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Folders: ROOT > ScienceBase Catalog > National and Regional Climate Adaptation Science Centers > Southeast CASC > FY 2012 Projects > Assessing Climate-Sensitive Ecosystems in the Southeastern U.S. ( Show direct descendants )

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This file contains results from the project "Assessing climate-sensitive ecosystems in the southeastern U.S.", funded by the Department of Interior's Southeast Climate Science Center. Metrics required to use the Habitat Climate Change Vulnerability Index (HCCVI) framework, as developed by NatureServe are reported in this spreadsheet. The ecosystems are: East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods, and the Nashville Basin Limestone Glade and Woodland.
This file contains results from the project "Assessing climate-sensitive ecosystems in the southeastern U.S.", funded by the Department of Interior's Southeast Climate Science Center. Metrics fitting the categories of sensitivity, exposure, and adaptive capacity were calculated for twelve ecosystems in the southeastern U.S. and the Caribbean. Metrics include historic temperature and precipitation, projected future climate variables under two emissions scenarios, projected area affected by sea-level rise, proportion of each under protected status, distance from developed areas, variation in elevation, and human modification.
The southeastern U.S. contains a unique diversity of ecosystems that provide important benefits, including habitat for wildlife and plants, water quality, and recreation opportunities. As climate changes, a better understanding of how our ecosystems will be affected is vital for identifying strategies to protect these ecosystems. We assessed climate change vulnerability for twelve ecosystems in the southeastern U.S. and Caribbean. We synthesized data and literature related to three components of vulnerability: climate sensitivity, climate change exposure, and adaptive capacity. We also summarized all information into a qualitative vulnerability rating for each ecosystem. Based on the available information, we identified...
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In the Southeastern U.S., “insular ecosystems” may be particularly vulnerable to ecological effects from climate change. These insular ecosystems share a few key biogeographic characteristics: (1) occurrences that are spatially discrete, (2) relatively small geographic footprints, and (3) with steep ecological and environmental gradients at their boundaries. Examples include rock outcrop ecosystems (e.g. Piedmont granite outcrops, Appalachian high-elevation outcrops), grasslands (high-elevation balds, xeric limestone prairies), isolated wetlands (Carolina bays, karst depression wetlands) and riparian riverscour systems. Such insular ecosystems tend to support concentrations of endemic and disjunct species; thus...
Abstract (from esa): For decades, botanists have recognized that rare plants are clustered into ecological “islands”: small and isolated habitat patches produced by landscape features such as sinkholes and bedrock outcrops. Insular ecosystems often provide unusually stressful microhabitats for plant growth (due, for example, to their characteristically thin soils, high temperatures, extreme pH, or limited nutrients) to which rare species are specially adapted. Climate‐driven changes to these stressors may undermine the competitive advantage of stress‐adapted species, allowing them to be displaced by competitors, or may overwhelm their coping strategies altogether. Special features of insular ecosystems – such as...
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This shapefile contains polygons representing the current range of twelve ecosystems in the southeastern U.S. and the Caribbean. These were the focal ecosystems for the research project. The polygons were created by digitizing a representative area that contained each ecosystem's extent, as defined from GAP land cover or NatureServe's National Map land cover data.


    map background search result map search result map Approved Products Climate-sensitive, Insular Ecosystems of the Southeastern U.S.: The State of the Science and a Case Study of Limestone Cedar Glades in the Central Basin of Tennessee Focal Ecosystems Climate-sensitive, Insular Ecosystems of the Southeastern U.S.: The State of the Science and a Case Study of Limestone Cedar Glades in the Central Basin of Tennessee Focal Ecosystems