Science and Products
Recreational Birdwatching and Habitat
Thousands of visitors flock to the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge every year to look for birds both rare and common. Birdwatching activities contribute to economic activity for the Nisqually area and play a role in the broader outdoor-loving culture of the Pacific Northwest.
Fisheries and Fish Habitat
The estuarine habitat of the Delta is critical to the production of salmon, which supports recreational, commercial, and subsistence fishing. The combination of shaded pools, shallow reaches, and a rich prey population provide excellent feeding grounds for juvenile fish. Fishing also holds great importance in the cultural practices of the Nisqually Tribe.
Marsh Elevation Change and Carbon Sequestration
Tidal marsh vegetation grows in a narrow elevation zone between sea level and the upland behind it. These plant communities have evolved to accumulate sediment over time and maintain their relative elevation with gradual rates of change in sea level. It is uncertain which marsh vegetation communities will be able to accumulate sediment at a rate that keeps pace with accelerated sea level rise.
An Ecosystem Services Assessment of the Nisqually River Delta, South Puget Sound, Washington
Overview of Nisqually River Delta ecosystem services modeling
Identifying Locations for Coral Reef Climate Resilience
Coral reefs are critical providers of food, economic opportunity, and cultural value in the Pacific Islands. Coral bleaching events, driven by extreme water temperatures, jeopardize reefs’ ability to continue providing these services. Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of marine heat waves leading to bleaching events, reducing the amount of time for full recovery, and increas...
Projected future habitat, elevation change, and carbon accumulation of coastal wetlands in the Nisqually River Delta, Washington
This dataset consists of raster geotiff outputs from modeling habitat change, marsh vertical accretion, and carbon accumulation in the Nisqually River Delta, Washington, USA. These rasters represent projections of future habitat type, change in surface elevation above Mean Sea Level, and total sediment carbon accumulation since 2011 in coastal wetland habitats. Projections were generated in 20-yea
Favorability of environmental conditions for coral reefs in Guam and American Samoa under multiple climate scenarios
This dataset consists of raster geotiff outputs of relative environmental favorability for coral growth and survival in the United States territories of Guam and American Samoa across 3 climate scenarios: Present, Intermediate Emissions (Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5), and Worst Case Emissions (Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5). These datasets were generated from a synthesis of
Integrated modeling of climate and land change impacts on future dynamic wetland habitat – a case study from California’s Central Valley
This dataset consists of raster geotiff and tabular outputs of annual map projections of land use and land cover for the California Central Valley for the period 2011-2101 across 5 future scenarios. Four of the scenarios were developed as part of the Central Valley Landscape Conservation Project. The 4 original scenarios include a Bad-Business-As-Usual (BBAU; high water, poor management), Californ
Decision support StoryMap tool for wetland and wildlife management for the Central Valley of California.
Can coastal habitats rise to the challenge? Resilience of estuarine habitats, carbon accumulation, and economic value to sea-level rise in a Puget Sound estuary
Sea-level rise (SLR) and obstructions to sediment delivery pose challenges to the persistence of estuarine habitats and the ecosystem services they provide. Restoration actions and sediment management strategies may help mitigate such challenges by encouraging the vertical accretion of sediment in and horizontal migration of tidal forests and marshes. We used a process-based soil accretion model (
Authors
Monica Mei Jeen Moritsch, Kristin B. Byrd, Melanie J. Davis, Anthony J. Good, Judith Z. Drexler, James T. Morris, Isa Woo, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Eric E. Grossman, Glynnis Nakai, Katrina L. Poppe, John M. Rybczyk
Climate and land change impacts on future managed wetland habitat: A case study from California’s Central Valley
ConceptCalifornia’s Central Valley provides critical habitat for migratory waterbirds, yet only 10% of naturally occurring wetlands remain. Competition for limited water supplies and climate change will impact the long-term viability of these intensively managed habitats.ObjectivesForecast the distribution, abundance, and connectivity of surface water and managed wetland habitats, using 5 spatiall
Authors
Tamara S. Wilson, Elliott Matchett, Kristin B. Byrd, Erin Conlisk, Matthew E. Reiter, Cynthia Wallace, Lorraine E. Flint, Alan L. Flint, Monica Mei Jeen Moritsch
Modeling watershed carbon dynamics as affected by land cover change and soil erosion
Process-based ecosystem carbon cycle models typically incorporate vegetation growth, vegetation mortality, and soil respiration as well as the biotic and environmental drivers that influence these variables. However, few spatially explicit process models can efficiently incorporate the influence of land cover change and carbon lateral movement at regional scales or high spatial resolution. This st
Authors
Jinxun Liu, Benjamin M. Sleeter, Paul Selmants, Jiaojiao Diao, Qiang Zhou, Bruce Worstell, Monica Mei Jeen Moritsch
Coral reef resilience differs among islands within the Gulf of Mannar, southeast India, following successive coral bleaching events
