Large-Scale Restoration Science

The Greater Everglades Priority Ecosystem Sciences Program (GEPES) in USGS was established to conduct long-term research, monitoring, and modeling to provide science to inform Everglades restoration decisions and meet natural resource management goals. The program is one of several placed-based efforts in the USGS that focuses resources and science in “iconic” landscapes to support restoration and...

Forty-two fish biologists from seven organizations participated in a two-day Spring Fish Slam event in southwest Florida. Fourteen species of non-native fishes were collected or observed.

The shoreline, beaches, and infrastructure in Duluth, Minnesota have been degraded along the Minnesota Point barrier island because of high water levels and heavy wave action. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is exploring the beneficial use of dredge material for beach nourishment on the Lake Superior side of the barrier island.

Lake Powell is a large arid reservoir that represents about 70% of the water storage capacity for the Upper Colorado River Basin. It is the second largest reservoir in the United States by capacity (second only to Lake Mead). Lake Powell is an oligotrophic reservoir, which means that nutrient concentrations and algal production are generally low. This often results in very clear-water conditions...

WARC researchers have developed a literature review of science on the Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow focused on topics relevant to upcoming management decisions.

The Joint Ecosystem Modeling team will be running a suite of ecological models to evaluate scenarios and provide insight into how alternative restorations plans compare, indicate whether alternatives could lead to unintended consequences, and determine effects of alternatives that could conflict with other goals.

The Gulf Coast Joint Venture (GCJV) was established in 1988 as a result of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, which espouses the restoration of continental waterfowl populations through conservation partnerships in priority habitat regions. Since that time GCJV partners have expanded their mission and purpose to include the provision of habitat to support other priority bird species...

Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are commonly found on the soil surface in arid and semi-arid ecosystems (collectively called drylands). Biocrusts can consist of mosses, cyanobacteria, lichens, algae, and microfungi, and they strongly interact with the soil. These organisms or consortium of disparate organisms, depending on the specific biocrust, are important to the functioning of ecosystems...

Goals of the ATLSS Program are to help achieve a better understanding of components of the Everglades ecosystem, to provide an integrative tool for empirical studies, and to apply these tools to an adaptive management framework.

The USGS partnered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and its conservation partners to develop 16 Biological Planning Units (BPU) and six Aquatic Extensions and compile population objectives for 166 species that are representative of habitats within each BPU.

Reconnection of floodplains to their rivers has been considered a fundamentally beneficial ecological practice.

WARC Researchers are comparing tree and root growth, soil CO2 flux, and surface elevation change between fertilized and unfertilized mangrove forests to assess the potential impact of increased nutrient loading and to help rate mangrove stand vulnerability.