OOS 24
Ecosystem Resilience and Lessons Learnt from Climate Change Vulnerability Assessments

Wednesday, August 13, 2014: 8:00 AM-11:30 AM
306, Sacramento Convention Center
Organizer:
Dominique Bachelet, Conservation Biology Institute
Moderator:
Dominique Bachelet, Conservation Biology Institute
Climate change is projected to jeopardize ecosystems function worldwide. Managing ecosystems for future resilience requires collaboration, innovation and communication. Scientists have responded to the need for addressing climate change and assessing vulnerability and adaptive response by providing an assortment of information sources – everything from guidebooks to data repositories to carbon calculators and modeling tools. However, the abundance of information and the uncertainty around both climate change projections and impacts has not been provided with practical guidance to managers who have little funding and limited time to digest and incorporate available material into planning and implementation documents. Conversely, there is little commonly available or widespread guidance for scientists to develop climate change-related tools for the management community, with many tools not considering management needs and priorities. We propose to galvanize experts, innovators, and learning network members to present results and lessons learnt while working with land managers to design effective management strategies and address climate change challenges. We have organized the session such that first managers from federal agencies will tell us how they have approached the federal mandate to evaluate both short-term and long-term climate change risks and vulnerabilities to the agencies' missions, ultimately to develop, prioritize, and implement actions. During the second part of this session, we will hear from a variety of tools developers addressing the needs delineated in the first part of the session. Lastly we will hear about three concrete examples of tools that were developed to answer specific questions related to renewable energy development, species listing to ESA, and federal land exposure to climate change.
8:00 AM
 The Climate Adaptation Workbook: A planning tool for ecosystem management
Christopher W. Swanston, USDA Forest Service; Maria K. Janowiak, USDA Forest Service; Leslie Brandt, USDA Forest Service; Patricia Butler, Michigan Technological University; Stephen Handler, USDA Forest Service; Danielle Shannon, Michigan Technological University
8:20 AM
 Boots on the ground: Science-management partnerships facilitate climate change adaptation
David Peterson, U.S. Forest Service; Jessica Halofsky, University of Washington
9:00 AM
 A strategy and decision-support framework for conserving an isolated fisher (Pekania pennanti) population during an era of change
Wayne D. Spencer, Conservation Biology Institute; Heather L. Romsos, Conservation Biology Institute; Rebecca Degagne, Conservation Biology Institute; Tim Sheehan, Conservation Biology Institute; Dominique Bachelet, Conservation Biology Institute
9:20 AM
 Conservation options for species and natural communities threatened by sea-level rise: An analysis for Florida (USA)
Reed F. Noss, University of Central Florida; Joshua S. Reece, Valdosta State University
9:40 AM
9:50 AM
 Strengthening the foundation of conservation: Building the Protected Areas Database, the LCC conservation atlases and delivering CSC climate change projections
Kai Henifin, Conservation Biology Institute; Dominique Bachelet, Conservation Biology Institute; Tosha Comendant, Conservation Biology Institute; James Strittholt, Conservation Biology Institute; Brendan Ward, Conservation Biology Institute; Wendy L. Peterman, Oregon State University
10:10 AM
 Developing a climate stress index to better manage wildlife in a changing climate
Linda A. Joyce, USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station; Curtis H. Flather, USDA, Forest Service
10:30 AM
 Utilization of projected climate data in conservation planning decision support models
Tim Sheehan, Conservation Biology Institute; Mike O. A. Gough, Conservation Biology Institute; John Abatzoglou, University of Idaho; Ken Ferschweiler, Conservation Biology Institute; Dominique Bachelet, Conservation Biology Institute