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Invasions of exotic annual grasses (EAGs like cheatgrass have caused major losses of native shrubs and grasses in western U.S. rangelands. They also decrease the productivity and carbon storage in these ecosystems, which is expected to create dryer soils that may cause further losses in plant productivity. This cycle is the hallmark of desertification – or, fertile lands turning into deserts. Management actions that target EAGs are one of the most widespread land management actions taken in Western U.S. rangelands, but it is unclear which specific actions can simultaneously enhance drought resilience of native plant communities and increase carbon sequestration and storage. This project aims to identify the restoration...
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Changes in the Earth’s climate are expected to impact freshwater habitats around the world by altering water temperatures, water levels, and streamflow. These changes will have consequences for inland fish – those found within lakes, rivers, streams, canals, reservoirs, and other landlocked waters – which are important for food, commerce, and recreation around the world. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in 2011, 33.1 million people fished and spent $41.8 billion in the United States alone. Yet to date, little comprehensive research has been conducted to investigate the effects of climate change on inland fisheries at a large scale. The aim of this project was to summarize the current state of...
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Water in the western United States is disappearing, and several states are facing severe water shortages as drought conditions worsen. Many streams are drying up, and there is growing concern that this trend will only continue as climate change produces warmer and drier conditions. The loss of stream ecosystems has far reaching ecological, social, and economic implications. Species that depend on these ecosystems for habitat will be at greater risk of extinction and humans will lose vital sources of water relied upon for agriculture, drinking water, and recreation. This project aimed to identify how water availability is changing in the West, focusing specifically on when and where streams go dry. Researchers...
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Inland fisheries make up more than 50% of all food fish in the world. Sustainable inland fisheries can support global economic development by providing food for billions and livelihood for millions of people worldwide. However, it can be difficult to quantitatively track and evaluate the services that inland fisheries provide to communities, which ultimately means that the contributions of this important sector to global development and sustainability are often undervalued. There is a growing body of evidence that suggests inland fisheries have disproportionate importance for impoverished countries. However, the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the associated Sustainable Development Goals...
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Madagascar, a country rich in natural capital and biodiversity but with high levels of poverty, food insecurity, and population growth, faces a number of development challenges, including obtaining sustained financial support from external sources and building internal capacity to address the poor environmental, health, and socio-economic conditions. Climate change poses an increasing threat to achieving development goals and is usually considered in development plans and project designs. However, there have been numerous challenges in the effective implementation of those plans, particularly in the sustained engagement of the communities to undertake adaptive actions but also due to insufficient scientific information...
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Inland fisheries are critical for global food security and human well-being. However, fish production may be threatened by changes in climate and land use. Understanding this threat is crucial to effectively manage inland fisheries in the future. To address this need, this project will identify which types of lakes across the globe are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate and land use changes. Lakes will be categorized based on their depth, vulnerability to food insecurity, and vulnerability to water insecurity – variables which can all influence how detrimental climate and land use change will actually be on a lake. This information will be used to predict how inland fisheries production might change under...
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The stream systems of Hawai‘i are unique and home to many rare species, including five native fish and five native shellfish. These native species have amphidromous life cycles, meaning that they spend part of their lives in the ocean and part in freshwater streams. Stream flow serves as a vital natural pathway, connecting saltwater and freshwater habitats so that these animals can migrate between them and carry out critical life stages (e.g., development, reproduction). Over the last 20 years, the amount of rainfall in Hawai‘i has decreased, and climate models predict that this trend will continue. It is uncertain how reduced rainfall will affect stream flow and, consequently, the native stream species that depend...
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Our study addresses the general question of the degree to which wildlife species can adapt to, or possibly even modify, effects from climate change. We focused on five species of mammals in the alpine zone of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, including the federally endangered Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep and the American pika, a species recently proposed for listing due to the loss of populations from altered climatic conditions. It was expected that there will be an upward expansion of trees and shrubs from lower elevations and that many or even most alpine meadows will be converted to woody dominated communities. Meadows provide critical habitat for many alpine mammal species, and their conversion could represent...
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Better understanding of the overall fishery production in river systems around the world may influence general development policies and practices for aquatic systems and sustainable maintenance of an important protein source (particularly for poorer countries where fish are relatively readily available to the local human population). With this study, researchers worked to fill this knowledge gap by estimating the overall fishery production in river networks globally using multivariate statistical models with explanatory variables compiled from remotely sensed and in‐situ observations. The freshwater fish production in rivers was estimated by: 1. Developing models using key drivers (temperature, precipitation,...
