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At least 739 records · Page 41Linked to original sources

USGS2026

Coastal development

As a focal point of global urbanization, the coastal zone faces multiple pressures from human activities, land-sea interactions and natural disasters. Over the past five years, population, communities and infrastructure in coastal zones have consistently grown, alongside gradual economic recovery. Coastal pollution has become more complex owing to climate change and the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, necessitating enhanced monitoring and control measures. Public participation has been diversified but still faces difficulties in awareness-raising, policy strengthening, equity and comprehensiveness. For the coastal zone, integrated management will continue to be needed in order to achieve a balance between economic performance and ecological environment. Climate change will be a key factor to consider in every aspect of coastal zone development. To build inclusive, safe and disaster-resilient communities while reducing negative environmental impacts and achieving a sustainable coastal economy, greater emphasis must be placed on green-grey infrastructure, ecosystem-based approaches, institutional integration and sociocultural aspects. In addition, urgent breakthroughs are needed in areas such as data collection, technology synthesis, integrated land-sea management, transboundary cooperation and policies and technical innovations related to natural and nature-based features and nature-based solutions.

Report↗

USGS2009

Stochastic variation in avian survival rates: Life-history predictions, population consequences, and the potential responses to human perturbations and climate change

Stochastic variation in survival rates is expected to decrease long-term population growth rates. This expectation influences both life-history theory and the conservation of species. From this expectation, Pfister ( 1998 ) developed the important life-history prediction that natural selection will have minimized variability in those elements of the annual life cycle (such as adult survival rate) with high sensitivity. This prediction has not been rigorously evaluated for bird populations, in part due to statistical difficulties related to variance estimation. I here overcome these difficulties, and in an analysis of 62 populations, I confirm her prediction by showing a negative relationship between the proportional sensitivity (elasticity) of adult survival and the proportional variance (CV) of adult survival. However, several species deviated significantly from this expectation, with more process variance in survival than predicted. For instance, projecting the magnitude of process variance in annual survival for American redstarts ( Setophaga ruticilla ) for 25 years resulted in a 44% decline in abundance without assuming any change in mean survival rate. For most of these species with high process variance, recent changes in harvest, habitats, or changes in climate patterns are the likely sources of environmental variability causing this variability in survival. Because of climate change, environmental variability is increasing on regional and global scales, which is expected to increase stochasticity in vital rates of species. Increased stochasticity in survival will depress population growth rates, and this result will magnify the conservation challenges we face.

Book chapter↗

USGS2025

Agronomic practices vs. natural soil factors: Influences on nitrous oxide emissions from corn and soybean fields.

Nitrous oxide (N 2 O), a potent greenhouse gas (GHG) and major contributor to climate change, is primarily released through agricultural activities. To better understand and quantify how land management practices, local climate conditions, and soil physicochemical properties affect these agricultural N 2 O emissions, we conducted a review of the peer-reviewed literature on N 2 O emission from corn [ Zea mays L.] and soybean [ Glycine max (L.) Merr.] fields. We evaluated the seasonal, cumulative effects of three nitrogen fertilizer rates—no fertilizer (0), low (<188 kg N ha −1 ), and high (188–400 kg N ha −1 )—tillage practices, local climate (precipitation and temperature), soil texture, and soil pH on soil N 2 O emissions. This meta-analysis included 77 articles for corn and 22 articles for soybean fields. Average N 2 O emissions during the corn rotation were 2.34 and 2.45 kg N 2 O-N ha −1 season −1 under low and high N fertilizer rates, respectively, and were both substantially ( p < 0.0001) greater than those of non-fertilized corn fields (0.91 kg N 2 O-N ha −1 season −1 ). Non-fertilized soybean fields showed seasonal N 2 O emissions of 0.74 kg N 2 O-N ha −1 , while low fertilizer application triggered a sharp increase (1.87 kg N 2 O-N ha −1 ) in N 2 O emissions by roughly 2.5 times ( p < 0.028). Increased temperature did not significantly ( p > 0.05) affect the emission of N 2 O from fertilized or non-fertilized corn fields. Regardless of fertilization and tillage practices, our analysis, including Principal Component Analysis, revealed that in corn fields, precipitation and soil pH are the dominant factors influencing soil N 2 O emissions. This study uniquely quantifies the influence of climate–soil factors, such as precipitation and soil pH, alongside agronomic practices, on N 2 O emissions, offering new insights beyond previous reviews focused primarily on fertilizer rates or tillage effects.

