Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities
Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities
Explore our projects that are supporting Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
Filter Total Items: 160
Future of Species Range Shifts: Quantifying and Projecting the Effects of Climate Change on the Summer Behavior and Distribution of the Porcupine Caribou Herd in Arctic Alaska
Declines in many barren-ground caribou herds across North America have coincided with the ‘greening of the Arctic’, raising concerns about the influence of changing summer habitat conditions on caribou, and the subsequent effects on Indigenous communities that rely on caribou for subsistence. These cocerns have been compounded by plans and proposals to expand energy development into...
From Water to Life: Impact of Climate Warming on Potential Wetland and First Foods Habitat in Traditional Use Areas of The Klamath Tribes
Project Overview First foods are integral components of the culture, spirituality, medicine, well-being, and health of the Klamath people. Throughout the Klamath Basin, climate change has substantially impacted the seasonality, abundance, and quality of first foods and other culturally important resources. These impacts compound with long-term challenges to food security and food...
Accelerating Science to Action Partnerships (ASAP): Implementing science-driven adaptation strategies in the 2-3-2 Landscape
Project Overview In the Southwestern U.S., decades of wildfire suppression, drought, and climate-drive aridification have resulted in unnatural fuel-loading across forests and grasslands. With wildfire severity and frequency on the rise, communities and ecosystems are seeing more post-fire impacts such as flooding and debris flow as well. Researchers supported by this Southwest CASC...
Supporting Effective Fire Risk Management Through Research: A Collaboration Between the Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center and the Joint Fire Science Program
Project Overview Fire regimes are changing in multiple ways, from longer, more extreme wildfire seasons to restricted opportunities for preventative fire management. Researchers supported by this Southwest CASC collaboration will strengthen partnerships among other researchers and managers to implement science-based management approaches for adapting to changing fire regimes. Through...
Assessing the vulnerability of cultural resources to rainfall-driven erosion in the Deadman Wash and Wupatki Wash drainages of Wupatki National Monument, Arizona
Project Overview Increased precipitation events and environmental damage from wildfires have resulted in more severe flooding events in the southwest. While these events have impacts across the landscape, it has had a significant impact on cultural resources within the region’s National Parks and Monuments. Wupakti National Monument in particular has experienced adverse resource impacts...
The Combined Impacts of Climate Change and Intensive Agriculture on Wild Rice, a Culturally Critical Resource and Relative for Indigenous Communities
Project Overview Wild Rice is an important piece of Indigenous culture for tribal communities in the Upper Midwest. However, given the high vulnerability of this aquatic plant to climate change, tribal communities have seen a significant decline of Wild Rice in the past century. Despite the expansion of monitoring and restoration efforts, intensified agriculture has also contributed to...
After the Dams: Fire Impacts and Restoration Opportunities for a Culturally Important Klamath River Willow
Project Overview The sandbar willow of the Klamath River is used within the Karuk Tribe’s ongoing cultural practices of basketweaving. The willow has been threatened by intensifying fire and dams, but restoration and the recent historical dam removals provide an opportunity to increase the quantity, quality, and access to this important resource. Researchers supported by this Southwest...
Building community-based monitoring partnerships between rural schools and wildlife refuges in Alaska
Project Overview In Alaska, winters are becoming shorter and more unpredictable, leading to changes in lake and river ice, impacting access to hunting grounds, fuel wood transportation and recreation for local communities. Researchers supported by this Alaska CASC project will revitalize and modernize a freshwater ice observation network with a youth-centric partnership that teams...
Co-Creating Solutions with Tribal Nations for Drought Resilience and Cultural Agroecosystem Preservation
Native American agroecosystems, crucial to cultural identity, face threats from an increasing frequency and duration of severe droughts, which affect ancestral crop production and seed sustainability. Researchers supported by this South Central CASC project will collaborate with Indigenous horticulturalists to design and test whether wastewater gardens can help sustain crop seed...
Co-producing Robust Estimates of Feral Horses on Tribal Lands
Feral horse populations in the southwestern United States, including on tribal lands, are far above sustainable levels. This overpopulation poses threats to rangeland ecosystems as the feral horses compete with native species and livestock for limited resources – which likely will become even more limited with climate change. Researchers supported by this Southwest CASC project will...
Coastal Responses to Sea-Level Rise: Landscape-Scale Understanding in an Uncertain Future
Rising sea levels and frequent intense storms are rapidly changing Northeastern US coastal landscapes and threatening the vital ecosystem services they provide. Researchers supported by this Northeast CASC project will use landscape models, co-developed with coastal managers and tribal managers, to predict expected coastal changes for different environments (e.g., beaches, wetlands...
Designing Climate-Resilient Stormwater Management in Northeastern US Cities to Support Stream Ecosystems
Current stormwater management infrastructure and strategies in the northeastern US are built around historical weather data and not the weather that is expected with climate change, like more frequent extreme rainfall. This matters because stormwater can introduce pollution to streams and can cause flooding. Researchers supported by this Northeast CASC project will combine climate data...