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Social and Ecological Resilience in Southwestern Colorado Active

By Fort Collins Science Center July 6, 2018

Understanding potential changes in ecological, social, and climate systems can help managers and decision makers take actions to ensure that natural landscapes and human communities remain healthy and are able to provide essential ecosystem services now and in the future.

An interdisciplinary team, consisting of planners and social, ecological and climate scientists, developed an integrated social-ecological climate planning framework and applied it with natural resource managers, stakeholders, and partners in the Upper Gunnison and San Juan River Basins. They identified adaptation strategies for four targeted landscapes (sagebrush shrublands, spruce-fir forests, pinyon juniper woodlands, and seeps, springs, and wetlands) under three future (2020-2050) climate scenarios. This framework can be used to develop strategies for other landscapes at local, state and national scales.

Learn more about SECR - evaluating the opportunities and barriers for developing and implementing climate adaptation strategies in southwestern Colorado.