Impacts on Ecosystems
Climate Science Spotlight
From mass bleaching event threatening coral reefs in the Caribbean to the severe heatwaves in the North Pacific, climate-induced changes threaten the viability and health of our natural resources and the communities they support.
USGS science is essential for resource managers and policymakers to understand the implications of climate and ecosystem change and make well-informed, science-backed decisions. Working with natural and cultural resource managers, USGS scientists provide tools to help fish, wildlife, ecosystems, and communities anticipate, plan, and adapt to the impacts of climate and environmental change.
Quickly Jump to how USGS is delivering climate science:
coastal wetlands
soil impacts
ecosystem transformation
wildlife and marine heatwaves
arctic ecosystems
adaptation
Sea Level Rise and Mangrove Ecosystems in the Greater Everglades
USGS science on mangrove forests supports management decisions on mangrove restoration, helping preserve the benefits mangrove forest
provide to people and wildlife. Mangroves serve as nesting sites for birds, act as critical habitat for endangered and threatened species and provide sheltered nursery areas for commercially valuable fish and shellfish. The also store carbon, help reduce erosion and protect coastal communities, providing a critical buffer against storm surges and rising seas.
Much of the mangrove forests that once bordered Florida’s coasts and estuaries have been lost to development and sea-level rise. According to USGS scientists, current rates of sea-level rise combined with increasing climate variability could accelerate the loss of mangrove-lined coastlines.
In response, USGS scientists are working on long-term soil elevation change data collected in mangrove forests within Everglades National Park. The objective of this research is to improve the understanding of the responses of mangrove ecosystems in the Greater Everglades to climate change.
The Soil-Climate Connection in Sagebrush Ecosystems
The USGS is a leader in sagebrush ecosystem research. Our scientists are working across the American West to help managers balance multiple land uses (agricultural, forestry, and access to mineral resources) with conservation needs of the sagebrush ecosystem that supports over 350 species. These semi-arid ecosystems are also facing climate-driven pressures, where water limitations are increasing and episodic droughts make management challenging.
In sagebrush country, soils are critical ecosystems that have a very strong linkage to climate. Soil-climate describes the temperature and moisture conditions important for plant growth and function. It affects vegetation patterns, recovery and restoration potential, fuel conditions affecting risk of fire, risk of exotic species invasion, carbon storage, health and diversity of animals and microbes, and primary production of vegetation.
Our scientists are using soil-climate estimates of future climate scenarios to glean how future conditions may differ from historic conditions. This will help land managers assess how changes in soil-climate will affect future vegetation patterns, such as growth and recovery rates, restoration potential, risk of exotic plant invasion and fire, and drought.
The Resist-Accept-Direct Framework
As the climate changes, many ecosystems will no longer look the way they did in the past – fire-plagued forests may turn into grasslands, while dry sagebrush steppes may give way to deserts. In some cases, changing habitats will create changes in what species are found where. As this occurs, management practices that seek to maintain the historical “status quo” will become increasingly ineffective.
The USGS developed the Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) Framework to offer resource managers a broader suite of tools to approach changing systems. Under this framework, managers can compare options that resist change (keeping “the status quo”) to those that accept change (allowing new conditions to become the new normal) or direct change (using interventions to create more desirable conditions).
The RAD Framework has been implemented in decision making across the United States. For example, USGS researchers worked with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and regional partners to develop a RAD-inspired tool to aid walleye stocking decisions in Wisconsin lakes. In the same region, the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission are using RAD to frame fisheries management decisions within Tribal lands.
USGS Science Uncovers the Cause of Massive Seabird Die-Off
In the winter of 2015, the public noticed thousands of dead seabirds washing ashore across the western coast of the United States and Canada. The USGS linked this massive seabird die-off to the North Pacific Marine Heatwave. A marine heatwave occurs when sea surface temperatures are above normal for an extended period. This marine heatwave caused north Pacific Ocean temperatures to increase far above normal from 2013-2016, making it the longest marine heatwave on record for the region. From Southern California to Alaska an estimated one million common murres died during the event.
