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USGS2016

Preserving prairies: Understanding temporal and spatial patterns of invasive annual bromes in the Northern Great Plains

Two Eurasian invasive annual brome grasses, cheatgrass ( Bromus tectorum ) and Japanese brome ( Bromus japonicus ), are well known for their impact in steppe ecosystems of the western United States where these grasses have altered fire regimes, reduced native plant diversity and abundance, and degraded wildlife habitat. Annual bromes are also abundant in the grasslands of the Northern Great Plains (NGP), but their impact and ecology are not as well studied. It is unclear whether the lessons learned from the steppe will translate to the mixed-grass prairie where native plant species are adapted to frequent fires and grazing. Developing a successful annual brome management strategy for National Park Service units and other NGP grasslands requires better understanding of (1) the impact of annual bromes on grassland condition; (2) the dynamics of these species through space and time; and (3) the relative importance of environmental factors within and outside managers' control for these spatiotemporal dynamics. Here, we use vegetation monitoring data collected from 1998 to 2015 in 295 sites to relate spatiotemporal variability of annual brome grasses to grassland composition, weather, physical environmental characteristics, and ecological processes (grazing and fire). Concern about the impact of these species in NGP grasslands is warranted, as we found a decline in native species richness with increasing annual brome cover. Annual brome cover generally increased over the time of monitoring but also displayed a 3- to 5-yr cycle of reduction and resurgence. Relative cover of annual bromes in the monitored areas was best predicted by park unit, weather, extant plant community, slope grade, soil composition, and fire history. We found no evidence that grazing reduced annual brome cover, but this may be due to the relatively low grazing pressure in our study. By understanding the consequences and patterns of annual brome invasion, we will be better able to preserve and restore these grassland landscapes for future generations.

Ecosphere↗

USGS2004

Compilation of Data to Support Development of a Pesticide Management Plan by the Yankton Sioux Tribe, Charles Mix County, South Dakota

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is working with the Yankton Sioux Tribe to develop a pesticide management plan to reduce potential for contamination of ground water that may result from the use of registered pesticides. The purpose of this study was to compile technical information to support development of a pesticide management plan by the Yankton Sioux Tribe for the area within the Yankton Sioux Reservation, Charles Mix County, South Dakota. Five pesticides (alachlor, atrazine, cyanazine, metolachlor, and simazine) were selected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the management plan approach because they had been identified as probable or possible human carcinogens and they often had been associated with ground-water contamination in many areas and at high concentrations. This report provides a compilation of data to support development of a pesticide management plan. Available data sets are summarized in the text of this report, and actual data sets are provided in one Compact Disk?Read-Only Memory that is included with the report. The compact disk contains data sets pertinent to the development of a pesticide management plan. Pesticide use for the study area is described using information from state and national databases. Within South Dakota, pesticides commonly are applied to corn and soybean crops, which are the primary row crops grown in the study area. Water-quality analyses for pesticides are summarized for several surface-water sites. Pesticide concentrations in most samples were found to be below minimum reporting levels. Topographic data are presented in the form of 30-meter digital elevation model grids and delineation of drainage basins. Geohydrologic data are provided for the surficial deposits and the bedrock units. A high-resolution (30-by-30 meters) land-cover and land-use database is provided and summarized in a tabular format. More than 91 percent of the study area is used for row crops, pasture, or hay, and almost 6 percent of the study area is covered by water or wetlands. Average monthly and yearly precipitation data are summarized in a tabular format. Irrigation information associated with permitted and licensed diversion points is provided. A composite of aerial photographs of Charles Mix County is provided. This report also describes and summarizes the data sets and files, and how the data are relevant to development of a pesticide management plan.

Open-File Report↗

USGS2012

Leveraging modern climatology to increase adaptive capacity across protected area networks

Human-driven changes in the global environment pose an increasingly urgent challenge for the management of ecosystems that is made all the more difficult by the uncertain future of both environmental conditions and ecological responses. Land managers need strategies to increase regional adaptive capacity, but relevant and rapid assessment approaches are lacking. To address this need, we developed a method to assess regional protected area networks across biophysically important climatic gradients often linked to biodiversity and ecosystem function. We plot the land of the southwestern United States across axes of historical climate space, and identify landscapes that may serve as strategic additions to current protected area portfolios. Considering climate space is straightforward, and it can be applied using a variety of relevant climate parameters across differing levels of land protection status. The resulting maps identify lands that are climatically distinct from existing protected areas, and may be utilized in combination with other ecological and socio-economic information essential to collaborative landscape-scale decision-making. Alongside other strategies intended to protect species of special concern, natural resources, and other ecosystem services, the methods presented herein provide another important hedging strategy intended to increase the adaptive capacity of protected area networks.

Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah↗

USGS1980

Final executive summary report; environmental studies, southeastern United States Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf, 1977; geology

Starting in mid 1976 and continuing into 1977 a variety of geological studies were carried out by the U. S. Geological Survey on the southeastern U. S. Atlantic Continental Margin to assess conditions and hazards that might cause or distribute oil spills or other pollutants, or constrain petroleum exploration or development of the area. These detailed investigations were requested and funded by the Bureau of Land Management to carry out its responsibility under the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Lands Act of 1969. Because of the energy crisis the decision had been made to lease on the southeastern continental shelf. A variety of studies had to be mounted quickly for input into decisions concerning the environment that would affect or constrain which lease tracks would be offered. The first lease sale, Lease Sale 43, took place in March 1978, and the environmental information on which this lease sale was based came in part from this initial effort and in part from a wide variety of pertinent data assembled from the literature by the Bureau of Land Management's Environmental Assessment Division. The compilation of relevant data for the Environmental Impact Statement for Lease Sale 43 also pointed up deficiencies in environmental knowledge in a number of areas. The Bureau of Land Management's environmental program for the Southeast Atlantic OCS was initiated to fill gaps in the environmental data base and to detect and assess impacts from oil and gas exploration and production.

Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina↗

USGS2011

Environmental enrichment affects adrenocortical stress responses in the endangered black-footed ferret

Potential stressors of wildlife living in captivity, such as artificial living conditions and frequent human contact, may lead to a higher occurrence of disease and reduced reproductive function. One successful method used by wildlife managers to improve general well-being is the provision of environmental enrichment, which is the practice of providing animals under managed care with environmental stimuli. The black-footed ferret ( Mustela nigripes ) is a highly-endangered carnivore species that was rescued from extinction by removal of the last remaining individuals from the wild to begin an ex situ breeding program. Our goal was to examine the effect of environmental enrichment on adrenocortical activity in ferrets by monitoring fecal glucocorticoid metabolites (FGM). Results demonstrated that enrichment lowered FGM in juvenile male ferrets, while increasing it in adult females; enrichment had no effect on FGM in juvenile females and adult males. These results correspond with our findings that juvenile males interacted more with the enrichment items than did adult females. However, we did not detect an impact of FGM on the incidence of disease or on the ability of ferrets to become reproductive during the following breeding season. We conclude that an environmental enrichment program could benefit captive juvenile male ferrets by reducing adrenocortical activity.

General and Comparative Endocrinology↗

USGS1989

Surface-water quality in the West Branch Susquehanna River basin, Pennsylvania: An appraisal of areal and temporal variability from 1962 to 1982 in hydrologic accounting unit 020502

The West Branch Susquehanna River basin has a drainage area of 6,955 square miles in north-central Pennsylvania and comprises Hydrologic Accounting Unit 020502. A National Stream Quality Accounting Network (NASQAN) waterquality data collection site, maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey, is located on the river near its mouth at Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Water-quality data are collected at numerous other sites throughout the basin by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources, Bureau of Water Quality Management. Data collected from the NASQAN site and the sites operated by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources from 1962 to 1982 were used to evaluate water-quality variability in the basin. The following objectives were addressed: (1) describe the surface-water quality upstream of the NASQAN site on an areal and temporal basis; (2) relate the water-quality variability, on both an areal and temporal basis, to general basin characteristics; and (3) assess the ability of the water-quality data collected at the NASQAN site to represent, on both an areal and temporal basis the water quality for Hydrologic Accounting Unit 020502 upstream from the site. Areally, the water quality varies considerably throughout the basin. Generally, the river was found to have moderately good water quality in the upper reaches, poor water quality in its middle reach, and good water quality near the mouth. Two tributaries, Moshannon Creek (median pH 3.9) and Bald Eagle Creek (median pH 7.8), had the most pronounced effect on the water quality of the river. Temporal trends were found in the concentrations of several of the constituents at most of the stations. Of the constituents analyzed, those which exhibited increasing or decreasing trends most frequently were pH, alkalinity, dissolved sulfate, total ammonia, and total nitrite plus nitrate. The largest trends were in the concentrations of total-recoverable aluminum, manganese, and zinc. Causes of areal variation were attributed to land use and geologic variations throughout the basin. Trends which indicated an improvement in water qualijty are believed to be caused by improvements in the treatment of acid mine drainage and wastewater. Trends which indicated degradation of water quality were generally found in areas where these types of treatment are not yet effective. The NASQAN site at Lewisburg was shown not to represent the water quality of the entire basin, either areally or temporally. It does, however, represent the water quality of the West Branch Susquehanna River at its mouth.

