Pioneer Mountains - Craters of the Moon Climate Change Adaptation Workshop Report

Withey, John; Michalak, Julia; Lawler, Joshua; Case, Michael

This report summarizes the results from a climate change adaptation workshop focused on the Pioneer Mountains – Craters of the Moon landscape in south-central Idaho. The objective of the workshop was to collaborate with landscape managers to apply results from the Pacific Northwest climate change vulnerability assessment (PNWCCVA) to on-the-ground ecological management objectives. Specifically, we sought to address the following questions: 1) How can model results and datasets be applied to assist with management decisions? 2) How can model results and datasets be made more useful for informing species and landscape management? To this end, we presented information and data developed as part of the PNWCCVA to workshop participants and received feedback on model results and climate projections. As recommended by the Adaptation for Conservation Targets (ACT) framework (Cross et al., 2012), we worked with participants to develop conceptual models of priority management objectives. These conceptual models helped clarify how climate change may impact those objectives, where more knowledge and data were needed, and what types of management actions could be implemented. We have also included a general approach for applying the results of the Vulnerability Assessment to climate adaptation planning, with specific examples drawn from the Pioneers-Craters workshop. We present a broadly applicable climate vulnerability assessment checklist, and then provide a case study of evaluating climate projections with management of a single species (whitebark pine, Pinus albicaulis) in mind. In the appendices, we provide further guidance and resources for managers to develop their own adaptation plans including: availability of PNWCCVA data products with a description of their strengths and weaknesses for management planning, lists of relevant climate adaptation papers, reports, and online resources, guidance related to selecting climate scenarios, and updated tables and maps of the PNWCCVA products for the Pioneers-Craters landscape. The findings from this report should be viewed as an initial exploration of coarse-scale climate impacts on the Pioneers-Craters landscape, and not an explicit prediction of future climate.

Pioneer Mountains - Craters of the Moon Climate Change Adaptation Workshop Report

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