99th ESA Annual Meeting (August 10 -- 15, 2014)

OOS 14

Breaking from the Center: Increasing Resilience to Climate Change and Extreme Events from the Sierra Nevada to the Atlantic Ocean

This session will highlight research at the nexus of the scientific and conservation communities: cutting edge science that addresses specific management needs. It will cover a variety of analytical approaches to addressing the effects of extreme events and climate change on a wide breadth of focal systems. The objective is to showcase innovative research that is identifying important climate adaptation options in response to the increasing occurrence of catastrophic weather events and changing climate. Reflecting the oceans to mountains theme of the conference, the opening speaker will address the use of refugia as a tool for climate adaptation in the Sierra Nevada, and the final speaker will discuss how communities and trophic webs change in response to sea level rise and coastal erosion. Other presentations will cover research on species responses to variation in weather and changes in climate, evolutionary capacity to adapt to environmental change, the implications of landscape changes and connectivity for biodiversity and conservation in the southern Great Plains, and decision frameworks to address climate adaptation in freshwater systems. Research presented in this session was supported by the Department of Interior Climate Science Centers, whose mission is to provide natural and cultural resource managers with the tools and information they need to develop and execute management strategies that address the impacts of climate change on a broad range of natural and cultural resources.