North Atlantic Projects
Climate Change Vulnerability Index for Northeast species
NatureServe and Heritage Program collaborators have developed a Climate Change Vulnerability Index (CCVI) to provide a rapid, scientifically defensible assessment of species' vulnerability to climate change. The CCVI integrates information about exposure to altered climates and species-specific sensitivity factors known to be associated with vulnerability to climate change. This project applied the CCVI to 64 species selected in collaboration with state wildlife staff and other experts.
Vulnerabilities to Climate Change of Northeast Fish and Wildlife Habitats, Phase II
This project completed three assessments of the vulnerability of terrestrial, aquatic, and coastal habitats (ecosystems) to climate change, including sea level rise. One assessment evaluated 13 terrestrial and wetland habitat types, the second evaluated cold water stream habitats, and the third evaluated coastal habitats. A database of coastal climate change projects and tools was also developed.
Revisions to the Northeastern Aquatic Habitat Classification
This project updated the 2008 Northeastern Aquatic Habitat Classification (NAHCS) prepared by The Nature Conservancy and the Northeast Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (NEAFWA). The updates added a tidal component to the classification of streams and rivers and a mapped classification of lakes; the lake classification was revised in 2015.
Restoring Aquatic Connectivity and Increasing Flood Resilience
This project brings together the major partners involved in road-stream crossings to assess river and stream continuity and set priorities for restoring connectivity, and reducing flood damage to road crossings, within the North Atlantic region.
Extending the Northeast Aquatic Habitat Map to Canada
This project contributed to the development of a comprehensive aquatic habitat map for the entire extent of the North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative (NALCC) region by extending the Northeast Aquatic Habitat Map to Canada and southern Quebec.
Designing Sustainable Landscapes
This project highlights the potential for collaboration and coordination among conservation practitioners and research scientists to plan for the future. A team of UMass scientists has developed a landscape change, assessment and design model to assess ecosystems and their capacity to sustain populations of wildlife in the northeastern U.S. in the face of urban growth, climate change, and other stressors. The project plays a major role in developing the science and data for two collaborative landscape planning and design efforts: 1) Connect the Connecticut, the pilot Landscape Conservation Design for the Connecticut River Watershed, and 2) Nature's Network, which expands and elaborates on the data to extend to throughout New England and the Mid-Atlantic. Using the best available science and information, participating partners are developing tools and strategies for conserving a connected network of lands and waters to sustain natural resources and communities within the watershed.
Designing Sustainable Landscapes, Phase 1
The purpose of this project was to assess the capability of current and potential future landscapes to provide integral ecosystems and suitable habitat for a suite of representative species, and provide guidance for strategic habitat conservation. Part of the project included a comparison and evaluation of a representative (focal) species approach against a coarse filter (ecosystem-based) approach to biodiversity conservation to assess what set of complementary approaches are most effective. This was an 18-month first phase that focused on three pilot watersheds and initial model development.
Forecasting Changes in Aquatic Systems and Resilience of Brook Trout
The objective of this project was to develop tools to assist managers in protecting and restoring streams for brook trout and other aquatic resources in the face of threats such as climate change and development. Deliverables from this project included models of stream temperature, stream flow, and brook trout occurrence for headwaters of the Northeast, including projections of the potential effects of climate change. The investigators worked closely with decision-makers such as state water resource agencies to ensure the tools are useful.
Application of the Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standards (CMECS) to the Northeast
This project integrated NOAA and NatureServe's Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS) and the Nature Conservancy and NatureServe's Northeast Regional Habitat Classification System (NRHCS) in order to extend the latter system to estuarine and marine environments from Maine to Virginia. State, academic, and non-profit partners collaborated to identify and cross-walk existing state marine classification systems. The project examined the scalability of this classification by conducting pilot mapping projects at three different scales relevant to planning and conservation efforts.
North Atlantic LCC Demonstration Project: Climate Adaptation in Appalachian Forests
The goal of the project was to help more efficiently achieve a resilient Appalachian forest landscape within the NALCC geography that would be built upon a broadly shared vision for a sustainable, connected mosaic of forest habitats and waters that are home to thriving intact ecosystems and human communities. This project was intended to identify and showcase efforts that, in the light of advances in climate adaptation, best contribute to effective landscape conservation actions in the region.
North Atlantic LCC Demonstration Project: Marsh Migration
Coastal marshes serve a variety of important functions including flood control, spawning/rearing areas for marine life, and critical habitat for many bird species of conservation concern. The focus of this project was to facilitate local actions in Maine to accommodate the needs of coastal marshes to migrate landward in response to rising sea levels.
North Atlantic LCC Demonstration Project: White Mountains to Moosehead Lake Initiative
The purpose of this demonstration project was to show how North Atlantic LCC science products can be used to inform conservation for a Northeast habitat and resilience "hotspot." The Trust for Public Land will integrate LCC and other science products into a clearinghouse and analysis tool for parcel-level conservation planning in the 2.7 million acre White Mountains to Moosehead Lake region of Maine and New Hampshire.
Designing Sustainable Landscapes, Phase 2
This project is assessing the capability of habitats to sustain populations of wildlife in the Northeastern U.S. in the face of urban growth, changing climate, and other disturbances. Building on Phase 1, this project expands the geographic scope from three pilot watersheds to the 13 state Northeast region and considers additional wildlife species.
