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Ecosystems

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ecosystem representation Many coastal, lacustrine, and marine fragile environments, including coastal wetlands, coral reefs, seagrass beds, and polar ecosystems, have been impacted and degraded during the past century by a combination of natural processes and by human activities. Conserving these environments and preventing further degradation, as well as restoring some areas, requires sound scientific understanding of the geologic processes and the geologic framework in which the dominant processes operate.
Other related USGS websites:
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San Francisco Bay and Delta

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Items below are listed from most recently updated to least recently updated.

These are results 1 through 25 of 82 matches.

Research Project
Marine Invasive Species, Didemnum lahillei, a colonial tunicate; ascidian; sea squirt, Home Page
Description: Distribution, biology, and marine habitat impacts of the highly invasive colonial tunicate Didemnum lahillei
updated: 2004-06-21 pages include:

Publication
Contaminant Transport in Massachusetts Bay
Description: Contaminants have accumulated in sediments of many coastal environments of the United States, particularly those near major metropolitan centers. U.S. Geological Survey scientists provide information about the distribution, severity, and fate of these contaminated sediments that is essential for making informed management decisions about multiple uses of these coastal environments.
updated: 2004-03-02 pages include:

Publication
Sedimentary Environments in Long Island Sound: A Guide to Sea-Floor Management in a Large Urbanized Estuary - USGS Fact Sheet 041-98
Description: Bottom sedimentary environments, defined by sidescan-sonar patterns, indicate where sea-floor sediments are moved and deposited in the Long Island Sound estuary. The patchy distribution of environments, which reflects both regional and local changes in geologic and oceanographic conditions, provides a predictive framework for those concerned with the management and utilization of the sea floor in this urbanized area.
updated: 2004-03-02 pages include:

Publication
Coastal Wetlands and Sediments of the San Francisco Bay System - USGS Fact Sheet
Description: San Francisco Bay has received much scientific attention over the years primarily because of regional questions regarding water quality and, more recently, geologic hazards, but very little is known about sediment distribution and movement on the floor of the Bay. The link between sediment accumulation in the Bay and processes that produce the staggering losses of wetlands acreage and continual channel filling is becoming better understood as U.S. Geological Survey scientists undertake new research of the region.
updated: 2004-03-02 pages include:

Publication
Geology and the Fishery of Georges Bank - USGS Fact Sheet
Description: A comprehensive knowledge of the geological environment is required to answer questions regarding the health of a fishery, the effects of ocean dumping and pollutant dispersal, and the impact of energy exploration activities.
updated: 2004-03-02 pages include:

Publication
Geology of the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary - USGS Fact Sheet
Description: The geology and oceanography of the Farallones and surrounding area is atypical and complex. These factors complicate the process of understanding the environmental effects of man's influence such as the disposal of dredge spoils and radioactive wastes. Our goal is to assemble, in a non-crisis mode, geological information to support sound management decisions for any purpose.
updated: 2004-03-02 pages include:

Publication
High-Energy Storms Shape Puerto Rico - USGS Fact Sheet
Description: Geologists have known for many years that damage inflicted by hurricanes on coastal areas may be less important for the long-term evolution of a coast than the effects of less intense, but more frequent, storm events. Indeed, high-energy storms may be needed to maintain the health of delicate marine ecologies in the coastal environment. Marine geologists of the U.S. Geological Survey working in Puerto Rico are confident that the long-term effects of Hurricane Hugo on the coastal environment are minimal, though the economic damage was significant. Detailed oceanographic studies are needed to define the sediment budget of the nearshore areas of Puerto Rico and to provide baseline information for studying storm effects.
updated: 2004-03-02 pages include:

Publication
The Lake Pontchartrain Basin: Louisiana's Troubled Urban Estuary - USGS Fact Sheet
Description: Scientific studies recently begun by the U.S. Geological Survey suggest that several key natural processes and human-induced environmental factors are directly affecting the health of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin, one of America's largest estuaries. An increased knowledge of the critical geologic and estuarine processes affecting the Basin is essential for its management, improving environmental conditions, and mitigating future problems in the region. Such baseline information is of immediate value to planners and decision makers involved in the task of reversing the Basin's environmental degradation and restoring its water and habitat qualities.
updated: 2004-03-02 pages include:

