Publications

Plant communities on mountain summits are commonly long-lived, cold-adapted perennials with low dispersal ability. These characteristics in tandem with limited area to track suitable conditions make these mountain communities potentially highly vulnerable to climate change, and indicators of climate change impacts. We investigated temporal changes in plant communities on 29 arid mountain...

Climate change is a pervasive hazard that impacts the supply and demand of ecosystem goods and services (EGS) that maintain human well-being. A recent review found that the impacts of climate change on EGS are sometimes mixed, posing challenges for managers who need to adapt to these changes. We expand on earlier work by exploring drivers of varying responses of EGS to climate within...

From a resource management perspective, climate change is considered to be one of the main threats to high-elevation ecosystems. However, these valuable ecosystems present unique challenges to climate change adaptation (actions in response to environmental change and its effects in a way that seeks to reduce harm) due to their rugged and remote characteristics. Within this context, we...

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...

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...

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...

No abstract available.

There are increasing calls to incorporate indigenous knowledge (IK) into climate adaptation planning (CAP) and related projects. However, given unique attributes of IK and the positionality of tribal communities to scientific research, several considerations are important to ensure CAP efforts with IK are ethical and effective. While such topics have been thoroughly explored conceptually...

ObjectiveManaging freshwater fisheries in warming lakes is challenging because climate change impacts anglers, fish, and their interactions.MethodsWe integrated recent models of current and future lake temperatures with recreational fisheries catch data from 587 lakes in three north-central U.S. states (Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin) to evaluate how the thermal composition of...

The challenge of selecting strategies to adapt to climate change is complicated by the presence of irreducible uncertainties regarding future conditions. Decisions regarding long-term investments in conservation actions contain significant risk of failure due to these inherent uncertainties. To address this challenge, decision makers need an arsenal of sophisticated but practical tools...

No abstract available.

The U.S. Geological Survey North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center (NC CASC), established in 2012, is part of a national network supporting climate-informed decisions that benefit wildlife and habitats. The NC CASC provides climate science for the U.S. Department of the Interior, State agencies, and Tribal nations to support effective resource management. Collaborating with the...