spragens, Kyle A.; Buffington, Kevin J.; Rosencranz, Jordan A.; Takekawa, John El Niño increases high‐tide flooding in tidal wetlands along the U.S. Pacific coast.
Periodic oscillations between El Niño and La Niña conditions in the Pacific Basin affect oceanographic and meteorological phenomena globally, with impacts on the abundance and distribution of marine species. However, El Niño effects on estuarine hydrology and tidal wetland processes have seldom been examined rigorously. We used detailed wetland...
Goodman, Arianna; Thorne, Karen M.; Buffington, Kevin J.; Freeman, Chase M.; Janousek, Christopher N. Rising tides: Assessing habitat vulnerability for an endangered salt marsh-dependent species with sea-level rise
Salt marsh-dependent species are vulnerable to impacts of sea-level rise (SLR). Site-specific differences in ecogeomorphic processes result in different SLR vulnerabilities. SLR impacts to Ridgway’s rail (Rallus obsoletus) of Southern California (SC) and San Francisco Bay (SF), U.S.A. could foreshadow SLR effects on other coastal endemic species....
Rosencranz, Jordan A.; Thorne, Karen M.; Buffington, Kevin J.; Overton, Cory T.; Takekawa, John; Casazza, Michael L.; McBroom, Jennifer; Wood, Julian K.; Nur, Nadav; Zembal, Richard L.; MacDonald, Glen M.; Ambrose, Richard F. Sea‐level rise, habitat loss, and potential extirpation of a salt marsh specialist bird in urbanized landscapes
Sea‐level rise (SLR) impacts on intertidal habitat depend on coastal topology, accretion, and constraints from surrounding development. Such habitat changes might affect species like Belding's savannah sparrows (Passerculus sandwichensis beldingi; BSSP), which live in high‐elevation salt marsh in the Southern California Bight. To predict how BSSP...
Rosencranz, Jordan; Thorne, Karen M.; Buffington, Kevin J.; Takekawa, John Y.; Hechinger, Ryan F.; Stewart, Tara E.; Ambrose, Richard F.; MacDonald, Glen M.; Holmgren, Mark A.; Crooks, Jeff A.; Patton, Robert T.; Lafferty, Kevin D. Climate-related variation in plant peak biomass and growth phenology across Pacific Northwest tidal marshes
The interannual variability of tidal marsh plant phenology is largely unknown and may have important ecological consequences. Marsh plants are critical to the biogeomorphic feedback processes that build estuarine soils, maintain marsh elevation relative to sea level, and sequester carbon. We calculated Tasseled Cap Greenness, a metric of...
Buffington, Kevin J.; Dugger, Bruce D.; Thorne, Karen M.