HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Abstract Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Dunwiddie, P. W. Articles by Gray, E. Search for Related Content

Rethinking Conservation Practice in Light of Climate Change

	Abstract

TOP Abstract References

 
Predicted changes in climate present unusual challenges to conservation planners, land managers, and restoration efforts directed toward preserving biodiversity. Successful organisms will respond to these changes by persisting in suitable microsites, adapting to novel conditions, or dispersing to new sites. We describe three general categories of strategies for restoring and managing natural systems in light of likely changes in future climate that collectively embrace many of the approaches that The Nature Conservancy is applying or considering in the state of Washington. Component redundancy suggests that in natural systems greater ecosystem resilience, despite changing climates, may be achieved by increasing species and community redundancy. Functional redundancy is the idea that different components of a system can fulfill the same functions, thereby producing the same result. Restoration projects and managers of natural systems can introduce ecologically equivalent species or novel associations of species, which may help avoid losses in biodiversity. Increased connectivity suggests that success is achieved by ensuring that suitable habitats are always within easy reach of one another. This includes conservation approaches that provide linkages, corridors, or other mechanisms to facilitate the movement of organisms as they respond to climate changes. We acknowledge that these approaches are not without risk, nor do they necessarily ensure success. However, we propose them as potential solutions among a growing suite of alternative strategies for incorporating climate change into conservation actions.

Keywords: climate change, conservation management, global warming, Pacific Northwest, restoration

	References

TOP Abstract References

 

Agee, J.K. 1993. Fire Ecology of Pacific Northwest Forests . Covelo CA: Island Press.

Agee, J.K. and M.R. Lolley 2006. Thinning and prescribed fire effects on fuels and potential fire behavior in an eastern Cascades forest, Washington, USA. Fire Ecology 2:142–158.

Battin, J., M.W. Wiley, M.H. Ruckelshaus, R.N. Palmer, E. Korb, K.K. Bartz and H. Imaki 2007. Projected impacts of climate change on salmon habitat restoration. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104:6720–6725.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Cole, D.N., L. Yung, E.S. Zavaleta, G.H. Aplet, F.S. Chapin, III, 2008. Naturalness and beyond: Protected area stewardship in an era of global environmental change. The George Wright Forum 25(1):36–56.

Craft, C., J. Clough, J. Ehman, S. Joye, R. Park, 2009. Forecasting the effects of accelerated sea-level rise on tidal marsh ecosystem services. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 7:73–78.[CrossRef]

Crooks, K.R. and M. Sanjayan, eds. 2006. Connectivity Conservation . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Davis, M.B., R.G. Shaw and J.R. Etterson 2005. Evolutionary responses to climate change. Ecology 86:1704–1714.[CrossRef]

Day, J.W., R.R. Christian, D.M. Boesch, A. Yanez-Arancibia, J. Morris, 2008. Consequences of climate change on the ecogeomorphology of coastal wetlands. Estuaries & Coasts 31:477–491.

Farm Service Agency 2009. Summary of active and expiring CRP cropland acres by county. U.S. Department of Agriculture Report No. MEPEII-R1. content.fsa.usda.gov/crpstorpt/rmepeii_r1/wa.htm

Finney, M.A. 2007. A computational method for optimizing fuel treatment locations. International Journal of Wildland Fire 16:702–711.[CrossRef]

Franklin, J.F. and C.T. Dyrness 1988. Natural Vegetation of Oregon and Washington . Corvallis: Oregon State University Press.

Groves, C 2003. Developing a Conservation Blueprint: A Practitioner’s Guide to Planning for Biodiversity . Covelo CA: Island Press.

Gustafson, R.G., R.S. Waples, J.M. Myers, L. Weitkamp, G.J. Bryant, 2007. Pacific salmon extinctions: Quantifying lost and remaining diversity. Conservation Biology 21:1009–1020.[CrossRef][Medline]

Hannah, L., G. Midgley, S. Andelman, M. Araujo, G. Hughes, 2007. Protected area needs in a changing climate. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 5:131–138.[CrossRef]

Hanski, I. and M.E. Gilpin 1997. Metapopulation Biology: Ecology, Genetics, and Evolution . San Diego: Academic Press.