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Increasing temperatures and decreasing precipitation threaten the persistence of the Rio Grande cutthroat trout, the southernmost subspecies of cutthroat trout, found only in parts of New Mexico and Colorado. This subspecies appears to be more vulnerable to drought than more northern subspecies, because it occupies small and fragmented streams which are at greater risk of drying up during drought. Most notably, in 2002 drought in the Southwest resulted in the loss of 14 different Rio Grande cutthroat trout populations – about 10% of the total population. While it is known that drought is having an effect on Rio Grande cutthroat trout, the specific ways in which individuals and populations are affected by drought...
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As global temperatures continue to rise, the frequency and severity of droughts in North America are expected to increase, leading to a wide range of social and ecological impacts. Identifying these impacts and the consequences for ecosystems and human communities are essential for effective drought management. Equally important is to improve the capacity of nature and people to prepare for and cope with drought by identifying management strategies that benefit both. An interdisciplinary working group within the Science for Nature and People Partnership (SNAPP) was established by the U.S. Geological Survey, The Wildlife Conservation Society, and The Nature Conservancy to synthesize our current understanding of...
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Water temperatures are warming in lakes and streams, resulting in the loss of many native fish. Given clear passage, coldwater stream fishes can take refuge upstream when larger streams become too warm. Likewise, many Midwestern lakes “thermally stratify” resulting in warmer waters on top of deeper, cooler waters. Many of these lakes are connected to threatened streams. To date, assessments of the effects of climate change on fish have mostly ignored lakes, and focused instead on streams. Because surface waters represent a network of habitats, an integrated assessment of stream and lake temperatures under climate change is necessary for decision-making. This work can be used to inform the preservation of lake/stream...
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Spruce-fir forests and associated bird species are recognized as some of the most vulnerable ecosystems and species to the impacts of climate change. This work capitalized on a rich suite of long-term data from these ecosystems to document recent trends in these forests and their associated bird species and developed tools for predicting their future abundance under climate change. Findings from this work indicate declining trends in the abundance of spruce-fir obligate birds, including Bicknell’s Thrush, across the Lake States and New England. In contrast, montane spruce-fir forests in the White and Green Mountains of New England exhibited patterns of increasing abundance, potentially due to their recovery from...
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This project addressed regional climate change effects on aquatic food webs in the Great Lakes. We sought insights by examining Lake Erie as a representative system with a high level of anthropogenic impacts, strong nutrient gradients, seasonal hypoxia, and spatial overlap of cold- and cool-water fish guilds. In Lake Erie and in large embayments throughout the Great Lakes basin, this situation is a concern for fishery managers, as climate change may exacerbate hypoxia and reduce habitat volume for some species. We examined fish community composition, fine-scale distribution, prey availability, diets, and biochemical tracers for dominant fishes from study areas with medium-high nutrient levels (mesotrophic, Fairport...
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Climate change represents one of the foremost drivers of ecological change, yet its documented impacts on biodiversity remain uncertain and complex. Although there have been many published studies on species shifting their geographic ranges in response to climate change, it is still challenging to identify the specific mechanisms and conditions that facilitate range shifts in some species and not in others. In addition, it can be difficult to disentangle climate-induced range shifts from other environmental changes which can also result in range shifts (such as changes to land use or habitat). This project attempts to address these knowledge gaps by conducting a systematic literature review of documented cases of...
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The Vietnamese government has committed to climate mitigation and adaptation in support of the Paris Agreement. Implementation of Vietnam’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to adaptation involves a greater focus on the Mekong River Delta, which is poised to be impacted by sea level rise. Saline intrusion from sea level rise and droughts can affect aquatic ecosystems and the services they provide, including freshwater quantity and quality; aquaculture and fishing; and biodiversity. Saline intrusion has already been observed in the coastal region of the Mekong Delta, including the Soc Trang province, Bac Lieu province, Kiên Giang province, and Cà Mau. Although aquaculture farmers in the region have actively...
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Reserve design is a process that must address many ecological, social, and political factors to successfully identify parcels of land in need of protection to sustain wildlife populations and other natural resources. Making land acquisition choices for a large, terrestrial protected area is difficult because it occurs over a long timeframe and may involve consideration of future conditions such as climate and urbanization changes. Decision makers need to consider factors including: order of parcel purchasing given budget constraints, future uncertainty, potential future landscape-scale changes from urbanization, and climate. In central Florida, two new refuges and the expansion of a third refuge are in various stages...
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Tidal marshes along the Atlantic coastline provide critical habitat for a wide variety of wildlife, help protect coastal ecosystems by filtering excess nutrients and pollutants, and serve as a buffer against coastal erosion and flooding. However, these important habitats and the species that rely on them are threatened by rising sea levels. Resource managers from the National Park Service Northeast Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Northeast Region, and the state of Massachusetts have expressed a need for a scientific analysis of the vulnerability of these salt marshes to sea level rise. The supply of sediment to marshes is a critical factor controlling marsh survival and adaptability to rising sea levels....
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Downscaling is the process of making a coarse-scale global climate model into a finer resolution in order to capture some of the localized detail that the coarse global models cannot resolve. There are two general approaches of downscaling: dynamical and statistical. Within those, many dynamical models have been developed by different institutions, and there are a number of statistical algorithms that have been developed over the years. Many past studies have evaluated the performance of these two broad approaches of downscaling with respect to climate variables (e.g., temperature, precipitation), but few have translated these evaluations to ecological metrics that managers use to make decisions in planning for...
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Under the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) must evaluate the status of at-risk plants and animals in the U.S. A Species Status Assessment (SSA) is a scientific assessment prepared for each at-risk species to help inform a range of management decisions under the Endangered Species Act. SSA’s are currently needed for more than 350 species, 250 of which are in the Southeast region alone. These species are threatened by several stressors including urbanization, loss of habitat, changes in streamflow and water quality, climate variability, and climate change. As part of the SSA process, teams must identify and assess risks to species or their habitat from changing climate, hydrology,...
map background search result map search result map How will Mammals in the Alpine Zone of the Sierra Nevada Mountains Respond to Future Climate? Understanding How Climate Change Will Impact Aquatic Food Webs in the Great Lakes Modeling Effects of Climate Change on Spruce-Fir Forest Ecosystems and Associated Priority Bird Populations Informing the Identification of High-Priority Lands for the Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge Considering Future Climate and Urbanization State of the Science on the Effects of Climate Change on North American Inland Fishes An Assessment of Midwestern Lake and Stream Temperatures under Climate Change River’s End: Mapping Patterns of Stream Drying in the Western United States The Effects of Drought on Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout: The Role of Stream Flow and Temperature Global Assessment of River Fish Production and Potential Global Change Implications Ecological Drought: Assessing Vulnerability and Developing Solutions for People and Nature Assessing the Impact of Future Climate on Hawai‘i’s Aquatic Ecosystems Evaluating Future Effects of Climate and Land Use on Fisheries Production in Inland Lakes Making an Invisible Resource Visible: Integrating Inland Fisheries into the Sustainable Development Goals Evaluation of Downscaled Climate Modeling Techniques for the Northeast U.S.: A Case Study of Maple Syrup Production Understanding Species' Range Shifts in Response to Climate Change: Results from a Systematic National Review Analysis and Visualization of Climate Information to Support USFWS Species Status Assessments Understanding Sediment Availability to Reduce Tidal Marsh Vulnerability to Sea Level Rise in the Northeast A Climate Risk Management Screening and Assessment Review for Madagascar’s Country Development Cooperation Strategy “Climate-Smart” Fisheries and Aquaculture to Support Resilient Aquatic Ecosystems in Vietnam Assessing the Impacts of Rangeland Restoration on Carbon Sequestration and Co-Benefits for Drought Resilience in the Sagebrush Steppe and Mixed Grass Prairie River’s End: Mapping Patterns of Stream Drying in the Western United States The Effects of Drought on Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout: The Role of Stream Flow and Temperature Modeling Effects of Climate Change on Spruce-Fir Forest Ecosystems and Associated Priority Bird Populations Understanding Sediment Availability to Reduce Tidal Marsh Vulnerability to Sea Level Rise in the Northeast How will Mammals in the Alpine Zone of the Sierra Nevada Mountains Respond to Future Climate? Understanding How Climate Change Will Impact Aquatic Food Webs in the Great Lakes Assessing the Impact of Future Climate on Hawai‘i’s Aquatic Ecosystems A Climate Risk Management Screening and Assessment Review for Madagascar’s Country Development Cooperation Strategy “Climate-Smart” Fisheries and Aquaculture to Support Resilient Aquatic Ecosystems in Vietnam An Assessment of Midwestern Lake and Stream Temperatures under Climate Change Assessing the Impacts of Rangeland Restoration on Carbon Sequestration and Co-Benefits for Drought Resilience in the Sagebrush Steppe and Mixed Grass Prairie Evaluation of Downscaled Climate Modeling Techniques for the Northeast U.S.: A Case Study of Maple Syrup Production Analysis and Visualization of Climate Information to Support USFWS Species Status Assessments Evaluating Future Effects of Climate and Land Use on Fisheries Production in Inland Lakes Ecological Drought: Assessing Vulnerability and Developing Solutions for People and Nature State of the Science on the Effects of Climate Change on North American Inland Fishes Understanding Species' Range Shifts in Response to Climate Change: Results from a Systematic National Review Global Assessment of River Fish Production and Potential Global Change Implications Making an Invisible Resource Visible: Integrating Inland Fisheries into the Sustainable Development Goals