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The Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States contain the greatest biodiversity of native freshwater mussels in the world, but they are highly imperiled due to habitat alteration and destruction, pollution and poor water quality, and the introduction of aquatic invasive species. Now they are at even greater risk from the stresses associated with climate change-induced sea level rise and its associated changes in salinity, water temperature, and stream flow. This project investigates the potential vulnerability and adaptation of a native freshwater mussel, the Tidewater Mucket, in coastal river systems and offer solutions for its conservation. Scientists have recently discovered a population of...
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Barrier islands are exposed to a range of natural and human-caused changes, including hurricanes, sea-level rise, and dredging. These changes have the potential to influence the ability of barrier islands to serve as a first-line of defense for the mainland during storm events. Gulf Islands National Seashore, a National Park Service unit in the northern Gulf of Mexico between Florida and Mississippi, is predominantly comprised of barrier islands and faces immediate challenges, including erosion that washes out roads and sand dunes and the adverse impacts on cultural and natural resources from exposure to saltwater. Managers require realistic estimates of both the vulnerability of the park’s natural and cultural...
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Brook trout are the only native fish from the salmon family in the southeastern United States. Despite their recreational and cultural significance, human activities, such as habitat degradation and introduction of non-native species, have led to serious declines of brook trout populations in the region. Stream temperature and flow alterations from climate change are projected to impact this cold-water species even further. Recent studies show that there is much site-to-site variation in how climate affects stream temperature and flow. Therefore, vulnerability of local trout populations to climate change also varies. Understanding local variation in climate responses across the region is critical to maintaining...
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State wildlife agencies and their partners use State Wildlife Action Plans to coordinate and guide management activities aimed at protecting species. To do so, they must identify factors putting species and their habitats at risk. Current and future climate change is one such factor. To succeed, management actions need to account for impacts of climate change on species today and in the future as climate change accelerates in coming decades. Researchers use modeling approaches to simulate and understand how future climate change will impact species. In contrast, natural resource managers involved in wildlife action plans tend to favor index-based scoring approaches to understand the risks to and vulnerability...
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Reserve design is a process that must address many ecological, social, and political factors to successfully identify parcels of land in need of protection to sustain wildlife populations and other natural resources. Making land acquisition choices for a large, terrestrial protected area is difficult because it occurs over a long timeframe and may involve consideration of future conditions such as climate and urbanization changes. Decision makers need to consider factors including: order of parcel purchasing given budget constraints, future uncertainty, potential future landscape-scale changes from urbanization, and climate. In central Florida, two new refuges and the expansion of a third refuge are in various stages...
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In 2013, the Regional Stream Quality Assessment (RSQA) study was started as part of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) project. One of the objectives of the RSQA is to characterize the relationships between water-quality stressors and stream ecology and subsequently determine the relative effects of these stressors on aquatic biota within the streams (Garrett and others, 2017; Journey and others, 2015; Coles and others, 2019; Sheibley and others, 2017; May and others, 2020). The study was implemented in five regions across the United States (U.S.); the Midwest (MSQA) in 2013, the southeast (SESQA) in 2014, the Pacific Northwest (PNSQA) in 2015, the northeast (NESQA) in 2016,...
Categories: Data; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: Alabama, Basin characteristics, California, Connecticut, Delaware, All tags...
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Dissolved pesticides were measured in weekly water samples from 482 wadeable streams in five regions of the United States during 2013-2017, as part of the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Regional Stream Quality Assessment (RSQA). One study was conducted each year, starting with the Midwest (2013), followed by the Southeast Piedmont (2014), Pacific Northwest (2015), Northeast (2016), and Central California Coast (2017). Within each region, 77-100 streams were sampled over 6-14 weeks, followed by ecological surveys of fish, invertebrate and fish communities. The first study (Midwest) is an agricultural-gradient study, where the majority of sites were located along a gradient from undeveloped to 100% agricultural land...
Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: Alabama, California, Central California Foothills ecoregion, Coastal Mountains ecoregion, Connecticut, All tags...
We aimed to gain a better understanding of the management decision context, planning practice and the role and quality of management plans, and decision making processes across the Southeast. To do so, we conducted interviews with decision makers, and developed a questionnaire on the decision making process and climate change perceptions that may be deployed in the future. The results of this project will provide insights for the conservation of open pine systems and other related high priority conservation contexts that the Southeast Climate Science Center and Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy team hope to explore in future efforts.
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A priority of the Southeast Climate Science Center (SECSC) is to support the planning and implementation of a Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy (SECAS). This project examined the decision making context, decision making process, and management planning associated with the restoration of open pine ecosystems in the Southeast. To better understand the planning practice associated with this system, we assessed the quality of 35 management plans from federal, state, and non-governmental agencies. We found that newer plans scored higher than older plans, suggesting agencies may be learning to develop better plans over time and indicating older plans should be prioritized for revision. Plans from federal and...
