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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,...
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The Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States contain the greatest biodiversity of native freshwater mussels in the world, but they are highly imperiled due to habitat alteration and destruction, pollution and poor water quality, and the introduction of aquatic invasive species. Now they are at even greater risk from the stresses associated with climate change-induced sea level rise and its associated changes in salinity, water temperature, and stream flow. This project investigates the potential vulnerability and adaptation of a native freshwater mussel, the Tidewater Mucket, in coastal river systems and offer solutions for its conservation. Scientists have recently discovered a population of...
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Barrier islands are exposed to a range of natural and human-caused changes, including hurricanes, sea-level rise, and dredging. These changes have the potential to influence the ability of barrier islands to serve as a first-line of defense for the mainland during storm events. Gulf Islands National Seashore, a National Park Service unit in the northern Gulf of Mexico between Florida and Mississippi, is predominantly comprised of barrier islands and faces immediate challenges, including erosion that washes out roads and sand dunes and the adverse impacts on cultural and natural resources from exposure to saltwater. Managers require realistic estimates of both the vulnerability of the park’s natural and cultural...
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Brook trout are the only native fish from the salmon family in the southeastern United States. Despite their recreational and cultural significance, human activities, such as habitat degradation and introduction of non-native species, have led to serious declines of brook trout populations in the region. Stream temperature and flow alterations from climate change are projected to impact this cold-water species even further. Recent studies show that there is much site-to-site variation in how climate affects stream temperature and flow. Therefore, vulnerability of local trout populations to climate change also varies. Understanding local variation in climate responses across the region is critical to maintaining...
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State wildlife agencies and their partners use State Wildlife Action Plans to coordinate and guide management activities aimed at protecting species. To do so, they must identify factors putting species and their habitats at risk. Current and future climate change is one such factor. To succeed, management actions need to account for impacts of climate change on species today and in the future as climate change accelerates in coming decades. Researchers use modeling approaches to simulate and understand how future climate change will impact species. In contrast, natural resource managers involved in wildlife action plans tend to favor index-based scoring approaches to understand the risks to and vulnerability...
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A priority of the Southeast Climate Science Center (SECSC) is to support the planning and implementation of a Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy (SECAS). This project examined the decision making context, decision making process, and management planning associated with the restoration of open pine ecosystems in the Southeast. To better understand the planning practice associated with this system, we assessed the quality of 35 management plans from federal, state, and non-governmental agencies. We found that newer plans scored higher than older plans, suggesting agencies may be learning to develop better plans over time and indicating older plans should be prioritized for revision. Plans from federal and...
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Species are on the move as they respond to climate change. This includes many native species, but also species with high costs to society such as disease vectors, pests, and nonnative invasive species (an invasive species is a species that is not native to a specific location but is spreading with the tendency of causing damage to native plants and animals). Currently there are hundreds of invasive species with relatively restricted ranges in the southeastern U.S., but as the climate changes these species are expected to expand their ranges to new regions. It is important to understand if and how these species might move and what actions we can take to lessen their impact on species and habitats. To achieve this...
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Global change processes are producing shifts in temperature, precipitation, and seasonal streamflow regimes across North America. Much of the floodplain hydrology in the U.S. is managed through water control operations, often implemented on short time scales (e.g., weekly decisions), in response to short-term changes in precipitation. This operational model does not account for potential long-term trends, such as increased recurrence or shifts in seasonal timing of high flow events within a year. Therefore, polices that only focus on short-time scales and recent historic conditions may not perform as well under altered climate regimes. This uncertainty in future floodplain conditions is concerning for a variety...
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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 mosquitoes and crop pests. Cave-dwelling species have evolved to live in relatively stable climates, so they may be especially sensitive to climate change. However, it is unclear how surface climate change will affect cave climates and the species that rely on them, because caves are remote environments that have long been difficult to...
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Prescribed burning is a primary tool used to reduce wildfire risk and manage ecosystems to achieve a range of ecological, economic and societal goals.  The ability of fire managers to use prescribed fire as a management tool is complicated in regions such as the Southeast because of rapid population growth, extensive suburban development, and a changing climate. Such change restricts prescribed burning while also highlighting the necessity of an active prescribed fire management regime to reduce wildfire risk in these communities. To help managers make decisions in light of these factors, there is a need to document: 1) the current conditions under which practitioners are willing to burn and restrictions to active...