Climate change is expected to increase the frequency and intensity of marine heatwaves. USGS scientists will continue to study the impacts of severe heatwaves and the role of ocean warming on marine ecosystems of the North Pacific.
Climate Impacts Alaskan Ecosystems and Native Cultures
The Arctic region is warming faster than anywhere else in the nation. The changing climate is altering Arctic ecosystems - from the inlands to the coasts - and disproportionately affecting Indigenous communities. Increased temperatures are impacting snowmelt and river flow patterns, and in turn, affecting aquatic ecosystems that communities depend upon. In addition, Alaska’s north coast is experiencing erosion at a rate of retreat on average about 1.4 meters per year. Understanding the rates and causes of coastal change in Alaska is needed to identify and mitigate hazards that might affect people and animals that call Alaska home.
Along a stretch of the Beaufort Sea, USGS scientists discovered a change in erosion rates is likely the result of several changing Arctic conditions, including declining sea-ice extent, increasing summertime sea-surface temperature, rising sea level, and possible increases in storm intensity and corresponding wave action. During the same study, they verified the disappearance of cultural and historical sites, including Esook, a one hundred-year-old trading post now underwater on the Beaufort Sea floor, and Kolovik (Qalluvik), an abandoned Iñupiaq village site that may soon be lost.
Building Climate Resilience in the Pacific Islands
The USGS fosters relationships between scientists, communities, resource managers, and conservation practitioners to help nature and people adapt to climate change.
Pacific Islanders have long understood that conservation cannot start on the beach. Inland human land use practices and environmental change can have profound impacts that radiate into and across ocean waters. The USGS supports the “Ridge to Reef” management paradigm, helping communities promote sustainable practices from the tops of volcanoes down to the sea floor. USGS research in land-to-sea systems across the Pacific helps build community and ecosystem resilience to climate change, for example by examining how Ridge to Reef management impacts food security in Palau.
This research combines Western science with the wisdom and experience of Indigenous peoples in the region, allowing everyone to work together to develop climate solutions.
USGS Delivering Climate Science
To policymakers, resource managers, and the public to help guide better decisions for building sustainable resource stewardship across America’s public lands and beyond.
USGS science is essential for resource managers and policymakers to understand the implications of climate and ecosystem change and make well-informed, science-backed decisions. Working with natural and cultural resource managers, USGS scientists provide tools to help fish, wildlife, ecosystems, and communities anticipate, plan, and adapt to the impacts of climate and environmental change.
Quickly Jump to how USGS is delivering climate science:
coastal wetlands
soil impacts
ecosystem transformation
wildlife and marine heatwaves
arctic ecosystems
adaptation
Sea Level Rise and Mangrove Ecosystems in the Greater Everglades
USGS science on mangrove forests supports management decisions on mangrove restoration, helping preserve the benefits mangrove forest
provide to people and wildlife. Mangroves serve as nesting sites for birds, act as critical habitat for endangered and threatened species and provide sheltered nursery areas for commercially valuable fish and shellfish. The also store carbon, help reduce erosion and protect coastal communities, providing a critical buffer against storm surges and rising seas.
Much of the mangrove forests that once bordered Florida’s coasts and estuaries have been lost to development and sea-level rise. According to USGS scientists, current rates of sea-level rise combined with increasing climate variability could accelerate the loss of mangrove-lined coastlines.
In response, USGS scientists are working on long-term soil elevation change data collected in mangrove forests within Everglades National Park. The objective of this research is to improve the understanding of the responses of mangrove ecosystems in the Greater Everglades to climate change.
The Soil-Climate Connection in Sagebrush Ecosystems
The USGS is a leader in sagebrush ecosystem research. Our scientists are working across the American West to help managers balance multiple land uses (agricultural, forestry, and access to mineral resources) with conservation needs of the sagebrush ecosystem that supports over 350 species. These semi-arid ecosystems are also facing climate-driven pressures, where water limitations are increasing and episodic droughts make management challenging.
