The Prairie Climate Companion: Invasive Species

In grassland ecosystems, herbaceous invasive species decrease native species diversity, reduce forage quality and quantity for animals, alter habitat structure, and affect nutrient cycling and availability. Check out the next issue of The Prairie Climate Companion to learn more.

New Publication on Scenario-Based Decisions

Congratulations to USGS research ecologist, Dr. Brian Miller, on a new publication titled, "Scenario-Based Decision Analysis: Integrated scenario planning and structured decision making for resource management." The publication includes members of the NC CASC: Dr. Imtiaz Rangwala, Dr. William Travis, as well as other partners.

USGS Announces New Leaders for Five Regional Climate Adaptation Science Centers

Yesterday, the US Geological Survey published a national news release announcing five new Regional Administrators (formerly known as “directors”) for the Climate Adaptation Science Centers (CASCs). The new Regional Administrators are: Olivia LeDee at the Midwest CASC, Molly Cross at the North Central CASC, Carrie Brown-Lima at the Northeast CASC, Suzanne Von Cooten at the South Central CASC, and Stephanie McAfee at the Southwest CASC.

Welcome, Dr. Molly Cross!

We are pleased to welcome Molly Cross as the new North Central CASC Regional Administrator (the position formerly known as “Center Director”)! Molly officially started in her new role yesterday, September 25th. Molly joins the CASC network from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), where she served as the Climate Adaptation and Resilience Lead for their Global Forests and Climate Change Program.

Next Webinar: October 12, 2023

Biogeography entwines the studies of demography, disturbances, dispersal, and in light of changing climate – disequilibrium dynamics. Hear more from NC CASC/USGS biologist, Dr. Meagan Oldfather, during her October 12 webinar titled, "Climate Responses and Adaptation in Heterogeneous Landscapes."

NC CASC Scientists Awarded NPS Grasslands Resilience Project

NC CASC scientists (Rangwala, Miller Hesed, and Clark-Wolf) have been awarded a project titled "Grassland Resilience in the Northern Great Plains under Climate Change" by the National Park Service to inform and improve adaptive management practices associated with conserving the prairie in the northern Great Plains region.

When

Biogeography entwines the studies of demography, disturbances, dispersal, and in light of changing climate – disequilibrium dynamics. All of these ecological and evolutionary processes interact to shape the stability of species current and future distributions, and – as I will focus on in this talk – may be influenced by landscape heterogeneity. Using examples from a range of systems in the Western United States, including Mediterranean oak savannas, alpine tundra, and the high elevation desert, I will discuss the ways in which topographic gradients mediate population and community dynamics of plants under changing environmental conditions. For example, microclimatic gradients drive variation in demographic rates that result in multiple pathways to demographic stability across a species current range, but also may lead to multiple pathways of vulnerability to changing climate. Finally, I will discuss work synthesizing the knowledge gaps in climate adaptation in mountain landscapes – from the difficulty of defining a refugia to the challenges of managing systems with high climate variability and biological lags.

The Rapid Climate Assessment Program

In a world of rapid climate change, there’s a need for rapid assessment of these changes. The NC CASC’s Rapid Climate Assessment Program (RCAP) was started in the summer of 2023 to create a series of scientific syntheses referred to as Rapid Climate Assessments that can be used as a baseline for further research and a foundation for future stakeholder engagement, with possible longer-term or more in-depth projects.
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