Natasha Carr, Ph.D.
Science and Products
Higher and Farther: Patterns of Development within Protected Areas
There is a well-known bias in the location of protected areas both within the US and globally. Lands protected for conservation tend to be located on less productive soils at high elevations far from cities. USGS is exploring whether this ‘high and far’ paradigm applies within protected areas as well. That is, does human modification within lands that already have some degree of protection,...
Energy Development and Changing Land Uses
Applied research and integrated regional assessments emphasize spatially explicit analyses of ecosystem components affected by energy development and land-use change in the western United States. Topics include sagebrush-steppe ecology; sagebrush habitat assessments; the effets of human activities (including energy development, transportation, and recreation) on habitats and wildlife behavior...
Landscape and Habitat Assessment
A central focus of this program is to conduct multi-scale assessments in order to develop related geospatial decision-support tools and methods. The program includes synthesizing broad-scale datasets and developing innovative approaches to assess the vulnerability and resilience of wildlife habitats and ecosystems, relative to land management decisions and ecosystem stressors on Department of...
The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI)
The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) addresses effects of land-use and climate changes on Southwest Wyoming’s natural resources. In partnership with twelve Federal, State, and local natural resource agencies, and non-governmental organizations– FORT and ten other USGS centers are conducting dozens of integrated science projects to assess the status of Southwest Wyoming’s...
Science to Support an Assessment of Future Climate Impacts on Wildlife in Wyoming
In response to the potential impacts of climate and land use change to the Nation’s ecosystems, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) launched a series of Rapid Ecoregional Assessments (REAs) in 2010. The REAs are focused on improving our understanding of the current state of ecosystems and how conditions may be impacted by changes in climate, land use, and other stressors. Researchers with...
Using a Collaborative Modeling Approach to Explore Climate and Landscape Change in the Northern Rockies and Inform Adaptive Management
Federal land managers need an adaptive management framework to accommodate changing conditions and that allows them to effectively link the appropriate science to natural resource management decision-making across jurisdictional boundaries. FRAME-SIMPPLLE is a collaborative modeling process designed to accomplish this goal by coupling the adaptive capabilities of the SIMPPLLE modeling system...
Energy and Environment in the Rocky Mountain Area (EERMA)
The Energy and Environment in the Rocky Mountain Area (EERMA) project is composed of interdisciplinary U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists working to provide land management agencies and decision makers with information. The purpose of the Interactive Energy Atlas is to provide data and decision support tools to visualize and assess the potential effects of energy development.
Surface area of solar arrays in the conterminous United States
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Fort Collins Science Center created a national data set of the footprint area of solar arrays for the Bureau of Land Management’s National Operations Center. As of 2015, solar arrays covered 191.57 square kilometers. There were 176 utility-scale solar facilities on impervious surfaces and 564 facilities on non-impervious surfaces.
Using scenarios to evaluate vulnerability of grassland communities to climate change in the Southern Great Plains of the United States
Scenario planning is a useful tool for identifying key vulnerabilities of ecological systems to changing climates, informed by the potential outcomes for a set of divergent, plausible, and relevant climate scenarios. We evaluated potential vulnerabilities of grassland communities to changing climate in the Southern Great Plains (SGP) and the...
Manier, Daniel J.; Carr, Natasha B.; Reese, Gordon C.; Burris, Lucy
Quantifying ecological integrity of terrestrial systems to inform management of multiple-use public lands in the United States
The concept of ecological integrity has been applied widely to management of aquatic systems, but still is considered by many to be too vague and difficult to quantify to be useful for managing terrestrial systems, particularly across broad areas. Extensive public lands in the western United States are managed for diverse uses such as timber...
Carter, Sarah K.; Fleishman, Erica; Leinwand, Ian I.F.; Flather, Curtis H.; Carr, Natasha B.; Fogarty, Frank A.; Leu, Matthias; Noon, Barry R.; Wohlfeil, M.E.; Wood, David J. A.
Southern Great Plains Rapid Ecoregional Assessment—Volume II. Species and assemblages
The Southern Great Plains Rapid Ecoregional Assessment was conducted in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative. The overall goal of the Rapid Ecoregional Assessments (REAs) is to compile and synthesize regional datasets to facilitate evaluation of the cumulative effects of...
Reese, Gordon C.; Carr, Natasha B.; Burris, Lucy E.
Biophysical assessment for indemnity selection of Federal Lands in Colorado
Information on the biophysical features of Federal lands identified as suitable for transfer to the State of Colorado was requested by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). This information is intended for use in conducting an Environmental Assessment prior to the transfer of ownership (conveyance) to the State. The Colorado State Land Board filed...