Pennsylvania↗

USGS1976

A summary of petroleum potential, environmental geology, and the technology, time frame, and infrastructure for exploration and development of the western Gulf of Alaska

This summary of the regional geology, petroleum potential, geologic hazards and time frame for exploration of the western Gulf of Alaska has been written to aid the Bureau of Land Management in preparing the Draft Environmental Impact Statement. A preliminary version was written in Sept., 1975.(von Huene and others, 1975) in support of the Call for Nominations, Proposed OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sale #46. Since that time, there has been a substantial increase in information as the result of a two-month examination of recent studies of the adjacent Gulf of Alaska Tertiary Province and a preliminary interpretation of some publicly available common depth point (CDP) seismic reflection data recently acquired by the U.S. Geological Survey. The main source of geologic and geophysical data used in the preparation of this summary is published and unpublished information of the U.S. Geological Survey (Plafker and others, 1975,Bruns and Plafker, 1975; Carlson, Bruns and Molnia, 1975; Carlson and Molnia, 1975; Core, Mattick, and Bayer, 1975; Molnia and Carlson, 1975 a & b; von Huene and others, 1975). Prior to 1975, data were gathered mainly for purposes other than for assessment of oil and gas resources and of the environmental consequences of exploration and development. A systematic survey for such an assessment is planned for the summer of 1976 and, therefore, this summary is tentative. Although the major problems and regional setting are discussed in this paper, a great deal more specific data and interpretations will begin to become available in about one year. In this summary we consider the geology of a broad region on the continental shelf off the Kodiak group of islands and the Kenai Peninsula. We will concentrate on the area proposed for leasing in Sale #46. The area lies between about 56°N latitude and 60°N latitude (Fig. 1), and it measures approximately 660 km x 100 km. Water depths are generally less than 200 m.

Alaska↗

USGS2022

Adaptive problem maps (APM): Connecting data dots to build increasingly informed and defensible environmental conservation decisions

Connecting individual datasets from different projects to each other and to decisions can help manager-researcher-administrator teams build on what is known and adapt their environmental decision-making process as new information becomes available. Throughout their careers, environmental professionals often collect data on many individual projects that address similar sets of natural resource conservation problems. Consequently, the institutions, agencies, and organizations that employ these environmental professionals accumulate a large reservoir of project-specific information. However, bigger-picture opportunities to advance broader natural resource conservation goals are lost if individual projects and datasets are not integrated. Here we illustrate how our adaptive problem mapping (APM) process provides a framing and internal structure that charts relationships among pertinent information types, germane data sets, applicable concepts, and relevant decisions. In the APM process, appropriately defined problem statements and coordinated bridging questions connect data and concepts to build a network of increasingly informed and defensible decisions. Although our APM process can be applied to many environmental problems, here we focus on examples from aquatic systems in which fish are conservation priorities. Prioritizing an initial evaluation and regular modification of the relationships among datasets and decisions using the APM process helps manager-research-administrator teams envision, track, and update what is known, unknown, learned, and needed. The resulting broader point of view advances strategic planning, evaluations of progress, assessments of opportunity costs, identification of options, and justifications of decision-related actions.

