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USGS2018

Improving geographically extensive acoustic survey designs for modeling species occurrence with imperfect detection and misidentification

Acoustic recording units (ARUs) enable geographically extensive surveys of sensitive and elusive species. However, a hidden cost of using ARU data for modeling species occupancy is that prohibitive amounts of human verification may be required to correct species identifications made from automated software. Bat acoustic studies exemplify this challenge because large volumes of echolocation calls could be recorded and automatically classified to species. The standard occupancy model requires aggregating verified recordings to construct confirmed detection/non‐detection datasets. The multistep data processing workflow is not necessarily transparent nor consistent among studies. We share a workflow diagramming strategy that could provide coherency among practitioners. A false‐positive occupancy model is explored that accounts for misclassification errors and enables potential reduction in the number of confirmed detections. Simulations informed by real data were used to evaluate how much confirmation effort could be reduced without sacrificing site occupancy and detection error estimator bias and precision. We found even under a 50% reduction in total confirmation effort, estimator properties were reasonable for our assumed survey design, species‐specific parameter values, and desired precision. For transferability, a fully documented r package, OCacoustic, for implementing a false‐positive occupancy model is provided. Practitioners can apply OCacoustic to optimize their own study design (required sample sizes, number of visits, and confirmation scenarios) for properly implementing a false‐positive occupancy model with bat or other wildlife acoustic data. Additionally, our work highlights the importance of clearly defining research objectives and data processing strategies at the outset to align the study design with desired statistical inferences.

Ecology and Evolution↗

USGS2021

Genomic association with pathogen carriage in bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis)

Genetic composition can influence host susceptibility to, and transmission of, pathogens, with potential population‐level consequences. In bighorn sheep ( Ovis canadensis ), pneumonia epidemics caused by Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae have been associated with severe population declines and limited recovery across North America. Adult survivors either clear the infection or act as carriers that continually shed M. ovipneumoniae and expose their susceptible offspring, resulting in high rates of lamb mortality for years following the outbreak event. Here, we investigated the influence of genomic composition on persistent carriage of M. ovipneumoniae in a well‐studied bighorn sheep herd in the Wallowa Mountains of Oregon, USA. Using 10,605 SNPs generated using RADseq technology for 25 female bighorn sheep, we assessed genomic diversity metrics and employed family‐based genome‐wide association methodologies to understand variant association and genetic architecture underlying chronic carriage. We observed no differences among genome‐wide diversity metrics (heterozygosity and allelic richness) between groups. However, we identified two variant loci of interest and seven associated candidate genes, which may influence carriage status. Further, we found that the SNP panel explained ~55% of the phenotypic variance (SNP‐based heritability) for M. ovipneumoniae carriage, though there was considerable uncertainty in these estimates. While small sample sizes limit conclusions drawn here, our study represents one of the first to assess the genomic factors influencing chronic carriage of a pathogen in a wild population and lays a foundation for understanding genomic influence on pathogen persistence in bighorn sheep and other wildlife populations. Future research should incorporate additional individuals as well as distinct herds to further explore the genomic basis of chronic carriage.

Oregon↗

USGS2012

Predicting ecological flow regime at ungaged sites: A comparison of methods

Nineteen ecologically relevant streamflow characteristics were estimated using published rainfall–runoff and regional regression models for six sites with observed daily streamflow records in Kentucky. The regional regression model produced median estimates closer to the observed median for all but two characteristics. The variability of predictions from both models was generally less than the observed variability. The variability of the predictions from the rainfall–runoff model was greater than that from the regional regression model for all but three characteristics. Eight characteristics predicted by the rainfall–runoff model display positive or negative bias across all six sites; biases are not as pronounced for the regional regression model. Results suggest that a rainfall–runoff model calibrated on a single characteristic is less likely to perform well as a predictor of a range of other characteristics (flow regime) when compared with a regional regression model calibrated individually on multiple characteristics used to represent the flow regime. Poor model performance may misrepresent hydrologic conditions, potentially distorting the perceived risk of ecological degradation. Without prior selection of streamflow characteristics, targeted calibration, and error quantification, the widespread application of general hydrologic models to ecological flow studies is problematic. Published 2012. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Kentucky, Tennessee↗

USGS2026

Leopard occupancy and habitat use in the multi-use Chitwan-Annapurna Landscape, Nepal

