The State of Climate Adaptation Science for Ecosystems in the Northwest U.S.

Abstract

This report is customized by selecting topics, ecosystems, and ecoregions of interest from The State of Climate Adaptation Science for Ecosystems in the Northwest U.S. website. Report options consist of Four topic areas (1) Climate Projections, (2) Hydrologic Change, (3) Climate Effects on Ecosystems, and (4) Climate Adaptation. For topic areas one to three, report sections (12-14 pages) synthesize the latest science on the impacts of climate change in the Northwest in an easy to access format. To the extent possible, the synthesis is based on the most recent climate model projections and peer-reviewed articles from the last 10 years. Climate Effects on Ecosystems are summarized for four ecosystem types: (1) Forest, (2) Aquatic, (3) Shrublands/Grasslands, and (4) Coastal/Marine. Climate Adaptation for Ecosystems consist of 4-5 page summaries in a fact sheet format for each of the four ecosystem types. Summaries include descriptions of select adaptation actions, why they work based on ecological theory and practice, and key scientific sources for the action. Regionally-relevant case studies are also described. Ecoregion factsheets summarize climate projections, hydrologic change and ecosystem effects specific to 16 modified Omernik Level III ecoregions in the Northwest. Climate and hydrologic projections are available for all 16 ecoregions. Ecosystem effects are available only if an ecosystem is relevant to an ecoregion: 10 for forests and 2 for coastal/marine. Ecoregions were combined into larger areas over which ecosystem effects are expected to be relatively consistent for aquatic (5) and shrubland/grassland (3) ecosystems. Additional data resources and references are available from the website and can be filtered by topic area, ecosystem, and climate change stressors.