Journal of Environmental Management↗

USGS2016

Recreation, values and stewardship: Rethinking why people engage in environmental behaviors in parks and protected areas

Successfully promoting and encouraging the adoption of environmental stewardship behavior is an important responsibility for public land management agencies. Although people increasingly report high levels of concern about environmental issues, widespread patterns of stewardship behavior have not followed suit (Moore 2002). One concept that can be applied in social science research to explain behavior change is that of values. More specifically, held and assigned values lie at the heart of understanding why people around the world continue to live in unsustainable ways that impact parks and protected areas. A held value is an individual psychological orientation defined by Rokeach as “an enduring belief that a specific mode of conduct or endstate of existence is personally and socially preferable” (1973, 550). Held values are at the core of human cognition, and as such, influence attitudes and behavior. Assigned values on the other hand, according to Brown (1984), are the perceived qualities of an environment that are based on and deduced from held values. In other words, assigned values are considered the material and nonmaterial benefits that people believe they obtain from ecosystems. Held and assigned values predict stewardship behaviors (Figure 1). During the 2013 George Wright Society Conference on Parks, Protected Areas, and Cultural Sites, we organized a session to improve our understanding of why individuals and groups choose to engage in stewardship behaviors that benefit the environment. We used held and assigned values as vehicles to explore what people cared about in diverse landscapes, review select case studies from across the globe, and question how best to incorporate visitor perspectives into protected area management decisions and policymaking. In addition to sharing project results, we also discussed the importance of accounting for multiple and often competing value perspectives, potential ways to integrate disciplinary perspectives on valuing nature, and future directions for social science research and practice. In this paper, we present the results from our session to provide fodder for further contemplation about the timely question of how park and protected area managers can foster values that lead to environmental protection.

Book chapter↗

USGS2007

Environmental effects of off-highway vehicles on Bureau of Land Management lands: A literature synthesis, annotated bibliographies, extensive bibliographies, and internet resources

This report and its associated appendixes compile and synthesize the results of a comprehensive literature and Internet search conducted in May 2006. The literature search was undertaken to uncover information regarding the effects of off-highway vehicle (OHV) use on land health, or “natural resource attributes,” and included databases archiving information from before OHVs came into existence to May 2006. Information pertaining to socioeconomic implications of OHV activities is included as well. The literature and Internet searches yielded approximately 700 peer-reviewed papers, magazine articles, agency and non-governmental reports, and internet websites regarding effects of OHV use as they relate to the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) standards of land health. Discussions regarding OHV effects are followed by brief syntheses of potential indicators of OHV effects, as well as OHV-effects mitigation, site-restoration techniques, and research needs.

Open-File Report↗

USGS2025

Environmental characterization of Blue Mesa Reservoir and potential causes of and management strategies for harmful algal blooms, 1970 through 2023, Curecanti National Recreation Area, Colorado

Blue Mesa Reservoir, in the Curecanti National Recreation Area, is the largest storage reservoir in Colorado and consists of three distinct basins: Iola (the shallowest), Cebolla, and Sapinero. After algal toxins were first documented in Iola basin in 2018, the U.S. Geological Survey began a study in cooperation with the National Park Service, Colorado River Water Conservation District, Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District, Gunnison County, Project 7 Water Authority, and Uncompahgre Valley Water Users Association to better understand occurrence of toxic cyanobacteria harmful algal blooms (cyanoHABs) and identify possible causal mechanisms to potentially inform management strategies. Toxic cyanoHABS occurred when the algal toxin microcystin exceeded a concentration of 8 micrograms per liter primarily in Iola basin in 2018 and 2020–22, years having some of the lowest reservoir water-level elevations (reservoir levels) since 1984. The toxic cyanoHABs started in mid-September and continued through the fall months. Algal abundance was greatest in Iola basin compared to Cebolla and Sapinero basins, with Aphanizomenon , a toxin-producing cyanobacterium, being the most abundant. During blooms, enhanced algal photosynthesis caused elevated pH and dissolved oxygen concentrations especially in Iola basin. Continuous monitor data in Iola basin indicated peaks in phycocyanin fluorescence, pH, and dissolved oxygen concentration that preceded the onset of toxic cyanoHABs by about 2 weeks potentially indicating a useful early warning monitoring strategy for future response to toxic cyanoHABs. Long-term trends showed increases in mean air and surface-water temperatures and chlorophyll- a concentrations in the reservoir but no change in nutrient inputs from major tributaries. In Iola basin, reservoir level was positively correlated with Secchi disk depth and inversely correlated with total phosphorus concentration. Because of its shallow depth, the effect of low reservoir levels may disproportionately affect Iola basin compared to other basins, resulting in algal blooms and toxin production especially at reservoir levels below about 7,470 feet above North American Vertical Datum of 1988. Elevated phosphorus at low reservoir level likely was primarily phosphorus contained in algal tissue. This report indicates that the main driver for recent toxic cyanoHABs in Iola basin is low reservoir level that likely causes favorable conditions (shallow and warm) for algal growth and increased recruitment of algae from bottom sediments such as during wind-driven turbulence. Control of external nutrients to the reservoir is unlikely to help control algal blooms because Aphanizomenon fixes nitrogen from the atmosphere, and there is an abundant geogenic source of phosphorus. Maintenance of reservoir levels greater than about 7,470 feet might help minimize the occurrence of toxic cyanoHABs. Additional data could help better understand how the timing and duration of reservoir levels below 7,470 feet contribute to toxic cyanoHABs.

