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This story map explores the work being conducted in the project, Can We Conserve Wetlands Under a Changing Climate? Mapping Wetland Hydrology Across an Ecoregion and Developing Climate Adaptation Recommendations. Explore the story map to learn more about the work being done to understand how wetlands may change in the future.
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The Integrated Scenarios of the Future Northwest Environment project (an FY2012 NW CSC funded project), resulted in several datasets describing projected changes in climate, hydrology and vegetation for the 21st century over the Northwestern US. The raw data is available in netCDF format, which is a standard data file format for weather forecasting/climate change/GIS applications. However, the sheer size of these datasets and the specific file format (netCDF) for data access pose significant barriers to data access for many users. This is a particular challenge for many natural/cultural resource managers and others working on conservation efforts in the Pacific Northwest. The goal of this project was to increase...
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As the impacts of climate change amplify, understanding the consequences for wetlands will be critical for their sustainable management and conservation, particularly in arid regions such as the Columbia Plateau. The depressional wetlands in this region (wetlands located in topographic depressions where water can accumulate) are an important source of surface water during the summer months. However, their health depends directly on precipitation and evaporation, making them susceptible to changes in temperature and precipitation. Yet few tools for monitoring water movement patterns (hydrology) in and out of these landscapes currently exist, hindering efforts to model how they are changing. This project provided...
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The distribution and abundance of cheatgrass, an invasive annual grass native to Eurasia, has increased substantially across the Intermountain West, including the Great Basin. Cheatgrass is highly flammable, and as it has expanded, the extent and frequency of fire in the Great Basin has increased by as much as 200%. These changes in fire regimes are associated with loss of the native sagebrush, grasses, and herbaceous flowering plants that provide habitat for many native animals, including Greater Sage-Grouse. Changes in vegetation and fire management have been suggested with the intent of conserving Greater Sage-Grouse. However, the potential responses of other sensitive-status birds to these changes in management...
Abstract: Restoration of degraded wet meadows found on upland valley floors has been proposed to achieve a range of ecological benefits, including augmenting late‐season streamflow. There are, however, few field and modelling studies documenting hydrologic changes following restoration that can be used to validate this expectation, and published changes in groundwater levels and streamflow following restoration are inconclusive. Here, we assess the streamflow benefit that can be obtained by wet‐meadow restoration using a physically based quantitative analysis. This framework employs a 1‐dimensional linearized Boussinesq equation with a superimposed solution for changes in storage due to groundwater upwelling and...
Abstract (from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0034425716302619): Groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs) rely on near-surface groundwater. These systems are receiving more attention with rising air temperature, prolonged drought, and where groundwater pumping captures natural groundwater discharge for anthropogenic use. Phreatophyte shrublands, meadows, and riparian areas are GDEs that provide critical habitat for many sensitive species, especially in arid and semi-arid environments. While GDEs are vital for ecosystem services and function, their long-term (i.e. ~ 30 years) spatial and temporal variability is poorly understood with respect to local and regional scale climate, groundwater, and...
Climate change is one of the most pressing issues facing natural resource management. The disruptions it is causing require that we change how we consider and implement conservation and resource management in order to ensure the future of habitats, species, and human communities, whether that means adopting new management actions or adjusting the ways in which existing actions are implemented. However, practitioners often struggle with how to identify and prioritize specific climate adaptation actions, which are taken to either increase/enhance resilience or decrease vulnerability in a changing climate. Management actions may have a higher probability of being successful if they are informed by available scientific...
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Climate change is one of the most pressing issues facing resource management. The disruptions it is causing require that we change the way we consider management in order to ensure the future of habitats, species, and human communities. Practitioners often struggle with how to identify and prioritize specific climate adaptation actions (CAAs). Management actions may have a higher probability of being successful if they are informed by available scientific knowledge and findings. The goal of the Available Science Assessment Process (ASAP) was to synthesize and evaluate the body of scientific knowledge on specific, on-the-ground CAAs to determine the conditions, timeframes, and geographic areas where particular CAAs...
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This project was designed to use the combined strengths of the cooperators to address their concerns stemming from the degradation of arid environments in the Great Basin. The project aimed to identify the regional ecological and social costs and benefits of both immediate hydrologic modifications (low-profile constructed dams) and longer-term restoration of beavers (Castor canadensis) to these landscapes. Use of these techniques by ranchers and managers of public lands depends on these costs and benefits as well as social context and attitudes; the project aimed to assess these as well. Finally, implementation of hydrologic modifications depends on communication of benefits and costs to stakeholders who may choose...
Depressional wetlands in the Columbia Plateau are valuable habitats because they maintain surface water into or throughout the dry summers. The source of that moisture—surface runoff from surrounding areas, or groundwater in local aquifers—may determine if these wetlands are seasonal, permanent, or semi-permanent. Helping these wetlands continue to provide habitat and other services requires understanding how these flooding and drying patterns (their hydrology) have changed in the past, and how projected changes in climate might affect them. The goal of this project was to develop wall-to-wall maps of wetlands across the region, coupled with detailed 30-year hydrographs of historical (1984-2014) fluctuations in...
Abstract (from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2015JF003789/abstract): A module to simulate glacier runoff, PRMSglacier, was added to PRMS (Precipitation Runoff Modeling System), a distributed-parameter, physical-process hydrological simulation code. The extension does not require extensive on-glacier measurements or computational expense but still relies on physical principles over empirical relations as much as is feasible while maintaining model usability. PRMSglacier is validated on two basins in Alaska, Wolverine, and Gulkana Glacier basin, which have been studied since 1966 and have a substantial amount of data with which to test model performance over a long period of time covering a wide range...