Agronomy↗

USGS2018

Effect of climate change on disease spread in wildlife

A growing body of evidence indicates that climate change alone, or acting synergistically with current anthropogenic threats, is affecting the health of wild populations of aquatic and terrestrial wildlife. Measurable by-products of climate change include elevated atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, higher average global temperatures; variations in global precipitation patterns, rising and warming oceans, altered hydrographs of rivers, and increased mid-continental drying during summer. These consequences affect the terrestrial environment through shifts in phenology, vegetation cover, and fire regimes. Warmer ocean temperatures, increased acidification, rise in sea levels, and reduction in sea ice cover are also leading to widespread ecological changes in marine systems. Wildlife populations face a variety of climate-related pressures, such as changes in animal distribution or density, limitation of food resources, and alteration to critical habitats. The increased potential for emergence and resurgence of diseases that are responsive to environmental conditions also has implications for wildlife populations. Shifts in temperature or other climatic factors may directly affect the incidence of disease in wildlife by altering host-pathogen interactions, promoting vector populations or allowing new ranges for vectors, or reducing development times for parasites. A number of examples from both field and laboratory studies have demonstrated a clear link between warming environments and disease spread. Many climate-related environmental changes also influence wildlife health indirectly. For example, increasing temperatures, in combination with shifts in rainfall and humidity, may aggravate current trends for water resource limitation and habitat degradation or destruction and lead to increased crowding of animal populations, thereby promoting transmission opportunities of pathogens within populations or across species. Although it may be difficult to disentangle the influences of other anthropogenic changes from the direct effects of warming, some ecosystems provide especially useful models for studying climate-related disease spread in wildlife. For example, the effects of climate change on parasite dynamics may be easily observed in the Arctic, where environmental changes are occurring rapidly, anthropogenic influences are relatively limited, and biodiversity is generally low. Marine ecosystems are also undergoing rapid rates of change and may be vulnerable to a variety of natural and anthropogenic perturbations. Although many factors affect the health of organisms in ocean environments, temperature has been clearly linked to an increase in disease prevalence among sessile organisms such as corals. In this chapter, we discuss observed and predicted changes to wildlife health resulting from climate change. Our review will not include all aspects of wildlife health, but will instead focus on established or suspected links between climate drivers and disease spread and discuss examples from the current literature. Here, we define disease spread to include: 1) change in geographical or altitudinal distribution of pathogens, parasites, and vectors and the diseases they cause; 2) change in prevalence or severity of disease; and 3) emergence of novel diseases. Additionally, because wildlife species serve as reservoirs for zoonotic diseases that affect both animals and humans, we include select examples of the effect of climate change on the capacity of wildlife to harbor and spread these disease agents.

Book chapter↗

USGS2024

Assessing and implementing the concept of Blue Economy in Laurentian Great Lakes fisheries: Lessons from coupled human and natural systems

Inland fisheries often receive little to no attention in global discussions about sustainable development. The consequences of overlooking inland fisheries in sustainability dialogues are increasingly problematic as fisheries stressors (e.g., overharvest, species invasion, climate change, habitat modification) intensify. Elevating the global profile of inland fisheries requires an approach for quantifying and clearly conveying the ecological, economic, and societal values of these systems. One such approach involves the Blue Economy, a multifaceted concept initially used to describe the intersection of marine conservation and sustainable use of marine resources for economic growth. Although conceptually powerful, the Blue Economy has rarely been applied to inland waters and fisheries. To address this knowledge gap, we conceptualized Laurentian Great Lakes fisheries from a Blue Economy perspective. In particular, we evaluated the utility of the coupled human and natural systems (CHANS) framework for characterizing the ecological, economic, and societal values of Laurentian Great Lakes fisheries and associated contributions to the Blue Economy (e.g., human livelihoods, food security, recreation, conservation, economic prosperity). There are numerous opportunities to leverage CHANS methods (e.g., metacoupling, telecoupling) and associated mathematical models to advance fisheries science, inform fisheries management, and ultimately move toward a Blue Economy in the Laurentian Great Lakes. To that end, we demonstrated applications of CHANS methods, discussed strategies for communicating with stakeholders, and provided insights for navigating challenges to developing a Blue Economy in the Laurentian Great Lakes—a model that could be used in the African Great Lakes and other large ecosystems in the world.