Colorado↗

USGS2023

Techniques for restoring damaged Mojave and western Sonoran ecosystems, including those for threatened desert tortoises and Joshua trees

Ecological restoration has potential for contributing to conservation activities for threatened Mojave desert tortoises ( Gopherus agassizii ) and Joshua trees ( Yucca brevifolia , Y. jaegeriana ) and their broader ecosystems in the Mojave and western Sonoran deserts. To be effective, restoration actions deployed strategically need to halt and reverse habitat degradation, replenish or enhance resources used by both species (e.g., large shrubs for protection of tortoises and nurse plants facilitating recruitment of Joshua tree seedlings), and ideally foster resilience during likely future environmental changes. We synthesized restoration techniques and their effectiveness in the Mojave and western Sonoran deserts, provide estimated costs of candidate techniques, and anticipate future research needs for effective restoration in changing climates and environments. Over 50 published studies in the Mojave and western Sonoran deserts demonstrate that restoration can improve soil features (e.g., biocrusts), increase cover of native perennial and annual plants, enhance native seed retention and seed banks, and reduce risk of fires to conserve mature shrubland habitat. We placed restoration techniques into three categories: restoration of site environments, revegetation, and management actions to limit further disturbance and encourage recovery. Within these categories, 11 major restoration techniques (and their variations) were evaluated by at least one published study and range from geomorphic (e.g., reestablishing natural topographic patterns) and abiotic structural treatments (e.g., vertical mulching) to active revegetation (e.g., outplanting, seeding). For example, 16 outplanting studies assessed performance of 46 species to begin identifying top-performing species, associated treatments (e.g., protection from herbivory) required to aid outplant survival, and potential for outplants to trigger formation of self-sustaining populations. Creosote bush (Larrea tridentata), a shrub that tortoises use for cover and that serves as a nurse plant for Joshua tree recruitment, achieved at least 50% survival in five of eight studies. Estimated costs for restoring desert habitats varied primarily with the severity of the disturbance, site factors including the diversity of vegetation that was lost, logistical factors such as accessibility of sites (influencing transportation costs), and the cost-effectiveness of the restoration techniques chosen. The review highlights six major research and adaptive management needs for advancing desert habitat restoration. These needs include: 1) continued development of innovative techniques and bet-hedging approaches to provide managers with “tool boxes” of candidate treatments to deploy in dynamic environmental and management conditions, 2) identifying how to optimize spatial deployment of limited restoration resources, 3) developing practical techniques for reducing non-native annual grasses across spatial scales, 4) improving linkages between habitat enhancements and short- and long-term indicators of tortoise usage and responses and Joshua tree population sustainability, 5) mitigating multiple, interacting stressors with cumulative impacts, and 6) integrating biotic (e.g., seeding) and abiotic (e.g., fencing, shade structures) treatments to complement each other at site and landscape scales in dynamic climates and environments. It is possible that bet-hedging approaches employing multiple treatment types (or phased treatments across years) and greater incorporation of abiotic treatments, which are less sensitive to timing of precipitation compared with biotic treatments, will become increasingly important under future climates projected to be drier and more variable. Existing research suggests that restoration can be deployed effectively even under adverse climatic conditions, but success requires identifying suitable techniques tailored to dynamic environments.

