Hydrological Alteration

Mole skinks that occur on Florida’s islands rely on sand beaches, beach berms, and dunes, making them particularly vulnerable to sea level rise and storm surge. USGS researchers predicted the impacts of sea level rise and storm surge on habitat for the Florida Keys mole skink ( Plestiodon egregius egregius ), the Cedar Key mole skink ( P. e. insularis ), and the Egmont Key mole skink (known from a...

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.

Researchers at WARC are determining if temporal mismatches between digital elevation models and land cover data can impact estimates of inundation of beach habitat for barrier islands and low-lying beaches off the Gulf Coast of Florida.

USGS and NPS partners are working together to analyze and synthesize long-term SET-MH measurements to improve understanding of coastal wetland soil elevation change and ecological responses to sea-level rise.

USGS researchers will define the range of elevation targets supporting optimal plant performance and oil strength by identifying the lower and upper thresholds of marsh conversion, and characterize ecosystem development of restored marshes over time to identify the lifetime and sustainability of restored marsh during sea-level rise. This work addresses priority science needs to improve restoration...

USGS researchers will will survey elevation and vegetation in wetlands and vegetated dunes on Horn, Petite Bois, and Ship Islands; Correct the best available lidar-based digital elevation model; estimate inundation for the Gulf Islands National Seashore under various water levels and relative sea-level rise scenarios; and quantify and predict potential marsh migration for the Gulf Islands National...

The USGS will establish Rod Surface Elevation Tables at five National Wildlife Refuges on the Texas coast. This work will support climate adaptation and resilience planning by identifying areas susceptible to loss and degradation due to sea-level rise and extreme climatic events along the Texas Gulf Coast.

USGS will monitor hydrologic and marsh conditions at the Turtle Bayou mitigation area. This effort will help provide a long-term water level dataset for Turtle Bayou.

USGS will install and maintain up to six rod surface-elevation table (RSET) rods and paired accretion monitoring stations at the location of the Maurepas Swamp Alternative-2 Mitigation Project.

USGS will provide support to the Large-scale Marsh Creation – Upper Barataria Component Project by monitoring change in the area of land and water, and recovery of vegetation and elevation over time.

USGS researchers will quantify wetland change and wetland vegetation community type change through the analyses of aerial vegetation survey data and investigate potential relationships between Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and marsh elevation change.

USGS researchers will utilize long-term soil elevation change data to help advance understanding of soil elevation dynamics and ecological transformations due to climate change within coastal wetlands of the Greater Everglades.