Laurentian Great Lakes↗

USGS2021

Human-polar bear interactions

Human-wildlife interactions (HWI) are driven fundamentally by overlapping space and resources. As competition intensifies, the likelihood of interaction and conflict increases. In turn, conflict may impede conservation efforts by lowering social tolerance of wildlife, especially when human-wildlife conflict (HWC) poses a threat to human safety and economic well-being. Thus, mitigating conflict is one of the most consequential components of a wildlife management program, particularly for large carnivores. However, unlike other large carnivores, the causative factors and conservation consequences of interactions between humans and polar bears ( Ursus maritimus ) are poorly understood. Historically, mitigation of human-polar bear conflict has been a low management priority with the exception of a few locations where conflict had been a chronic concern. In part, this was because of low human densities in most of the Arctic and sea ice act as a physical barrier regulating the frequency of human-polar bear interactions. However, as the Arctic has warmed, anthropogenic activities have increased, and polar bears have become more reliant on land. As a result, mitigating interaction and conflict between humans and polar bears has become a growing concern. In this chapter, we explore the nexus of polar bear and human behavior and environmental change in driving the nature and intensity of human-polar bear interaction and conflict. We first provide an overview of behaviors that contribute to the occurrence of interactions and conflicts. We then review historical and contemporary drivers of interaction and conflict and examine how climate-mediated changes to Arctic marine and terrestrial environments are likely to influence distribution and types of future incidents. We close by proposing a conceptual framework that conservationists and managers can use to mitigate the likelihood of future human-polar bear conflict in a rapidly changing Arctic.

Book chapter↗

USGS2026

Millennial-scale climatic and cultural impacts on vegetation and fire at the southern edge of the Rocky Mountains, USA

Mountain forests and woodlands in semiarid regions of the world are threatened by climatic change and other human impacts. In the southwestern USA, climate and culturally driven changes to the structure and fire regimes of dry coniferous forests over recent centuries are well documented by tree-ring archives. However, the roles of climate and people as drivers of millennial-scale changes are less understood. We present a new record of vegetation dynamics and regional fire activity inferred from pollen, microscopic charcoal, and sediment geochemistry from Santa Fe Lake, NM (3532 m a.s.l.), the southernmost natural lake in the Rocky Mountains. Declining elemental intensities (e.g., Ti, Fe, Si) record local deglaciation after 14,000 cal yr BP followed by upslope expansion of trees indicated by increasing Pinus and Picea pollen percentages as the climate warmed during the Late Glacial. Cool, dry growing seasons probably limited the establishment of dense forests until after 12,200 cal yr BP when we hypothesize that Pinus ponderosa (ponderosa pine) expanded regionally (i.e., within 10–100 km) due to continued warming and a possible increase in monsoonal precipitation. Subalpine forests established near Santa Fe Lake by 10,300 cal yr BP as indicated by abundant conifer stomates and increasing Picea and Pinus aristata pollen percentages, which are highest after 5100 cal yr BP. Increasing Juniperus -type, Quercus , and Pinus edulis -type pollen record changes in vegetation belts at lower elevations after 10,300 cal yr BP. Maize pollen, an unambiguous indicator of Puebloan agriculture, first appears at 800 cal yr BP (1150 cal yr CE) and is present through 1600 cal yr CE when Spanish colonization brought cultural upheaval and population loss to local indigenous communities. Regional fire activity, inferred from microscopic charcoal influx, remained relatively constant for most of our record. However, average microscopic charcoal influx more than doubled relative to the rest of the Holocene during the last 2000 years, with the highest influx after 1550 cal yr BP (400 cal yr CE). The increased influx of microscopic charcoal coincides with archaeological evidence for dramatic regional population growth in the northern Rio Grande region and probably reflects extensive cultural burning associated with the development of an agricultural economy. Although climate was an important driver of vegetation change and fire regimes in the mountains of the southwestern USA during the Holocene, our results suggest that human impacts on regional burning during the last 2000 years far exceeded earlier climate-driven variation.