Arizona, California, Nevada, Sonora↗

USGS2021

Informing future condition scenario planning for habitat specialists of the imperiled pine rockland ecosystem of South Florida

This project evaluated habitat conditions for two species found in the imperiled pine rockland ecosystem—the Rim Rock Crowned Snake ( Tantilla oolitica ) and the Key Ring-Necked Snake ( Diadophis punctatus acricus ). The Rim Rock Crowned Snake historically occurred in eastern Miami-Dade County (hereafter, mainland) as well as throughout the Florida Keys, whereas the Key Ring-Necked Snake occurs only in lower Florida Keys (Enge et al. 2004; Mays and Enge 2016). Both species are very elusive, small (< 20 cm in length) and primarily fossorial. Pine rockland habitat is rapidly disappearing in South Florida, with < 3 percent of its original extent remaining. Saltwater intrusion from hurricanes and sea-level rise (SLR), and human development pose the greatest threats to the longevity of this ecosystem which, in turn, places species that are endemic to this unique habitat at risk of extinction. The Rim Rock Crowned Snake and the Key Ringed-Necked Snake are being considered for listing by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). To aid the agency’s decision, it must be able to forecast species’ responses to potential future environmental conditions, as well as to different conservation and management actions. Yet, the information needed to complete these forecasts—such as population trends, life history traits, habitat use, and future land use and climate conditions—is often lacking for most rare species. This is especially problematic for assessments of species resiliency to changes in climate and land use. When these types of data are lacking, information on habitat quality can be used to help determine how a species will respond to change. First, this project gathered current and historical records for both species from various sources such as museum specimens, inventories, and other personal account. Then, we identified potential future changes in habitat that could result from different management actions, such as habitat acquisition or restoration, and environmental conditions, such as changes in the frequency and intensity of tropical storms and rates of SLR. Researchers then explored the potential impacts of these habitat condition changes on the Rim Rock Crowned Snake and Key Ring-Necked Snake. This information can be used by the USFWS to help make decisions about the need to protect these species under the Endangered Species Act and could inform the conservation, management, and recovery of other at-risk species found in the pine rockland ecosystem. This work supports the Secretary of Interior’s priority to create a conservation stewardship legacy by using science to identify best practices to manage land and water resource and adapt to changes in the environment.

Florida↗

USGS2019

Review of indicators for comparing environmental effects across energy sources

Robust, quantitative comparisons of environmental effects across energy sources can support development of energy planning strategies that meet growing demand while managing and minimizing undesirable effects on environmental resources. Multicriteria analyses of energy systems often use a suite of indicators to make such comparisons, but those indicators and their units of measure vary among studies. We reviewed 179 papers that described or applied energy indicators to compare environmental effects of different primary energy sources to answer four questions: (1) what environmental indicators have been used in multicriteria energy-source comparisons? (2) across studies, how consistently are these indicators used to quantify effects? (3) to what degree are different effects accounted for across energy sources and locations? and (4) how comprehensive are indicators in terms of assessing known environmental effects? For reviewed studies, we quantified the number of unique indicators and the diversity of indicators used to measure different effects. We also recorded the specific measurement units applied to quantify each indicator, the energy sources evaluated, and the continent where each study was conducted. While we found that many environmental effects of energy development have been analyzed across multiple sources, indicators were frequently measured, interpreted, and applied in ways that are not directly comparable, and some known environmental effects were infrequently assessed. We also found an emphasis on applying indicators to renewable energy sources; assessing current and potential energy sources, both renewable and nonrenewable, would greatly clarify the full suite of tradeoffs among sources and can inform energy development strategies that minimize adverse environmental effects. Overall, our review indicated that making comprehensive comparisons of the effects of energy development across sources may require efforts to standardize how effects are measured, synthesize effects literature into an open-source database, expand the range of environmental effects analyzed, and establish consistent frameworks for comparison.

Environmental Research Letters↗

USGS2013

U.S. Geological Survey ecosystems science strategy—Advancing discovery and application through collaboration