We estimated leopard ( Panthera pardus fusca ) occupancy in a multi-use region within Nepal’s Chitwan-Annapurna Landscape to evaluate leopard habitat use and inform conservation planning in areas where most of the species’ habitat occurs outside protected areas. In 2021, sign surveys were conducted along 1277 km of transects distributed among 145 grid cells of 7×7 km within a 7105 km² study area, where 226 leopard signs (pugmarks and scats) were documented. We used an occupancy modeling framework to evaluate the influence of environmental and anthropogenic factors on leopard habitat use. We found that leopard occupancy (ψ = 0.73 ± 0.17 CI) was strongly and positively associated with areas used by wild prey such as red muntjac ( Muntiacus muntjak ), rhesus macaques ( Macaca mulatta ), chital ( Axis axis ), and wild boars ( Sus scrofa ). Our results provide evidence that large carnivores like leopards can persist in human-dominated landscapes when native prey remains abundant, underscoring the need for community-based conservation that sustains both prey and predator populations beyond protected areas. By estimating leopard occupancy outside of protected areas, the research establishes a baseline for developing management strategies to ensure the continued existence of leopards in Nepal's multi-use landscapes.

Chitwan-Annapurna Landscape↗

USGS2021

A case study of sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) control and ecology in a microcosm of the Great Lakes

The Cheboygan River, Michigan, is the only tributary to the upper Great Lakes where sea lamprey ( Petromyzon marinus ) are known to complete their entire life cycle. The Upper and Lower reaches are separated by the Cheboygan Lock and Dam located about 2 km from Lake Huron. In the Upper River, the Pigeon, Sturgeon, and Maple Rivers provide nursery habitat for larval sea lamprey. Burt and Mullett Lakes provide feeding grounds for juvenile sea lamprey. Low levels of immigration from Lake Huron occur when adult sea lamprey bypass the lock and dam. Lampricide treatment in the Pigeon, Sturgeon, and Maple Rivers began in 1966 and 15 treatments have been conducted to date at a combined cost of $435,000 USD per treatment. Treatments may become more difficult due to recent dam removals in the Pigeon (2016) and Maple Rivers (2018) that expanded habitat available to valued fishes and sea lamprey. At present, the landlocked population is less than 200 spawning adults, and those adults are generally smaller and may spawn earlier in the spring than adult sea lamprey from Lake Huron. Frequency of sea lamprey-induced wounding on steelhead ( Oncorhynchus mykiss ) and northern pike ( Esox lucius ) in Mullett Lake is less than 5%. Given increasing challenges of lampricide treatment, efforts to test other means of control such as sterile male release technique is on-going. The Cheboygan River represents a microcosm of the Great Lakes and is useful for learning about sea lamprey ecology and testing controls that supplement lampricides and barriers.

Michigan↗

USGS2025

Estimates of global surface water dynamics harnessing near real-time land cover observations and open science geospatial capabilities

Spatio-temporal changes to our world’s surface water resources are escalating. Translating how these changes impact communities and ecosystems requires time-varying data of Global Surface Water Extents (GSWE). Traditionally, GSWE mapping has been limited to static estimates, with recent efforts focusing on annual averages, frequency and occurrence of long-term variations. Building upon these foundational capabilities, we harnessed remotely sensed Sentinel-2 based near real-time Dynamic World (DW) land cover products to produce the first-of-its-kind 10 m resolution GSWE dataset representing 2015–2023. Our dataset estimated 2.5 million km 2 of permanent waters and 8 million km 2 of seasonal waters worldwide. Comparing our Sentinel-2 based data to contemporary Landsat-based GSWE, we observed that our data mapped less water within the >50% probability of occurrence range, suggesting a lower presence of open permanent water especially in high latitudes, deviating from what we previously learnt from Landsat data. Statistical analysis compared to well-established observational products and widely used GSWE datasets across some of the world’s most ecologically significant regions, including Pantanal in South America and Haor in South Asia, supports the overall physical realism of our data in predicting global open surface water dynamics. Our key contribution is a prototype Open Science operational framework that extracts routinely available DW products, runs geospatial analytics, and creates actionable water information for educators, researchers, and stakeholders at any scale of practical interest. We present examples of this operational capability through instant mapping of flood in Spain and drought in Lake Urmia, Central Asia, frequent monitoring of river extent changes at the Ganges–Brahmaputra confluence, and above all, interoperability with other existing GSWE applications.

