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The Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center (NW CASC) is hosted by the University of Washington on behalf of a multi-university consortium, enabling the federal government and Northwest natural and cultural resource managers to leverage the research capacity, expertise and infrastructure of public agencies and universities across Washington, Oregon, Idaho and western Montana. Each NW CASC Consortium partner (listed below) brings unique expertise in promoting regional climate resilience and is dedicated to building capacity within resource management agencies and among the next generation of researchers for addressing climate impacts. University of Washington The NW CASC is hosted by the University of Washington...
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Natural & cultural resource managers are facing a slew of new challenges for managing public lands stemming from climate change and human-driven stressors like invasive species, fragmentation, and new resource uses. In some cases, the very landscapes and species they are managing are changing in significant ways, transforming from one set of conditions to another. As a result, previously successful management strategies may become less effective, or in some cases ineffective. New and transforming conditions leave managers in a bind on how to respond to transforming public lands and natural resources. On the most basic level managers have three choices of how to respond: resist change, accept change, or direct change...
Abstract (from http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0136385): Wetlands are globally important ecosystems that provide critical services for natural communities and human society. Montane wetland ecosystems are expected to be among the most sensitive to changing climate, as their persistence depends on factors directly influenced by climate (e.g. precipitation, snowpack, evaporation). Despite their importance and climate sensitivity, wetlands tend to be understudied due to a lack of tools and data relative to what is available for other ecosystem types. Here, we develop and demonstrate a new method for projecting climate-induced hydrologic changes in montane wetlands. Using observed wetland...
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The Northwest Climate Conference annually brings together researchers and practitioners from around the Pacific Northwest to discuss scientific results, challenges, and solutions related to climate impacts on people, natural resources, and infrastructure in the region. It is the region's premier opportunity for a cross-disciplinary exchange of knowledge and ideas about regional climate, climate impacts, and climate adaptation science and practice. The conference also provides a forum for discussing emerging policy and management goals, objectives, and information needs related to regional climate impacts and adaptation. Conference participants include policy- and decision-makers, resource managers, and scientists...
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Invasive species and climate change represent two major global change threats to ecosystems across the United States and around the world. Invasives can have significant and often irreversible impacts, including the loss of native species or the spread of diseases. Climate change brings other threats to ecosystems, and can also exacerbate and facilitate the spread of invasives throughout natural areas. This project is focused on piloting a collaboration between scientists and natural resource managers in the Northwestern U.S. focused on the nexus of climate change and invasive species. The project team members are working in collaboration with Region 1 of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to develop a...
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Recent advancements in climate modeling, remote sensing, and ecological science have produced a variety of digital geospatial datasets representing many aspects of climate-change ecology that can be applied to conservation and natural-resource management in the face of climate change. The ever increasing body of climate-ecology spatial datasets provides opportunities for natural-resource managers to anticipate climate-driven changes to ecosystems, habitats, and the larger landscape, however, natural-resource managers face many challenges when trying to incorporate these diverse sources of information into on-the-ground decision-making. The Northwest CASC recently supported the development of A guidebook to spatial...
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The project aimed to use existing models and data to understand how wildfires (number, size, and location) and land-use change will affect watersheds, and therefore water supply, under current conditions and future climates (through 2050) in the western U.S. The projected changes in temperature and precipitation are expected to affect water supply in two major ways: 1) decreased water availability, and 2) increased risk to watersheds via loses from fire. As the western population is projected to grow by 310 million people by 2100, this will potentially increase demand for diminishing supplies if housing growth occurs in rangelands or forested lands. Understanding watershed vulnerabilities due to changing climate,...
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As freshwater streams and native fish are threatened by changing environmental conditions, efforts to coalesce existing data and integrate modeling and projection tools are increasingly necessary for informing effective land, water, and species management. For example, identifying and integrating disparate datasets of streamflow, stream water temperature and species distribution is critical for development of statistical models that inform comprehensive, multi-species climate vulnerability assessments to help managers plan for the future. Regional assessments of the vulnerability of native fishes to climate change in the Pacific Northwest have focused almost exclusively on salmonids (a family of fish that includes...
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Pacific salmon need cold water and quality habitat to survive. As climate change continues to increase river temperatures, effective methods to restore cool-water refuges and logjam habitats need to be determined. Many salmon habitat restoration projects in the Pacific Northwest have built engineered logjams (ELJs) to create deep, cool pools and reconnect rivers to floodplains to replenish cool groundwater. However, the success of these projects is not often studied. This project will study restoration effectiveness in helping salmon adapt to climate change so that this once-abundant resource can continue to enrich the local culture, economy, and environment. The Lummi Nation and Nooksack Tribe’s cultural and...
