Climate Change Adaptation and Management for Terrestrial Wildlife—

Beyond the Status Quo

Olivia LeDee, Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center

Benjamin Zuckerberg, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Chris Hoving, Michigan Department of Natural Resources

Stephen Handler, U.S. Forest Service and Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science

Chris Swanston, U.S. Forest Service and Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science

NE CASC Webinar

12/12/2018

Challenge 1…

Challenge 2…

“It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?” Thoreau

USGS

USGS

USGS

Challenge 3…

Environment and Climate Change Canada

Williams and Dumroese 2014

Goals

• Synthesize peer-reviewed recommendations for wildlife management under climate change

• Provide climate adaptation strategies for wildlife at a scale and resolution that can inform on-the-ground management

• Supplement the Adaptation Workbook, a structured decision-making tool for managers to develop custom climate adaptation plans

Swanston et al 2016

Methods, Synthesis

Review for management recommendations

>500 articles >2300 recommendations

Exclude non-wildlife articles

>1300 results

Literature search: climate change/global warming and wildlife/biodiversity

>2100 results

Methods, Text Analysis

Qualitative Text Analysis

• Review text and establish conceptual bins

• Review and coding by trained reviewers

• Secondary review and code revision

• Frequency statistics

Quantitative Text Analysis

• Text mining with tidytext and other R packages

• Term frequencies

• Relationships between words

• Sentiment analysis

Process, Decision Tool

• Hands-on workshops whereby participants consider climate change, use menu and and develop adaptation actions for their projects

Michigan (September)

Ohio (January)

Wisconsin (March)

• Revise Wildlife Menu based on workshop feedback

LeDee

Results, Text Analysis

• 94% of articles from 2008-2017

• Most cover North America (60%), but relatively large number of global studies

• Most cover multiple animal classes, but greater representation for birds and mammals

• Most cover multiple cover classes, but greater representation for forest systems

Kaufmann

USG

S

Results, Text AnalysisStrategy Count

establish and enhance protected areas 596

maintain or create optimal cover 298

promote a ‘wildlife-friendly’ landscape matrix 276

facilitate shifts in the geographic range of the species 124

reduce existing threats 119

prevent or limit human alteration of habitat 115

maintain or restore water resources 107

maintain metapopulation processes 106

maintain a viable, socially acceptable population size 93

sustain positive and reduce negative interspecific/biotic interactions 93

maintain or mimic disturbance regimes 66

enhance genetic diversity 45

prevent or limit human disturbance 41

maintain or create adequate food sources 35

take no action/laissez faire 30

maintain or enhance reproduction 26

prevent or control wildlife disease 26

plan for and reduce human-wildlife conflict 24

maintain or enhance survival 14

Results, Text Analysis

“protect movement corridors, stepping stones, and refugia”

“moving animals, plants, and other organisms from sites that are becoming unsuitable due to global climate change to other sites where conditions are thought to be more favorable for their continued existence”

“construction of water infrastructure, such as dams, to regulate and enhance water supplies”

“dynamic reserves, which track the distributions of species, might be more effective at conserving species than static reserves”

“accepting local loss of some populations in adversely sensitive regions”

Results, Text Analysis

Species Habitat Biodiversity Populations

Protected Land Reserves Connectivity Forests Restoration Refugia Range

Decision Tool: Adaption Strategies1. Maintain and enhance genetic diversity

2. Maintain metapopulation processes

3. Facilitate shifts in the geographic range of the species in anticipation of future conditions

4. Sustain positive and reduce negative interspecific and biotic interactions

5. Maintain a sustainable population size by managing reproduction, survival, and migration

6. Manage harvest regulations to manipulate populations of harvestable species

7. Plan for and reduce human disturbance and human-wildlife conflict

8. Protect, restore, and maintain sources of food, water, and cover as components of habitat

9. Adjust management of food, water, and cover to align with expected future conditions

10. Establish and enhance protected areas or habitat reserves

11. Promote wildlife habitat conservation on lands outside of protected areas

12. Intentionally chose to take no action

13. Engage human communities in wildlife conservation

Example, Habitat Strategies9. Adjust management of food, water, and cover to align with expected future conditions.

9.1 Use non-local, future-adapted genotypes in habitat management

Example Tactic

• In habitat restoration projects, select seed sources based on anticipated future climate conditions, such as selecting seed zones from central or southern Minnesota when planting in northern Minnesota.

9.2 Create new sources of food, water, and cover in anticipation of future conditions

Example Tactic

• Promote a new suite of conifer species such as eastern white pine to provide thermal cover in order to replace declining boreal conifers.

9.3 Identify temporary water storage during times of high water

Example Tactic

• Divert excess water into temporary holding structures during floods.

Example, Habitat Strategies9. Adjust management of food, water, and cover to align with expected future conditions.

9.4 Provide viable water sources that will persist during drought conditions

Example Tactic

• Create scrapes to retain potential water sources for amphibians

9.5 Manage for sources of food, water, and cover across the annual cycle and different life stages in response to changing phenology

Example Tactic

• Plant flowering species that provide nectar for pollinators during early, middle, and late phases of the growing season to account for unpredictable phenology..

9.6 Establish green infrastructure or hard defenses to protect habitat from anticipated climate impacts

Example Tactic

• Install water control structures to divert water and flood impacts.

Summary

• Managing protected areas and the matrix continue to be most common recommendations

• Taxonomic and systems biases are evident; lacking information for reptiles, amphibians, and grassland systems

• Identified 13 strategies and >70 approaches for management

• Novel management recommendations are rare, but warrant greater attention

• Microclimate, disease, survival, and reproduction are examples that merit additional work

Workshops

• 25 participants from federal, state, tribal, and non-profit organizations

• Turtles, martens, snakes, and habitat…

• Ohio and Wisconsin up next…

Michigan, September 2018

Handle

r

Project Examples

MI DNR and Ducks Unlimited Pokagan Potawatomi

Next Steps

• Additional quantitative text analysis

• 3rd revision of the strategies and approaches based on workshop feedback

Fon

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Thank You!

Kle

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