Environmental Research Letters↗

USGS2009

Climate and hydrological changes in the northeastern United States: recent trends and implications for forested and aquatic ecosystems

We review twentieth century and projected twenty-first century changes in climatic and hydrologic conditions in the northeastern United States and the implications of these changes for forest ecosystems. Climate warming and increases in precipitation and associated changes in snow and hydrologic regimes have been observed over the last century, with the most pronounced changes occurring since 1970. Trends in specific climatic and hydrologic variables differ in their responses spatially (e.g., coastal vs. inland) and temporally (e.g., spring vs. summer). Trends can differ depending on the period of record analyzed, hinting at the role of decadal-scale climatic variation that is superimposed over the longer-term trend. Model predictions indicate that continued increases in temperature and precipitation across the northeastern United States can be expected over the next century. Ongoing increases in growing season length (earlier spring and later autumn) will most likely increase evapotranspiration and frequency of drought. In turn, an increase in the frequency of drought will likely increase the risk of fire and negatively impact forest productivity, maple syrup production, and the intensity of autumn foliage coloration. Climate and hydrologic changes could have profound effects on forest structure, composition, and ecological functioning in response to the changes discussed here and as described in related articles in this issue of the Journal.

Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, ↗

USGS2004

Urban growth in American cities : glimpses of U.S. urbanization

The Earth's surface is changing rapidly. Changes are local, regional, national, and even global in scope. Some changes have natural causes, such as earthquakes or drought. Other changes, such as urban expansion, agricultural intensification, resource extraction, and water resources development, are examples of human-induced change that have significant impact upon people, the economy, and resources. The consequences that result from these changes are often dramatic and widespread (Buchanan, Acevedo, and Zirbes, 2002) It is the role of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to provide useful and relevant scientific information both to the agencies within the Department of the Interior and to the Nation in general. In an effort to comply with this task, USGS scientists are assessing the status of, and the trends in, the Nation's land surface. This assessment provides useful information for regional and national land use decisionmaking. This knowledge can be used to deal with issues of significance to the Nation, such as quality-of-life, ecology of urban environments, ecosystem health, ecological integrity, water quality and quantity concerns, resource availability, vulnerability to natural hazards, safeguards to human health, air and land quality, and accessibility to scientific information. Results of these assessments can also be analyzed to reveal rates and trends in land use change. Results from urban growth studies provide a firm foundation for continuing research that explores the consequences of human modification of the landscape. The USGS seeks to illustrate and explain the spatial history of urban growth and corresponding land use change. Scientists are studying urban environments from a regional perspective and a time scale of decades to measure the changes that have occurred in order to help understand the impact of anticipated changes in the future. Within this booklet are pairs of images of selected urbanized regions from across the Nation. These image pairs illustrate the transformation that these areas have undergone over two decades. Specifically, they depict changes in the extent of urban land. Each change pair is composed of one image from the 1970s and one image from the 1990s. Accompanying each image pair is a brief historical geography of factors that helped facilitate major changes that have occurred since the founding of the main city and the consequences and challenges of regional urban growth. The goal of this publication is to provide an illustration of urban change that is easily understood by a broad audience. The images used throughout this booklet were generated from land cover data developed by the USGS. The data sources include the Geographic Information Retrieval and Analysis System (GIRAS) for the 1970s images and the National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD) for the 1990s images. GIRAS digital maps are based on photointerpretations completed in the mid-1970s. The NLCD is a land cover dataset for the conterminous United States based on 1992 Landsat thematic mapper (TM) satellite imagery and supplemental data (fig. 1a and fig. 1b). The USGS distributes both of these land use and land cover digital datasets. The images were developed by using a geographic information system (GIS). The GIRAS and NLCD datasets were used to identify urban land within each region. In the final images all urban areas are shown in red. A shaded-relief map of each region was used to display the topographic context of the red polygon coverage. For all of these images, urban land is defined as areas transformed into a built-up environment for human use. It includes residential areas, commercial and industrial developments, transportation features, and institutions.

Circular↗

USGS2008

Prehistoric Packrats Piled Up Clues to Climate Change

Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey and Northern Arizona University studying climate change in the Southwestern United States are getting a helping hand?or would that be paw??from prehistoric packrats. By hoarding parts of animals and plants, including seeds and leaves, in garbage piles or ?middens,? these bushy-tailed rodents preserved crucial ecological and environmental information about the past. From these middens, scientists are able to reconstruct plant communities and natural systems from as long ago as 50,000 years. The contents of middens allow scientists to understand how ecosystems responded to rapid, large-scale climate changes of the past. The insights gained from midden research could offer clues to future changes driven by rapid climate shifts.

