A New Era for Conservation

Natural resource managers and conservationists are coming to grips with the fact thatrapid global warming and associated climate changes are already having a considerable impacton the world’s ecological systems. More and larger shifts are expected, even in the best-casescenarios for greenhouse gas emissions reductions and future warming. These climate changesare ushering in a fundamental shift in natural resource management and conservation, to helpnatural systems withstand and adapt to new climate conditions.This literature review summarizes recent science on climate change adaptation in thecontext of natural resource management and fish and wildlife conservation. The review wasprepared as a background contribution to the...
Nội dung trích xuất từ tài liệu:
A New Era for Conservation A New Era for Conservation: Review of Climate Change Adaptation Literature Patty Glick Amanda Staudt Bruce Stein National Wildlife Federation March 12, 2009Acknowledgements:We are grateful to the Wildlife Habitat Policy Research Program (WHPRP), for their support ofthis discussion paper. WHPRP is a program of the National Council for Science and theEnvironment (NCSE) funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.A New Era for Conservation:Review of Climate Change Adaptation Literature March 12, 2009 TABLE OF CONTENTSEXECUTIVE SUMMARY .......................................................................................................... 3I. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 5II. CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION: AN OVERVIEW .................................................. 7A. Definition..................................................................................................................................................................7B. Slow Progress on Developing Adaptation Strategies ..............................................................................................8C. Overcoming Barriers to Climate Change Adaptation.............................................................................................9D. Overarching Principles..........................................................................................................................................12 Reduce Other, Non-climate Stressors .................................................................................................................13 Manage for Ecological Function and Protection of Biological Diversity. ........................................................14 Establish Habitat Buffer Zones and Wildlife Corridors ...................................................................................14 Implement Proactive Management and Restoration Strategies .......................................................................16 Increase Monitoring and Facilitate Management Under Uncertainty.............................................................17E. Guidelines for Developing Adaptation Strategies .................................................................................................18III. SECTOR-SPECIFIC ADAPTATION STRATEGIES ..................................................... 23A. Forests ....................................................................................................................................................................23 Climate Change Impacts and Vulnerability Assessment Approaches .............................................................23 Potential Adaptation Strategies ...........................................................................................................................24 Case study: Rogue River Basin, Southwest Oregon.............................................................................................28B. Grasslands and Shrublands...................................................................................................................................30 Climate Change Impacts and Vulnerability Assessment Approaches .............................................................30 Potential Adaptation Strategies ...........................................................................................................................31 Case Study: Idaho Sage-grouse Conservation Plan ............................................................................................35C. Rivers, Streams, and Floodplains ..........................................................................................................................36 Climate Change Impacts and Vulnerability Assessment Approaches .............................................................36 Potential Adaptation Strategies ...........................................................................................................................37 Case Study: Town Brook Restoration Project, Massachusetts ............................................................................43D. Coasts and Estuaries..............................................................................................................................................44 Climate Change Impacts and Vulnerability Assessment Approaches ........ ...