Ecosystems Land Change Science Program (original) (raw)
The Earth in Flux Chart Gallery
The Powerhouse of USGS Paleo-research
Coring Expedition to Palmyra Atoll
National News Release: Study confirms age of oldest fossil human footprints in North America
The Glacier - Climate Connection
The National Climate Change Viewer (NCCV)
Paleoclimate Research
The Land Change Science Program in the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area strives to advance the understanding of the physical, chemical, and biological components of the Earth system, the causes and consequences of climate and land use change, and the vulnerability and resilience of the Earth system to such changes.
News
December 9, 2024
USGS EcoNews | Fall 2024 - Vol. 5 | Issue 4
Publications
September 6, 2024
U.S. Geological Survey climate science plan—Future research directions
Executive Summary Climate is the primary driver of environmental change and is a key consideration in defining science priorities conducted across all mission areas in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Recognizing the importance of climate change to its future research agenda, the USGS’s Climate Science Steering Committee requested the development of a Climate Science Plan to identify future rese
Authors
Tamara Wilson, Ryan P. Boyles, Nicole DeCrappeo, Judith Z. Drexler, Kevin D. Kroeger, Rachel A. Loehman, John M. Pearce, Mark P. Waldrop, Peter D. Warwick, Anne M. Wein, Sara L. Zeigler, T. Douglas Beard,
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Climate Adaptation Science Centers, Ecosystems Land Change Science Program, Energy Resources Program, Volcano Hazards Program, Alaska Science Center, California Water Science Center, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center, Volcano Science Center, Western Geographic Science Center, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center
April 29, 2024
Snow avalanches are a primary climate-linked driver of mountain ungulate populations
Snow is a major, climate-sensitive feature of the Earth’s surface and catalyst of fundamentally important ecosystem processes. Understanding how snow influences sentinel species in rapidly changing mountain ecosystems is particularly critical. Whereas effects of snow on food availability, energy expenditure, and predation are well documented, we report how avalanches exert major impacts on an ecol
Authors
Kevin White, Eran Hood, Gabriel Wolken, Erich Peitzsch, Yves Bühler, Katreen Wikstrom Jones, Chris Darimont
March 1, 2024
Characterizing vegetation and return periods in avalanche paths using lidar and aerial imagery
Snow avalanches are a hazard and ecological disturbance across mountain landscapes worldwide. Understanding how avalanche frequency affects forests and vegetation improves infrastructure planning, risk management, and avalanche forecasting. We implemented a novel approach using lidar, aerial imagery, and a random forest model to classify imagery-observed vegetation within avalanche paths in southe
Science
December 27, 2024
Impacts of changing climate and disturbance regimes on forest ecosystem resilience in the Southern Rocky Mountains
Climate-driven forest disturbances, particularly drought-induced tree mortality and large high-severity fires from increasingly warm and dry conditions, are altering forest ecosystems and the ecosystem services society depends on (e.g., water supplies) in the Southern Rockies and across the Western U.S. We will combine unique, long-term place-based ecological data, diverse methods (e.g., paleo...
December 5, 2024
Glaciers and Climate Project
Mountain glaciers are dynamic reservoirs of frozen water closely coupled to ecosystems and climate. Glacier change in North America has major socioeconomic impacts, including global sea level change, tourism disruption, natural hazard risk, fishery effects, and water resource alteration. Understanding and quantifying precise connections between glaciers and climate is critical to decision makers...
December 5, 2024
Glaciers and Climate Project
Mountain glaciers are dynamic reservoirs of frozen water closely coupled to ecosystems and climate. Glacier change in North America has major socioeconomic impacts, including global sea level change, tourism disruption, natural hazard risk, fishery effects, and water resource alteration. Understanding and quantifying precise connections between glaciers and climate is critical to decision makers...
November 20, 2024
Paleoclimate Research: Integrating Systems and Models (PRISM5)
PRISM5 addresses how the world, and particularly the US east coast, is affected by climate change. We study past warm climates from the Pliocene, Middle Miocene and early Eocene because these periods provide a suite of natural climate experiments in which marine ecosystems responded to rapidly changing temperature, sea-level and atmospheric CO2 for comparison to modern and future climate change...
November 20, 2024
Paleoclimate Research: Integrating Systems and Models (PRISM5)
PRISM5 addresses how the world, and particularly the US east coast, is affected by climate change. We study past warm climates from the Pliocene, Middle Miocene and early Eocene because these periods provide a suite of natural climate experiments in which marine ecosystems responded to rapidly changing temperature, sea-level and atmospheric CO2 for comparison to modern and future climate change...