There are few resources that provide managers cross-scale information for planning climate adaptation strategies for species and taxa at risk. Appropriate allocation of resources requires an understanding of mechanisms influencing a species’ risk to global change. Dr.
Projects By Status: completed
Landscape Conservation Cooperatives use a collaborative approach to identify landscape scale conservation solutions. LCCs work across jurisdictional and political boundaries to work with partners to: meet unfilled conservation needs, develop decision support tools, share data and knowledge, and facilitate and foster partnerships.
As part of a shared science strategy, LCCs coordinate closely with the National Climate Change and Wildlife Center and the eight regional Climate Science Centers.
The project had four explicit objectives: 1) Conduct a climate vulnerability assessment of Species of Greatest Need of Conservation and major habitat types 2) Identify conservation strategies that increase resiliency or adaptive capacity, or mitigate the effects of climate change 3) Outline an ad
After two funding cycles, the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes (UM&GL) Landscape Conservation Cooperative (LCC) decided a more strategic approach was needed to address theconservation priorities of the region.
In the United States, many resources devoted to conservation are routed through states, but animal and plant populations do not conform to state boundaries. Consequently, neighboring states can enhance their collective conservation impact by coordinating natural resources management.
Researchers downscaled projections of maximum and minimum temperature and precipitation across a large extent east of the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Coast. The data is probabilistic in nature, providing flexibility in incorporating climate information into impact assessments. Statistical t
This project connects scientists and managers from federal, tribal and state agencies and nongovernmental organizations to exchange information and establish common priorities for management of terrestrial wildlife populations.
Developing a Portfolio of Mitigation and Adaption Options for Land Managers in the Upper Great Lakes
As a major threat to global biodiversity, climate change will alter where and how we manage conservation lands (e.g., parks, refuges, wildlife management areas, natural areas).
An experienced team of wetland ecologists, geographers, and software engineers used a geodesign process to develop and host a web-based geospatial application that will support the identification and restoration of potential coastal wetlands (i.e., areas that could be restored to coastal wetlands
In June 2015, the Eastern Tallgrass Prairie and Big Rivers Landscape Conservation Cooperative (LCC) of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) granted $80,000 to the City of St.
Habitat loss and degradation due to urban expansion and other human activities have raised concerns for the Western Gulf Coast Mottled Duck population. This species relies on tidal, palustrine, and agricultural wetlands as well as grasslands for all of its life cycle needs.
Habitat fragmentation and degradation are considered to be a leading causes of long-term population declines of Northern Bobwhites and many other species of grassland birds, such as Eastern Meadowlark. Research is needed to understand the factors causing habitat loss and fragmentation and to ide
Grasslands are among the most threatened ecosystems on the planet (Hoekstra et al 2004). Recently, the bird conservation and grasslands communities have united around a forward looking approach to conservation planning. To accomplish this the following information is needed:
The Desert Landscape Conservation Cooperative (LCC) is a partnership formed and directed by resource management entities as well as interested public and private entities in the Mojave, Sonoran, and Chihuahuan Desert and montane sky island regions of the southwestern United States and northern Me
This project proposes development of a spatial decision support system (DSS) designed to address an identified major conservation goal of the Eastern Tallgrass Prairie and Big Rivers Landscape Conservation Cooperative (ETPBR LCC), in collaboration with adjacent LCCs in the Midwestern U.S.
Monarch butterfly and other pollinators are in trouble. Monarch butterfly habitat— including milkweed host plants and nectar food sources—has declined drastically throughout most of the United States.
This project evaluated the potential impacts of storm surges and relative sea level rise on nesting geese and eider species that commonly breed on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta (Y-K Delta).
Full Project Title
Project Summary
The project will complete an extensive mapping of coastal change along the entire coastline of the Western Alaska Landscape Conservation Cooperative (LCC). The work will provide important baseline information on the distribution and magnitude of landscape changes over the past 41 years.
Baseline hydrologic and topographic data in relation to waterfowl productivity is very limited on the Y-K Delta. When considering the potential impacts of climate-driven change to nesting and brood-rearing habitats, these baseline data are important for making informed management decisions.
Understanding the causes of relative sea level rise requires knowledge of changes to both land (uplift and subsidence) and sea level. However, measurements of coastal uplift or subsidence are almost completely lacking in western Alaska.
Researchers have consistently prioritized the need to measure the status and trends of stream and lake temperatures across Alaska landscapes, and to compile those data for predictive modeling.
Water temperature plays a critical role in the health of pre-smolt salmon life stages, and changes in water temperature may be a strong driving factor on growth and survival of juvenile Chinook salmon.