Decision Support Tool to Assess Aquatic Habitats and Threats in North Atlantic Watersheds and Estuaries
Through a stakeholder-driven process, the project team developed a multi-criteria decision support tool to allow resource managers to visualize and manipulate information on aquatic habitats and threats to prioritize areas for conservation action.
Virginia Piedmont and Coastal Plain Updates to Northeast Habitat Map
This project updated the Northeast Terrestrial Habitat Map by remapping the Virginia coastal plain and piedmont. (The previous version adopted the Southeast GAP map for these regions.) This resulted in a map that is fully consistent across the 13 state Northeast region (Maine to Virginia and West Virginia).
Extending the Northeast Terrestrial Habitat Map to Atlantic Canada
This project developed a comprehensive terrestrial habitat map for the entire extent of the North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative (NALCC) region by extending the Northeast Terrestrial Habitat Map to Atlantic Canada and southern Quebec. The completed version was released on September 10, 2015.
Standardization of Terrestrial and Wetland Habitat Classification and Mapping
This project, sponsored by the Northeast Climate Science Center, facilitated coordination among the scientific community to assess existing habitat classification and mapping products within the Northeastern and Midwest United States.
Marine Bird Mapping and Assessment
This project developed a series of maps depicting the distribution and probability of occurrence of marine birds in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean. The maps are intended to be used for informing decisions about siting offshore facilities; marine spatial planning; and other uses requiring maps of seabird distributions.
Identifying Important Migratory Landbird Stopover Sites in the Northeast
Dozens of species of landbirds, such as warblers, hummingbirds, and orioles, migrate through the Northeastern United States from their summer breeding grounds in the U.S. and Canada to their nonbreeding grounds as far south as South America. During the migration period, birds must find habitat where they can stop, rest and replenish their energy reserves. Conservation efforts are increasingly focused on identifying stopover sites that are important for sustaining migratory landbird populations. This project built upon prior work by the University of Delaware and USGS to use weather surveillance data and field surveys to map and predict important migratory bird stopover sites.
Permeable Landscapes for Wildlife in the Northeast
Landscape permeability, also referred to as "habitat connectivity," is the ability of a land area to allow animals to move and disperse. This project evaluated and mapped landscape permeability across the eastern United States and southeastern Canada.
Piping Plovers and Sea-level Rise
This collaborative project provided biologists and managers along the Atlantic coast with tools to predict effects of accelerating sea-level rise on the distribution of piping plover breeding habitat, test those predictions, and feed results back into the modeling framework to improve predictive capabilities. Immediate model results will be used to inform a coast-wide assessment of threats from sea-level rise and related habitat conservation recommendations that can be implemented by land managers and inform recommendations to regulators. Case studies incorporating resilience of piping plover habitat into management plans for specific locations demonstrate potential applications.
Priority Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Areas (PARCAs)
Amphibians and reptiles are experiencing threats throughout North America due to habitat loss and other factors. To help conserve these species, this project will identify Priority Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Areas (PARCAs) that are most vital in sustaining amphibian and reptile populations, taking into account potential future climatic conditions.
Coastal Update to the National Wetlands Inventory
This project completed a rapid update for wetland mapping in 162 coastal areas (1:24,000 topographic quadrangles in ME, MD, MA, NJ, NY, PA, and VA) that were last updated prior to 2000. The updates, which were incorporated into the National Wetland Inventory, have many applications in conservation analysis and coastal planning, including the Designing Sustainable Landscapes project (also funded by the North Atlantic LCC).
Prioritization and Conservation Status of Rare Plants in the North Atlantic
This project created a prioritized list of rare plant species for conservation actions, with a comprehensive analysis of rarity, threats, trends, legal protection, inclusion in State Wildlife Action Plan revisions, conservation status, habitat, and climate change.
River Corridor Assessment for the North Atlantic Region
An urgent need exists to uniformly assess river corridors, including floodplains, and to prioritize areas for protection across the North Atlantic landscape. This project will develop a river corridor assessment method and conservation prioritization toolkit. The tools will be tested through three pilot projects across different topographies before being expanded to additional river corridors across the region.
Development of a Rapid Assessment Protocol for Aquatic Passability of Tidally Influenced Road-Stream Crossings
There is growing interest among conservation practitioners to have a method to assess tidally influenced crossings for their potential as barriers to aquatic organism passage. Protocols designed for freshwater streams will not adequately address the passage challenges of bi-directional flow and widely variable depth and velocity of tidally influenced systems. Diadromous and coastal fish must be able to overcome the enhanced water velocities associated with tidal restrictions to reach upstream spawning habitat. This project will build on the existing North Atlantic Aquatic Connectivity Collaborative's protocol, database and scoring procedures to extend the applicability of this region-wide program to road-stream crossings in tidally influenced settings.
Vernal Pool Mapping and Conservation
Vernal pools are small, temporary bodies of water that can serve as critical habitat for frogs, salamanders, reptiles, invertebrates, and other species. This project compiled a comprehensive GIS dataset of known and potential vernal pool locations in the North Atlantic region, reviewing vernal pool mapping approaches, and demonstrating a remote sensing method to identify potential vernal pool sites.
Terrestrial Wildlife Habitat Models
The project developed habitat capability models for representative wildlife species. It was part of a project led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst to enhance the capacity of partners to assess and design sustainable landscape conservation in the Northeast. These models (as subsequently expanded and enhanced by UMass) have been incorporated into two North Atlantic LCC-sponsored projects, "Connect the Connecticut" and "Nature's Network."