Publication
Monterey Bay Marine Sanctuary Geological Processes and Framework - USGS Fact Sheet
Description: The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) will move its Pacific Marine Geology program to a new location at the University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC) and we are excited about our role in the marine sciences community around Monterey Bay. There is much to learn in the region, not only as a result of new opportunities in the Marine Sanctuary, but also that knowledge gained here may be transferred to our studies of similar environments in other parts of the world.
updated: 2004-03-02 pages include:

Publication
Seafloor Studies of Mamala Bay, Honolulu, Hawaii - USGS Fact Sheet
Description: Disposal of dredge spoils in the near offshore area, coupled with the rapid growth of Honolulu and other nearby municipalities, has placed increased stress on the environment of Mamala Bay. No satisfactory bathymetric map of the seafloor had existed, and little information has been compiled about the effects of these activities to determine whether modifications to the operation and management of the designated dump sites and sewage outfall locations were necessary.
updated: 2004-03-02 pages include:

Research Project
Hurricane and Extreme Storm Impact Studies
Description: This project investigates the coastal impacts of hurricanes and extreme storms, such as Hurricanes Isabel (2003), Dennis (1999), Bonnie & Georges (1998), and winter storms, such as those associated with the 1997-98 El Niño.
updated: 2003-10-31 pages include:

Photographs
Photographs of the Sea Floor Offshore of New York and New Jersey, USGS Open-File Report 01-470, Start page
Description: A collection of sea floor bottom photographs taken offshore of New York and New Jersey
updated: 2003-10-10 pages include:

Publication
USGS Circular 1198 - Beyond the Golden Gate - Oceanography, Geology, Biology, and Environmental Issues in the Gulf of the Farallones
Description: The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began a major geologic and oceanographic study of the Gulf of the Farallones in 1989. This investigation, the first of several now being conducted adjacent to major population centers by the USGS, was undertaken to establish a scientific data base for an area of 3,400 square kilometers (1,000 square nautical miles) on the Continental Shelf adjacent to the San Francisco Bay region. The results of this study can be used to evaluate and monitor human impact on the marine environment.
updated: 2003-10-01 pages include:

Publication
Isla del Coco Fishes
Description: Isla del Coco Fishes is the first synthesis of scientific information about the remote Isla del Coco National Park (Costa Rica). The book, written in Spanish and English, contains descriptions and color photographs of more than half of the 271 fish species known from Isla del Coco, arranged in phylogenetic order. Many of the species are new records for the island and/or the eastern tropical Pacific.
updated: 2003-05-08 pages include:

Movie
Online Mini-Documentary Movie - Fishes of Isla del Coco, Coasta Rica
Description: Fishes of Isla del Coco, Costa Rica is an six minute movie featuring the antics of 22 species of fishes, one species of marine mammal and a few invertebrate species that inhabit the nearshore waters of Isla del Coco. Small butterflyfishes and angelfishes clean large sharks and rays; remoras harass divers, mobulas and each other; guineafowl puffers interact in curious ways; groupers and trumpetfishes eye an octopus; barnacle blennies daringly leap from their homes to feed; and bottlenose dolphins herd jacks into a baitball as a prelude to feeding.
updated: 2003-04-10 pages include:

Publication
U.S. Coral Reefs—Imperiled National Treasures | USGS Fact Sheet 025-02
Description: Coral reefs are home to 25% of all marine species. However, the tiny colonial animals that build these intricate limestone masses are dying at alarming rates. If this trend continues, in 20 years the living corals on many of the world’s reefs will be dead and the ecosystems that depend on them severely damaged. As part of the effort to protect our Nation’s extensive reefs, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists are working to better understand the processes that affect the health of these ecologically and economically important ecosystems.
updated: 2003-03-18 pages include:

