Accomplishment Highlights
Predictive Tools
Multiple Stresses Impact Water Resources—The southeastern U.S. has traditionally been water-rich, having enough water resources to sustain economic growth and support urban, agricultural, and industrial water needs. Comprehensive tools developed by Eastern Center scientists project long-term impacts on water resulting from climate change, population, and land use and project annual water availability.
Prescribed Burns Produce Mixed Effects—Fire plays a significant role in runoff, sediment yield, and nutrient transport in land and water ecosystems in mountain watersheds. Eastern Center scientists are evaluating the positive and negative effects of prescribed burning across the mountain, piedmont, and coastal plain regions of the southeastern U.S. Results will be used to build predictive models.
Current Land Use Changes Provide Futuristic View—Most land use changes result from population increases and new home construction in semi- or undeveloped areas. Eastern Center researchers and the European Commission have partnered to better understand these land use changes and predict future impacts on amenities like biodiversity and water quality.
Pacific Coast Benefits from Enhanced Vegetation Data—Severe disturbances are causing great concern throughout the West and could be predicted, and adaptive strategies modeled, more accurately with detailed vegetation data. Western Center researchers are helping to develop enhanced maps for Washington, Oregon, and northern California that use advanced statistical techniques to extrapolate existing sample data to fill in knowledge gaps and provide high-resolution data for a variety of modeling applications.
Plant Traits Often Determine Invasive Potential—Thousands of plant species are introduced into non-native habitats, though few earn the title “invasive” by spreading to surrounding areas and multiplying profusely. Eastern Center scientists are studying biological traits such as life history and genetic information that are associated with invasion success. Insight gained in these studies will be used to develop predictive models.
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