Regional Flow 2016, Chesapeake Bay, U.S.

Publication Date

2016-10

Type: Download

Resilience concerns the ability of a living system to adjust to climate change, moderate potential damages, take advantage of opportunities, or cope with consequences; in short, the capacity to adapt. The Nature Conservancy’s resilience analysis develops an approach to conserve biological diversity while allowing species and communities to rearrange in response to a continually changing climate. - See more at: http://nature.org/TNCResilience Eastern Division scientists analyzed 393 million acres of land for resilience, stretching from Florida to Maine and adjacent areas of Canada. Scientists considered individual landscapes such as forests, wetlands, and mountain ranges as collections of neighborhoods where plants and animals reside. Areas with the most complex neighborhoods in terms of topography, elevation ranges, and wetland density were estimated to offer the greatest potential for plant and animal species to “move down the block” and find new homes as climate change alters their traditional neighborhoods. The resilience study also considered the permeability of landscapes, analyzing where roads, dams, development, or other fragmenting features create barriers that prevent plants and animals from moving into new neighborhoods. Together, the diversity of physical features and the ability for local movement define a landscape’s resiliency.

• LC MAP - Landscape Conservation Management and Analysis Portal
• North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative

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