Karen Thorne, Ph.D.
Dr. Karen Thorne is a Research Ecologist with the USGS Western Ecological Research Center,
Her research focus is on climate change impacts to coastal ecosystems. In particular, her work has included assessing sea-level rise and storm impacts to coastal ecosystems, wetland ecology, restoration, and blue carbon. She received her Ph.D. and MS from the University of California, Davis.
Dr. Thorne's interests lie in conservation and management issues surrounding climate-related research that assess changes to ecosystems. Her current focus is assessing how sea-level rise and storms impact tidal wetland ecosystems in the U.S. and island habitats. She conducts research to inform climate adaptation and planning to help managers mitigate impacts and conduct restoration. Her research is based on field data collection methods that can be developed into climate change impact models using ArcGIS and other remote sensing tools.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
- Global Change Biology
- Coastal Ecosystems
- Wetland Ecology
- Restoration
- Threatened & Endangered Species
- Blue Carbon
- Landscape Ecology
- Ecological Response Modeling
- Storm Monitoring
- Sea-level Rise Planning & Decision Support
Professional Experience
Research Ecologist, USGS, Western Ecological Research Center, Davis Field Station, 2012 - present
Biologist, USGS, Western Ecological Research Center, San Francisco Bay Estuary Field Station, 2005 to 2012
Research Associate, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Fairbanks, AK, 2002 to 2005
Education and Certifications
PhD, Geography, Global Change, University of California, Davis, 2012
MSc, Geography, Environmental Studies, University of California, Davis, 2008
BS, Wildlife, Fish, & Conservation Biology, University of California, Davis 2000
Affiliations and Memberships*
California Landscape Conservation Cooperative Science Team
Science and Products
Arrowhead Marsh
Corte Madera
China Camp Marsh
Cogswell Marsh
Fagan Marsh
Coon Island Marsh
Colma Marsh
Laumeister Marsh
Modeling Sea-Level Rise in San Francisco Bay Estuary
Ecological Stressors - Rocky Coastlines, Mangroves, Marshes, Droughts, and Storms
Supporting Informed Responses to Sea-Level Rise
San Pablo Bay Marsh
Surface Elevation Table Measurements at Five Tidal Marshes Across the San Francisco Bay-Delta (2016-2019)
Elevation Survey Across Southwest Florida Coastal Wetlands, 2021
Antioch Dunes evening primrose (Oenothera deltoides subsp. howellii) juvenile and adult abundance across the known range, California, USA (2019)
Tidal Wetland Elevation Projections for Five San Francisco Bay Delta Regions Using WARMER-2, 2000-2100
Soil, Plant, and Elevation Characteristics of Tidal and Managed Impounded Wetlands in Suisun Marsh, California, USA (2018-2019)
WARMER-2 Model Inputs and Projections for Three Tidal Wetland Sites Across San Francisco Bay Estuary
Mangrove Elevation and Species' Responses to Sea-level Rise Across Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia (ver. 1.1, December 2021)
Pacific Northwest tidal marsh plant biomass from a 2017 greenhouse experiment with flooding and salinity manipulations
Impounded and tidal wetland plant diversity and composition across spatial scales, San Francisco Bay-Delta, California, USA (2016-2018)
Small mammal surveys from northern San Francisco Bay: 1998-2014
LEAN-Corrected Collier County DEM for wetlands
LEAN-Corrected DEM for Suisun Marsh
A summary of water-quality and salt marsh monitoring, Humboldt Bay, California
Multi-decadal simulation of marsh topography evolution under sea level rise and episodic sediment loads
Constraints on the adjustment of tidal marshes to accelerating sea level rise
Assessing small-mammal trapping design using spatially explicit capture recapture (SECR) modeling on long-term monitoring data
Migration and transformation of coastal wetlands in response to rising seas
Atmospheric river storm flooding influences tidal marsh elevation building processes
Elevations of mangrove forests of Pohnpei, Micronesia
Seasonal impoundment management reduces nitrogen cycling but not resilience to surface fire in a tidal wetland
Enhancing marsh elevation using sediment augmentation: A case study from southern California, USA
Incorporation of uncertainty to improve projections of tidal wetland elevation and carbon accumulation with sea-level rise
Climate change vulnerability assessment for the California coastal national monument—Trinidad and Point Arena-Stornetta units
Sea-level rise vulnerability of mangrove forests on the Micronesian Island of Pohnpei
Science and Products
Arrowhead Marsh
Corte Madera
China Camp Marsh
Cogswell Marsh
Fagan Marsh
Coon Island Marsh
Colma Marsh
Laumeister Marsh
Modeling Sea-Level Rise in San Francisco Bay Estuary
Ecological Stressors - Rocky Coastlines, Mangroves, Marshes, Droughts, and Storms
Supporting Informed Responses to Sea-Level Rise
San Pablo Bay Marsh
Surface Elevation Table Measurements at Five Tidal Marshes Across the San Francisco Bay-Delta (2016-2019)
Elevation Survey Across Southwest Florida Coastal Wetlands, 2021
Antioch Dunes evening primrose (Oenothera deltoides subsp. howellii) juvenile and adult abundance across the known range, California, USA (2019)
Tidal Wetland Elevation Projections for Five San Francisco Bay Delta Regions Using WARMER-2, 2000-2100
Soil, Plant, and Elevation Characteristics of Tidal and Managed Impounded Wetlands in Suisun Marsh, California, USA (2018-2019)
WARMER-2 Model Inputs and Projections for Three Tidal Wetland Sites Across San Francisco Bay Estuary
Mangrove Elevation and Species' Responses to Sea-level Rise Across Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia (ver. 1.1, December 2021)
Pacific Northwest tidal marsh plant biomass from a 2017 greenhouse experiment with flooding and salinity manipulations
Impounded and tidal wetland plant diversity and composition across spatial scales, San Francisco Bay-Delta, California, USA (2016-2018)
Small mammal surveys from northern San Francisco Bay: 1998-2014
LEAN-Corrected Collier County DEM for wetlands
LEAN-Corrected DEM for Suisun Marsh
A summary of water-quality and salt marsh monitoring, Humboldt Bay, California
Multi-decadal simulation of marsh topography evolution under sea level rise and episodic sediment loads
Constraints on the adjustment of tidal marshes to accelerating sea level rise
Assessing small-mammal trapping design using spatially explicit capture recapture (SECR) modeling on long-term monitoring data
Migration and transformation of coastal wetlands in response to rising seas
Atmospheric river storm flooding influences tidal marsh elevation building processes
Elevations of mangrove forests of Pohnpei, Micronesia
Seasonal impoundment management reduces nitrogen cycling but not resilience to surface fire in a tidal wetland
Enhancing marsh elevation using sediment augmentation: A case study from southern California, USA
Incorporation of uncertainty to improve projections of tidal wetland elevation and carbon accumulation with sea-level rise
Climate change vulnerability assessment for the California coastal national monument—Trinidad and Point Arena-Stornetta units
Sea-level rise vulnerability of mangrove forests on the Micronesian Island of Pohnpei
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government