This project is an effort to understand the projections of climate change on the Northwest's climate,hydrology and vegetation.
The annual Northwest Climate Conference is the region's premier opportunity for a cross-disciplinary exchange of knowledge and ideas relating to climate impacts and adaptation. The conference brings together hundreds of researchers, resource managers and policy makers from academia, public agencies, sovereign tribal nations, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector, to share the latest climate science, challenges to infrastructure, industry, environment and communities, and adaptive solutions. The conference also provides a forum for scientist, manager, and practitioner collaboration and discussion of emerging challenges, policy and management objectives, and information needs related to regional climate...
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The Northwest Climate Conference (formerly called the Pacific Northwest Climate Science Conference) is the premier climate science event for the region, providing a forum for researchers and practitioners to share scientific results and discuss challenges and solutions related to the impacts of climate change on people, natural resources, and infrastructure in the Northwest. Conference participants include policy- and decision-makers, resource managers, and scientists from academia, public agencies, sovereign tribal nations, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector. More information can be found at the conference website: http://pnwclimateconference.org. The Sixth Annual Northwest Climate Conference...
The goal of the Available Science Assessment Project (ASAP) is to synthesize and evaluate the body of scientific knowledge on specific, on-the-ground CAAs to determine the conditions, timeframes, and geographic areas where particular CAAs may be most effective for resource managers. We have derived a methodology that utilizes literature reviews and interviews, an expert elicitation process, and extensive engagement with natural resource managers and scientists from federal, state, tribal, and private entities in Washington and Oregon working to address sea level rise. We will convene a Scientific Expert Panel to provide independent scientific advice and recommendations to guide the project throughout its lifetime...
The increasing threat of drought to the productivity of US rangelands is a socioeconomic and ecological problem that needs pragmatic solutions. The urgency of this issue has fostered partnerships between private landowners and public natural resource managers to find solutions. The use of North American beaver (Castor canadensis) to increase surface water in arid landscapes is one pre-emptive measure that is gaining interest because of the remarkable ability of beavers to impound water. In places where beaver are no longer present, some landowners and managers are installing artificial structures made of rock and wood with the intention of mimicking effects of beaver dams. Although this ecosystem engineering is...
The Integrated Scenarios (IS) of the Future Northwest Environment project resulted in several datasets describing projected changes in climate, hydrology and vegetation for the 21st century over the Northwestern US. At the conclusion of the IS project in August 2014, it was recognized that many data users would be challenged to use the IS data due to 1) the sheer size of these datasets (~ 20 Terabytes of data), 2) the specific file format (netCDF) of the IS data, and 3) the unfamiliarity of appropriate methods for analyzing climate scenarios. To address these issues, the Integrated Scenarios Tools project was funded with the aim of creating a website for the IS project focusing on providing: 1) information on and...
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Glaciers are a central component to the hydrology of many areas in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. Glacier melt plays a crucial role in the movement of nutrients through a landscape and into the ocean, and the flow of water into streams that sustain many species. As air temperatures rise, increased rates of glacier melt may have significant impacts to the hydrology and ecology in these areas. This project aims to broaden our understanding of the role of glaciers in the hydrology of Alaska and Washington state and incorporate this knowledge into two types of models that simulate past and future scenarios of water flow. The project team aims to develop a public web portal to allow users to explore content, access...
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Tribal communities’ traditions, identities, and economies rely heavily on local natural resources, making tribes especially vulnerable to climate change impacts, including changes in seasonal patterns and the potential loss of culturally and economically important species. The goal of this project was to build tribal capacity in the Pacific Northwest to successfully plan for and adapt to the effects of climate change. The funds associated with this project supported the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI) Tribal Leaders Summit on Climate Change held on March 10-11, 2015 in Portland, Oregon. The summit gathered tribal leaders to discuss climate change impacts; share tribal strategies, plans, and policies;...
    map background search result map search result map An Interagency Collaboration to Develop and Evaluate New Science-Based Strategies for Great Basin Watershed Restoration in the Future Integrated Scenarios Tools: Improving the Accessibility of the Integrated Scenarios Data Relations Among Cheatgrass, Fire, Climate, and Sensitive-Status Birds across the Great Basin The Available Science Assessment Process (ASAP) Continued: Evaluating Adaptation Actions for Sea-Level Rise and Coastal Change in the Pacific Northwest Can We Conserve Wetlands Under a Changing Climate? Mapping Wetland Hydrology in the Columbia Plateau Support for the Sixth Annual Northwest Climate Conference Support for the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians Tribal Leaders Summit on Climate Change Understanding the Impacts of Glaciers on Streamflow in Alaska and Washington Can We Conserve Wetlands Under a Changing Climate? Mapping Wetland Hydrology in the Columbia Plateau The Available Science Assessment Process (ASAP) Continued: Evaluating Adaptation Actions for Sea-Level Rise and Coastal Change in the Pacific Northwest An Interagency Collaboration to Develop and Evaluate New Science-Based Strategies for Great Basin Watershed Restoration in the Future Integrated Scenarios Tools: Improving the Accessibility of the Integrated Scenarios Data Support for the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians Tribal Leaders Summit on Climate Change Support for the Sixth Annual Northwest Climate Conference Relations Among Cheatgrass, Fire, Climate, and Sensitive-Status Birds across the Great Basin Understanding the Impacts of Glaciers on Streamflow in Alaska and Washington