Landscape Partnership Resources Library
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 Habitat Assessments within the Appalachian LCC
This spreadsheet provides the results of habitat assessments from five previous research projects. These include two projects in the Central Appalachian and Cumberland - Southern Appalachian portion of the LCC; habitat assessments completed in the North Carolina portion of the Cumberland - Southern Appalachian subregion; habitat assessments in the northeastern portion of the Central Appalachian subregion; and a draft assessment for a habitat in the Interior Low Plateau.
Southern Interior Low Plateau Dry Mesic Oak Forest
This habitat of upland hardwood-dominated forests occurs in the Interior Low Plateau region of the southeastern United States along ridgetops and slopes of various aspects. The floristic expression of different stands included in this habitat varies considerably with aspect and soil type. Included here are a variety of associations ranging along a moisture gradient from submesic to drier ones. The submesic to dry-mesic expressions tend to be found on midslopes with northerly to easterly aspects, and the drier ones on southerly to westerly aspects and on broad ridges. Parent material can range from calcareous to acidic with very shallow, well- to excessively well-drained soils in the drier expressions and moderately well-drained soils in the submesic to dry-mesic ones. The canopy closure of this system ranges from closed to somewhat open in the drier examples. Historically, these examples may have been more open under conditions of more frequent fire.
Central Interior Highlands Calcareous Glade and Barrens
This habitat is found primarily in the Interior Highlands of the Ozark, Ouachita, and Interior Low Plateau regions with scattered occurrences in northern Missouri. It occurs along moderate to steep slopes and steep valleys on primarily southerly to westerly facing slopes. Limestone and/or dolomite bedrock typify this system with shallow, moderately to well-drained soils interspersed with rocks. These soils often dry out during the summer and autumn, and then become saturated during the winter and spring. Fire is the primary natural dynamic, and prescribed fires help manage this system by restricting woody growth and maintaining the more open glade structure.
Cave/Karst Resources Across the Appalachian LCC: A Visual Guide to Results PDF
This visual guide documents 18 months of work gathering and analyzing data on caves and karst resources in the Appalachian LCC. The maps and files provide a comprehensive overview of data available for examining relationships between environmental factors and biological diversity and distribution within karst areas in the region. This visual survey is intended to be a guide to what the researchers have accomplished, and a guide to what new questions and results would be interesting to end-users.
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.
Phase I: Alternatives for Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment: Expert Panel Findings PDF
How should the Appalachian LCC acquire information about species and habitat vulnerability to large-scale impacts in the Appalachians? This report summarizes the findings and recommendations of a seven-member Expert Panel that sought to answer this question identified as a major research priority. The Panel addressed three aspects of the question: the selection of species and habitats to assess, approaches to vulnerability assessment, and the availability of downscaled climate data.
Review of Subterranean Faunal Studies of the Appalachians and Models of Subterranean Species Richness PDF
Historically, the cave fauna, and any biota for that matter, were largely studied from a taxonomic perspective. Papers focused on a lineage or a set of closely related lineages because of the strictures of taxonomic expertise, the difficulty in collating and summarizing information for a variety of taxonomic groups, and because, until relatively recently, there was no research agenda that emphasized patterns of species richness. With the advent of interest in species diversity per se in the late 1960’s and especially with the interest in biodiversity and biodiversity hotspots in the late 1980’s, the focus changed. Studies of cave fauna reflected the changing research agendas. In this bibliographic review, we examine five areas of interest:
Quick Start Guide to Core Networks On DataBasin
This document is intended to guide you through accessing the Terrestrial and Aquatic Core Networks, two of the datasets that comprise the Connect the Connecticut gallery of science products on Data Basin.
A Stream Classification for the Appalachian LCC PDF
A classification system and map was developed for stream and river systems in the Appalachian LCC region, encompassing parts of 17 states. The product is intended to complement state-based stream classifications by unifying them into a single consistent system that represents the region’s natural flowing-water aquatic habitats. The results can be used to understand ecological flow relationships and inform conservation planning for aquatic biodiversity in the region.
Environmental Flow Analysis for the Marcellus Shale Region PDF
A technical report submitted to the Appalachian Landscape Conservation Cooperative in completion of grant# 2012-03 - Final Report
Species assessments by the Virginia Division of Natural Heritage
This spreadsheet contains the full results of climate change vulnerability assessments conducted in 2010 in Virgiinia.
Identifying Species in Pennsylvania Potentially Vulnerable to Climate Change
This report provides the methods and results of 85 species vulnerability assessments in Pennsylvania.
Interior Low Plateau subregion climate change vulnerability species assessments
These results are a compilation of climate change vulnerability assessments in the western portion of the LCC, covering the area from Western Kentucky, northeastern Alabama and western Tennessee west to southern Indiana and southeastern Illinois. Results included are from Bruno et al. (Cumberland Piedmont Network of the National Park Service; and Walk et al. 2011 (illinois). It also includes the results from species assessed as part of the current study (Sneddon et al. 2015).
Central Appalachian subregion climate change vulnerability species assessments Excel Spreadsheet
These results are a compilation of climate change vulnerability assessments in the northern-most portion of the LCC, covering the area from New York south to West Virginia and Virginia, west to Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio. Results included are Byers and Norris 2011 (West Virginia); Furedi et al. 2011 (Pennsylvania), Ring et al. 2013 (New Jersey), Schlesinger et al. 2011 (New York); Virginia Division of Natural Heritage 2010 (Virginia). It also includes the results from species assessed as part of the current study (Sneddon et al. 2015).
Full CCVI results supplement to Adapting Conservation to a Changing Climate: An Update to the Illinois Wildlife Action Plan
This pdf is a supplement to the report, Adapting Conservation to a Changing Climate: An Update to the Illinois Wildlife Action Plan. It contains the full results for species assessed for vulnerability to climate change using NatureServe's Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment (CCVI) tool.
Drivers of landscape change in the Appalachians: Risks
Drivers of landscape change in the Appalachians: Risks
