Global Change

Global Change research at the U.S. Geological Survey aims to reveal the consequences of global change, including climate change and variability, on ecosystem processes, structure, and function.

Climate change and its effects on natural resources and human communities are among the most challenging issues confronting our Nation. Understanding and communicating the nature of climate change impacts can be equally challenging because of the complexity of the processes that influence global and regional environmental change. Rates of change in temperature, sea-level rise, growing season length, sea ice extent, permafrost decline, the habitat of multiple species and many other climate-related variables are expected to accelerate through 2100.

Global change research in biology focuses on the response of ecosystems and biological communities and species to climate change and assesses future global climate change impacts. Projects support our partnership with the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP).

• Effect of Climate Change on Population Trajectories and Trophic Interactions in a High Elevation Riparian Ecosystem - (Principal Investigator: Thomas E. Martin, Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research)
  
  
• Interactions of Climate Change and Other Environmental Factors on Invasive Plant Infestation in the Arid West - (Principal Investigators: Jonathan M. Friedman, FORT; Belnap, SBSC)
  
  
• Forest Dieback and Carbon Relations of Coastal Forests of the Southeast under Changing Climate: Interactive Effects of Drought Severity, Hurricanes, Sea-level Rise and Coastal Management - (Principal Investigator: Thomas W. Doyle, Ph. D., NWRC)
  
  
• Response of Western Mountain Ecosystems to Climatic Variability and Change - (Principal Investigators: Jill S. Baron, FORT; Daniel B. Fagre, NRMSC; Craig Allen, FORT)
  
  
• Extrinsic and Intrinsic Factors Affecting the Resilience of Corals to Climate Change, and Their Use in Designing Marine Reserves - (Principal Investigator: Charles Birkeland, Hawaii Cooperative Fishery Research Unit; Virginia Garrison, FISC)
  
  
• Polar Bear Survival in a Vanishing Sea Ice Environment - (Principal Investigator: Steve Amstrup, ASC)
  
  
• Functional Linkages Between Climate, Anthropogenic Factors and the Epipelagic Community of the North Pacific Ocean - (Principal Investigator: Nielsen, ASC)
  
  
• Predicting the Persistence of Coastal Wetlands Under Global Change - (Principal Investigators: Glenn R. Guntenspergen, PWRC and McKee, NWRC)
  
  
• Impact of DOI Activities on Carbon Sequestration and Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Natural And Restored Wetlands In The Prairie Pothole Region And The Lower Mississippi River Valley - (Principal Investigators: Stephen P. Faulkner & Ned H. Euliss NWRC & NPWRC)
  
  
• Spatial And Temporal Effects Of Climate Change On Great Lake Wetlands - (Principal Investigator: Dr. Douglas A. Wilcox, GLSC)
  
  
• Sensitivity of Pacific Island Tropical Mountain Cloud Forests to Climate Change - (Principal Investigator: David Foote, PIERC)
  
  
• Consequences of Altered Precipitation for Carbon Sequestration and Biogeochemical Cycling in Temperate Forests - (Principal Investigator: Steven Perakis, FRESC)
  

Samples of other climate change research: USGS Global Change Research in Biology

	Related USGS Programs Climate Change Science - USGS Earth Surface Dynamics Program USGS Congressional Briefing Series - USGS Climate Change Science: Exploring the Past, Observing the Present, Forecasting the Future (2007 Briefings) Additional Resources Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) U.S. Climate Change Science Program CCSP Synthesis and Assessment Products CCSP Fact Sheet 5 (updated September 2007) U.S. Global Change Research Information Office U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP)