Climate, land management and future wildlife habitat in the Pacific Northwest

This study addressed the challenges faced by natural resource management planning in the context of climate change. We explored how future climate may interact with management alternatives to shape wildlife habitat across large landscapes. We studied habitat for the northern spotted owl in coastal Washington and southwestern Oregon, and habitat for the greater sage-grouse in southeastern Oregon. In coastal Washington, the primary threat to owl habitat is likely to be habitat loss as a result of increasing fire and shifts in vegetation with changing climate. These threats may not be fully mitigated with management. In southwest Oregon, increasing fire frequencies under climate change are also likely to pose the greatest...

Tags: Birds, Drought, Fire and Extreme Weather, Fire, Forests, Grasslands and Plains, All tags... Greater Sage-grouse, Landscapes, Northwest CASC, Wildlife and Plants, climate change, management alternatives, northern spotted owl, wildlife habitat, Fewer tags