Fact Sheet↗

USGS2011

Applying remote sensing to invasive species science—A tamarisk example

The Invasive Species Science Branch of the Fort Collins Science Center provides research and technical assistance relating to management concerns for invasive species, including understanding how these species are introduced, identifying areas vulnerable to invasion, forecasting invasions, and developing control methods. This fact sheet considers the invasive plant species tamarisk (Tamarix spp), addressing three fundamental questions: *Where is it now? *What are the potential or realized ecological impacts of invasion? *Where can it survive and thrive if introduced? It provides peer-review examples of how the U.S. Geological Survey, working with other federal agencies and university partners, are applying remote-sensing technologies to address these key questions.

Fact Sheet↗

USGS2014

SAFRR tsunami scenario: Impacts on California ecosystems, species, marine natural resources, and fisheries

We evaluate the effects of the SAFRR Tsunami Scenario on California’s ecosystems, species, natural resources, and fisheries. We discuss mitigation and preparedness approaches that can be useful in Tsunami planning. The chapter provides an introduction to the role of ecosystems and natural resources in tsunami events (Section 1). A separate section focuses on specific impacts of the SAFRR Tsunami Scenario on California’s ecosystems and endangered species (Section 2). A section on commercial fisheries and the fishing fleet (Section 3) documents the plausible effects on California’s commercial fishery resources, fishing fleets, and communities. Sections 2 and 3 each include practical preparedness options for communities and suggestions on information needs or research. Our evaluation indicates that many low-lying coastal habitats, including beaches, marshes and sloughs, rivers and waterways connected to the sea, as well as nearshore submarine habitats will be damaged by the SAFRR Tsunami Scenario. Beach erosion and complex or high volumes of tsunami-generated debris would pose major challenges for ecological communities. Several endangered species and protected areas are at risk. Commercial fisheries and fishing fleets will be affected directly by the tsunami and indirectly by dependencies on infrastructure that is damaged. There is evidence that in some areas intact ecosystems, notably sand dunes, will act as natural defenses against the tsunami waves. However, ecosystems do not provide blanket protection against tsunami surge. The consequences of ecological and natural resource damage are estimated in the millions of dollars. These costs are driven partly by the loss of ecosystem services, as well as cumulative and follow-on impacts where, for example, increased erosion during the tsunami can in turn lead to subsequent damage and loss to coastal properties. Recovery of ecosystems, natural resources and fisheries is likely to be lengthy and expensive. Preparedness is key to enhancing resilience to ecological impacts.

California↗

USGS2005

Climate patterns as predictors of amphibians species richness and indicators of potential stress

Amphibians occupy a range of habitats throughout the world, but species richness is greatest in regions with moist, warm climates. We modeled the statistical relations of anuran and urodele species richness with mean annual climate for the conterminous United States, and compared the strength of these relations at national and regional levels. Model variables were calculated for county and subcounty mapping units, and included 40-year (1960-1999) annual mean and mean annual climate statistics, mapping unit average elevation, mapping unit land area, and estimates of anuran and urodele species richness. Climate data were derived from more than 7,500 first-order and cooperative meteorological stations and were interpolated to the mapping units using multiple linear regression models. Anuran and urodele species richness were calculated from the United States Geological Survey's Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI) National Atlas for Amphibian Distributions. The national multivariate linear regression (MLR) model of anuran species richness had an adjusted coefficient of determination (R2) value of 0.64 and the national MLR model for urodele species richness had an R2 value of 0.45. Stratifying the United States by coarse-resolution ecological regions provided models for anUrans that ranged in R2 values from 0.15 to 0.78. Regional models for urodeles had R2 values. ranging from 0.27 to 0.74. In general, regional models for anurans were more strongly influenced by temperature variables, whereas precipitation variables had a larger influence on urodele models.

