Michael Johannes Osland, Ph.D.
Michael Osland is a Research Ecologist at the USGS Wetland and Aquatic Research Center in Lafayette, Louisiana.
In broad terms, his research examines the effects of global change on ecosystems and the implications for ecological conservation and restoration. Much of his research focuses on wetland ecosystems at the dynamic interface between land and ocean (mangrove forests, salt marshes).
Professional Experience
2011-Present Research Ecologist, U.S. Geological Survey, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center, Louisiana, USA
2009-2011 Postdoctoral Research Scientist, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Gulf Ecology Division, Florida, USA
2006-2007 Fulbright Fellow; via the Organization for Tropical Studies, Costa Rica
2003-2009 Graduate Student, Duke University, North Carolina, USA
2000-2003 U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer, Agroforestry, El Salvador
Education and Certifications
Ph.D., Ecology, Duke University, 2009
B.A., Biology, Willamette University, 2000
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 26
Filter Total Items: 43
Vegetation, soil, and landscape data Vegetation, soil, and landscape data
The northern Gulf of Mexico coast spans two major climate gradients and represents an excellent natural laboratory for developing climate-influenced ecological models. In this project, we used these zones of remarkable transition to develop macroclimate-based models for quantifying the regional responses of coastal wetland ecosystems to climate variation. In addition to providing...
Filter Total Items: 91
Tropicalization of temperate ecosystems in North America: The northward range expansion of tropical organisms in response to warming winter temperatures Tropicalization of temperate ecosystems in North America: The northward range expansion of tropical organisms in response to warming winter temperatures
Tropicalization is a term used to describe the transformation of temperate ecosystems by poleward‐moving tropical organisms in response to warming temperatures. In North America, decreases in the frequency and intensity of extreme winter cold events are expected to allow the poleward range expansion of many cold‐sensitive tropical organisms, sometimes at the expense of temperate...
Authors
Michael Osland, Philip Stevens, Margaret Lamont, Richard Brusca, Kristen Hart, Hardin Waddle, Catherine Langtimm, Caroline Williams, Barry Keim, Adam Terando, Eric Reyier, Katie Marshall, Michael E. Loik, Ross Boucek, Amanda Lewis, Jeffrey A. Seminoff
A comparison of plant communities in restored, old field, and remnant coastal prairies A comparison of plant communities in restored, old field, and remnant coastal prairies
Temperate grasslands are experiencing worldwide declines due to habitat conversion. Grassland restoration efforts are employed to compensate for these losses. However, there is a need to better understand the ecological effects of grassland restoration and management practices. We investigated the effects of three different grassland management regimes on plant communities of coastal...
Authors
Laura Feher, Larry Allain, Michael Osland, Elisabeth Pigott, Christopher Reid, Nicholas Latiolais
Changes in ecosystem nitrogen and carbon allocation with black mangrove (Avicennia germinans) encroachment into Spartina alterniflora salt marsh Changes in ecosystem nitrogen and carbon allocation with black mangrove (Avicennia germinans) encroachment into Spartina alterniflora salt marsh
Increases in temperature are expected to facilitate encroachment of tropical mangrove forests into temperate salt marshes, yet the effects on ecosystem services are understudied. Our work was conducted along a mangrove expansion front in Louisiana (USA), an area where coastal wetlands are in rapid decline due to compounding factors, including reduced sediment supply, rising sea level...
Authors
Aaron Macy, Michael Osland, Julia A Cherry, Just Cebrian
Frequency of extreme freeze events controls the distribution and structure of black mangroves (Avicennia germinans) near their northern range limit in coastal Louisiana Frequency of extreme freeze events controls the distribution and structure of black mangroves (Avicennia germinans) near their northern range limit in coastal Louisiana
Aim Climate change is expected to result in the tropicalization of coastal wetlands in the northern Gulf of Mexico, as warming winters allow tropical mangrove forests to expand their distribution poleward at the expense of temperate salt marshes. Data limitations near mangrove range limits have hindered understanding of the effects of winter temperature extremes on mangrove distribution...
