Post on 09-May-2015
description
Conservation in the Era of Climate Change: South Kingstown Case Study
Clara Rubin, Don Robadue, Pam Rubinoff URI Coastal Resources Center/RI Sea Grant
C. Ansel
Steve Wood
Pam Rubinoff S. Wood
Changing Climate: Here and Now
USDA, 2012
USDA Plant Hardiness Zones, 2012
Pawcatuck River in Westerly, March 2010
http://www.ctcameraeye.com/?p=2555
Understanding Vulnerability
• Exposure
• Sensitivity
• Capacity
• Habitats
Building on Existing Resources
• Climate Change and Massachusetts Fish and Wildlife
• Connecticut Climate Change Adaptation Report
• RI State Wildlife Action Plan, 2005
• RI Low Impact Design Manual
CLIMATE CHANGE AND MASSACHUSETTS FISH AND WILDLIFE: Volume 2 HABITAT AND SPECIES VULNERABILITY
Non-climate Stressors
Climate change heightens importance of addressing these problems:
• Colonizing invasive species
• Expanding development
• Habitat fragmentation and loss
• Water quality and quantity issues
• Decreasing riparian buffers
• Loss of wetlands
Common reed, Phragmites australis http://swamp.osu.edu/flora_fauna/ORWplants.html
Maine Sea Grant
What is Important to the Land Trust?
• Different areas/goals: origin of “focal areas”
• Property-by-property management may be limiting
• Adaptation strategies may need to be larger-scale landscapes
Habitats
• Freshwater aquatic
• Forested swamps & wetlands
• Beaches & tidal marshes
• Terrestrial uplands
• Upland forests
• Agricultural lands
Cold Water Streams
• Key drivers
– Increasing temperatures
– Changing precipitation patterns
• Sensitivity: High
– Endangers cold-water dependent species
– Vulnerable to invasive species
• Management & protection actions
http://www.asergeev.com/pictures/k/Rhode_Island_Parks.html
Agricultural Lands • Key drivers
– Increased temperatures
– Shifting weather patterns, more extreme weather
• Sensitivity: Medium
– Vulnerable to pressure from invasive species and pests
– Precipitation variability leads to droughts and flooding
• Management & protection actions
Upland Forests • Key drivers
– Increasing temperatures
– Variations in precipitation
• Sensitivity
– Vulnerable to invasive species, pests, diseases
– Drought leading to increased frequency and intensity of forest fires
• Management and protection actions
Browning Woods Farm, SKLT parcel
Tools for you to use
• SKLT Pilot example and application • Habitat sensitivity summary • Maps on ArcGIS viewer
• List of Management/protection actions • Resource links
• Climate change summary • Webpage: RI Sea Grant Climate
•
http://seagrant.gso.uri.edu/Climate http://www.facebook.com/rhodeislandseagrant
Clara Rubin crubincr@gmail.com Pam Rubinoff rubi@crc.uri.edu