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This dataset consists of responses to a standardized, web-based survey of project principle investigators, end-users, and SE CASC leadership. 31 project PIs responded (97% response rate). We then surveyed potential users of the 28 remaining projects using Qualtrics and SE CASC leadership to garner information about project use. Potential users included employees from federal agencies, state agencies, universities, and nongovernmental organizations. From the 28 projects, we sent surveys to 208 users, of which, 81 responded (39% response rate) from 22 projects. We did not collect any personal demographic information, so we did not conduct a nonresponse bias. Specifically, we asked respondents how they and their respective...
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Forest Retention Index classes for the southeastern United States at 2040 were processed using the Forest Retention Decision Tree and rendered on a 30-meter by 30-meter grid. The Forest Retention Index is used only for current forestland, identified using National Land Cover Database 2011. Many datasets were used as inputs for the Forest Retention Decision Tree, and they can be grouped into five broad categories: Protected, Tier 1 Priority, Tier 2 Priority, Threats to Forest Retention, and Socio-Economic Value of Forests. Protected datasets include Protected Areas Database-United States, National Conservation Easement Database, state-maintained databases, and private datasets volunteered by conservation partners....
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Species are on the move as they respond to climate change. This includes many native species, but also species with high costs to society such as disease vectors, pests, and nonnative invasive species (an invasive species is a species that is not native to a specific location but is spreading with the tendency of causing damage to native plants and animals). Currently there are hundreds of invasive species with relatively restricted ranges in the southeastern U.S., but as the climate changes these species are expected to expand their ranges to new regions. It is important to understand if and how these species might move and what actions we can take to lessen their impact on species and habitats. To achieve this...
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Nature-based solutions provide benefits to both nature and people, simultaneously addressing the issues of climate change and biodiversity loss. The Department of the Interior (DOI) manages more than 480 million acres of natural and working lands in the United States, presenting a significant opportunity to leverage nature-based solutions to contribute to greenhouse gas reduction targets, equitably build ecosystem and community resilience, and deliver additional co-benefits for ecosystems and people. This project created a DOI Nature-based Solutions Roadmap document to provide consistent and accessible information about the broad range of nature-based strategies. The DOI Nature-based Solutions Roadmap includes...
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Global change processes are producing shifts in temperature, precipitation, and seasonal streamflow regimes across North America. Much of the floodplain hydrology in the U.S. is managed through water control operations, often implemented on short time scales (e.g., weekly decisions), in response to short-term changes in precipitation. This operational model does not account for potential long-term trends, such as increased recurrence or shifts in seasonal timing of high flow events within a year. Therefore, polices that only focus on short-time scales and recent historic conditions may not perform as well under altered climate regimes. This uncertainty in future floodplain conditions is concerning for a variety...
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The Southeastern United States has vast underground ecosystems where temperatures vary little throughout the year and humidity is always near 100%. These cave and karst ecosystems provide many services to people, such as recreational opportunities, revenue from tourism, and groundwater storage. Caves also provide habitats for important and endangered species, like bats that eat mosquitoes and crop pests. Cave-dwelling species have evolved to live in relatively stable climates, so they may be especially sensitive to climate change. However, it is unclear how surface climate change will affect cave climates and the species that rely on them, because caves are remote environments that have long been difficult to...
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Prescribed burning is a primary tool used to reduce wildfire risk and manage ecosystems to achieve a range of ecological, economic and societal goals.  The ability of fire managers to use prescribed fire as a management tool is complicated in regions such as the Southeast because of rapid population growth, extensive suburban development, and a changing climate. Such change restricts prescribed burning while also highlighting the necessity of an active prescribed fire management regime to reduce wildfire risk in these communities. To help managers make decisions in light of these factors, there is a need to document: 1) the current conditions under which practitioners are willing to burn and restrictions to active...
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The southeast United States has many lakes, streams and reservoirs that serve as important drinking water sources, recreational, agricultural, and ecological uses. Unfortunately, harmful algal blooms are becoming more common in these waters, causing health issues for humans and animals. While it is clear that nutrients stimulate algae growth, it isn’t clear if there are other parameters that stimulate the development of harmful algal blooms. The scientific literature describes additional parameters that may affect algae growth, such as storm occurrence, temperature, dissolved metals, erosion of soils, length of growing season, and hydroperiod.This project will address these different parameters and examine how climate...