Executive Summary Ecosystem science is critical to making informed decisions about natural resources that can sustain our Nation’s economic and environmental well-being. Resource managers and policymakers are faced with countless decisions each year at local, regional, and national levels on issues as diverse as renewable and nonrenewable energy development, agriculture, forestry, water supply, and resource allocations at the urban-rural interface. The urgency for sound decisionmaking is increasing dramatically as the world is being transformed at an unprecedented pace and in uncertain directions. Environmental changes are associated with natural hazards, greenhouse gas emissions, and increasing demands for water, land, food, energy, mineral, and living resources. At risk is the Nation’s environmental capital, the goods and services provided by resilient ecosystems that are vital to the health and wellbeing of human societies. Ecosystem science—the study of systems of organisms interacting with their environment and the consequences of natural and human-induced change on these systems—is necessary to inform decisionmakers as they develop policies to adapt to these changes. This Ecosystems Science Strategy is built on a framework that includes basic and applied science. It highlights the critical roles that U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists and partners can play in building scientific understanding and providing timely information to decisionmakers. The strategy underscores the connection between scientific discoveries and the application of new knowledge, and it integrates ecosystem science and decisionmaking, producing new scientific outcomes to assist resource managers and providing public benefits. We envision the USGS as a leader in integrating scientific information into decisionmaking processes that affect the Nation’s natural resources and human well-being. The USGS is uniquely positioned to play a pivotal role in ecosystem science. With its wide range of expertise, the Bureau can bring holistic, cross-scale, interdisciplinary capabilities to the design and conduct of monitoring, research, and modeling and to new technologies for data collection, management, and visualization. Collectively, these capabilities can be used to reveal ecological patterns and processes, explain how and why ecosystems change, and forecast change over different spatial and temporal scales. USGS science can provide managers with options and decision-support tools to use resources sustainably. The USGS has long-standing, collaborative relationships with the Department of the Interior (DOI) and other partners in the natural sciences, in both conducting science and applying the results. The USGS engages these partners in cooperative investigations that otherwise would lack the necessary support or be too expensive for a single bureau to conduct. The heart of this strategy is a framework for USGS ecosystems science that focuses on five long-term goals, which are seen as interconnected components that reinforce our vision of the USGS providing science that is at the forefront of decisionmaking: Improve understanding of ecosystem structure, function, and processes. The focus for this goal is an understanding of how ecosystems work, including the dynamics of species, their populations, interactions, and genetics, and how they change across spatial and temporal scales. Advance understanding of how drivers influence ecosystem change. The challenges here are explaining the drivers of ecosystem change, their spatio-temporal patterns, their uncertainties and interactions, and their influence on ecosystem processes and dynamics. Improve understanding of the services that ecosystems provide to society. Here the emphasis is on the measurement of environmental capital and ecosystem services, and the identification of sources and patterns of change in space and time. Develop tools, technologies, and capacities to inform decisionmaking about ecosystems. This includes developing new technologies and approaches for conducting applications-oriented ecosystem science. A principal challenge will be how to quantify uncertainty and incorporate it in decision analysis. Apply science to enhance strategies for management, conservation, and restoration of ecosystems. These challenges include development of novel approaches to monitoring, assessment, and restoration of ecosystems; new methods to address species of concern and communities at risk; and innovations in decision analysis and support to address imminent ecosystem changes or those that are underway. Closely integrated with the five goals are four strategic approaches that provide the path forward for the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area. These approaches cross-cut all of the goals and are seen as essential to the implementation of this strategy: Assess information needs for ecosystem science through enhanced partnerships. Work with the DOI and other agencies and institutions to identify, design, and implement priority decision-driven ecological research. Promote the use of interdisciplinary ecosystem science. Design and conduct interdisciplinary process-oriented research in ecosystem science. Enhance modeling and forecasting. Build models to forecast ecosystem change, assess future management scenarios, and reduce uncertainties through an adaptive learning process. Support decisionmaking. Use quantitative approaches to assess the vulnerabilities of ecosystems, habitats, and species, and evaluate strategies for adaptation, restoration, and sustainable management. Following the four strategic approaches are a set of proposed actions that represent a sampling of specific USGS activities that align with this strategy and that address the Nation’s most pressing environmental needs. The strategy emphasizes coordination of activities across the USGS mission areas pursuant to these goals. Ecosystem science is inherently interdisciplinary and requires a broad perspective that incorporates the biological and physical sciences, climate science, information technology, and scientific capacity in mission areas across the Bureau. With its emphasis on coordination, this strategy can provide a critical underpinning for integrated science efforts with scientists from multiple mission areas of the USGS working together. Of course, the USGS will continue to conduct discipline-specific and interdisciplinary investigations, and both will continue to be vital parts of the ecosystem science portfolio. Finally, the strategy stresses the importance of coordination with other Federal agencies and organizations in the natural resources community. The USGS collaborates with resource agencies in the DOI and other organizations throughout the world to meet societal needs for species and ecosystem management. Working with these agencies and organizations, the USGS will play a key role in guiding sound decisionmaking during the next decade by advancing the scientific foundation for sustaining the natural resources that diverse, productive, resilient ecosystems provide.