Authors
Michael Osland, Richard Day, Thomas C. Michot
A tropical cyclone-induced ecological regime shift: Mangrove forest conversion to mudflat in Everglades National Park (Florida, USA) A tropical cyclone-induced ecological regime shift: Mangrove forest conversion to mudflat in Everglades National Park (Florida, USA)
The ecological effects of tropical cyclones on mangrove forests are diverse and highly location- and cyclone-dependent. Ecological resistance, resilience, and enhancement are terms that describe most mangrove forest responses to tropical cyclones. However, in the most extreme cases, tropical cyclones can trigger abrupt and irreversible ecological transformations (i.e., ecological regime...
Authors
Michael Osland, Laura Feher, Gordon Anderson, William Vervaeke, Ken Krauss, Kevin R.T. Whelan, Karen S. Balentine, G. Tiling-Range, Thomas J. Smith, Donald Cahoon
Final project memorandum: Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center Project Final project memorandum: Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center Project
Low-lying public lands along the northern Gulf of Mexico coast are vulnerable to sea-level rise. Coastal planners and resource managers in the region have requested customized information that can be used to concisely communicate local sea-level rise scenarios and identify potential impacts to the missions of management agencies. In this project, researchers worked with the Northern Gulf...
Authors
Michael Osland, Renee C. Collini
Non-USGS Publications**
Russell M, Teague A, Alvarez F, Dantin D, Osland M, Harvey J, Nestlerode J, Rogers J, Jackson L, Pilant D, Genthner F, Lewis M, Spivak A, Harwell M, Neale A. 2013. Neighborhood scale quantification of ecosystem goods and services. pp 50, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Gulf Ecology Division, Gulf Breeze, Florida, EPA/600/R-13/295, November 2013.
Osland MJ, González E, Richardson CJ. 2011. Restoring diversity after cattail expansion: disturbance, resilience, and seasonality in a tropical dry wetland. Ecological Applications, 21, 715-728.
Osland MJ, González E, Richardson CJ. 2011. Coastal freshwater wetland plant community response to seasonal drought and flooding in northwestern Costa Rica Wetlands, 31, 641-652. DOI:10.1007/s13157-011-0180-9
Osland MJ, Pahl JW, Richardson CJ. 2009. Native bamboo (Arundinaria gigantea (Walter) Muhl., Poaceae) establishment and growth after the removal of an invasive non-native shrub (Ligustrum sinense Lour., Oleaceae): implications for restoration. Castanea, 74, 247-258.
Osland MJ (2009). Managing invasive plants during wetland restoration: the role of disturbance, plant strategies, and environmental filters. Ph.D. Dissertation. Duke University, Durham, NC.
**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: 26
Filter Total Items: 43
Vegetation, soil, and landscape data Vegetation, soil, and landscape data
The northern Gulf of Mexico coast spans two major climate gradients and represents an excellent natural laboratory for developing climate-influenced ecological models. In this project, we used these zones of remarkable transition to develop macroclimate-based models for quantifying the regional responses of coastal wetland ecosystems to climate variation. In addition to providing...
Filter Total Items: 91
Tropicalization of temperate ecosystems in North America: The northward range expansion of tropical organisms in response to warming winter temperatures Tropicalization of temperate ecosystems in North America: The northward range expansion of tropical organisms in response to warming winter temperatures
Tropicalization is a term used to describe the transformation of temperate ecosystems by poleward‐moving tropical organisms in response to warming temperatures. In North America, decreases in the frequency and intensity of extreme winter cold events are expected to allow the poleward range expansion of many cold‐sensitive tropical organisms, sometimes at the expense of temperate...
Authors
Michael Osland, Philip Stevens, Margaret Lamont, Richard Brusca, Kristen Hart, Hardin Waddle, Catherine Langtimm, Caroline Williams, Barry Keim, Adam Terando, Eric Reyier, Katie Marshall, Michael E. Loik, Ross Boucek, Amanda Lewis, Jeffrey A. Seminoff
A comparison of plant communities in restored, old field, and remnant coastal prairies A comparison of plant communities in restored, old field, and remnant coastal prairies
Temperate grasslands are experiencing worldwide declines due to habitat conversion. Grassland restoration efforts are employed to compensate for these losses. However, there is a need to better understand the ecological effects of grassland restoration and management practices. We investigated the effects of three different grassland management regimes on plant communities of coastal...