Harris, J.A., R.J. Hobbs, E. Higgs and J. Aronson 2006. Ecological restoration and global climate change. Restoration Ecology 14:170–176.[CrossRef]

Heller, N.E. and E.S. Zavaleta 2009. Biodiversity management in the face of climate change: A review of 22 years or recommendations. Biological Conservation 142:14–32.[CrossRef]

Hessburg, P.F., J.K. Agee and J.F. Franklin 2005. Dry forests and wildland fires of the inland Northwest USA: Contrasting the landscape ecology of the pre-settlement and modern eras. Forest Ecology and Management 211:117–139.[CrossRef]

Holling, C.S. 1973. Resilience and stability of ecological systems. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 4:1–23.[CrossRef]

Hood, W.G. 2004. Indirect environmental effects of dikes on estuarine tidal channels: Thinking outside of the dike for habitat restoration and monitoring. Estuaries 27(2):273–282.[CrossRef]

Hulme, P.E. 2005. Adapting to climate change: Is there scope for ecological management in the face of a global threat? Journal of Applied Ecology 42:784–794.[CrossRef]

Lawler, J.J., T.H. Tear, C. Pyke, M.R. Shaw, P. Gonzalez, 2009. Resource management in a changing and uncertain climate. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 7, DOI 10.1890/070146.

Lindenmayer, D. and J. Fischer 2006. Habitat Fragmentation and Landscape Change . Covelo CA: Island Press.

Lindenmayer, D., R.J. Hobbs, R. Montague-Drake, J. Alexandra, A. Bennett, 2008. A checklist for ecological management of landscapes for conservation. Ecology Letters 11:78–91.[Medline]

McLachlan, J.S., J.J. Hellmann and M.W. Schwartz A framework for debate of assisted migration in an era of climate change. Conservation Biology 21:297–302.

Milly, P.C.D., K.A. Dunne and A.V. Vecchia 2005. Global pattern of trends in streamflow and water availability in a changing climate. Nature 438:347–350.[CrossRef][Medline]

Morgan, L., S. Maxwell, F. Tsao, T. Wilkinson and P. Etnoyer 2005. Marine Priority Conservation Areas: Baja California to the Bering Sea. Montreal: Commission for Environmental Cooperation of North America and the Marine Conservation Biology Institute. www.mcbi.org/what/b2b.htm

Morris, J.T., P.V. Sundareshwar, C.T. Nietch, B. Kjerfve and D.R. Cahoon 2008. Responses of coastal wetlands to rising sea level. Ecology 83:2869–2877.

Mueller, J.M. and J.J. Hellman 2008. An assessment of invasion risk from assisted migration. Conservation Biology 22:562–567.[CrossRef][Medline]

Naeem, S. 1998. Species redundancy and ecosystem reliability. Conservation Biology 12:39–45.[CrossRef]

Opdam, P. and D. Wascher 2004. Climate change meets habitat fragmentation: Linking landscape and biogeographical scale level in research and conservation. Biological Conservation 117:285–297.[CrossRef]

Schroeder, M.A. and W.M. Vander Haegen 2006. Use of Conservation Reserve Program fields by greater sage-grouse and other shrubsteppe-associated wildlife in Washington state. Final report prepared for USDA Farm Service Agency. Olympia: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. www.fsa.usda.gov/Internet/FSA_File/sage_grouse.pdf

Seastedt, T.R., R.J. Hobbs and K.N. Suding 2008. Management of novel ecosystems: Are novel approaches required? Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 6: 547–553.[CrossRef]

Shared Strategy for Puget Sound. 2007. Puget Sound salmon recovery plan, vol. 1, adopted by National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), 19 January 2007. Seattle: Shared Strategy Development Committee. www.sharedsalmonstrategy.org/plan/index.htm

Spalding, E.A. and M.W. Hester 2007. Interactive effects of hydrology and salinity on oligohaline plant species productivity: Implications of relative sea-level rise. Estuaries & Coasts. 30: 214–225.

U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP). 2008. The effects of climate change on agriculture, land resources, water resources, and biodiversity. Washington DC: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Walker, B.H. 1992. Biodiversity and ecological redundancy. Conservation Biology 6:18–23.[CrossRef]

Williams, J.W. and S.T. Jackson 2007. Novel climates, no-analog communities, and ecological surprises. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 5:475–482.[CrossRef]

This Article Abstract Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Dunwiddie, P. W. Articles by Gray, E. Search for Related Content