Enhanced monitoring to better address rapid climate change in southwest desert parks: a multi-network strategy

Bingham, Bruce; Gallo, Kristen; Hubbard, Andy; Latham, Penny; Tallent-Halsell, Nita

In fiscal year (FY) 2010, three Inventory and Monitoring (I&M) Program, National Park Service desert networks, Sonoran Desert Network, Chihuahuan Desert Network and Southern Plains Network, with the input of federal partners and scientists from academic institutions, began reviewing their existing monitoring plans and partnerships in order to meet the goals of the Climate Change Response Strategy and Secretarial Order 3289. The desert I&M networks developed this document, with input from federal and non-federal partners, to describe their process for identifying critical monitoring needs and enhancing each park’s understanding of the effects of climate change. The process included identifying existing monitoring in need of enhancement, as well as new monitoring, to improve understanding of the effects of climate change on parks. The document describes the strategy for enhanced monitoring of ecological response to climate change in parks of the three desert networks. The strategy to enhance existing monitoring in the three desert networks includes: 1) increasing frequency and spatial extent of monitoring of desert springs in 20 parks; 2) expanding uplands vegetation monitoring along ecotonal and altitudinal gradients in 4 parks; 3) completing and implementing a protocol for consistent reporting of weather and climate data for 24 parks across the three networks; 4) strengthening and expanding current partnerships with the USFWS I&M program and others to efficiently monitor climate-change metrics in a consistent manner; 5) looking for opportunities and funding to further develop and apply key monitoring products (e.g., NPScape, broad-scale phenology monitoring, and the Integrated Resource Management Application) to support collaborative climate-change monitoring across land-management boundaries; 6) contributing data, reports, synthesis documents, and expertise to the broader Desert LCC effort so as to better understand and respond to the consequences of climate change on regional scales; and 7) increasing awareness (and access) within the Desert LCC of monitoring protocols, data, reports, and other products useful to our monitoring partners for landscape-scale conservation and management of natural resources.

Enhanced monitoring to better address rapid climate change in southwest desert parks: a multi-network strategy

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