Rocky Mountains↗

USGS2019

A three-pipe problem: Dealing with complexity to halt amphibian declines

Natural resource managers are increasingly faced with threats to managed ecosystems that are largely outside of their control. Examples include land development, climate change, invasive species, and emerging infectious diseases. All of these are characterized by large uncertainties in timing, magnitude, and effects on species. In many cases, the conservation of species will only be possible through concerted action on the limited elements of the system that managers can control. However, before an action is taken, a manager must decide how to act, which is, if done well, not easy. In addition to dealing with uncertainty, managers must balance multiple potentially competing objectives, often in cases when the management actions available to them are limited. Guidance in making these types of challenging decisions can be found in the practice known as decision analysis. We demonstrate how using a decision-analytic approach to frame decisions can help identify and address impediments to improved conservation decision making. We demonstrate the application of decision analysis to two high-elevation amphibian species. An inadequate focus on the decision-making process, and an assumption that scientific information is adequate to solve conservation problems, must be overcome to advance the conservation of amphibians and other highly threatened taxa.

Biological Conservation↗

USGS2021

Freezing temperatures restrict woody plant recruitment and restoration efforts in abandoned montane pastures

Tropical montane forests are being lost at an alarming rate but harbor some of the globe’s most unique biodiversity. The Hawaiian archipelago is a prime example of the importance of high elevation forests to species conservation and persistence as they serve as the last refugia for Hawaiian birds. Yet these forests have been converted to invasive dominated pastures, and efforts to restore them have been met with limited success. Unsuccessful forest restoration may be due to freezing temperatures acting as a demographic bottleneck by killing seedlings recruiting into pastures. We determined freezing tolerances of eight common native woody plants at a high-elevation forest on Hawaiʻi Island and compared these freezing tolerances to two years of site-specific winter temperatures and 17 years of regional temperature records. Low temperature extremes were more severe and common in pastures than under nearby 30-year-old canopy trees. Freezing temperatures over two years were severe enough to damage leaf tissues of six of eight species tested. Those species that displayed the greatest freezing tolerance were also those found naturally recruiting into open pastures. Temperature trends over the past 17 years show monthly minimum temperatures are not increasing as predicted by climate change. Persistent severe freezing events may limit seedling recruitment in the pasture, slowing native woody plant expansion into these abandoned pastures. The species-level differences in freezing tolerance show that current management actions are using species that are at high risk to freezing damage outside of the forest canopy and that alternative species may warrant consideration.

Global Ecology and Conservation↗

USGS2011

Toward a community coastal sediment transport modeling system: the second workshop

Models for transport and the long-term fate of particles in coastal waters are essential for a variety of applications related to commerce, defense, public health, and the quality of the marine environment. Examples include: analysis of waste disposal and transport and the fate of contaminated materials; evaluation of burial rates for naval mines or archaeological artifacts; prediction of water-column optical properties; analysis of transport and the fate of biological particles; prediction of coastal flooding and coastal erosion; evaluation of impacts of sea-level or wave-climate changes and coastal development; planning for construction and maintenance of navigable waterways; evaluation of habitat for commercial fisheries; evaluation of impacts of natural or anthropogenic changes in coastal conditions on recreational activities; and design of intakes and outfalls for sewage treatment, cooling systems, and desalination plants.

