Warm-Season Rainfall in the Northern Great Plains
The Northern Great Plains (NGP), spanning Montana, Wyoming, the Dakotas, and Nebraska, is more than just America’s agricultural heartland. This vast region produces two-thirds of U.S. wheat and over half its beef, while its unique "pothole" wetlands support 50% of North America’s waterfowl.
Fighting Fire with Fire
As another fire season begins across the western U.S., one of the most effective tools for reducing catastrophic wildfire remains underused: controlled burns. When executed correctly, they can prevent a smoldering forest floor from becoming a catastrophic inferno.
Ecological Scenarios for Climate-Smart Management in the American West
Rising temperatures, shifting precipitation patterns, and intensifying wildfires are altering the ecological dynamics of forests, grasslands, and rangelands. How do you prepare for a future that’s not only novel but also one that cannot be accurately predicted?
Congratulations, Dr. Prasad Thota!
Prasad Thota, a Research Assistant in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering (CEAE) at the University of Colorado (CU) Boulder, successfully defended his PhD on Friday, May 30. Congratulations!
Upcoming Webinar: Thursday, June 12, 2025, on Ecological Scenarios
The next NC CASC webinar will be given by Dr. Kyra Clark-Wolf, titled "Ecological Scenarios: Embracing Ecological Uncertainty for Climate Change Adaptation."
CIRES Rendezvous 2025
The Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) hosted its 20th annual Rendezvous symposium on Thursday, May 15, 2025, at the University Memorial Center in Boulder, Colorado.
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In a rapidly changing environment, natural resource managers must determine how to steward ecosystems that are changing, often in unfamiliar and uncertain ways. Scenarios, or plausible characterizations of the future, can help natural resource stewards recognize signs of nascent ecological transformation and identify opportunities to intervene. Building on current methods that incorporate uncertainties in future climate to develop scenarios for climate change adaptation, our work informs how scenarios can better represent uncertainties in how ecological changes may unfold in response to climate and describe divergent and surprising ecological outcomes. In this webinar, we present results from a working group process that identified principles and approaches for more fully integrating ecological uncertainties in scenario development. We provide examples of how qualitative and quantitative methods can be used to explore variation in ecological responses to a given climate future, drawing on preliminary results from an ongoing case study focused on the Nebraska Sandhills. We further highlight the need for accessible ecological projections and tools that can help practitioners assess and incorporate uncertainty in future ecosystem change to support climate change adaptation.
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