Ecological Stressors

USGS is collaborating with partners to assess past and current CyanoHABs for the development of a predictive model and forecasting system for Lake Pontchartrain Estuary. This technology can be beneficial for informing future planning of water resource development projects, and the water management of the estuary.

State and Federal agencies, including USGS, are working together to assess the damage caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and to determine appropriate restoration actions to restore natural resources, ecological services, and recreational services injured or lost due to the incident.

The Coastwise Reference Monitoring System was designed to monitor the effectiveness of restoration actions at individual sites, as well as across the entire Louisiana coast.

USGS scientists are conducting research to understand how estuary fisheries are affected by the the timing and/or magnitude of freshwater discharge into Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana.

Through a collaborative effort with other federal agencies and academic and research institutions, the USGS is working to inform and enhance the protection and management of coral communities in mesophotic and deep benthic areas of the Gulf.

Eighteen USGS coastal scientists from all four coasts of the conterminous United States are working together to advance the understanding of climate change and sea-level rise impacts to coastal wetlands.

Mangrove forests have migrated inland over the past few decades at many locations along the northern Gulf coast. This expansion has been attributed to factors associated with climate change, such as increased salinity resulting from sea-level rise and longer intervals between winter freezes, which can kill cold-intolerant mangrove species.

The MC252 oil spill introduced hydrocarbons, dispersants, and drilling muds into the Gulf, potentially adversely affecting the seafloor environment surrounding the spill site.

USGS researchers will characterize extreme climatic events across U.S. following a review of case studies of mass mortality events associated with climate extremes including drought, precipitation, freeze, heat waves, and storm events.

Researchers are investigating beach compaction, the incubation environment for turtle nests, and shorebird nest abundance at beaches throughout the southeastern United States to better understand the impacts of beach compaction to nesting turtles and foraging seabirds.

The Gulf sturgeon, Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi, has been listed as Threatened since 1991. Beginning in 1986, USGS has been investigating sturgeon population abundance and ecology throughout its range, but mostly in the Suwannee River.

USGS is investigating the impact of restoration on Louisiana's coastal wetlands' carbon dynamics.