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Barrier islands protect mainland areas from storm surge, but can erode over time and require restoration. Ship Island, a barrier island off the coast of Mississippi, provides an example of this: the island was battered by Hurricane Camille in 1969 and split into two separate islands. As part of the Mississippi Coastal Improvements Program, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to use approximately 22 million cubic yards of sand to close the gap between East and West Ship Islands. This will restore both the island’s physical integrity and habitat for important species such as sea turtles, shorebirds, and Gulf sturgeon. This project served as a case study to test the usefulness of structured decision-making – a...
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The Southeast is currently undergoing high rates of population growth, urbanization, and land use change while also experiencing climatic changes. These changes are and will continue to threaten wildlife and their habitats. Most existing conservation programs and activities, however, focus on maintaining systems in their current condition, or returning them to a historic state, rather than enabling systems to adapt to projected changes. Recognizing this problem state fish and wildlife agencies, together with US Fish and Wildlife Service and others, have initiated the Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy (SECAS). This project will support the SECAS effort, which aims to develop a collaborative network of conservation...
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Researchers from North Carolina State University and the USGS integrated models of urbanization and vegetation dynamics with the regional climate models to predict vegetation dynamics and assess how landscape change could impact priority species, including North American land birds. This integrated ensemble of models can be used to predict locations where responses to climate change are most likely to occur, expressing results in terms of species persistence to help resource managers understand the long-term sustainability of bird populations.


map background search result map search result map Structured Decision-Making as a Tool for Coastal Restoration: A Case Study on Ship Island, Mississippi Informing the Identification of High-Priority Lands for the Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge Considering Future Climate and Urbanization Assessing Science Needs and Conservation Decisions to Inform the Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy (SECAS) SERAP: Assessment of Climate and Land Use Change Impacts on Terrestrial Species Conservation Adaptation Planning for Landscape and Climate Change in the Southeast Forest Retention Index for the South at year 2060 Enhancing Coastal Adaptation Planning at Gulf Islands National Seashore Dissolved Pesticides in Weekly Water Samples from the NAWQA Regional Stream Quality Assessments (2013-2017) Impacts of Sea Level Rise on At-risk Native Freshwater Mussels in Atlantic Coastal Rivers Selected environmental characteristics of sampled sites, watersheds, and riparian zones for the U.S. Geological Survey Regional Stream Quality Assessment, 2013 to 2017 An Assessment of Invasive Species Range Shifts in the Southeastern U.S. and Actions to Manage Them Brook Trout Population Responses to Climate Variation Across the Southeast USA Accounting for Ecological Impacts of Climate Change in State Wildlife Action Plans: A comparison of Model-Based and Index-Based Vulnerability Assessments Clarifying Science Needs for Determining the Impact of Climate Change on Harmful Algal Blooms in Southeastern United States Understanding Prescribed Fire Management in the Context of Climate Change and Landscape Transformation Water, Water Everywhere: Adapting Water Control Operations and Floodplain Conservation Planning to Global Change Developing a Cave Conservation Management Toolbox by Exploring Cave Microclimates and Biodiversity Patterns Measures of end-user use of and level of involvement with the Southeast climate adaptation science center Phase 1 projects based on 2020-2021 web-based surveys Department of the Interior Nature-Based Solutions Roadmap Water, Water Everywhere: Adapting Water Control Operations and Floodplain Conservation Planning to Global Change Informing the Identification of High-Priority Lands for the Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge Considering Future Climate and Urbanization Brook Trout Population Responses to Climate Variation Across the Southeast USA Impacts of Sea Level Rise on At-risk Native Freshwater Mussels in Atlantic Coastal Rivers An Assessment of Invasive Species Range Shifts in the Southeastern U.S. and Actions to Manage Them Accounting for Ecological Impacts of Climate Change in State Wildlife Action Plans: A comparison of Model-Based and Index-Based Vulnerability Assessments SERAP: Assessment of Climate and Land Use Change Impacts on Terrestrial Species Developing a Cave Conservation Management Toolbox by Exploring Cave Microclimates and Biodiversity Patterns Measures of end-user use of and level of involvement with the Southeast climate adaptation science center Phase 1 projects based on 2020-2021 web-based surveys Forest Retention Index for the South at year 2060 Clarifying Science Needs for Determining the Impact of Climate Change on Harmful Algal Blooms in Southeastern United States Assessing Science Needs and Conservation Decisions to Inform the Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy (SECAS) Understanding Prescribed Fire Management in the Context of Climate Change and Landscape Transformation Selected environmental characteristics of sampled sites, watersheds, and riparian zones for the U.S. Geological Survey Regional Stream Quality Assessment, 2013 to 2017 Dissolved Pesticides in Weekly Water Samples from the NAWQA Regional Stream Quality Assessments (2013-2017) Conservation Adaptation Planning for Landscape and Climate Change in the Southeast Department of the Interior Nature-Based Solutions Roadmap