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Historically, drought has been viewed in terms of its agricultural, hydrological, and socioeconomic impacts. How drought affects ecosystems - and the services they provide human communities - is often not discussed. In response, the U.S. Geological Survey's National Climate Adaptation Science Center (NCASC) initiated a national-scale effort that’s addressing this gap in drought research. A new concept – ecological drought – was defined as part of this effort. This geo-narrative explains the concept of ecological drought, and highlights the research and products that were initiated as part of this effort.
Categories: Publication;
Types: Citation;
Tags: Drought,
Drought, Fire and Extreme Weather,
National CASC,
Science Tools For Managers,
State of the Science
The production of dairy and beef is important for food security and the economies of the U.S. Caribbean. The dairy industry is the leading agricultural sector in Puerto Rico, contributing about 22% of the total agricultural income. Region-wide, beef and dairy production generate over 25,000 jobs and occupy more than 50,000 acres. In the U.S. Virgin Islands, cattle production has been declining in recent years due to higher insurance costs and natural disasters, while sheep and goat production has increased. Caribbean countries are particularly vulnerable to climate change due to their geography and economic capacity. Climate change is driving temperatures higher and the region is experiencing more frequent and intense...
Agricultural production in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) is important for the region’s economy, food security, and rural livelihoods. Farms in the region are mostly small-scale and cultivate a wide variety of crops including plantains, vegetables, coffee, hay, and ornamental plants. Small-scale farms of 10 acres or less are much more common in the U.S. Caribbean than in the continental U.S. While the variety of crops these farms provide is vital to the region, smaller financial margins can make them more vulnerable to climate-related hazards.
Drought is an inescapable reality in many regions, including much of the western United States. With climate change, droughts are predicted to intensify and occur more frequently, making the imperative for drought management even greater. Many diverse actors – including private landowners, business owners, scientists, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and managers and policymakers within tribal, local, state, and federal government agencies – play multiple, often overlapping roles in preparing for and responding to drought. Managing water is, of course, one of the most important roles that humans play in both mitigating and responding to droughts; but, focusing only on “water managers” or “water management”...
Categories: Publication;
Types: Citation
The USGS National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center (NCCWSC) is currently engaged in an Ecological Drought initiative, focused on understanding the impacts of drought on natural ecosystems across the country. This project was designed to support the Ecological Drought initiative by creating a USGS EcoDrought Actionable Science Working Group. The goal of this working group was to identify science needs for drought-related decisions and to provide natural resource managers with practical strategies for adapting to and planning for drought. The working group engaged social scientists to garner advice on relevant social science research questions and data needs, as well as to identify any regulatory, institutional,...
Categories: Project;
Types: Map Service,
OGC WFS Layer,
OGC WMS Layer,
OGC WMS Service;
Tags: 2016,
CASC,
Completed,
Drought,
Drought,
Healthy and functioning freshwater ecosystems are needed for successful conservation and management of native fish and invertebrate species, and the services they provide to communities across the U.S. Caribbean. Yet streams, rivers, and reservoirs are vulnerable to the effects of extreme weather, urbanization, energy development, and other environmental and human-caused disturbances. One major management concern is the impact of prolonged drought on freshwater ecosystems. Drought impacts streamflow, dissolved oxygen content, water quality, stream connectivity, habitat availability, and other characteristics necessary for sustaining fish and invertebrates. These changes can impact species interactions, abundance,...
THE RISING RISK OF DROUGHT. Droughts of the twenty-first century are characterized by hotter temperatures, longer duration, and greater spatial extent, and are increasingly exacerbated by human demands for water. This situation increases the vulnerability of ecosystems to drought, including a rise in drought-driven tree mortality globally (Allen et al. 2015) and anticipated ecosystem transformations from one state to another—for example, forest to a shrubland (Jiang et al. 2013). When a drought drives changes within ecosystems, there can be a ripple effect through human communities that depend on those ecosystems for critical goods and services (Millar and Stephenson 2015). For example, the “Millennium Drought”...
Categories: Publication;
Types: Citation
Forests in the U.S. Caribbean are spectacularly diverse, with more than 500 native tree species in Puerto Rico alone. These forests and trees provide many services to the region's 3.5 million people, including watershed and coastal protection, economic benefits from fruit and wood, cooling in urban environments, and improved water quality, recreation, habitat, and biodiversity protection. Caribbean forests range from coastal mangroves and dry forests, to rainy cloud forests on the mountain peaks. They have been shaped by frequent natural disturbances such as hurricanes, drought, flooding, landslides, and wildfire. Projected increases in temperatures and reduced or greater variability in rainfall may lead to increased...
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