Special Issue in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment focuses on climate change impacts on ecological systems

A national assessment of the impacts of climate change on biodiversity, ecosystems, and ecosystem services will be the focus of an open-access Special Issue of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment to be released in November, 2013 (Volume 11, Issue 9). The series of six articles was prepared by a workgroup of over 60 expertsfrom government agencies, academia, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector as part of a contribution to the 2014 US National Climate Assessment (due out early next year). The key findings summarize the current state of knowledge of climate impacts on ecological systems, and are meant to guide strategies to resolve risk and uncertainty in natural resource management. The authors also discuss how climate change interacts with other anthropogenic stressors such as land use change, exploitation (e.g. fishing pressure), and invasive species, as well as provide an overview of the emerging field of climate change adaptation, which focuses on approaches to prepare for, cope with, and respond to the impacts of current and future climate change.

Michelle Staudinger (Science Coordinator, DOI Northeast Climate Science Center) was part of the steering committee for the Special Issue and contributed to “Climate-change impacts on ecological systems: introduction to a US assessment”, and was lead author on the article “Biodiversity in a changing climate: a synthesis of current and projected trends in the United States”.

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The Special Issue consists of 6 articles:

1) Climate-Change Impacts on Ecological Systems: Introduction to a US Assessment.  Authors: Nancy B Grimm, Michelle D Staudinger, Amanda Staudt, Shawn Carter, F Stuart Chapin III, Peter Kareiva, Mary Ruckelshaus, Bruce A Stein

2) Biodiversity in a changing climate: a synthesis of current and projected trends in the United States.  Authors: Michelle D. Staudinger, Shawn L. Carter, Molly S. Cross, Natalie S. Dubois, J. Emmett Duffy, Carolyn Enquist, Roger Griffis, Jessica J. Hellmann, Joshua J. Lawler, John O’Leary, Scott A. Morrison, Lesley Sneddon, Bruce A. Stein, Laura M. Thompson, and Woody Turner

3) The Impacts of Climate Change on Ecosystem Structure and Function.  Authors: Nancy B Grimm, F Stuart Chapin III, Britta Bierwagen, Patrick Gonzalez, Peter M. Groffman, Yiqi Luo, Forrest Melton, Knute Nadelhoffer, Amber Pairis, Peter A. Raymond, Josh Schimel, and Craig E. Williamson.

4) Climate change’s impact on key ecosystem services and the human well-being they support in the United States.  Authors: Erik Nelson, Peter Kareiva, Mary Ruckelshaus, Katie Arkema, Gary Geller, Evan Girvetz, Dave Goodrich, Virginia Matzek, Malin Pinsky, Walt Reid, Martin Saunders, Darius Semmens and Heather Tallis.

5) The Added Complications of Climate Change: Understanding and Managing Biodiversity, Ecosystems, and Ecosystem Services under Multiple Stressors.  Authors: Amanda Staudt, Allison K. Leidner, Jennifer Howard, Kate A. Brauman, Jeffrey S. Dukes, Lara Hansen, Craig Paukert, John Sabo, Luis A. Solórzano

6) Preparing for and Managing Change: Climate Adaptation for Biodiversity and Ecosystems  Authors: Bruce A. Stein, Amanda Staudt, Molly S. Cross, Natalie S. Dubois, Carolyn Enquist , Roger Griffis, Lara J. Hansen, Jessica J. Hellmann, Joshua J. Lawler, Erik J. Nelson , Amber Pairis