Kenneth J. Bagstad, Ph.D. (Former Employee)
Science and Products
Quantifying landcover drivers of urban extreme heat by generating nationwide and city-specific analytical models
We synthesize local high-resolution urban landcover imagery with microclimate data and regional meteorology to determine landcover drivers of extreme urban heat. Resulting outputs are mappable items spatially describing urban temperatures at fine scales, and a web application to analyze changes in urban heat under different climate scenarios.
Land Change Science
Land cover change is one of the fundamental measures for understanding pressures on ecosystems and is widely used to understand the consequences to biodiversity and ecosystem services. This study utilizes land cover and other associated socioeconomic and environmental data to examine the consequences of land cover change in human-dominated landscapes, and how provisioning of ecosystem services...
Reanalyzing and Predicting U.S. Water Use using Economic History and Forecast Data; an experiment in short-range national hydro-economic data synthesis
Water in the United States is used for myriad activities on a daily basis, such as for food (irrigation, aquaculture, livestock), energy (thermoelectric power or hydropower generation), and public water supply for domestic, commercial or industrial purposes. Yet, we lack an national accounting of how and where water is used on a temporal scale more frequent than every 5 years, and a...
Natural Resource Accounting: Toward a balance sheet for the Nation
It has long been recognized that the Nation’s economic accounts do not reflect our true wealth, due to the omission of natural resources from the Federal balance sheet. For example, U.S. economic accounts do not account for the 2.3 billion acres of land on which we grow food, build and maintain infrastructure, produce energy and minerals, and recreate. Also excluded are water resources used for...
Ecosystem Services Assessment and Valuation
Ecosystem services are the benefits that nature provides to human well-being: clean air and water, protection from natural disasters, fisheries, crop pollination and control of pests and disease, and outdoor places for recreation, solitude, and renewal. Ecosystem services underlie the functioning of our entire economy. They are neither worthless nor priceless, and by integrating the physical...
Ecosystem Services Valuation Pilot Study
This project will use newly-collected data on human use and values, paired with existing ecological data and open source software tools to map what, where, and how people value the Cape Lookout National Seashore, North Carolina (CALO) landscape for a variety of different social value types. In addition, we will model and map biophysical features, the provision and use of key ecosystem services...
Accounting for U.S. ecosystem services at national and subnational scales
Ecosystem services - the benefits that nature provides to society and the economy - are gaining increasing traction worldwide as governments and the private sector use them to monitor integrated environmental and economic trends. When they are well understood and managed, ecosystems can provide these long-term benefits to people - such as clean air and water, flood control, crop...
Animal Migration and Spatial Subsidies: Establishing a Framework for Conservation Markets
Migratory species may provide more ecosystem goods and services to humans in certain parts of their range than others. These areas may or may not coincide with the locations of habitat on which the species is most dependent for its continued population viability. This situation can present significant policy challenges, as locations that most support a given species may be in effect...
Science and Products
Quantifying landcover drivers of urban extreme heat by generating nationwide and city-specific analytical models
We synthesize local high-resolution urban landcover imagery with microclimate data and regional meteorology to determine landcover drivers of extreme urban heat. Resulting outputs are mappable items spatially describing urban temperatures at fine scales, and a web application to analyze changes in urban heat under different climate scenarios.
Land Change Science
Land cover change is one of the fundamental measures for understanding pressures on ecosystems and is widely used to understand the consequences to biodiversity and ecosystem services. This study utilizes land cover and other associated socioeconomic and environmental data to examine the consequences of land cover change in human-dominated landscapes, and how provisioning of ecosystem services...
Reanalyzing and Predicting U.S. Water Use using Economic History and Forecast Data; an experiment in short-range national hydro-economic data synthesis
Water in the United States is used for myriad activities on a daily basis, such as for food (irrigation, aquaculture, livestock), energy (thermoelectric power or hydropower generation), and public water supply for domestic, commercial or industrial purposes. Yet, we lack an national accounting of how and where water is used on a temporal scale more frequent than every 5 years, and a...
Natural Resource Accounting: Toward a balance sheet for the Nation
It has long been recognized that the Nation’s economic accounts do not reflect our true wealth, due to the omission of natural resources from the Federal balance sheet. For example, U.S. economic accounts do not account for the 2.3 billion acres of land on which we grow food, build and maintain infrastructure, produce energy and minerals, and recreate. Also excluded are water resources used for...
Ecosystem Services Assessment and Valuation
Ecosystem services are the benefits that nature provides to human well-being: clean air and water, protection from natural disasters, fisheries, crop pollination and control of pests and disease, and outdoor places for recreation, solitude, and renewal. Ecosystem services underlie the functioning of our entire economy. They are neither worthless nor priceless, and by integrating the physical...
Ecosystem Services Valuation Pilot Study
This project will use newly-collected data on human use and values, paired with existing ecological data and open source software tools to map what, where, and how people value the Cape Lookout National Seashore, North Carolina (CALO) landscape for a variety of different social value types. In addition, we will model and map biophysical features, the provision and use of key ecosystem services...
Accounting for U.S. ecosystem services at national and subnational scales
Ecosystem services - the benefits that nature provides to society and the economy - are gaining increasing traction worldwide as governments and the private sector use them to monitor integrated environmental and economic trends. When they are well understood and managed, ecosystems can provide these long-term benefits to people - such as clean air and water, flood control, crop...
Animal Migration and Spatial Subsidies: Establishing a Framework for Conservation Markets
Migratory species may provide more ecosystem goods and services to humans in certain parts of their range than others. These areas may or may not coincide with the locations of habitat on which the species is most dependent for its continued population viability. This situation can present significant policy challenges, as locations that most support a given species may be in effect...