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The Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center (NW CASC) advances actionable science relevant to today’s emerging climate-related risks by supporting research by early-career NW CASC Fellows. The NW CASC’s Research Fellowship Program enables graduate students and postdocs from a variety of scientific backgrounds to co-produce actionable science in collaboration with regional natural resource managers and decision-makers. Fellows receive support for research aligned with the NW CASC Science Agenda, as well as instruction in the principles and practices of co-production of decision-relevant, or actionable, science. The NW CASC University Consortium’s Research Fellowship Program supports climate adaptation research...
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Sagebrush steppe is one of the most widely distributed ecosystems in North America. Found in eleven western states, this important yet fragile ecosystem is dominated by sagebrush, but also contains a diversity of native shrubs, grasses, and flowering plants. It provides critical habitat for wildlife like pronghorn and threatened species such as the greater sage-grouse, and is grazed by livestock on public and private lands. However, this landscape is increasingly threatened by shifts in wildfire patterns, the spread of invasive grasses, and changing climate conditions. While sagebrush is slow to recover after fires, non-native grasses such as cheatgrass thrive in post-fire conditions and the spread of these species...
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Throughout the Pacific Northwest, invasive flora threaten river ecosystems and the communities that depend on them. Invasive plants harm water quality, occupy habitat for native species, reduce recreation opportunities, and damage infrastructure such as pumps and dams. Resource managers from federal, state, and local agencies, as well as local non-profits, spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on monitoring and exterminating invasive plants. Management costs and damages are likely to rise as climate change warms temperatures and reduces rainfall across the basin, expanding potential habitat for invasive plants and affecting the effectiveness of management. For some time, scientists have recognized the potential...
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As wildfire activity surges in the western U.S., managers are increasingly challenged by decisions surrounding managing post-fire environments.Changing fire regimes and warmer,drier post-fire conditions are increasing the likelihood of post-fire vegetation transitions, for example,from forest to grassland. Given the economic and ecological importance of these ecosystems, transformation is a concern for managers, policy-makers, and the public. As rapid environmental changes occur, management aimed at maintaining historical conditions will become increasingly untenable, requiring managers to make decisions that steward vegetation toward desired or novel conditions. The Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) framework provides...
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Climate change is altering the patterns and characteristics of fire across natural systems in the United States. Resource managers in the Northwest are faced with making natural resource and fire management decisions now, despite a lack of accessible information about how those decisions will play out as fire regimes, and ecosystem responses, will change across the landscape. Decision makers in natural-resource management increasingly require information about projected future changes in fire regimes to effectively prepare for and adapt to climate change impacts. An accessible and forward-looking summary of what we know about the “future of fire” is urgently required in the Northwest and across the country to support...
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The purpose of this project was to (1) provide an internally-­consistent set of downscaled projections across the western U.S., (2) include information about projection uncertainty, and (3) assess projected changes of hydrologic extremes. These objectives were designed to address decision support needs for climate adaptation and resource management actions. Specifically, understanding of uncertainty in climate projections - in particular for extreme events - is currently a key scientific and management barrier to adaptation planning and vulnerability assessment. The new dataset fills in the Northwest domain to cover a key gap in the previous dataset, adds additional projections (both from other global climate models...
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The bull trout, listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, is well adapted to the cold waters of the Northwest. Recent changes in climate have caused winter flooding and warmer summer water temperatures in the region, reducing the cold-water habitats that bull trout depend on. The southernmost bull trout populations, found in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Nevada, are currently restricted to small reserves where the coldest waters still exist. These shrinking habitats have created a severed environment being further split by dams, poor water quality, and invasive species. The goal of this project was to determine how these factors threaten the species regionally by using predictions of stream...
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The Oregon Water Science Center provided the scientific, bibliographic, and administrative support needed to prepare a Science Agenda for the Northwest Climate Science Center (NW CSC). The Science Agenda is the basis for guiding the science program of the NW CSC.
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Due to the ecological importance of stream temperature for aquatic species, and concern about rising temperatures associated with climate change, natural resource managers throughout the Pacific Northwest increasingly require locally detailed stream temperature information in order to effectively manage aquatic resources. Recent technological advances in stream temperature monitoring (e.g., digital data loggers and remote sensors) and modeling have increased the amount of data that are available (both observed and projected) throughout the region. These newly available data, although exciting, have strengths and limitations depending on the purposes for which they were developed and the scale(s) at which they can...
