Climate Adaptation Science Centers
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From the expansion of invasive species to wildfire, from drought to sea-level rise, climate change creates new and evolving challenges for ecosystems across the nation. The USGS National and Regional Climate Adaptation Science Centers (CASCs) is a partnership-driven program that teams scientific researchers with natural and cultural resource managers and local communities to help fish, wildlife, waters, and lands across the country adapt to changing conditions.
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The CASCs fund scientific projects that generate research, data sets, and tools that natural and cultural resource managers can use to help fish, wildlife, ecosystems, & local communities survive and thrive in a changing climate.
Project ExplorerMeet the CASCs
Our network is comprised of the National CASC and nine regional CASCs, covering the continental U.S., Alaska, Hawai'i, the U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands, and the U.S. Caribbean.
Explore the CASCsStay Updated
Our bi-weekly Climate Adaptation Insights Newsletter shares our latest news on webinars, events, publications, and other items of interest from the National and Regional CASCs.
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Scientist Spotlight: Douglas Beard & Global Inland Fisheries
Learn about the research & career path of Douglas Beard, Chief of the National Climate Adaptation Science Center.
How a Southwest CASC Researcher Thinks like a Folkorist
Borderlore online journal describes how Alison Meadow forms relationships with the communities she works with who are adapting to a changing climate in the Southwestern U.S.
Providing a Framework for Species Status Assessments of Southeastern Grassland Ecosystems
Southeast CASC researchers produced a scientific needs assessment for southeastern grassland species and ecosystems that is intended to help guide science-based management of grassland species.
Publications
Cape Romain partnership for coastal protection
This final report summarizes activities, outcomes, and lessons learned from a 3-year project titled “Climate Change Adaptation for Coastal National Wildlife Refuges” with the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) and local partners in the surrounding South Carolina Lowcountry. The Lowcountry is classified as the 10-county area encompassing...
Eaton, Mitchell J.; Johnson, Fred A.; Mikels-Carrasco, Jessica; Case, David J.; Martin, Julien; Stith, Bradley; Yurek, Simeon; Udell, Bradley; Villegas, Laura; Taylor, Laura; Haider, Zulquarnain; Charkhgard, Hadi; Kwon, Changhyun
Daily patterns of river herring (Alosa spp.) spawning migrations: Environmental drivers and variation among coastal streams in Massachusetts
The timing of life history events in many plants and animals depends on the seasonal fluctuations of specific environmental conditions. Climate change is altering environmental regimes and disrupting natural cycles and patterns across communities. Anadromous fishes that migrate between marine and freshwater habitats to spawn are particularly...
Legett, Henry; Jordaan, Adrian; Roy, Allison; Sheppard, John; Somos-Valenzuela, Marcelo; Staudinger, Michelle How does climate change affect emergent properties of aquatic ecosystems?
Emergent properties of ecosystems are community attributes, such as structure and function, that arise from connections and interactions (e.g., predator–prey, competition) among populations, species, or assemblages that, when viewed together, provide a holistic representation that is more than the sum of its individual parts. Climate change is...
Staudinger, Michelle; Lynch, Abigail; Gaichas, Sarah; Fox, Michael; Gibson-Reinemer, Daniel; Langan, Joseph; Teffer, Amy K.; Thackeray, Stephen; Winfield, Ian