In sagebrush country, soils are critical ecosystems that have a very strong linkage to climate. Soil-climate describes the temperature and moisture conditions important for plant growth and function. It affects vegetation patterns, recovery and restoration potential, fuel conditions affecting risk of fire, risk of exotic species invasion, carbon storage, health and diversity of animals and microbes, and primary production of vegetation.
Our scientists are using soil-climate estimates of future climate scenarios to glean how future conditions may differ from historic conditions. This will help land managers assess how changes in soil-climate will affect future vegetation patterns, such as growth and recovery rates, restoration potential, risk of exotic plant invasion and fire, and drought.
The Resist-Accept-Direct Framework
As the climate changes, many ecosystems will no longer look the way they did in the past – fire-plagued forests may turn into grasslands, while dry sagebrush steppes may give way to deserts. In some cases, changing habitats will create changes in what species are found where. As this occurs, management practices that seek to maintain the historical “status quo” will become increasingly ineffective.
The USGS developed the Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) Framework to offer resource managers a broader suite of tools to approach changing systems. Under this framework, managers can compare options that resist change (keeping “the status quo”) to those that accept change (allowing new conditions to become the new normal) or direct change (using interventions to create more desirable conditions).
The RAD Framework has been implemented in decision making across the United States. For example, USGS researchers worked with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and regional partners to develop a RAD-inspired tool to aid walleye stocking decisions in Wisconsin lakes. In the same region, the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission are using RAD to frame fisheries management decisions within Tribal lands.
USGS Science Uncovers the Cause of Massive Seabird Die-Off
In the winter of 2015, the public noticed thousands of dead seabirds washing ashore across the western coast of the United States and Canada. The USGS linked this massive seabird die-off to the North Pacific Marine Heatwave. A marine heatwave occurs when sea surface temperatures are above normal for an extended period. This marine heatwave caused north Pacific Ocean temperatures to increase far above normal from 2013-2016, making it the longest marine heatwave on record for the region. From Southern California to Alaska an estimated one million common murres died during the event.
Climate change is expected to increase the frequency and intensity of marine heatwaves. USGS scientists will continue to study the impacts of severe heatwaves and the role of ocean warming on marine ecosystems of the North Pacific.
Climate Impacts Alaskan Ecosystems and Native Cultures
The Arctic region is warming faster than anywhere else in the nation. The changing climate is altering Arctic ecosystems - from the inlands to the coasts - and disproportionately affecting Indigenous communities. Increased temperatures are impacting snowmelt and river flow patterns, and in turn, affecting aquatic ecosystems that communities depend upon. In addition, Alaska’s north coast is experiencing erosion at a rate of retreat on average about 1.4 meters per year. Understanding the rates and causes of coastal change in Alaska is needed to identify and mitigate hazards that might affect people and animals that call Alaska home.
Along a stretch of the Beaufort Sea, USGS scientists discovered a change in erosion rates is likely the result of several changing Arctic conditions, including declining sea-ice extent, increasing summertime sea-surface temperature, rising sea level, and possible increases in storm intensity and corresponding wave action. During the same study, they verified the disappearance of cultural and historical sites, including Esook, a one hundred-year-old trading post now underwater on the Beaufort Sea floor, and Kolovik (Qalluvik), an abandoned Iñupiaq village site that may soon be lost.
Building Climate Resilience in the Pacific Islands
The USGS fosters relationships between scientists, communities, resource managers, and conservation practitioners to help nature and people adapt to climate change.
Pacific Islanders have long understood that conservation cannot start on the beach. Inland human land use practices and environmental change can have profound impacts that radiate into and across ocean waters. The USGS supports the “Ridge to Reef” management paradigm, helping communities promote sustainable practices from the tops of volcanoes down to the sea floor. USGS research in land-to-sea systems across the Pacific helps build community and ecosystem resilience to climate change, for example by examining how Ridge to Reef management impacts food security in Palau.
This research combines Western science with the wisdom and experience of Indigenous peoples in the region, allowing everyone to work together to develop climate solutions.
USGS Delivering Climate Science
To policymakers, resource managers, and the public to help guide better decisions for building sustainable resource stewardship across America’s public lands and beyond.