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union↗

USGS2017

Home range, den selection and habitat use of Carolina northern flying squirrels (Glaucomys sabrinus coloratus)

Context: Understanding habitat selection is important for determining conservation and management strategies for endangered species. The Carolina northern flying squirrel (CNFS; Glaucomys sabrinus coloratus ) is an endangered subspecies found in the high-elevation montane forests of the southern Appalachians, USA. The primary use of nest boxes to monitor CNFS has provided biased information on habitat use for this subspecies, as nest boxes are typically placed in suitable denning habitat. Aims: We conducted a radio-telemetry study on CNFS to determine home range, den site selection and habitat use at multiple spatial scales. Methods: We radio-collared 21 CNFS in 2012 and 2014–15. We tracked squirrels to diurnal den sites and during night-time activity. Key results: The MCP (minimum convex polygon) home range at 95% for males was 5.2 ± 1.2 ha and for females was 4.0 ± 0.7. The BRB (biased random bridge) home range at 95% for males was 10.8 ± 3.8 ha and for females was 8.3 ± 2.1. Den site ( n = 81) selection occurred more frequently in montane conifer dominate forests (81.4%) vs northern hardwood forests or conifer–northern hardwood forests (9.9% and 8.7%, respectively). We assessed habitat selection using Euclidean distance-based analysis at the 2nd order and 3rd order scale. We found that squirrels were non-randomly selecting for habitat at both 2nd and 3rd order scales. Conclusions: At both spatial scales, CNFS preferentially selected for montane conifer forests more than expected based on availability on the landscape. Squirrels selected neither for nor against northern hardwood forests, regardless of availability on the landscape. Additionally, CNFS denned in montane conifer forests more than other habitat types. Implications: Our results highlight the importance of montane conifer to CNFS in the southern Appalachians. Management and restoration activities that increase the quality, connectivity and extent of this naturally rare forest type may be important for long-term conservation of this subspecies, especially with the impending threat of anthropogenic climate change.

Appalachian Mountains↗

USGS2020

Using value of information to prioritize research needs for migratory bird management under climate change: A case study using federal land acquisition in the United States

In response to global habitat loss, many governmental and non‐governmental organizations have implemented land acquisition programs to protect critical habitats permanently for priority species. The ability of these protected areas to meet future management objectives may be compromised if the effects of climate change are not considered in acquisition decisions. Unfortunately, the effects of climate change on ecological systems are complex and plagued by uncertainty, making it difficult for organizations to prioritize research needs to improve decision‐making. Herein, we demonstrate the use of qualitative value of information analysis to identify and prioritize which sources of uncertainty should be reduced to improve land acquisition decisions to protect migratory birds in the face of climate change. The qualitative value of information analysis process involves four steps: ( i ) articulating alternative hypotheses; ( ii ) determining the magnitude of uncertainty regarding each hypothesis; ( iii ) evaluating the relevance of each hypothesis to acquisition decision‐making; and ( iv ) assessing the feasibility of reducing the uncertainty surrounding each hypothesis through research and monitoring. We demonstrate this approach using the objectives of 3 U.S. federal land acquisition programs that focus on migratory bird management. We used a comprehensive literature review, expert elicitation, and professional judgement to evaluate 11 hypotheses about the effect of climate change on migratory birds. Based on our results, we provide a list of priorities for future research and monitoring to reduce uncertainty and improve land acquisition decisions for the programs considered in our case study. Reducing uncertainty about how climate change will influence the spatial distribution of priority species and biotic homogenization were identified as the highest priorities for future research due to both the value of this information for improving land acquisition decisions and the feasibility of reducing uncertainty through research and monitoring. Research on how changes in precipitation patterns and winter severity will influence migratory bird abundance is also expected to benefit land acquisition decisions. By contrast, hypotheses about phenology and migration distance were identified as low priorities for research. By providing a rigorous and transparent approach to prioritizing research, we demonstrate that qualitative value of information is a valuable tool for prioritizing research and improving management decisions in other complex, high‐uncertainty cases where traditional quantitative value of information analysis is not possible. Given the inherent complexity of ecological systems under climate change, and the difficulty of identifying management‐relevant research priorities, we expect this approach to have wide applications within the field of natural resource management.

Biological Reviews↗

USGS2004

Science for the changing Great Basin

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), with its multidisciplinary structure and role as a federal science organization, is well suited to provide integrated science in the Great Basin of the western United States. A research strategy developed by the USGS and collaborating partners addresses critical management issues in the basin, including invasive species, status and trends of wildlife populations and communities, wildfire, global climate change, and riparian and wetland habitats. Information obtained through implementation of this strategy will be important for decision-making by natural-resource managers.