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The southeast United States has many lakes, streams and reservoirs that serve as important drinking water sources, recreational, agricultural, and ecological uses. Unfortunately, harmful algal blooms are becoming more common in these waters, causing health issues for humans and animals. While it is clear that nutrients stimulate algae growth, it isn’t clear if there are other parameters that stimulate the development of harmful algal blooms. The scientific literature describes additional parameters that may affect algae growth, such as storm occurrence, temperature, dissolved metals, erosion of soils, length of growing season, and hydroperiod.This project will address these different parameters and examine how climate...
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Barrier islands protect mainland areas from storm surge, but can erode over time and require restoration. Ship Island, a barrier island off the coast of Mississippi, provides an example of this: the island was battered by Hurricane Camille in 1969 and split into two separate islands. As part of the Mississippi Coastal Improvements Program, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to use approximately 22 million cubic yards of sand to close the gap between East and West Ship Islands. This will restore both the island’s physical integrity and habitat for important species such as sea turtles, shorebirds, and Gulf sturgeon. This project served as a case study to test the usefulness of structured decision-making – a...
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The Southeast is currently undergoing high rates of population growth, urbanization, and land use change while also experiencing climatic changes. These changes are and will continue to threaten wildlife and their habitats. Most existing conservation programs and activities, however, focus on maintaining systems in their current condition, or returning them to a historic state, rather than enabling systems to adapt to projected changes. Recognizing this problem state fish and wildlife agencies, together with US Fish and Wildlife Service and others, have initiated the Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy (SECAS). This project will support the SECAS effort, which aims to develop a collaborative network of conservation...
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Researchers from North Carolina State University and the USGS integrated models of urbanization and vegetation dynamics with the regional climate models to predict vegetation dynamics and assess how landscape change could impact priority species, including North American land birds. This integrated ensemble of models can be used to predict locations where responses to climate change are most likely to occur, expressing results in terms of species persistence to help resource managers understand the long-term sustainability of bird populations.
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The Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center (SE CASC) promotes collaborative research, with a focus on training next-generation scientists through active engagement with stakeholders and agencies, to enhance landscape-level conservation and management of natural and cultural resources. The SE CASC is hosted by North Carolina State University (NCSU) with consortium partners Duke University, Auburn University, University of Florida, University of Tennessee, and University of South Carolina. University host NCSU connects the SE CASC to top scientists and stakeholders across the region to address the complexities of land management and conservation during rapid climate change, population growth, and urbanization....
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Consortium Principal Investigators lead Working Groups on a variety of global change topics that draw on their scientific strengths and interests. The Working Groups bring together multi-disciplinary teams of academics, USGS staff, Tribal Nations, representatives from state agencies, other stakeholders, and students to address regionally-relevant emerging issues and to develop syntheses of topics to inform science needs and improve co-production. To learn more about the working groups, visit: https://secasc.ncsu.edu/home/partners/academic-partners/
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The southeastern U.S. is home to more than half of the animal and plant species that are being reviewed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to determine if they are threatened or endangered due to losses or changes in habitat. The longleaf pine ecosystem, which is native to the southeastern U.S., supports several animal species that are considered a priority to be reviewed, based on significant threats, how much knowledge we have about the species, and opportunities for conserving them. These include the gopher tortoise, striped newt, gopher frog, southern hognose snake, and Florida pine snake. This ecosystem also supports a large number of priority plants. State wildlife agencies in the Southeast are...
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Cherokee Peoples have had a sustained presence in the southern Appalachians over the past 12,000 years, with a peak population of about 250,000 people inhabiting approximately 32 million hectares across Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, and the Carolinas. Early contact with European settlers caused drastic population declines and land loss, due to disease, land cession, and the relocation of people to western reservations. Today, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) comprises 16,000 citizens who maintain approximately 24,000 hectares of land known as the Qualla Boundary. The EBCI hold a distinct perspective informed by a multi-generational connection to place and to a collective...
