Introduction Section I – Integrated Science Directions for fy 2005

Carbon stocks and carbon cycling on DOI Lands

If funding becomes available through the initiative process, Earth Surface Dynamics (ESD) program will consider new proposals and requests for enhanced funding for existing projects. Proposed work should build on current efforts and expand the scientific base by providing monitoring, research, and assessment/data coverage to meet increased land use planning and monitoring requirements.

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  Characterizing and assessing carbon exchange mechanisms;
  
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  Establishing landscape controls over carbon exchange mechanisms;
  
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  Evaluating carbon resources and forecasting their status in future climate scenarios;
  
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  Improving estimates of soil carbon inventories to facilitate carbon sink/source estimates;
  
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  Assessing the effectiveness of resource management and restoration practices on carbon sequestration and trace-gas emissions;
  
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  Identifying ecological and resource tradeoffs that might accompany carbon sequestration strategies on managed lands;
  
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  Integrating ongoing applied research on the CO₂ storage capacity of geologic formations with the detailed geology of Federal Lands
  

Amount of funding potentially available: $1,500,000

Contacts: Nick Lancaster, Martha Garcia.
Data collected in the Cooperative Water Program help to determine carbon storage and fluxes in rivers and other water bodies, and help to characterize the carbon involved in hydrologic processes. Contact: Glenn Patterson.
Hydrologic Networks and Analysis (HN&A) Program elements of Climate Change Hydrology, DOI Cost-Share, National Stream Quality Accounting Network, and the Hydrologic Benchmark Network collects and publishes data and interpretive results that focus on precipitation inputs and streamflow outputs, applicable to Carbon Research. Contact: Matt Larsen.


Priority Ecosystems Science
Through Priority Ecosystems Science (PES), formerly Place Based Studies, the USGS provides integrated science support for adaptive management of priority ecosystems. Activities include collaboration and integration of expertise from, Earth Surface Dynamics, Geographic Analysis and Monitoring, Toxic Substances Hydrology, Hydrologic Networks and Analysis, and Biological Research and Monitoring to achieve a system-scale understanding of the natural and anthropogenic factors affecting ecosystems and to better understand the interactive nature of resources and the environment. Additionally, PES studies expand the scientific base by providing temporal and spatial monitoring, research, and assessment/data coverage to meet land use planning and monitoring requirements. PES activities are currently concentrated in the following study units: Chesapeake Bay, Greater Everglades, Mojave Desert, Platte River, San Francisco Bay, and Yellowstone.
PES does not foresee any increases to funding in FY05 and does not anticipate any new starts. Funding levels for ongoing activities in FY05 may be decreased due to increased Bureau costs. The PES National Coordination Council will evaluate future funding scenarios and provide recommendations to the PES Study Unit coordinators.
Chesapeake Bay. The ecosystem of the Chesapeake Bay, the Nation's largest estuary, has been in decline due to poor water quality, loss of habitat, and over harvesting. USGS efforts provide information on the critical linkages between land-use, generation of sediment and nutrients, and the impact on water quality, habitats, and living resources in the Bay to help formulate and evaluate strategies to restore the function and integrity of the Bay. Contacts: Scott Phillips, Dave Russ, and Martha Garcia
Greater Everglades

The Greater Everglades ecosystem is a unique network of diverse habitats that encompasses a large part of southern Florida. Much of the area has been dramatically changed due to major urbanization and agriculture. Water is the principal driving force within this system and supplying sufficient water to support these diverse habitats is a continuing challenge for water and resource managers and the focus of USGS research. Contacts: Ronnie Best, Tom Armstrong, and Martha Garcia

The central Platte River Valley in Nebraska is the staging area for migratory water birds of the Central Flyway. Changes in water and land use have transformed the river system and impacted the habitat. Ongoing USGS efforts are in support of an MOU between the DOI and the States of Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska to develop a basin-wide management plan for habitat recovery. Contacts: Randy Olsen, Martha Garcia

More than 8 million people reside or work around San Francisco Bay. Human encroachment endangers the natural habitat and the quality of water. USGS efforts in the bay support the construction of an interdisciplinary model of the Bay system to address questions on habitat, sediment, toxic contaminants, and water flow.

Contacts: Jan Thompson, Martha Garcia, and Allison Shipp
Yellowstone

Efforts aimed at studying the effects of human activities on wildlife ended in FY04. For further information on Yellowstone activities Contacts: Martha Garcia or Dick Jachowski