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Project Completed: Northeast Climate-Vulnerable Habitats and Species

Monday, March 25, 2019
Photo Credit: Steve Faccio

NE CASC project Increasing the resilience and resistance of climate-vulnerable northeastern species and ecosystems led by Toni Lyn Morelli and Keith Nislow has released the Final Report for Phase I of the project.

For this project, the US Forest Service (USFS) and Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center (NE CASC) came together to focus research and management cooperation on the topic of the impacts of climate change on forested ecosystems. This work had 3 primary components: 1) modeling headwater stream refugia; 2) investigating resilience and resistance strategies for New England forests; and 3) studying the impact of climate change on forest mammal communities. USFS and NE CASC organizations have complimentary expertise to share in order to improve natural resource management in the critical montane and headwater habitats in the region, and worked together to use this expertise in advancing science and science support for natural resource adaptation to a changing climate.

The research in the project's work resulted in:

1) Increased understanding of the direct, indirect, and interactive responses of at-risk coldwater, montane and northern species to a changing climate

2) The development of approaches and strategies for adaptation, including identification of potential climate refugia

3) Interactive platforms for data, models and forecasts to communicate these and related results to the conservation and management community
 

View the project page>>

Read the Final Report>>