Landscapes
Landscapes
From boreal forests to coral reefs, the United States is home to a plethora of diverse ecosystems, each of which faces different challenges under climate change. CASC-supported scientists are examining how landscapes of all types are being affected by changing temperature and precipitation patterns and how managers can best facilitate climate adaptation. Browse our projects by landscape below.
Filter Total Items: 332
Assessing Vulnerability of Vegetation and Wildlife Communities to Post-Fire Transformations to Guide Management of Southwestern Pine Forests and Woodlands
Wildfire is a natural and essential process in forest ecosystems, but characteristics of fire regimes that have shaped these landscapes over long time scales are changing with climate change and human activities. In some places, changes in fire size, frequency, and severity threaten to degrade essential ecosystem services that produce clean air and water, fertile soil for crop and wood...
California Reforestation Management Toolshed: A Web-Based Dashboard of Integrating Existing Resources
Millions of acres of California’s forest cover have been lost due to severe wildfire and drought mediatedinsect outbreaks. These acres may not grow back as forests without management action, which could negatively impact carbon sequestration, access to clean drinking water, wildlife habitat and recreation opportunities. Various factors, including limited regeneration potential, hotter...
Characterizing Climate-Driven Changes to Flood Events and Floodplain Forests in the Upper Mississippi River to Inform Management
Floodplain forests along the Upper Mississippi River are heavily managed but understudied systems that provide critical ecosystem services, including habitat for endangered species. Impacts of a changing climate, such as warmer winters and wetter summers with extreme precipitation events, are already influencing hydrologic patterns in these ecosystems, including altering the duration...
Climate Adaptability and Ecological Connectivity of Wildlife Communities in Multi-Use Sagebrush-Steppe Landscapes
Sagebrush steppe ecosystems provide livelihoods for humans and essential habitats for wildlife, and thus management actions in these systems to promote wildlife persistence must strike a balance between human needs with those of wildlife. Across the western U.S., these landscapes have been heavily altered or lost through human activities, and climate change is expected to cause further...
Climate-Adaptive Population Supplementation (CAPS) to Enhance Fishery and Forestry Outcomes
Society makes substantial investments in federal, Tribal, state, and private programs to supplement populations of valued species such as stocking fish, planting trees, rebuilding oyster reefs, and restoring prairies. These important efforts require long-term commitment, but climate change is making environmental conditions less predictable and more challenging to navigate. Selection of...
Compilation of Historical Water Temperature Data for Large Rivers in Alaska using the Landsat Satellite Archive
Water temperature plays a large role in freshwater ecosystems in the Arctic and sub-Arctic. It affects the physical and biological features of rivers, like how the water interacts with the landscape and the life cycles of organisms that live in the river. For example, unseasonably warm water temperatures in Alaska’s large rivers in 2019 caused large numbers of salmon to die before they...
Developing a Cave Conservation Management Toolbox by Exploring Cave Microclimates and Biodiversity Patterns
The Southeastern United States has vast underground ecosystems where temperatures vary little throughout the year and humidity is always near 100%. These cave and karst ecosystems provide many services to people, such as recreational opportunities, revenue from tourism, and groundwater storage. Caves also provide habitats for important and endangered species, like bats that eat...
Developing a Decision Making and Climate Adaptation Framework for National Wildlife Refuge System Managers in the Midwest
Climate change presents new and compounding challenges to natural resource management. With shifting climate patterns, managers are confronted with difficult decisions on how to minimize climate impacts to habitats, infrastructure, and wildlife populations. Further, managers lack the information needed to make proactive management decisions. To address this problem, this project will...
Developing a Decision Support Framework for Prioritizing Pinyon Juniper Forest Treatments on the Colorado Plateau
Across the western U.S., pinyon and juniper trees are expanding into sagebrush and grassland plant communities. This vegetation change has been perceived to have a significant impact on the economic value of these grasslands, which support activities such as livestock grazing and hunting, but expanding pinyon and juniper forests may also lead to increased risk of fire. Over the past...
Developing a Pacific Mangrove Monitoring Network (PACMAN) in Response to Sea Level Rise
Continued sea-level rise from a changing climate is expected to result in the loss of many coastal mangrove trees, which, will strongly affect human populations on isolated Western Pacific islands as they rely heavily on mangrove forests for food (fish, shrimp, and crabs), building materials, and firewood. Mangroves also protect local communities from tsunamis and cyclones and are...
Enhancing Climate Adaptation for Native Communities in Western Alaska: Linking Pollinator Diversity and Abundance to Berry Production in a Rapidly Changing Environment
Berry-producing plants, a key resource in Alaska Native communities, provide primary subsistence and have been integral to maintaining cultural cohesion, sense of place, and physical ties to the surrounding landscape. Despite the importance of berry-producing plants, relatively little is known about their vulnerability to changes in climate and environmental conditions. The dynamics of...
Examining Diverse Management Objectives and Broadening Stakeholder Engagement for Climate Adaptation Planning of Historic Structures within the National Park System
This project seeks to enhance the stewardship of historic buildings vulnerable to climate change impacts. As sea level rise and storm-related flooding and erosion threaten our nation’s cultural heritage, there is a critical need to ensure that climate change adaptation decisions, including what cultural resources will be “let go”, are transparent and informed by the opinion of people...