Southwest Alaska is one of the fastest warming regions on Earth and its aquatic resources are at distinct risk from changing climate.
Completion of the National Wildlife Inventory has been identified as a top science priority for the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes-LCC (UMGL). Some areas of Minnesota and Wisconsin still have not been mapped to NWI standards.
This project directly addresses the need for integration of climate change information and strategies into Wisconsin’s Wildlife Action Plan (WWAP) as identified by Upper Midwest and Great Lakes Land Conservation Cooperative.
The western coastline of Alaska is highly susceptible to coastal storms, which can cause coastal erosion, flooding, and have other pernicious effects to the environment and commercial efforts.
Climate change is expected to alter the distributions and community composition of stream fishes in the Great Lakes region in the 21st century, in part as a result of altered hydrological systems (stream temperature, streamflow, and habitat).
The emerald ash borer (EAB) poses a tremendous threat to ash forest habitats across the upper Great Lakes.
The purpose of the research is to develop a storm surge model for the YK Delta area and to apply it to determine biological impacts of storm surges in the current and future climates.
This project will improve tribal and First Nation engagement in cooperative natural resource conservation efforts. Researchers are fostering networking among tribes, First Nations and other relevant partners in the upper Midwest – Great Lakes region, and engaging tribal and First Nation represen
With the ultimate goal of conserving and restoring threatened native grassland prairies and the wildlife that depend on them, the National Audubon Society (Audubon) is facilitating a landscape conservation design for the grassland birds in the greater Chicago region.
Bering Sea storms introduce various environmental conditions that adversely affect human activity and infrastructure in the coastal zone and the ecosystems they depend upon.
The study seeks to provide a retrospective analysis of the relationships among bird abundance and distribution and changes in land cover and climate in the upper Midwest and Great Lakes region. The resultant models will be used to provide spatially explicit forecasts of future avian responses.
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Under this project a collaborative and integrated geodatabase of inventoried connectivity barriers within the South Central Lake Superior Basin (SCLSB) was developed to prioritize restoration for more than 2,000 inventoried stream crossings.
One of the major challenges in understanding changes in coastal processes in western Alaska is the lack of measured ocean data in the region.
The Nature Conservancy - Great Lakes Program is leading the development of a scalable (Great Lakes wide, individual lake basin, to coastal reach within a lake basin) rule-based spatial model for ranking the relative importance of coastal lands and waters as habitat for migrating birds.
Permafrost thaw can be a major driver of landscape change.
Nearshore bathymetry is a vital link that joins offshore water depths to coastal topography.
Researchers assessed how an expansion of forest reserves and climate-adaptive management may improve ecological connectivity and resilience under different climate scenarios. Resilience is measured as the capacity for these systems to maintain extant forest communities and aboveground live biom
Thermokarst lakes (lakes formed in a depression by meltwater from thawing permafrost) are common features and important ecosystems in Alaska.
The compilation of an accurate and contemporary digital shoreline for Alaska is an important step in understanding coastal processes and measuring changes in coastal storm characteristics.
Mayflies (Ephemeroptera), stoneflies (Plecoptera), and caddisflies (Trichoptera) (a.k.a. EPT taxa) are the most environmentally sensitive of freshwater insects. They are utilized the world over as indicators of water quality in flowing waters.
Thermal response of western Alaska lakes and lagoons to past, present, and future changes in climate
Water temperature in lakes and lagoons plays a key role in hydrology, water quality, and habitat suitability for aquatic organisms.
This project uses previously collected ShoreZone imagery to map nearly 1,600 km of coastline between Wales and Kotzebue.
Full life-cycle vulnerability assessments are identifying the effects of climate change on nongame migratory birds that are of conservation concern and breed in the upper Midwest and Great Lakes region.
Water temperature influences all biological and physicochemical interactions within aquaticsystems. Water temperature monitoring is an essential part of lake management capable of providing early warning signs of climate change using straight-forward, low-cost techniques.
This project uses existing ShoreZone coastal imagery to map 719 km of shoreline in Bristol Bay, from Cape Constantine to Cape Newenham. This section of coastline is an extremely important herring spawning area and an important component of the Bristol Bay fisheries.
Working within the constraints of the SWAP revision timeline, we propose to advance biodiversity conservation within the region by enhancing the regional effectiveness of SWAPs and the ability of the LCC to address regional biodiversity priorities.
Western Alaska is one of the fastest warming regions on the globe and recent trends are expected to continue into the next century, likely having substantial effects on the aquatic resources of this region.
This project analyzies projected changes in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events across the Great Lakes region, namely heat waves, cold spells, heavy precipitation events, and droughts, using a statistically downscaled climate product produced by the Climate Working Group of the