If carbon dioxide levels and temperatures continue to rise, the consequences for climate connectivity may be dire. Connecting natural land patches improves climate connectivity, giving species sportiness to migrate as systems shift. Several strategies have been proposed to help species reach the climate zones where they will be able to survive.
Species benefit most when we connect low-lying areas in the foothills or along coastal regions to cooler mountains or inland regions.
Cascades frogs are declining in the southern parts of their range. Researchers think dehydration and a warming climate may be part of the problem for amphibians and emphasize the need for connected landscapes to support species needs.
The National Wildlife Federation’s Climate-Smart Conservation: Putting Adaptation Principles into Practice looks at how climate change already is affecting the nation’s wildlife and habitats, and addresses how natural resource managers will need to prepare for and adapt to these unprecedented changes.
The warmer air and ocean surface temperatures brought on by climate change impact corals and alter coral reef communities by prompting coral bleaching events and altering ocean chemistry. These impacts affect corals and the many organisms that use coral reefs as habitat. Reef degradation also reduces the ability of these systems to respond to change and mitigate storm surge events – a valuable ecosystem service.
Habitat Priority Planner (HPP) is a geographic information system (GIS) tool for identifying and prioritizing areas for conservation, restoration and land use planning. The tool can be used in conjunction with climate change data to assess potential impacts on fragmentation/connectivity and prioritize areas for conservation based on those impacts.