The Great Basin↗

USGS2010

Summary of Bed-Sediment Measurements Along the Platte River, Nebraska, 1931-2009

Rivers are conduits for water and sediment supplied from upstream sources. The sizes of the sediments that a river bed consists of typically decrease in a downstream direction because of natural sorting. However, other factors can affect the caliber of bed sediment including changes in upstream water-resource development, land use, and climate that alter the watershed yield of water or sediment. Bed sediments provide both a geologic and stratigraphic record of past fluvial processes and quantification of current sediment transport relations. The objective of this fact sheet is to describe and compare longitudinal measurements of bed-sediment sizes made along the Platte River, Nebraska from 1931 to 2009. The Platte River begins at the junction of the North Platte and South Platte Rivers near North Platte, Nebr. and flows east for approximately 500 kilometers before joining the Missouri River at Plattsmouth, Nebr. The confluence of the Loup River with the Platte River serves to divide the middle (or central) Platte River (the Platte River upstream from the confluence with the Loup River) and lower Platte River (the Platte River downstream from the confluence with Loup River). The Platte River provides water for a variety of needs including: irrigation, infiltration to public water-supply wells, power generation, recreation, and wildlife habitat. The Platte River Basin includes habitat for four federally listed species including the whooping crane (Grus americana), interior least tern (Sterna antillarum), piping plover (Charadrius melodus), and pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus). A habitat recovery program for the federally listed species in the Platte River was initiated in 2007. One strategy identified by the recovery program to manage and enhance habitat is the manipulation of streamflow. Understanding the longitudinal and temporal changes in the size gradation of the bed sediment will help to explain the effects of past flow regimes and anticipated manipulation of streamflows on the channel morphology and habitat.

Fact Sheet↗

USGS2016

Sustainability of groundwater supplies in the Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain aquifer system

Groundwater is the Nation’s principal reserve of freshwater. It provides about half our drinking water, is essential to food production, and facilitates business and industry in developing economic well-being. Groundwater is also an important source of water for sustaining the ecosystem health of rivers, wetlands, and estuaries throughout the country. The decreases in groundwater levels and other effects of pumping that result from large-scale development of groundwater resources have led to concerns about the future availability of groundwater to meet all our Nation’s needs. Assessments of groundwater availability provide the science and information needed by the public and decision makers to manage water resources and use them responsibly. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is conducting large-scale multidisciplinary regional studies of groundwater availability as part of its ongoing assessments of the principal aquifers of the Nation. These regional studies are intended to provide citizens, communities, and natural resource managers with knowledge of the status of the Nation’s groundwater resources and how changes in land use, water use, and climate have affected and are likely to affect those resources now and in the future.

Fact Sheet↗

USGS2002

Environmental setting and water-quality issues of the Mobile River Basin, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee

The Mobile River Basin is one of over 50 river basins and aquifer systems being investigated as part of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program. This basin is the sixth largest river basin in the United States, and fourth largest in terms of streamflow, encompassing parts of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Almost two-thirds of the 44,000-square-mile basin is located in Alabama. Extensive water resources of the Mobile River Basin are influenced by an array of natural and cultural factors. These factors impart unique and variable qualities to the streams, rivers, and aquifers providing abundant habitat to sustain the diverse aquatic life in the basin. Data from Federal, State, and local agencies provide a description of the environmental setting of the Mobile River Basin. Environmental data include natural factors such as physiography, geology, soils, climate, hydrology, ecoregions, and aquatic ecology, and human factors such as reservoirs, land use and population change, water use, and water-quality issues. Characterization of the environmental setting is useful for understanding the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of surface and ground water in the Mobile River Basin and the possible implications of that environmental setting for water quality. The Mobile River Basin encompasses parts of five physiographic provinces. Fifty-six percent of the basin lies within the East Gulf section of the Coastal Plain Physiographic Province. The remaining northeastern part of the basin lies, from west to east, within the Cumberland Plateau section of the Appalachian Plateaus Physiographic Province, the Valley and Ridge Physiographic Province, the Piedmont Physiographic Province, and the Blue Ridge Physiographic Province. Based on the 1991 land-use data, about 70 percent of the basin is forested, while agriculture, including livestock (poultry, cattle, and swine), row crops (cotton, corn, soybeans, sorghum, and wheat), and pasture land accounts for about 26 percent of the study unit. Agricultural land use is concentrated along the Black Prairie Belt district of the Coastal Plain. Urban areas account for only 3 percent of the total land use; however, the areal extent of the metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) may indicate more urban influences. The MSAs include urban areas outside of the city boundaries and can include adjacent counties. Seven MSAs are delineated in the Mobile River Basin, including Montgomery, Mobile, Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, Gadsden, Anniston, and Atlanta. The total population for the Mobile River Basin was about 3,673,100 in 1990. State water-quality agencies have identified numerous causes and sources of water-body impairment in the Mobile River Basin. In 1996, organic enrichment, dissolved oxygen depletion, elevated nutrient concentrations, and siltation were the most frequently cited causes of impairment, affecting the greatest number of river miles. Bacteria, acidic pH, and elevated metal concentrations also were identified as causes of impairment. The sources for impairment varied among river basins, were largely a function of land use, and were attributed primarily to municipal and industrial sources, mining, and agricultural activities.

Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee↗

USGS2025

Integrating the resist–accept–direct framework into natural resource decision-making processes for climate adaptation

The resist–accept–direct (RAD) framework for climate adaptation is a useful tool, particularly when conservation practitioners know they need to address climate change but do not know where to start or when they struggle to implement conservation actions that are outside the status quo. Some conservation practitioners may view RAD as a decision process that will lead them through selecting climate adaptation actions to meet their objectives; however, RAD may be better suited for use with existing decision processes. RAD can improve adaptation planning processes by helping conservation practitioners examine a broader portfolio of climate adaptation actions. Choosing the actions that meet organizational objectives and long-term goals relies on a sound decision process through which to select RAD-generated actions to implement across space and time. The good news for conservation practitioners is that RAD can easily be integrated into the decision processes they are already using—that is, a new decision process for RAD is not necessary. We examined 6 commonly used decision frameworks in the context of RAD for climate adaptation: structured decision-making, adaptive management, conservation standards, climate-smart conservation, strategic habitat conservation, and scenario planning. Each decision framework can easily incorporate RAD methodologies to create climate adaptation menus and portfolios within existing structures, allowing conservation practitioners to continue to utilize existing frameworks for their valuable decision-making tools. Integrating the RAD framework can enhance them by explicitly considering future uncertainties and providing a menu of climate adaptation actions for navigating changing ecosystems.

Conservation Biology↗

USGS2000

Using new video mapping technology in landscape ecology

Biological and ecological monitoring continues to play an important role in the conservation of species, natural communities, and landscapes ( Spellerberg 1991 ). Although resource-monitoring programs have advanced knowledge about natural ecosystems, weaknesses persist in our ability to rapidly transfer landscape-scale information to the public. Ecologists continue to search for new technologies to address this problem and to communicate natural resource information quickly and effectively. New video mapping technology may provide much-needed help. Ecologists realize that only a small portion of large nature reserves can be monitored because of cost and logistical constraints. However, plant and animal populations are usually patchily distributed in subpopulations scattered throughout heterogeneous landscapes, and they are often associated with rare habitats. These subpopulations and rare habitats may respond differently to climate change, land use, and management practices such as grazing, fire suppression, prescribed burning, or invasion of exotic species ( Stohlgren et al. 1997b ). In many national parks, monuments, and wildlife reserves, a few long-term monitoring plots are used to infer the status and trends of natural resources in much larger areas. To make defensible inferences about populations, habitats, and landscapes, it is necessary to extrapolate from a few monitoring plots (local scale) to the larger, unsampled landscape with known levels of accuracy and precision. Recent technological developments have given population biologists and landscape ecologists a unique tool for bridging the data gap between small, intensively sampled monitoring plots and the greater landscape and for transferring this information quickly to resource managers and the public. In this article, we briefly describe this tool, a hand-held video mapping system linked to a geographic information system (GIS). We provide examples of its use in quantifying patterns of native and exotic plant species and cryptobiotic crusts in the new Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, Utah, and in surveying aspen clones and regeneration in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.

BioScience↗