Carr, Natasha B.; Burris, Lucy E.; Manier, Daniel J.
Greater sage-grouse science (2015–17)—Synthesis and potential management implications
Executive SummaryThe greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; hereafter called “sage-grouse”), a species that requires sagebrush (Artemisia spp.), has experienced range-wide declines in its distribution and abundance. These declines have prompted substantial research and management investments to improve the understanding of sage-grouse and...
Hanser, Steven E.; Deibert, Patricia A.; Tull, John C.; Carr, Natasha B.; Aldridge, Cameron L.; Bargsten, Travis D.; Christiansen, Thomas J.; Coates, Peter S.; Crist, Michele R.; Doherty, Kevin E.; Ellsworth, Ethan A.; Foster, Lee J.; Herren, Vicki A.; Miller, Kevin H.; Moser, Ann; Naeve, Robin M.; Prentice, Karen L.; Remington, Thomas E.; Ricca, Mark A.; Shinneman, Douglas J.; Truex, Richard L.; Wiechman , Lief A. ; Wilson, Dereck C.; Bowen, Zachary H.
Southern Great Plains Rapid Ecoregional assessment—Volume I. Ecological communities
The Southern Great Plains Rapid Ecoregional Assessment was conducted in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative. The overall goal of the Rapid Ecoregional Assessments (REAs) is to compile and synthesize regional datasets to facilitate evaluation of the cumulative effects of...
Reese, Gordon C.; Burris, Lucy; Carr, Natasha B.; Leinwand, Ian I.F.; Melcher, Cynthia P.
Multiscale guidance and tools for implementing a landscape approach to resource management in the Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is implementing a landscape approach to resource management (hereafter, landscape approach) to more effectively work with partners and understand the effects of management decisions. A landscape approach is a set of concepts and principles used to guide resource management when multiple stakeholders are involved...
Carter, Sarah K.; Carr, Natasha B.; Miller, Kevin H.; Wood, David J.A.
Estimated historical distribution of grassland communities of the Southern Great Plains
The purpose of this project was to map the estimated distribution of grassland communities of the Southern Great Plains prior to Euro-American settlement. The Southern Great Plains Rapid Ecoregional Assessment (REA), under the direction of the Bureau of Land Management and the Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative, includes four...
Reese, Gordon C.; Manier, Daniel J.; Carr, Natasha B.; Callan, Ramana; Leinwand, Ian I.F.; Assal, Timothy J.; Burris, Lucy; Ignizio, Drew A.
Wyoming Basin Rapid Ecoregional Assessment
The Wyoming Basin Rapid Ecoregional Assessment was conducted in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The overall goals of the BLM Rapid Ecoregional Assessments (REAs) are to identify important ecosystems and wildlife habitats at broad spatial scales; identify where these resources are at risk from Change Agents, including...
Carr, Natasha B.; Melcher, Cynthia P.
Southern Great Plains Rapid Ecoregional Assessment: pre-assessment report
The purpose of the Pre-Assessment Report for the Southern Great Plains Rapid Ecoregional Assessment (REA) is to document the selection process for and final list of Conservation Elements, Change Agents, and Management Questions developed during Phase I. The overall goal of the REAs being conducted for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is to...
Assal, Timothy J.; Melcher, Cynthia P.; Carr, Natasha B.
Broad-scale assessments of ecological landscapes: developing methods and applications
The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is developing a Landscape Approach for managing multiple uses of public lands by incorporating multiscale information to quantify the effects of natural and human influences on natural resource conditions and trends. A primary goal of the approach is to identify...
Carr, Natasha B.; Wood, David J. A.; Bowen, Zachary H.; Haby, Travis S.
Two decision-support tools for assessing the potential effects of energy development on hydrologic resources as part of the Energy and Environment in the Rocky Mountain Area interactive energy atlas
The U.S. Geological Survey project—Energy and Environment in the Rocky Mountain Area (EERMA)—has developed a set of virtual tools in the form of an online interactive energy atlas for Colorado and New Mexico to facilitate access to geospatial data related to energy resources, energy infrastructure, and natural resources that may be affected by...
Linard, Joshua I.; Matherne, Anne Marie; Leib, Kenneth J.; Carr, Natasha B.; Diffendorfer, James E.; Hawkins, Sarah J.; Latysh, Natalie; Ignizio, Drew A.; Babel, Nils C.