Priority Ecosystem Studies

The USGS conducts multi-disciplinary studies of priority ecosystems to provide science support for adaptive management. The ecosystems investigated are identified as priorities by the Department of the Interior and stakeholders because they have significant long-term societal value and near-term societal concern for problems regarding ecosystem management and landscape change, including development and other anthropogenic influences. The studies develop a system-level understanding of ecosystem processes based on interdisciplinary science, and development of information management systems, predictive models, and decision support tools to support management decision making. The ecosystems studied are representative of other ecosystems, or ecosystem processes or problems and offer strong potential for transferability of knowledge and tools to other ecosystems across the Nation.

Activities require collaboration and integration of expertise from multiple USGS disciplines to achieve a system-scale understanding of ecosystems. The Toxics Program provides expertise in a wide range of areas related to environmental contamination.

The Toxics Program is involved in studies in the following ecosystems:

• San Francisco Bay, California
• Gulf of Mexico Hypoxic Zone
• South Florida and the Everglades
• Chesapeake Bay
• Mojave Desert
• Platte River

More information on Priority Ecosystem Studies

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