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In the Pacific Northwest, coastal ecosystems are highly productive areas that support millions of migratory waterbirds, shellfish, salmon and related fish. These species depend on food and habitats provided by estuaries (coastal tidal areas where streams and rivers flow into the ocean) for successful migration and breeding. Climate change effects such as drought, sea-level rise, and changing freshwater flow, precipitation, and temperatures will alter these important habitats. This study examined how changing ocean and freshwater patterns and conditions will influence estuary habitats. The main goal was to provide scientific support for future planning efforts and conservation of natural resources found in coastal...
map background search result map search result map Understanding Future Extreme Water Events in the Pacific Northwest and Related Uncertainties to Inform Assessments of Vulnerability Rangewide Climate Vulnerability Assessment for Threatened Bull Trout Development Support for the NW Climate Science Center Science Agenda Changes to Watershed Vulnerability under Future Climates, Fire Regimes, and Population Pressures Toughnut Mine Underground Workings Understanding the Impacts of Ecological Drought on Estuaries in the Pacific Northwest Innovative Approaches to Ecological Drought: Developing a Stream Temperature Handbook Support for the Eighth Annual Northwest Climate Conference Improving the Success of Post-Fire Adaptive Management Strategies in Sagebrush Steppe Development of a Streamflow Data Catalog and Evaluation of the Vulnerability of Sensitive Fish Species to Climate Change Across the Pacific Northwest Incorporation of Climate Change Science Into Invasive Species Management Online Access to Spatial Datasets for Conservation Planning in the Pacific Northwest NW CASC Research Consortium Partners: Leveraging Regional Research Capacity & Expertise NW CASC Research Fellowship Program: Training Early-Career Scientists in Developing Decision-Relevant Science Future of Fire in the Northwest: Towards a National Synthesis of Wildland Fire Under a Changing Climate Informing Decisions to Resist, Accept, or Direct Post-fire Vegetation Transitions Integrating Economics and Ecology to Inform Climate-Ready Aquatic Invasive Species Management for Vulnerable Pacific Northwest River Communities Cross-Park RAD Project (CPRP): A Case Study in Four National Parks Investigating How Institutional Context and Emotions Shape Manager Decisions to Resist, Accept, or Direct Change in Transforming Ecosystems South Fork Nooksack River Engineered Logjam Effectiveness Project: Are Engineered Logjams Creating Cool-Water Refuges for Pacific Salmon on a Thermally Impaired River? Understanding the Impacts of Ecological Drought on Estuaries in the Pacific Northwest Integrating Economics and Ecology to Inform Climate-Ready Aquatic Invasive Species Management for Vulnerable Pacific Northwest River Communities South Fork Nooksack River Engineered Logjam Effectiveness Project: Are Engineered Logjams Creating Cool-Water Refuges for Pacific Salmon on a Thermally Impaired River? Development Support for the NW Climate Science Center Science Agenda Support for the Eighth Annual Northwest Climate Conference NW CASC Research Consortium Partners: Leveraging Regional Research Capacity & Expertise NW CASC Research Fellowship Program: Training Early-Career Scientists in Developing Decision-Relevant Science Future of Fire in the Northwest: Towards a National Synthesis of Wildland Fire Under a Changing Climate Innovative Approaches to Ecological Drought: Developing a Stream Temperature Handbook Development of a Streamflow Data Catalog and Evaluation of the Vulnerability of Sensitive Fish Species to Climate Change Across the Pacific Northwest Incorporation of Climate Change Science Into Invasive Species Management Online Access to Spatial Datasets for Conservation Planning in the Pacific Northwest Improving the Success of Post-Fire Adaptive Management Strategies in Sagebrush Steppe Rangewide Climate Vulnerability Assessment for Threatened Bull Trout Informing Decisions to Resist, Accept, or Direct Post-fire Vegetation Transitions Changes to Watershed Vulnerability under Future Climates, Fire Regimes, and Population Pressures Understanding Future Extreme Water Events in the Pacific Northwest and Related Uncertainties to Inform Assessments of Vulnerability Cross-Park RAD Project (CPRP): A Case Study in Four National Parks Investigating How Institutional Context and Emotions Shape Manager Decisions to Resist, Accept, or Direct Change in Transforming Ecosystems