fish and climate change climate change vulnerability analysis lauren wyman environmental defense...
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But First... We Need To Understand How Climate Change May Shape the Midwest’s Climate in the Coming Years: Warmer water temperatures More summer droughts More spring flooding Murkier waterTRANSCRIPT
Fish and Climate Change
Climate Change Vulnerability Analysis
Lauren WymanEnvironmental Defense FundDr. Stacy Small
What Is......the Climate Change Vulnerability Index (CCVI)?
A way to understand how climate change may impact species using life history traits and GIS data
So, what is climate change vulnerability analysis?
It is a way to understand how climate change may impact species. MAY is the operative term here because we do not know exactly how climate change will unfold over the course of the next hundred or so years. So factoring in uncertainty is a must.
So, how were the fish placed into each category? I thought that it would be a good idea to go through an example rather than trying to explain it myself.
But First...
We Need To Understand How Climate Change May Shape the Midwest’s Climate in the
Coming Years:
Warmer water temperaturesMore summer droughts
More spring floodingMurkier water
So, how will fish fare in response to these changes?
Let’s take an example.
LAKE STURGEON
-Dispersal ability-Thermal Niche-Hydrological Niche-Tolerance to turbidity-Dependence on geological features-Dietary versatility-Genetic variation
-How will hydrology change?-How will thermal habitats change?
Moderately vulnerable
Evaluation Criteria:
Dispersal AbilityThermal Niche
Hydrological NicheTolerance to
TurbidityDietary Versatility
Barriers:Dams in rangeDispersal:
Long distance migrantThermal Niche:
Cool waterTurbidity Tolerance:
Need Clear Water
Final Results
Patterns• EV: species specialists. Cold water
fish, spawn in shallow water, intolerant to turbidity
• HV: cool/cold water fish, spawn in shallow habitats
• MV: cool water fish, spawn in shallow habitats, better dispersal
• PS: tolerant to turbidity and warm water
• IL: species generalists. Thrive in turbidity, thrive in warm water, great dispersal. Many invasive species
Importance
• Climate change vulnerability analyses allows us to target species that may have difficulty in the coming years and do something about them before it’s too late.
• I attended a conference on CCVI and Leon Hizer, of the Illinois Natural History Survey, asked me for my results to include in the State Wildlife Action Plan. So my results will basically be shaping the state of conservation in Illinois.
To conserve an ecosystem we must first know what to
conserve
Special Thanks To...
Dr. Stacy Small-Lorenz
Lorin Romeo-Romay
Stacey Christiansen
PEI Team
The Environmental Defense Fund. All of it.