Alytes↗

USGS2016

Overwintering strategies of migratory birds: a novel approach for estimating seasonal movement patterns of residents and transients

Our understanding of movement patterns in wildlife populations has played an important role in current ecological knowledge and can inform landscape conservation decisions. Direct measures of movement can be obtained using marked individuals, but this requires tracking individuals across a landscape or multiple sites. We demonstrate how movements can be estimated indirectly using single-site, capture–mark–recapture (CMR) data with a multi-state open robust design with state uncertainty model (MSORD-SU). We treat residence and transience as two phenotypic states of overwintering migrants and use time- and state-dependent probabilities of site entry and persistence as indirect measures of movement. We applied the MSORD-SU to data on eight species of overwintering Neotropical birds collected in 14 countries between 2002 and 2011. In addition to entry and persistence probabilities, we estimated the proportions of residents at a study site and mean residence times. We identified overwintering movement patterns and residence times that contrasted with prior categorizations of territoriality. Most species showed an evidence of residents entering sites at multiple time intervals, with transients tending to enter between peak resident movement times. Persistence and the proportion of residents varied by latitude, but were not always positively correlated for a given species. Synthesis and applications . Our results suggest that migratory songbirds commonly move among habitats during the overwintering period. Substantial proportions of populations appear to be comprised of transient individuals, and residents tend to persist at specific sites for relatively short periods of time. This information on persistence and movement patterns should be explored for specific habitats to guide landscape management on the wintering grounds, such as determining which habitats are conserved or restored as part of certification programmes of tropical agroforestry crops. We suggest that research and conservation efforts on Neotropical migrant songbirds focus on identifying landscape configurations and regional habitat networks that support these diverse overwintering strategies to secure full life cycle conservation.

Journal of Applied Ecology↗

USGS1989

The ecology of hydric hammocks: a community profile

This community profile is one in a series of Fish and Wildlife Service publications compiled to provide a state-of-knowledge synthesis of scientific information and literature on various coastal habitats. The subject of this profile is the hydric hammock, a distinctive type of forested wetland occurring at low elevations along the gulf coast of Florida from Aripeka to St. Marks and at various inland sites in Florida. Relatively little research has been conducted in hydric hammocks, and no thorough effort has been made previously to define this community. Consequently, no consensus has existed about the extent and nature of this community; some published works and active researchers have differed in their judgments about it; and the entity sometimes is ignored and often is lumped with other types of mixed hardwood forests. The purpose of this profile is to establish or clarify an identification and understanding of the hydric-hammock community. Information for the profile was gathered from published and unpublished literature, from persona 1 communication with many technical experts, and from our own fie 1 d experience. The profile includes some new data gathered in the field for the purpose of defining this community. It is hoped that the content and format of the profile will be useful to a broad spectrum of users, including other scientists, students, resource managers and planners, teachers, and interested citizens. The profile includes structural and functional aspects of the community: its physical setting, plant and animal composition and dynamics, interactions of its flora and fauna, and its relationships with other communities.

Florida↗

USGS2019

Chronic wasting disease—Research by the U.S. Geological Survey and partners

Introduction Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is the only transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, a class of invariably fatal neurodegenerative mammalian diseases associated with a misfolded cellular prion protein found in wild free-ranging animals. Because it has a long incubation period, affected animals in Cervidae (the deer family; referred to as “cervids”) may not show signs of disease for several years. While signs are not specific to CWD, affected cervids (deer, elk, moose, and reindeer) show changes in appearance (such as progressive weight loss) and changes in behavior such as stumbling, tremors, and teeth grinding. CWD can be transmitted by direct contact or through a contaminated environment. The causative prion agent is highly resistant to degradation. In recent decades, CWD has transitioned from a novel, obscure prion disease of cervids with limited geographical distribution, to a disease that poses substantial ecological, agricultural, and economic risks across large regions of North America. Since its discovery in free-ranging elk and deer populations in the western United States in the 1980s, CWD has been reported in captive or free-ranging cervid populations in 26 States, 3 Canadian Provinces, the Republic of South Korea, Finland, Sweden, and Norway. In addition, the proportion of CWD-infected animals is increasing in many areas where the disease is already established. In some heavily affected areas, total cervid numbers have decreased over time due to CWD, which suggests that these cervid populations may not be sustainable in the long-term. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducts wildlife disease surveillance and research to support management of CWD-affected species and their habitats. The scientific information is relevant to governmental agencies that manage wildlife and their habitats including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and other Federal, State, and Tribal agencies as well as conservation partners (non-governmental organizations, businesses, and private landowners). Each project description in this report (1–30) includes the non-USGS collaborators (Federal, State, Tribal agencies, universities) and a USGS point of contact (principal investigator). If there are USGS publications associated with the project, a publication list is provided at the end of each project description.

