Plants

Project Overview The James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge in Hawai’i provides important wetland habitats for four species of endangered waterbirds. However, due to invasive species and climate change impacts, these habitats are becoming unsuitable for the fledging and longevity of these birds. Researchers supported by this Pacific Islands CASC project will examine the effectiveness of

Project Overview Atolls in the tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans are experiencing significant changes to their landscapes and biodiversity due to climate change. Researchers supported by this Pacific Islands CASC will use historical data to study a 50+ year window of change in both islet size and the occurrence of lizard species. This work will better inform lizard distribution in light...

Project Overview Guam’s forests are vital to the ecosystem and local communities, but they face threats from wildfires, water quality, and invasive species, among others. To restore these ecosystems, researchers supported by this Pacific Islands CASC project will research the roles of native plants by identifying their “functional traits,” and using that knowledge to select species for

Water levels in the Great Lakes are fluctuating in ways that we have not seen in the past, with both historically low- and high-water levels occurring in the last decade. Expectations are that larger and more frequent water-level fluctuations will occur in response to climate change. The increased variability in lake levels has implications for the management of invasive plants found in...

Hawaiʻi is known as the “endangered species capital of the world,” an unwelcomed label brought on by more than a century of habitat destruction, invasive species spread, and pollinator and seed disperser declines. Hawaiʿi is home to 400 endangered plant species, most of which are found nowhere else in the world. Conservation managers have spent decades putting enormous effort into...

The southeastern U.S. is home to many rare plant species, some at risk of extinction. A new national list has identified the top plant “Species of Greatest Conservation Need” (SGCN) across the region which can help southeastern states update their State Wildlife Action Plans (SWAPs) to include plants for the first time. In partnership with the Southeast Plant Conservation Alliance...

Project Overview Climate change threatens plants and animals across the US, making it important to have tools that can efficiently assess species’ vulnerabilities. In this project, CASC scientists and NatureServe are collaborating to update a popular Climate Change Vulnerability Index to include the latest scientific data, improved metrics, and new user-friendly technology. The tool will...

Project Overview State Wildlife Action Plans (SWAPs) guide state-level wildlife conservation, yet recent plans have largely lacked information on how climate change may affect vulnerable species and habitats. With support from the Southeast and South Central CASCs, scientists are providing climate summaries, future projections, and synthesized vulnerability information to SWAP...

Ecosystems respond to disturbances (such as wildfire) and changing climate in a variety of ways, including persistence, recovery, and reorganization into new combinations. Some species respond by migrating across the landscape over time, which allows them to keep up with changing climate. Many forests recover after wildfire by regenerating from seeds, and public land managers often...

Plant species are at risk under climate change because their slow dispersal rates limit their ability to shift their spatial distribution in response to rapidly changing conditions. Conservation managers seek to maintain resilient plant communities by planting more native species that are adapted to future climates. However, managers rarely have enough information about which native...

Indigenous Nations are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, due in part to their reliance on healthy ecosystems to provide plants that are used for traditional foods, medicines, and materials. Further, many Indigenous communities have an under-resourced capacity for climate adaptation, resulting in impacts that range from health disparities to heightened disaster...