Phase II: Vulnerability Assessments
Final Report: Climate Change Vulnerability Assessments in the Appalachian LCC
The Appalachian LCC tasked NatureServe with a two-phase project that explores the understanding of climate change in the Appalachian landscape. The first phase focused on assembling a panel of experts to provide guidance on a) prioritizing species and habitats to assess for vulnerability to climate change; b) selecting approaches to conduct vulnerability assessments, and c) identifying appropriate climate data to use in the assessments. Guided by the recommendations of the Panel, Phase II analyzes the results of 700 existing species assessments, and conducts vulnerability analyses on 41 additional species and 3 habitats. We used the recommendations of the Expert Panel, as well as the existing compilation to guide our recommended list of additional species and habitats to be assessed in Phase II. Criteria included a focus on the Interior Low Plateau and on plants, neither of which were well represented in existing assessments, as well as species of high conservation significance, keystone or species otherwise important to the habitat, and those of high value as indicators of climate change. This report summarizes Phase II of this effort.
Previous Climate Assessments on 700 Species
Find here Climate Change Vulnerability Assessments from previous research. Each excel file contains a subset of data from a compilation of climate change vulnerability scores for 700 species in the Appalachian LCC.
New Climate Change Vulnerability Assessments for 41 Species
This spreadsheet functions as a tool to determine climate change vulnerability of species. Information is entered in the calculator, and results are stored in the results tab. Explanations of climate change measures and species-specific attributes that contribute to adaptive capacity are in subsequent tabs. The documentation tab provides justification for ratings of each individual factor, with a complete list of references also provided in a separate tab. Also available for download below is the county distribution for 41 of the species evaluated.
Habitat Vulnerability Assessments
This folder contains the results of climate change vulnerability assessments of three habitats characteristic of the Appalachian LCC region.
County Distribution of Assessed Species
County distribution for the climate change vulnerability of 41 newly assessed species is available for download. The entire package is available at the link provided.
Guidelines for Using the NatureServe Climate Change Vulnerability Index
Motivated by the need to rapidly assess the vulnerability of species to climate change, NatureServe developed a Climate Change Vulnerability Index. The Index uses a scoring system that integrates a species’ predicted exposure to climate change within an area and three sets of factors associated with climate change sensitivity, each supported by published studies: 1) indirect exposure to climate change, 2) species-specific sensitivity and adaptive capacity factors and 3) documented response to climate change. Our primary goal for the Index is to provide valuable input for key planning documents, such as revisions of state wildlife action plans, to allow consideration of climate change impacts together with other stressors. We also hope this tool will help land managers develop and prioritize strategies for climate change adaptation that lead to actions that increase the resilience of species to climate change.
