Managing fish and wildlife habitat in the face of climate change: USDA Forest Service perspective

Abstract

The spatial and temporal scope of environmental change anticipated during the next century as a result of climate change presents unprecedented challenges for fish and wildlife management. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report (IPCC 2007) suggested impacts from climate change on natural systems will be more grave than earlier projections. Recent reports on emissions, glacial melting, and sea level rise (Kintisch 2009) intimate that even the 2007 IPCC report is conservative in its assessment. The challenges posed by climate change cut across all aspects of land and resource management - difficult decisions will need to be made in the areas of agency policy, scientific research, and prioritization of resource management actions.

Citation

Hayward, Gregory D.; Flather, Curtis H.; Uloth, Erin; Safford, Hugh D.; Cleaves, David A. 2009. Managing fish and wildlife habitat in the face of climate change: USDA Forest Service perspective. In: Transactions of the 74th North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference; March 16-20, 2009; Arlington, VA. Washington, D.C.: Wildlife Management Institute. p. 98-109.