Ecosystem Change and Disturbance

Information Science staff help the Climate Adaptation Science Centers with a variety of project and data management activities, including storing, managing, and distributing datasets; building and maintaining metadata; discovering datasets; and delivering their data and metadata as web services through various tools. These tools allow researchers to track projects, and the data that results from...

Increased wildfire-induced loss of sagebrush in North American shrublands are outpacing natural recovery and leading to substantial habitat loss for sagebrush-obligate species like sage-grouse. The products and information developed for this project will help restoration practitioners, biologists, and land managers evaluate the efficacy of sagebrush restoration approaches as well as their ability...

Mountain ecosystems of the western U.S. provide irreplaceable goods and services such as water, wood, biodiversity, and recreational opportunities, but their potential responses to anticipated climatic changes are poorly understood. The overarching objective of the Western Mountain Initiative (WMI) is to understand and predict the responses, emphasizing sensitivities, thresholds, resistance, and...

USGS and university researchers analyzed changes in male sage-grouse lek counts in Wyoming from 1984 through 2008, measuring disturbance owing to oil and gas development.

USGS scientists investigated the impact of oil and gas development on distribution of pygmy rabbit in Wyoming.