We used a 12-yr data set of benthic cover (2005–2017), spanning two bleaching events, to assess changes in benthic cover and coral community composition along 21 islands within Gulf of Mannar (GoM), southeast India. Overall, between 2005 and 2017 reefs had a simultaneous decrease in relative coral cover (avg. = − 36%) and increase in algal cover (avg. = + 45%). Changes in benthic cover were not
Authors
K Diraviya Raj, Greta S. Aeby, G.M. Mathews, Gareth J Williams, Jamie M. Caldwell, R L Laju, M Selva Bharath, P Dinesh Kumar, A Arasamuthu, N Gladwin Gnana Asir, Lisa M. Wedding, Andrew Daview, Monica Mei Jeen Moritsch, J K Patterson Edward
Expansion of intertidal mussel beds following disease-driven reduction of a keystone predator
Disease shapes community composition by removing species with strong interactions. To test whether the absence of keystone predation due to disease produced changes to the species composition of rocky intertidal communities, we leverage a natural experiment involving mass mortality of the keystone predator Pisaster ochraceus from Sea Star Wasting Syndrome. Over four years, we measured dimensions o
Authors
Monica Mei Jeen Moritsch
Estimating blue carbon sequestration under coastal management scenarios
Restoring and protecting “blue carbon” ecosystems - mangrove forests, tidal marshes, and seagrass meadows - are actions considered for increasing global carbon sequestration. To improve understanding of which management actions produce the greatest gains in sequestration, we used a spatially explicit model to compare carbon sequestration and its economic value over a broad spatial scale (2500 km o
Authors
Monica Mei Jeen Moritsch, Mary Alida Young, Paul Carnell, Peter I Macreadie, Catherine E. Lovelock, Emily Nicholson, Peter T. Raimondi, Lisa M. Wedding, Daniel Ierodiaconou
Decision Support for Wetland and Wildlife Management
USGS Scientists published a StoryMap showing projected changes in land use, flooded area, and wildlife habitat in California’s Central Valley for five scenarios of future climate and water management.
Science and Products
- Science
Recreational Birdwatching and Habitat
Thousands of visitors flock to the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge every year to look for birds both rare and common. Birdwatching activities contribute to economic activity for the Nisqually area and play a role in the broader outdoor-loving culture of the Pacific Northwest.Fisheries and Fish Habitat
The estuarine habitat of the Delta is critical to the production of salmon, which supports recreational, commercial, and subsistence fishing. The combination of shaded pools, shallow reaches, and a rich prey population provide excellent feeding grounds for juvenile fish. Fishing also holds great importance in the cultural practices of the Nisqually Tribe.Marsh Elevation Change and Carbon Sequestration
Tidal marsh vegetation grows in a narrow elevation zone between sea level and the upland behind it. These plant communities have evolved to accumulate sediment over time and maintain their relative elevation with gradual rates of change in sea level. It is uncertain which marsh vegetation communities will be able to accumulate sediment at a rate that keeps pace with accelerated sea level rise.An Ecosystem Services Assessment of the Nisqually River Delta, South Puget Sound, Washington
Overview of Nisqually River Delta ecosystem services modelingIdentifying Locations for Coral Reef Climate Resilience
Coral reefs are critical providers of food, economic opportunity, and cultural value in the Pacific Islands. Coral bleaching events, driven by extreme water temperatures, jeopardize reefs’ ability to continue providing these services. Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of marine heat waves leading to bleaching events, reducing the amount of time for full recovery, and increas... - Data
Projected future habitat, elevation change, and carbon accumulation of coastal wetlands in the Nisqually River Delta, Washington
This dataset consists of raster geotiff outputs from modeling habitat change, marsh vertical accretion, and carbon accumulation in the Nisqually River Delta, Washington, USA. These rasters represent projections of future habitat type, change in surface elevation above Mean Sea Level, and total sediment carbon accumulation since 2011 in coastal wetland habitats. Projections were generated in 20-yeaFavorability of environmental conditions for coral reefs in Guam and American Samoa under multiple climate scenarios
This dataset consists of raster geotiff outputs of relative environmental favorability for coral growth and survival in the United States territories of Guam and American Samoa across 3 climate scenarios: Present, Intermediate Emissions (Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5), and Worst Case Emissions (Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5). These datasets were generated from a synthesis ofIntegrated modeling of climate and land change impacts on future dynamic wetland habitat – a case study from California’s Central Valley
This dataset consists of raster geotiff and tabular outputs of annual map projections of land use and land cover for the California Central Valley for the period 2011-2101 across 5 future scenarios. Four of the scenarios were developed as part of the Central Valley Landscape Conservation Project. The 4 original scenarios include a Bad-Business-As-Usual (BBAU; high water, poor management), Californ - Multimedia
Decision support StoryMap tool for wetland and wildlife management for the Central Valley of California.
