Developing a Database of Climate Sensitivities for Species in the North Coast and Cascades Network

Project ID: J8W07090030

Federal Agency: National Park Service

Partner Institution: University of Washington

Fiscal Year: 2009

Initial Funding: $99,649

Total Funding: $117,642

Project Type: Technical Assistance

Project Disciplines: Biological

National Park: Pacific West Region Washington

Principal Investigator: Lawler, Joshua

Agreement Technical Representative: Hawkins Hoffman, Cat

Abstract: Natural resource managers face an unprecedented challenge – how to plan and manage for local and regional effects of climate change. In the Pacific Northwest, temperatures and precipitation changes are affecting snowpack levels, hydrology, and disturbance regimes such as fire. These changes will affect species’ distributions and phenologies, creating cascading effects on ecological systems that will greatly alter many of the resources of our national parks. To address these impacts, managers need detailed information on which species and systems are most susceptible to climate change and how projected changes in climate are likely to affect them. This project will answer critical research questions of which species are inherently most sensitive to climate change. The major product will be a digital database of climate change sensitivities for species of concern in the national parks of the North Coast and Cascades Network (NCCN). Assessment of individual species sensitivities will be based on physiology, habitat requirements, interspecific dependencies, dispersal ability, population growth rates, location, and disturbance regime effects. Species sensitivities will be determined using expert review panels, published scientific literature, and pertinent data sets. The database will provide natural resource managers with critical information that can be combined with the management tools already in their toolbox to address climate change. This project includes all NCCN parks. Olympic National Park will facilitate this collaborative effort between the National Park Service and the University of Washington. A multi-park approach is the most powerful way to address the primary objective of developing a database of climate sensitivities that can be used by managers at park, network, and regional levels.