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The Caribbean Landscape Conservation Cooperative (CLCC) Steering Committee (SC) recently made two landmark decisions providing direction for collaborative conservation efforts. The SC agreed to pursue landscape conservation design (LCD) as a major emphasis of collaborative work and they agreed to adopt a values-focused, structured decision-making (SDM) process to guide conservation design development and implementation for the CLCC. Developing both a strategic plan and an implementation approach using a values focused LCD framework was expected to have several advantages. This effort aimed to complement existing conservation efforts in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands conducted by federal, state, and NGO...
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The ability to effectively manage wildlife in North America is founded in an understanding of how human actions and the environment influence wildlife populations. Current management practices are informed by population monitoring data from the past to determine key ecological relationships and make predictions about future population status. In most cases, including the regulation of waterfowl hunting in North America, these forecasts assume that the relationships we observed in the past will remain the same in the future. However, climate change is influencing wildlife populations in many dynamic and uncertain ways, leading to a situation in which our observations of the past are poor predictors of the future....
map background search result map search result map Structured Decision-Making as a Tool for Coastal Restoration: A Case Study on Ship Island, Mississippi Assessing Science Needs and Conservation Decisions to Inform the Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy (SECAS) SERAP: Assessment of Climate and Land Use Change Impacts on Terrestrial Species Conservation Adaptation Planning for Landscape and Climate Change in the Southeast Supporting Strategic Landscape Conservation Decisions in the U.S. Caribbean Providing Science for the Conservation of Animals in the Southeastern Longleaf Pine Ecosystem Enhancing Coastal Adaptation Planning at Gulf Islands National Seashore Analysis and Visualization of Climate Information to Support USFWS Species Status Assessments Impacts of Sea Level Rise on At-risk Native Freshwater Mussels in Atlantic Coastal Rivers An Assessment of Invasive Species Range Shifts in the Southeastern U.S. and Actions to Manage Them Informing Management of Waterfowl Harvest in a Changing Climate Brook Trout Population Responses to Climate Variation Across the Southeast USA Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center Consortium - Hosted by North Carolina State University (2017-2023) SE CASC Working Groups Accounting for Ecological Impacts of Climate Change in State Wildlife Action Plans: A comparison of Model-Based and Index-Based Vulnerability Assessments Clarifying Science Needs for Determining the Impact of Climate Change on Harmful Algal Blooms in Southeastern United States Understanding Prescribed Fire Management in the Context of Climate Change and Landscape Transformation Water, Water Everywhere: Adapting Water Control Operations and Floodplain Conservation Planning to Global Change Developing a Cave Conservation Management Toolbox by Exploring Cave Microclimates and Biodiversity Patterns The Long View: Developing a 500-year Climate Adaptation Plan with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Water, Water Everywhere: Adapting Water Control Operations and Floodplain Conservation Planning to Global Change Enhancing Coastal Adaptation Planning at Gulf Islands National Seashore Supporting Strategic Landscape Conservation Decisions in the U.S. Caribbean Brook Trout Population Responses to Climate Variation Across the Southeast USA Impacts of Sea Level Rise on At-risk Native Freshwater Mussels in Atlantic Coastal Rivers An Assessment of Invasive Species Range Shifts in the Southeastern U.S. and Actions to Manage Them Accounting for Ecological Impacts of Climate Change in State Wildlife Action Plans: A comparison of Model-Based and Index-Based Vulnerability Assessments The Long View: Developing a 500-year Climate Adaptation Plan with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Providing Science for the Conservation of Animals in the Southeastern Longleaf Pine Ecosystem SERAP: Assessment of Climate and Land Use Change Impacts on Terrestrial Species Developing a Cave Conservation Management Toolbox by Exploring Cave Microclimates and Biodiversity Patterns Clarifying Science Needs for Determining the Impact of Climate Change on Harmful Algal Blooms in Southeastern United States Assessing Science Needs and Conservation Decisions to Inform the Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy (SECAS) Analysis and Visualization of Climate Information to Support USFWS Species Status Assessments Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center Consortium - Hosted by North Carolina State University (2017-2023) SE CASC Working Groups Understanding Prescribed Fire Management in the Context of Climate Change and Landscape Transformation Informing Management of Waterfowl Harvest in a Changing Climate Conservation Adaptation Planning for Landscape and Climate Change in the Southeast