Large-Scale Restoration Science
Large-Scale Restoration Science
Alaska Bioregions and Arctic
Coastal Ecosystems
Deserts
Freshwater Systems
Grasslands: Great Plains and Prairie Potholes
Western Forests and Mountains
USGS works collaboratively with partners to improve the stewardship and restoration of ecosystems across the country. Many of these projects are large-scale, crossing multiple organizational and state boundaries and occasionally bridging scientific and engineering disciplines. The primary outcomes of these projects are restoring critical ecosystems and their biological communities.
Priority Landscapes
Priority Landscapes
USGS works collaboratively with partners to improve the stewardship and restoration of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems across the country. The potential of this work is revitalizing local economies and improving the quality and safety of life. Some of the science projects are within a dedicated sub-program known as Priority Ecosystem Science (PES).
Management and Restoration Science
Management and Restoration Science
The Nation’s ecosystems are complex, dynamic, and exposed to a rapidly changing climate among other threats. USGS scientists study how ecosystems function, the impacts of stressors, and make predictions about their future.
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Joint Ecosystem Modeling: Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow Marl Prairie Indicator
Marl prairie is the most diverse freshwater vegetation community in the Greater Everglades and provides the only suitable habitat for the federally endangered Cape Sable seaside sparrow (CSSS; Ammodramus maritimus mirabilis ).
Joint Ecosystem Modeling: EverSnail
EverSnail, developed in collaboration with the University of West Florida, is an age- and size-structured spatially-explicit landscape model of native apple snails ( Pomacea paludosa ).
Joint Ecosystem Modeling: Alligator Production Probability Model
Because the American alligator ( Alligator mississippiensis ) is a keystone species of the Everglades ecosystem, managers need a way to quantitatively assess the effects of alternative restoration scenarios on alligators.
Marine Ecosystems
The USGS conducts research on marine wildlife, habitats, and processes to provide science to inform our partners as they make decisions relative to species status, resource use, and human activities.
Hydro-Ecology of Arctic Thawing (HEAT): Ecology
Permafrost thaw is leading to a myriad of changes in physical and chemical conditions throughout the Arctic.
Avian Ecology and Multi-Species Habitat Use in Pacific Coast Estuaries
Waterbirds such as shorebirds, waders, and ducks depend on healthy and productive estuaries to “fuel up” for long distance migrations along the Pacific Flyway. Estuarine ecosystems include a mosaic of managed, natural, and restoring wetlands , and provide critical stop-over and wintering areas for federally protected migratory bird species. USGS WERC’s Dr. Susan De La Cruz works with federal...
Louisiana Barrier Island Habitat Mapping and Change Assessment
Barrier islands provide numerous invaluable ecosystem goods and services including storm protection and erosion control for the mainland, habitat for fish and wildlife, salinity regulation in estuaries, carbon sequestration in marshes, recreation, and tourism. These islands are dynamic environments due to their position at the land-sea interface. Storms, wave energy, tides, currents, and relative...
Broad-scale Research Conducted Across the 1002 Area and the NPR-A of Alaska
Selected Bibliography of Broad-scale Research Involving USGS and Conducted Across the 1002 Area and the NPR-A of Alaska Compiled as of 12/17/2018
Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI)
The President's 2010 Budget provided $475 million for a new interagency Great Lakes restoration initiative, which targets the most significant problems in the region, including invasive aquatic species (like zebra and quagga mussels), non-point source pollution, and contaminated sediment. This initiative uses outcome-oriented performance goals and measures to target the most significant problems...
Terrestrial Ecosystems Laboratory (FRESC)
Research in our laboratory centers on the ecology and biogeochemistry of forest ecosystems, as well as grassland and riparian systems. We examine how factors such as natural and human disturbances, climate and climate change, succession, and soil fertility shape ecosystem biogeochemistry - and the reciprocal effect of biogeochemical cycles on these and other factors.
Nitrogen Deficiency and Excess in Forests: Patterns, Mechanisms and Management
This research theme facilitates the sound management and restoration of Pacific Northwest Douglas-fir forests, as well as to refine broader-scale predictions of how temperate forests will function in an increasingly nitrogen-rich world.
Indicators of Rangeland Health
Rangelands are natural ecosystems where the native vegetation consists predominantly of grasses, grass-like plants, forbs, or shrubs. Rangelands include natural grasslands, savannas, shrublands, oak and pinyon-juniper woodlands, many deserts, tundra, alpine communities, marshes, and wet meadows.