HR: 0800h
AN: B11B-0142    [Abstracts]
TI: Landscape Change Priorities at the U.S.Geological Survey, 2005-2015
AU: * McMahon, G
EM: gmcmahon@usgs.gov
AF: U.S. Geological Survey, 3916 Sunset Ridge Road, Raleigh, NC 27607 United States
AU: Loveland, T R
EM: loveland@usgs.gov
AF: U.S. Geological Survey, EROS Data Center, Sioux Falls, SD 57198 United States
AB: In February 2004 the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) convened a Science Planning Team with a charge to create a succinct strategy to define, organize, manage, and expand the scientific activities of the Geography Discipline over the next 10 years (2005-2015). Over the ensuing months the Team has held listening sessions in five cities, meeting with 150 scientists and science managers from inside and outside the USGS to gain understanding of the strategic science issues and opportunities for the Geography Discipline. In a draft of the science plan the Science Planning Team has identified 10 priority science goals in three areas of societal interest: landscape change, the societal impacts of landscape change, especially related to hazards, environment, and natural resources, and the development, management, and access to geospatial information. Landscape change is a primary focus of the strategy and includes goals to (1) describe and understand the status of the nation's land surface and how is it changing; (2) describe and understand the local, regional, national, and global drivers of change; (3) predict the likely landscape changes over the next 20-50 years; and (4) describe and understand the consequences of landscape change on human and environmental systems. The critical steps identified to realize these goals are: development of a land use history of North America; development of periodic assessments of land cover responses associated with regional to global drivers, including economic globalization; development of a local to regional-scale land cover forecasting capability; and assessment of biodiversity and habitat consequences associated with landscape changes at the boundaries between human settlements and less developed areas. In most cases successful outcomes associated with these actions will require collaboration with scientists from the USGS, other government agencies, universities, and non-governmental organizations. As part of the implementation of the plan, a USGS Land Cover Institute is proposed that would include a strong focus on landscape change and the addition of at least 20 doctoral-level researchers. The final plan is expected to be released in January 2005.
UR: http://nc.water.usgs.gov/geog\_spt/
DE: 1600 GLOBAL CHANGE (New category)
DE: 1615 Biogeochemical processes (4805)
DE: 1640 Remote sensing
SC: Biogeosciences [B]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting