Multiscale Assessment of Listed and At-Risk Species' Climate Change Vulnerabilities
Abstract
Climate change is of concern to the U.S. Department of Defense because climate change-driven increases in the number of species Federally listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) and stress to listed species can lead to additional requirements and potential restrictions on training land use. A first step in guiding management strategies to promote climate change adaptation is to assess species vulnerabilities. However, vulnerability assessments conducted at a single scale or for arbitrary regions offer limited information to guide management decisions. This work developed and demonstrated an approach for multiscale species vulnerability assessments that integrates weighted estimates of range-wide and local vulnerability, and vulnerability on Federal land, where species occurrence often influences ESA listing decisions. The approach was applied to 16 plant and animal species on five regionally representative Army installations. The assessments were used to rank species based on their occurrence on multiple installations across the Army and to rank the five study installations based on aggregate species vulnerabilities. This approach is suitable for integrating cli-mate change considerations into installation Integrated Natural Resource Management Plans, for evaluating whether climate change-driven impacts to listed species will affect installation resilience, and for identifying potential conservation partners among Federal land managers.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 15, 2017
- Accession Number
- AD1049230
Entities
People
- Matthew G. Hohmann
- Wade A. Wall
Organizations
- Construction Engineering Research Laboratory