Authors
Laura Feher, Larry Allain, Michael Osland, Elisabeth Pigott, Christopher Reid, Nicholas Latiolais
Changes in ecosystem nitrogen and carbon allocation with black mangrove (Avicennia germinans) encroachment into Spartina alterniflora salt marsh Changes in ecosystem nitrogen and carbon allocation with black mangrove (Avicennia germinans) encroachment into Spartina alterniflora salt marsh
Increases in temperature are expected to facilitate encroachment of tropical mangrove forests into temperate salt marshes, yet the effects on ecosystem services are understudied. Our work was conducted along a mangrove expansion front in Louisiana (USA), an area where coastal wetlands are in rapid decline due to compounding factors, including reduced sediment supply, rising sea level...
Authors
Aaron Macy, Michael Osland, Julia A Cherry, Just Cebrian
Frequency of extreme freeze events controls the distribution and structure of black mangroves (Avicennia germinans) near their northern range limit in coastal Louisiana Frequency of extreme freeze events controls the distribution and structure of black mangroves (Avicennia germinans) near their northern range limit in coastal Louisiana
Aim Climate change is expected to result in the tropicalization of coastal wetlands in the northern Gulf of Mexico, as warming winters allow tropical mangrove forests to expand their distribution poleward at the expense of temperate salt marshes. Data limitations near mangrove range limits have hindered understanding of the effects of winter temperature extremes on mangrove distribution...
Authors
Michael Osland, Richard Day, Thomas C. Michot
A tropical cyclone-induced ecological regime shift: Mangrove forest conversion to mudflat in Everglades National Park (Florida, USA) A tropical cyclone-induced ecological regime shift: Mangrove forest conversion to mudflat in Everglades National Park (Florida, USA)
The ecological effects of tropical cyclones on mangrove forests are diverse and highly location- and cyclone-dependent. Ecological resistance, resilience, and enhancement are terms that describe most mangrove forest responses to tropical cyclones. However, in the most extreme cases, tropical cyclones can trigger abrupt and irreversible ecological transformations (i.e., ecological regime...
Authors
Michael Osland, Laura Feher, Gordon Anderson, William Vervaeke, Ken Krauss, Kevin R.T. Whelan, Karen S. Balentine, G. Tiling-Range, Thomas J. Smith, Donald Cahoon
Final project memorandum: Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center Project Final project memorandum: Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center Project
Low-lying public lands along the northern Gulf of Mexico coast are vulnerable to sea-level rise. Coastal planners and resource managers in the region have requested customized information that can be used to concisely communicate local sea-level rise scenarios and identify potential impacts to the missions of management agencies. In this project, researchers worked with the Northern Gulf...
Authors
Michael Osland, Renee C. Collini
Non-USGS Publications**
Russell M, Teague A, Alvarez F, Dantin D, Osland M, Harvey J, Nestlerode J, Rogers J, Jackson L, Pilant D, Genthner F, Lewis M, Spivak A, Harwell M, Neale A. 2013. Neighborhood scale quantification of ecosystem goods and services. pp 50, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Gulf Ecology Division, Gulf Breeze, Florida, EPA/600/R-13/295, November 2013.
Osland MJ, González E, Richardson CJ. 2011. Restoring diversity after cattail expansion: disturbance, resilience, and seasonality in a tropical dry wetland. Ecological Applications, 21, 715-728.
Osland MJ, González E, Richardson CJ. 2011. Coastal freshwater wetland plant community response to seasonal drought and flooding in northwestern Costa Rica Wetlands, 31, 641-652. DOI:10.1007/s13157-011-0180-9
Osland MJ, Pahl JW, Richardson CJ. 2009. Native bamboo (Arundinaria gigantea (Walter) Muhl., Poaceae) establishment and growth after the removal of an invasive non-native shrub (Ligustrum sinense Lour., Oleaceae): implications for restoration. Castanea, 74, 247-258.
Osland MJ (2009). Managing invasive plants during wetland restoration: the role of disturbance, plant strategies, and environmental filters. Ph.D. Dissertation. Duke University, Durham, NC.
**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.