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Climate Adaptation Science Centers

From wildfires to sea-level rise, climate change creates evolving challenges for ecosystems across the Nation. The USGS National and Regional Climate Adaptation Science Centers (CASCs) is a partnership-driven program that teams scientists with natural and cultural resource managers and local communities to help fish, wildlife, water, land, and people adapt to a changing climate.

News

Key Considerations for Incorporating Indigenous Knowledge into Climate Adaptation Planning

Key Considerations for Incorporating Indigenous Knowledge into Climate Adaptation Planning

North Central CASC Tackles Climate Threats to Sagebrush Ecosystems

North Central CASC Tackles Climate Threats to Sagebrush Ecosystems

Flood-Risk Classifications Can Drive Risky Development

Flood-Risk Classifications Can Drive Risky Development

Publications

Exposure, sensitivity, or adaptive capacity? Reviewing assessments that use only two of three elements of climate change vulnerability

As climate change accelerates, understanding which species are most vulnerable and why they are vulnerable will be vital to inform conservation action. Climate change vulnerability assessments (CCVAs) are tools to assess species' responses to climate change, detect drivers of vulnerability, and inform conservation planning. CCVAs are commonly composed of three elements: exposure...
Authors
Amanda A. Hyman, Erin R. Crone, Abigail Benson, Jason B. Dunham, Abigail Lynch, Laura Thompson, Meryl C. Mims

Shifts in marsh erosion, migration, and wave exposure over nearly two centuries of sea-level rise in the Gulf of Mexico

Coastal wetlands are economically important ecosystems, but are at risk to erosion from waves, storms, and sea level rise. However, marshes can persist under rising sea level through vertical accretion and migration into adjacent higher-elevation habitats. We measured rates of marsh shoreline change and migration and compared the results for historical and modern periods in a largely...
Authors
Kathryn Smith, Joseph Terrano, Robert L. Jenkins, Jonathan L Pitchford, Davina Passeri, Christopher G. Smith

Adaptive capacities of inland fisheries facing anthropogenic pressures

Inland fisheries face multiple, intensifying threats (i.e., proximate human pressures causing degraded ecological attributes) from land development, climate change, resource extraction, and competing demands for water resources. Planning for resiliency amidst these pressures requires understanding the factors that influence an inland fishery’s capacity to adapt to system changes under...
Authors
Gretchen L. Stokes, Samuel J. Smidt, Emily L. Tucker, Matteo Cleary, Simon Funge-Smith, John Valbo‐Jørgensen, Benjamin S. Lowe, Abigail Lynch
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