Alberta, California, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas↗

USGS2016

Midcontinent Prairie-Pothole wetlands and climate change: An Introduction to the Supplemental Issue

The multitude of wetlands in the Prairie Pothole Region of North America forms one of Earth’s largest wetland complexes. The midcontinent location exposes this ecologically and economically important wetland system to a highly variable climate, markedly influencing ponded-water levels, hydroperiods, chemical characteristics, and biota of individual basins. Given their dominance on the landscape and recognized value, great interest in how projected future changes in climate will affect prairie-pothole wetlands has developed and spawned much scientific research. On June 2, 2015, a special symposium, “Midcontinent Prairie-Pothole Wetlands: Influence of a Changed Climate,” was held at the annual meeting of the Society of Wetland Scientists in Providence, Rhode Island, USA. The symposium’s twelve presenters covered a wide range of relevant topics delivered to a standing-room-only audience. Following the symposium, the presenters recognized the need to publish their presented papers as a combined product to facilitate widespread distribution. The need for additional papers to more fully cover the topic of prairie-pothole wetlands and climate change was also identified. This supplemental issue of Wetlands is the realization of that vision.

Prairie Pothole Region↗

USGS2022

Context-dependent variation in persistence of host populations in the face of disease

Research Highlight : Valenzuela-Sánchez, A., Azat, C., Cunningham, A. A., Delgado, S., Bacigalupe, L. D., Beltrand, J., Serrano, J. M., Sentenac, H., Haddow, N., Toledo, V., Schmidt, B. R., & Cayuela, H. (2022). Interpopulation differences in male reproductive effort drive the population dynamics of a host exposed to an emerging fungal pathogen. Journal of Animal Ecology , 00 , 1– 12. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13603 . Understanding the nuances of population persistence in the face of a stressor can help predict extinction risk and guide conservation actions. However, the exact mechanisms driving population stability may not always be known. In this paper, Valenzuela-Sánchez et al. (2022) integrate long-term mark–recapture data, focal measurements of reproductive effort, a population matrix model and inferences on life-history variation to reveal differences in demographic response to disease in a susceptible frog species ( Rhinoderma darwinii ). Valenzuela-Sánchez et al. found that demographic compensation via recruitment explained the positive population growth rate in their high disease prevalence population whereas the low disease prevalence population did not compensate and thus had decreasing population growth. Compensatory recruitment was likely due to the high probability of males brooding, and the high number of brooded larvae in the high prevalence population compared to low prevalence and disease-free populations. Valenzuela-Sánchez et al. also document faster generation times in the high prevalence population, which may indicate a faster life history that may be contributing to the population's ability to compensate for reduced survival. Lastly, the authors find a positive relationship between disease prevalence and the proportion of juveniles in a given population that suggest that there may be a threshold for disease prevalence that triggers increased reproductive effort. Altogether, their study provides novel support for increased reproductive effort as the pathway for compensatory recruitment leading to increasing population growth despite strong negative effects of disease on adult survival. Their results also caution the overgeneralization of the effects of stressors (e.g. disease) on population dynamics, where context-dependent responses may differ among host populations of a given species.

Journal of Animal Ecology↗

USGS2026

Adaptation and response in drylands: A dryland research agenda and campaign strategy

Dryland ecosystems cover 41% of Earth's land surfaces, account for 44% of cultivated lands and 60% of food sources, and make large contributions to the global water and carbon cycles. However, these ecosystems are experiencing unprecedented extremes including heatwaves, floods, and droughts as well as hotter temperatures and often declining water resource availability. These ecosystems are some of the most challenging to monitor given their high temporal variability with rapid response to their environment as well as vast spatial variability with intermixing of different plant species and life forms amongst bare soil coverage. The Adaptation and Response in Drylands (ARID) campaign was selected by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as a scoping study to develop a research agenda for a dryland field campaign. Here, we detail our ARID science research agenda and implementation plan that were developed based on an extensive community engagement effort in over 160 events with over a thousand scientists, land managers, and Tribal communities between 2023 and 2024. The selected science themes cover drought and climate variability, ecosystem structure, function, and biodiversity, carbon cycle interannual variability and trends, and social ecological systems (land management and adaptation). We then detail our remote sensing, modeling, and field-based strategies to capture high temporal and high spatial resolution processes. Finally, our implementation strategy is presented which includes focus area selections in a core intensive western U.S. domain and distributed international domains. This strategy includes our overarching guiding principles of using multi-temporal airborne acquisitions and super sites as well as enhancing land management in co-development with end-user partners. While originally developed for NASA, our ARID report creates a blueprint for any future dryland field campaign, at any scale, that can be implemented widely for foundational and applied science objectives.

Global Change Biology↗