- Publications
Can coastal habitats rise to the challenge? Resilience of estuarine habitats, carbon accumulation, and economic value to sea-level rise in a Puget Sound estuary
Sea-level rise (SLR) and obstructions to sediment delivery pose challenges to the persistence of estuarine habitats and the ecosystem services they provide. Restoration actions and sediment management strategies may help mitigate such challenges by encouraging the vertical accretion of sediment in and horizontal migration of tidal forests and marshes. We used a process-based soil accretion model (AuthorsMonica Mei Jeen Moritsch, Kristin B. Byrd, Melanie J. Davis, Anthony J. Good, Judith Z. Drexler, James T. Morris, Isa Woo, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Eric E. Grossman, Glynnis Nakai, Katrina L. Poppe, John M. RybczykClimate and land change impacts on future managed wetland habitat: A case study from California’s Central Valley
ConceptCalifornia’s Central Valley provides critical habitat for migratory waterbirds, yet only 10% of naturally occurring wetlands remain. Competition for limited water supplies and climate change will impact the long-term viability of these intensively managed habitats.ObjectivesForecast the distribution, abundance, and connectivity of surface water and managed wetland habitats, using 5 spatiallAuthorsTamara S. Wilson, Elliott Matchett, Kristin B. Byrd, Erin Conlisk, Matthew E. Reiter, Cynthia Wallace, Lorraine E. Flint, Alan L. Flint, Monica Mei Jeen MoritschModeling watershed carbon dynamics as affected by land cover change and soil erosion
Process-based ecosystem carbon cycle models typically incorporate vegetation growth, vegetation mortality, and soil respiration as well as the biotic and environmental drivers that influence these variables. However, few spatially explicit process models can efficiently incorporate the influence of land cover change and carbon lateral movement at regional scales or high spatial resolution. This stAuthorsJinxun Liu, Benjamin M. Sleeter, Paul Selmants, Jiaojiao Diao, Qiang Zhou, Bruce Worstell, Monica Mei Jeen MoritschCoral reef resilience differs among islands within the Gulf of Mannar, southeast India, following successive coral bleaching events
We used a 12-yr data set of benthic cover (2005–2017), spanning two bleaching events, to assess changes in benthic cover and coral community composition along 21 islands within Gulf of Mannar (GoM), southeast India. Overall, between 2005 and 2017 reefs had a simultaneous decrease in relative coral cover (avg. = − 36%) and increase in algal cover (avg. = + 45%). Changes in benthic cover were notAuthorsK Diraviya Raj, Greta S. Aeby, G.M. Mathews, Gareth J Williams, Jamie M. Caldwell, R L Laju, M Selva Bharath, P Dinesh Kumar, A Arasamuthu, N Gladwin Gnana Asir, Lisa M. Wedding, Andrew Daview, Monica Mei Jeen Moritsch, J K Patterson EdwardExpansion of intertidal mussel beds following disease-driven reduction of a keystone predator
Disease shapes community composition by removing species with strong interactions. To test whether the absence of keystone predation due to disease produced changes to the species composition of rocky intertidal communities, we leverage a natural experiment involving mass mortality of the keystone predator Pisaster ochraceus from Sea Star Wasting Syndrome. Over four years, we measured dimensions oAuthorsMonica Mei Jeen MoritschEstimating blue carbon sequestration under coastal management scenarios
Restoring and protecting “blue carbon” ecosystems - mangrove forests, tidal marshes, and seagrass meadows - are actions considered for increasing global carbon sequestration. To improve understanding of which management actions produce the greatest gains in sequestration, we used a spatially explicit model to compare carbon sequestration and its economic value over a broad spatial scale (2500 km oAuthorsMonica Mei Jeen Moritsch, Mary Alida Young, Paul Carnell, Peter I Macreadie, Catherine E. Lovelock, Emily Nicholson, Peter T. Raimondi, Lisa M. Wedding, Daniel Ierodiaconou - Web Tools
Decision Support for Wetland and Wildlife Management
USGS Scientists published a StoryMap showing projected changes in land use, flooded area, and wildlife habitat in California’s Central Valley for five scenarios of future climate and water management.
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