Stephen B Hartley
Biography
EDUCATION
M.S., Geology, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, 2000
B.S., Geology, Louisiana Tech, 1985
RESEARCH
Stephen Hartley is responsible for the installation, configuration, and overall maintenance of software, hardware, and networking for geographic information system operations. His specific duties include managing and coordinating GIS projects, performing image analysis, developing prototype GIS products, troubleshooting, quality control, personnel management and training, and interacting with clients. Hartley serves as WARC's GAP coordinator for Louisiana. He is one of the Center's certified UAS pilots.
Science and Products
Using Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Capabilities to Help Identify Giant Salvinia (Salvinia molesta) and the effects of Salvinia weevil (Cyrtogagous salviniae)
USGS is collecting remotely sensed data to classify Salvinia molesta, a non-native aquatic species that reduces light and oxygen levels in water, making it unsuitable for fish and other aquatic plant life.
Identification of Hydrologic Controls on Coastal Spartina patens Marshes and Optimal Hydrological Conditions for Sustainable Mottled Duck Habitat
Mottled ducks rely on the coastal marshes of the Texas Chenier Plain, which are considered among the most critically endangered habitats in the United States. USGS scientists are evaluating what might be contributing to the degradation of high-quality mottled duck habitat to better understand the causes of habitat loss and subsequently mitigate those losses.
Using Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Capabilities to Help Identify Hummock-Hollow Formation and Fragmentation in Critical Marsh Habitat for Mottled Ducks
For many years, coastal marshes in Texas and Louisiana have served as critical habitat for the mottled duck (Anas fulvigula), which is considered a priority species in the Texas/Louisiana Gulf Coast area.
USGS Technical Support for Coastal/Wetlands Ecology: Spatial Analysis and Application for the Gulf Coast Prairie Landscape Conservation Cooperative (GCP LCC)
The Gulf Coastal Prairie (GCP) includes areas within Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas as well as Mexico. The GCP Landscape Conservation Cooperative aims to conserve prairie grasslands which helps migratory birds and other wildlife that rely on these ecosystems.
Past and Future Modeling of Ecological Indicators for the South Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative
The South Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative (LCC) has developed a Conservation Blueprint: a “living spatial plan to conserve natural and cultural resources for future generations.” This blueprint is a data-driven plan based on terrestrial, freshwater, marine, and cross-ecosystem indicators to measure the overall health of South...
Geographic Information System and Remote Sensing Support: Gulf Coast Joint Venture
The Gulf Coast Joint Venture (GCJV) was established in 1988 as a result of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, which espouses the restoration of continental waterfowl populations through conservation partnerships in priority habitat regions. Since that time GCJV partners have expanded their mission and purpose to include the provision of habitat to support other priority bird species...
Mapping Fresh, Intermediate, Brackish and Saline Marshes in the North Central Gulf of Mexico Coast to Inform Future Projections
Spatial data depicting marsh types (e.g. fresh, intermediate, brackish and saline) for the north-central Gulf of Mexico coast are inconsistent across the region, limiting the ability of conservation planners to model the current and future capacity of the coast to sustain priority species. The goal of this study was to (1) update the resolution of coastal Texas vegetation data to match that of...
Extreme precipitation and flooding contribute to sudden vegetation dieback in a coastal salt marsh
Climate extremes are becoming more frequent with global climate change and have the potential to cause major ecological regime shifts. Along the northern Gulf of Mexico, a coastal wetland in Texas suffered sudden vegetation dieback following an extreme precipitation and flooding event associated with Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Historical salt marsh...
Stagg, Camille; Osland, Michael; Moon, Jena A.; Feher, Laura; Laurenzano, Claudia; Lane, Tiffany C.; Jones, William; Hartley, Stephen Predicting functional responses in agro-ecosystems from animal movement data to improve management of invasive pests
Functional responses describe how changing resource availability affects consumer resource use, thus providing a mechanistic approach to prediction of the invasibility and potential damage of invasive alien species (IAS). However, functional responses can be context dependent, varying with resource characteristics and availability, consumer...
Wilber, Mark Q.; Chinn, Sarah M.; Beasley, James C.; Boughton, Raoul; Brook, Ryan K.; Ditchkoff, Stephen S.; Fischer, Justin W.; Hartley, Stephen B.; Holmstrom, Lindsey K.; Kilgo, John C.; Lewis, Jesse S.; Miller, Ryan S.; Snow, Nathan P.; Vercauteren, Kurt C.; Wisely, Samantha M.; Webb, Colleen T.; Pepin, Kim M. Quantifying hydrologic controls on local- and landscape-scale indicators of coastal wetland loss
Background and AimsCoastal wetlands have evolved to withstand stressful abiotic conditions through the maintenance of hydrologic feedbacks among vegetation production and flooding. However, disruption of these feedbacks can lead to ecosystem collapse, or a regime shift from vegetated wetland to open water. To prevent the loss of critical coastal...
