Applying Vulnerability Assessment Tools to Plan for Climate Adaptation: Case Studies in the Great Northern LCC

Project ID: 60181BJ658

Federal Agency: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Partner Institution: University of Washington

Fiscal Year: 2011

Initial Funding: $95,000

Total Funding: $95,000

Project Type: Research

Project Disciplines: Biological

Principal Investigator: Lawler, Joshua

Agreement Technical Representative: Converse, Yvette

Abstract: To develop effective adaptive management plans, conservation and natural resource managers need to know how climate change will affect the organisms and ecosystems they manage. To meet this need, we will model potential shifts in the distributions of at least 12 focal animal species (chosen in discussions with land managers) and assess the vulnerabilities of species and managed lands to future climate change. We will summarize the projected changes in climate and biota for the entire study region as well as for specific land management units including: national parks, fish and wildlife refuges (both state and federal), and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) owned and managed sites. This research contributes to USGS Science Strategy science directions, “Understanding Ecosystems and Predicting Ecosystem Change” and “Climate Variability and Change” (USGS Circular 1309) and USGS contributions to the U.S. Climate Change Science Program Strategic Plan Question 8.3 (Product 3) by enhancing our understanding of potential climate-change effects on important ecological systems.