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Person

Michael J Osland

Research Ecologist

Email: mosland@usgs.gov
Office Phone: 337-266-8664
ORCID: 0000-0001-9902-8692

Location
700 Cajundome Blvd.
Lafayette , LA 70506
US
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Barrier islands provide important ecosystem services, including storm protection and erosion control to the mainland, habitat for fish and wildlife, and tourism (Barbier and others, 2011; Feagin and others, 2010). These islands tend to be dynamic due to their location along the estuarine-marine interface. Besides gradual changes caused by constant forces, such as currents and tides, barrier islands face numerous threats including hurricanes, accelerated sea-level rise, oil spills, and anthropogenic impacts (Pilkey and Cooper, 2014). These threats are likely to influence the future of barrier islands in the latter part of the 21st century, especially as climate-related threats to coastal areas are expected to increase...
Aim Climate change is expected to result in the tropicalization of coastal wetlands in the northern Gulf of Mexico, as warming winters allow tropical mangrove forests to expand their distribution poleward at the expense of temperate salt marshes. Data limitations near mangrove range limits have hindered understanding of the effects of winter temperature extremes on mangrove distribution and structure. Here, we investigated the influence of extreme freeze events on the abundance, height and coverage of black mangroves (Avicennia germinans ) near their northern range limit in Louisiana. Location Coastal Louisiana, USA. Methods We quantified the relationships between the frequency of extreme freeze events and A. germinans...
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation
Abstract (from Springer): Climate change is altering species’ range limits and transforming ecosystems. For example, warming temperatures are leading to the range expansion of tropical, cold-sensitive species at the expense of their cold-tolerant counterparts. In some temperate and subtropical coastal wetlands, warming winters are enabling mangrove forest encroachment into salt marsh, which is a major regime shift that has significant ecological and societal ramifications. Here, we synthesized existing data and expert knowledge to assess the distribution of mangroves near rapidly changing range limits in the southeastern USA. We used expert elicitation to identify data limitations and highlight knowledge gaps for...
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation
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This dataset includes elevation-based probability and depth statistics for estimating inundation under various sea-level rise and high tide flooding scenarios in and around the National Park Service’s Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve. These datasets were developed using 1-m digital elevation model (DEM) from 2018 with reduced elevation error in coastal wetlands (McHenry and others, 2023). This data release includes results from analyses of two local sea-level rise scenarios for two-time steps — the Intermediate-Low and Intermediate-High for 2050 and 2100 from Sweet and others (2022). Additionally, this data release includes maps of inundation probability under the minor, moderate, and major high tide flooding...
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To quantify the potential for landward migration at the estuary level, we developed a geospatial dataset for the conterminous United States (CONUS) that identifies the boundaries for estuarine drainage areas. Nine estuarine drainage areas in south Florida were delineated using data developed by the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD 2018). For the rest of CONUS, we used information contained within the National Fish Habitat Action Plan (NFHAP) - Coastal Spatial Framework (CSF) (National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science 2021). The original NFHAP-CSF data included 612 drainage areas, which were too many for our purposes. Therefore, we merged smaller drainage areas with larger, adjacent drainage areas...
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