Stagg, Camille; Osland, Michael; Moon, Jena A.; Hall, Courtney; Feher, Laura; Jones, William R.; Couvillion, Brady; Hartley, Stephen B.; Vervaeke, William
Using UAS capabilities to help identify hummock-hollow formation and fragmentation in critical marsh habitat (Spartina patens) for mottled ducks in southeast Texas
For many years, marshes in the coastal areas from Texas to Louisiana have served as critical habitat for Anas fulvigula, the mottled duck. Mottled ducks are a priority species in the Texas/Louisiana Gulf Coast area and have been affected by critical habitat reduction. In recent years, mottled duck habitats have been threatened by natural and...
Jones, William R.; Hartley, Stephen B.; Stagg, Camille L.; Osland, Michael J.
Expectations of Maurepas Swamp response to a river reintroduction, Louisiana
Mississippi River reintroductions (freshwater diversions) into wetlands previously disconnected from the river have been implemented in southeastern Louisiana as a means to rehabilitate degraded and submerging wetlands. To date, all active Mississippi River reintroductions have targeted marsh habitat. However, a 57 cubic meter per second (2,000...
Krauss, Ken W.; Shaffer, Gary P.; Keim, Richard F.; Chambers, Jim L.; Wood, William B.; Hartley, Stephen B. Climate and plant controls on soil organic matter in coastal wetlands
Coastal wetlands are among the most productive and carbon‐rich ecosystems on Earth. Long‐term carbon storage in coastal wetlands occurs primarily belowground as soil organic matter (SOM). In addition to serving as a carbon sink, SOM influences wetland ecosystem structure, function, and stability. To anticipate and mitigate the effects of climate...
Osland, Michael J.; Gabler, Christopher A.; Grace, James B.; Day, Richard H.; McCoy, Meagan L.; McLeod, Jennie L.; From, Andrew S.; Enwright, Nicholas M.; Feher, Laura C.; Stagg, Camille L.; Hartley, Stephen B. Quantifying drivers of wild pig movement across multiple spatial and temporal scales
Background The movement behavior of an animal is determined by extrinsic and intrinsic factors that operate at multiple spatio-temporal scales, yet much of our knowledge of animal movement comes from studies that examine only one or two scales concurrently. Understanding the drivers of animal movement across multiple scales is crucial for...
Kay, Shannon L.; Fischer, Justin W.; Monaghan, Andrew J.; Beasley, James C; Boughton, Raoul; Campbell, Tyler A; Cooper, Susan M; Ditchkoff, Stephen S.; Hartley, Stephen B.; Kilgo, John C; Wisely, Samantha M; Wyckoff, A Christy; Vercauteren, Kurt C.; Pipen, Kim M
Performance measures for a Mississippi River reintroduction into the forested wetlands of Maurepas Swamp
The use of freshwater diversions (river reintroductions) from the Mississippi River as a restoration tool to rehabilitate Louisiana coastal wetlands has been promoted widely since the first such diversion at Caernarvon became operational in the early 1990s. To date, aside from the Bonnet Carré Spillway (which is designed and operated for flood...
Krauss, Ken W.; Shaffer, Gary P.; Keim, Richard F.; Chambers, Jim L.; Wood, William B.; Hartley, Stephen B.
Delineation of marsh types and marsh-type change in coastal Louisiana for 2007 and 2013
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management researchers often require detailed information regarding emergent marsh vegetation types (such as fresh, intermediate, brackish, and saline) for modeling habitat capacities and mitigation. In response, the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management produced a detailed...
Hartley, Stephen B.; Couvillion, Brady R.; Enwright, Nicholas M. Macroclimatic change expected to transform coastal wetland ecosystems this century
Coastal wetlands, existing at the interface between land and sea, are highly vulnerable to climate change. Macroclimate (for example, temperature and precipitation regimes) greatly influences coastal wetland ecosystem structure and function. However, research on climate change impacts in coastal wetlands has concentrated primarily on sea-level...
Gabler, Christopher A.; Osland, Michael J.; Grace, James B.; Stagg, Camille L.; Day, Richard H.; Hartley, Stephen B.; Enwright, Nicholas M.; From, Andrew; McCoy, Meagan L.; McLeod, Jennie L. Contact heterogeneities in feral swine: implications for disease management and future research
Contact rates vary widely among individuals in socially structured wildlife populations. Understanding the interplay of factors responsible for this variation is essential for planning effective disease management. Feral swine (Sus scrofa) are a socially structured species which pose an increasing threat to livestock and human health, and little...
Pepin, Kim; Davis, Amy J.; Beasley, James; Boughton, Raoul; Campbell, Tyler; Cooper, Susan; Gaston, Wes; Hartley, Stephen B.; Kilgo, John C.; Wisely, Samantha; Wyckoff, Christy; VerCauteren, Kurt
Delineation of marsh types from Corpus Christi Bay, Texas, to Perdido Bay, Alabama, in 2010
Coastal zone managers and researchers often require detailed information regarding emergent marsh vegetation types (that is, fresh, intermediate, brackish, and saline) for modeling habitat capacities and needs of marsh dependent taxa (such as waterfowl and alligator). Detailed information on the extent and distribution of emergent marsh vegetation...
Enwright, Nicholas M.; Hartley, Stephen B.; Couvillion, Brady R.; Michael G. Brasher; Jenneke M. Visser; Michael K. Mitchell; Bart M. Ballard; Mark W. Parr; Barry C. Wilson