Climate Change Adaptation for the US National Wildlife Refuge System |
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Authors: | Brad Griffith J Michael Scott Robert Adamcik Daniel Ashe Brian Czech Robert Fischman Patrick Gonzalez Joshua Lawler A David McGuire Anna Pidgorna |
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Institution: | (1) USGS - Alaska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 209 Irving I Building, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA;(2) USGS - Idaho Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, USA;(3) US Fish and Wildlife Service, Arlington, VA, USA;(4) US Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, DC, USA;(5) Maurer School of Law, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA;(6) Center for Forestry, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA;(7) College of Forest Resources, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA;(8) College of Natural Resources, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, USA |
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Abstract: | Since its establishment in 1903, the National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) has grown to 635 units and 37 Wetland Management
Districts in the United States and its territories. These units provide the seasonal habitats necessary for migratory waterfowl
and other species to complete their annual life cycles. Habitat conversion and fragmentation, invasive species, pollution,
and competition for water have stressed refuges for decades, but the interaction of climate change with these stressors presents
the most recent, pervasive, and complex conservation challenge to the NWRS. Geographic isolation and small unit size compound
the challenges of climate change, but a combined emphasis on species that refuges were established to conserve and on maintaining
biological integrity, diversity, and environmental health provides the NWRS with substantial latitude to respond. Individual
symptoms of climate change can be addressed at the refuge level, but the strategic response requires system-wide planning.
A dynamic vision of the NWRS in a changing climate, an explicit national strategic plan to implement that vision, and an assessment
of representation, redundancy, size, and total number of units in relation to conservation targets are the first steps toward
adaptation. This adaptation must begin immediately and be built on more closely integrated research and management. Rigorous
projections of possible futures are required to facilitate adaptation to change. Furthermore, the effective conservation footprint
of the NWRS must be increased through land acquisition, creative partnerships, and educational programs in order for the NWRS
to meet its legal mandate to maintain the biological integrity, diversity, and environmental health of the system and the
species and ecosystems that it supports. |
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