Prioritizing Sites for Habitat Restoration to Enhance Connectivity in the Upper Midwest

Species are adapted to particular environmental conditions, but are threatened as climate change shifts habitat conditions. One way species can respond is by moving to new suitable locations, known as climate-driven range shifts. But some species can move more easily and/or more quickly than others, and some landscapes are more difficult to cross. In the upper Midwest, the movement potential of many species is reduced by broad expanses of row-crop agriculture, roads and other types of development that fragment the remaining habitat. It is important to sustain and improve connectivity across landscapes so they can continue to support biodiversity and ecosystem services like water filtration, carbon storage, pollinator...

Categories: Project; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: 2023, CASC, Landscapes, Landscapes, Midwest, All tags... Midwest CASC, Plants, Plants, Projects by Region, Science Tools for Managers, Science Tools for Managers, Wildlife and Plants, Wildlife and Plants, co-benefits, connectivity, restoration, Fewer tags

The Vulnerability of Forests to Climate Change and Wildfire in the Southwestern U.S.

Fire in the western U.S. poses one of the greatest threats to human and ecological communities alike. In fact, fire management is the largest single expenditure of land management funds on federal lands. Now, climate change is altering wildfire patterns. Climate change in the West is creating warmer and drier conditions, resulting in an increase in the amount of dead vegetation available to fuel fires. This project sought to assess the vulnerability of forests in the southwestern U.S. to climate change and wildfire, in order to understand how these ecosystems might become altered as a result. Researchers (a) examined how climate change impacts wildfires in the region, to better understand fire risk; (b) identified...

Categories: Project; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: 2012, CA, CASC, CO, Completed, All tags... Drought, Fire and Extreme Weather, Drought, Fire and Extreme Weather, Federal, Fire, Fire, Forests, Forests, Landscapes, Landscapes, NM, NV, OR, Plants, Plants, Projects by Region, Southwest, Southwest, Southwest CASC, Southwest US, UT, Wildlife and Plants, Wildlife and Plants, adaptive capacity, assessment, climate change, connectivity, ecosystem, ensemble, exposure, fire, forests, forests, management, model, multiple, prism, sensitivity, trees, vegetation, vulnerability, vulnerability assessment, wildfire, woodlands, woodlands, Fewer tags

Creating Practitioner‐Driven, Science‐Based Plans for Connectivity Conservation in the Washington-British Columbia Transboundary Region

Enhancing ecological connectivity - the degree to which landscapes facilitate the movement of the organisms within them - is a frequently recommended strategy for conserving wildlife populations into the future. This is because a primary way in which species respond to climate change is by adjusting their geographic ranges to find more suitable temperatures and adequate food supplies. It is also because connectivity facilitates many other important ecological and evolutionary processes within species' ranges, further promoting resilience and healthy populations. However, widespread fragmentation of landscapes by human activities presents a serious obstacle to these processes, which may contribute to a decline in...

Categories: Project; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: 2014, Birds, Birds, CASC, Completed, All tags... Fish, Fish, Mammals, Mammals, Northwest, Northwest, Northwest, Northwest CASC, Other Wildlife, Other Wildlife, Plants, Plants, Projects by Region, Wildlife and Plants, Wildlife and Plants, adaptation, connectivity, transboundary, Fewer tags