Circular↗

USGS2015

Spatial scaling patterns and functional redundancies in a changing boreal lake landscape

Global transformations extend beyond local habitats; therefore, larger-scale approaches are needed to assess community-level responses and resilience to unfolding environmental changes. Using longterm data (1996–2011), we evaluated spatial patterns and functional redundancies in the littoral invertebrate communities of 85 Swedish lakes, with the objective of assessing their potential resilience to environmental change at regional scales (that is, spatial resilience). Multivariate spatial modeling was used to differentiate groups of invertebrate species exhibiting spatial patterns in composition and abundance (that is, deterministic species) from those lacking spatial patterns (that is, stochastic species). We then determined the functional feeding attributes of the deterministic and stochastic invertebrate species, to infer resilience. Between one and three distinct spatial patterns in invertebrate composition and abundance were identified in approximately one-third of the species; the remainder were stochastic. We observed substantial differences in metrics between deterministic and stochastic species. Functional richness and diversity decreased over time in the deterministic group, suggesting a loss of resilience in regional invertebrate communities. However, taxon richness and redundancy increased monotonically in the stochastic group, indicating the capacity of regional invertebrate communities to adapt to change. Our results suggest that a refined picture of spatial resilience emerges if patterns of both the deterministic and stochastic species are accounted for. Spatially extensive monitoring may help increase our mechanistic understanding of community-level responses and resilience to regional environmental change, insights that are critical for developing management and conservation agendas in this current period of rapid environmental transformation.

Ecosystems↗

USGS2011

An adaptive approach to invasive plant management on U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-owned native prairies in the Prairie Pothole Region: decision support under uncertainity

Much of the native prairie managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) is extensively invaded by the introduced cool-season grasses smooth brome (Bromus inermis) and Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis). The central challenge to managers is selecting appropriate management actions in the face of biological and environmental uncertainties. We describe the technical components of a USGS management project, and explain how the components integrate and inform each other, how data feedback from individual cooperators serves to reduce uncertainty across the whole region, and how a successful adaptive management project is coordinated and maintained on a large scale. In partnership with the Service, the U.S. Geological Survey is developing an adaptive decision support framework to assist managers in selecting management actions under uncertainty and maximizing learning from management outcomes. The framework is built around practical constraints faced by refuge managers and includes identification of the management objective and strategies, analysis of uncertainty and construction of competing decision models, monitoring, and mechanisms for model feedback and decision selection. Nineteen Service field stations, spanning four states of the PPR, are participating in the project. They share a common management objective, available management strategies, and biological uncertainties. While the scope is broad, the project interfaces with individual land managers who provide refuge-specific information and receive updated decision guidance that incorporates understanding gained from the collective experience of all cooperators.

Prairie Pothole Region↗

USGS2002

Lyme disease and conservation

Lyme disease is a tick-borne illness that is widespread in North America, especially in the northeastern and northcentral United States. This disease could negatively influence efforts to conserve natural populations in two ways: (1) the disease could directly affect wild animal health; and (2) tick control efforts could adversely affect natural populations and communities. Lyme disease affects several domestic animals, but symptoms have been reported in only a few wild species. Direct effects of Lyme disease on wild animal populations have not been reported, but the disease should be considered as a possible cause in cases of unexplained population declines in endemic areas. Methods available to manage ticks and Lyme disease include human self-protection techniques, manipulation of habitats and host species populations, biological control, and pesticide applications. The diversity of available techniques allows selection of approaches to minimize environmental effects by (1) emphasizing personal protection techniques, (2) carefully targeting management efforts to maximize efficiency, and (3) integrating environmentally benign techniques to improve management while avoiding broad-scale environmentally destructive approaches. The environmental effects of Lyme disease depend, to a large extent, on the methods chosen to minimize human exposure to infected ticks. Conservation biologists can help design tick management programs that effectively lower the incidence of human Lyme disease while simultaneously minimizing negative effects on natural populations.

Conservation Biology↗