Publication
New Mapping Techniques Help Assess the Health of Hawai'i's Coral Reefs | USGS Fact Sheet 084-01
Description: More than 60% of coral reefs in U.S. waters are found in the extended Hawaiian Island chain. These complex and diverse marine ecosystems are not only ecologically important but also provide hundreds of millions of dollars annually to Hawai‘i’s economy. Elsewhere in the world, corals are dying at unprecedented rates, and the reefs of Hawai‘i may also be at risk. To monitor and protect these reefs and to help understand what is threatening coral-reef habitats worldwide, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and other scientists are using new techniques to create detailed maps of Hawai‘i’s coral reefs.
updated: 2003-03-18 pages include:

Publication
Subsurface Controls on Historical Subsidence Rates and Associated Wetland Loss in Southcentral Louisiana
Description: The Gulf Coast Basin is a region where subsidence and fault activation are common around large, mature oil and gas fields even though moderately deep hydrocarbon production has generally been disregarded as the primary cause. This project will test the hypothesis that long-term, large-volume oil and gas production in the Gulf Coast Basin has resulted in land-surface subsidence and activation of deep-seated faults around some fields.
updated: 2003-03-14 pages include:

Publication
Primary Causes of Wetland Loss at Madison Bay, Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana - USGS Open File Report 03-060
Description: The Gulf Coast Basin is a region where subsidence and fault activation are common around large, mature oil and gas fields even though moderately deep hydrocarbon production has generally been disregarded as the primary cause. This project will test the hypothesis that long-term, large-volume oil and gas production in the Gulf Coast Basin has resulted in land-surface subsidence and activation of deep-seated faults around some fields.
updated: 2003-03-11 pages include:

Publication
Geology and Human Activity in the Florida Keys - USGS Fact Sheet
Description: Live corals on the east side of the Florida Keys are mysteriously dying and algae are taking over that eco-niche. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) studies and mapping of the Keys and the reef tract suggest that a number of natural factors, combined with effects of human activity, may contribute to the corals' demise. A complete geological study of this ecosystem would provide the kind of information environmental managers need to determine the extent of damage to reefs resulting from human activity.
updated: 2003-03-02 pages include:

Publication
African Dust Carries Microbes Across the Ocean: Are They Affecting Human and Ecosystem Health? - USGS Open File Report 03-028
Description: A four-page full-color discussion of how atmospheric transport of dust from northwest Africa to the western Atlantic Ocean region may be responsible for a number of environmental hazards, including the demise of Caribbean corals; red tides; amphibian diseases; increased occurrence of asthma in humans; and oxygen depletion (eutrophication) in estuaries.
updated: 2003-02-04 pages include:

Publication
Chemical Pollutants and Toxic Effects on Benthic Organisms, Biscayne Bay: A Pilot Study Preceding Florida Everglades Restoration - USGS Open File Report 02-308
Description: This report is a printable four-page publication outlining the research project work to identify the distribution of pollutants and their effects in the Biscayne Bay, Florida. Findings will be used to assist in planning Everglades restoration and to aid in understanding recent change in local coral reef health.
updated: 2002-09-23 pages include:

Publication
Wetland Subsidence, Fault Reactivation, and Hydrocarbon Production in the U.S. Gulf Coast Region - USGS Fact Sheet 091-01
Description: Wetland losses are so extensive in the Gulf of Mexico Coast region of the United States that they represent critical concerns to government environmental agencies and natural resource managers.
updated: 2002-09-20 pages include:

Publication
Shallow Stratigraphic Evidence of Subsidence and Faulting Induced by Hydrocarbon Production in Coastal Southeast Texas - USGS Open File Report 01-274
Description: Wetland losses and their progressive conversion to open water around producing oil and gas fields in the Gulf Coast region have been attributed to a variety of natural and anthropogenic processes. Three large, mature hydrocarbon fields in coastal southeast Texas were examined to evaluate competing hypotheses of wetland losses and to characterize subaerial and submerged surfaces near reactivated faults and zones of subsidence.
updated: 2002-09-19 pages include:

Research Project
Chemical Pollutants and Toxic Effects on Benthic Organisms, Biscayne Bay, Florida
Description: Through the study of benthic foraminifera in Florida's Biscayne Bay, this project seeks to identify the distribution of pollutants and their effects in the bay. Findings will be used to assist in planning Everglades restoration and to aid in understanding recent change in local coral reef health.
updated: 2002-08-27 pages include:

These are results 1 through 25 of 82 matches.

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