Data & Tools

Sea-level Rise Modeling Handbook

The purpose of this guide is to describe and categorize the data, methods, models, structures, and application for hindcasting and forecasting the potential impacts of sea-level rise in coastal ecosystems. The data and models cover multiple disciplines involving different designs and scales of spatial and temporal complexity for predicting environmental change and ecosystem response. Some models can be used by non-experts, whereas others require more expert capacity to apply for any given park, refuge, or regional application. This guide is the product of SE CASC project, A Handbook for Resource Managers to Understand and Utilize Sea-Level Rise and Coastal Wetland Models.

Reserve Design Optimization Using Modern Portfolio Analysis

This data contains raw parcel-level habitat data for the South Carolina Lowcountry surrounding Cape Romain NWR and Francis Marion NF, from current current conditions and for three projected sea-level rise futures. It also includes a table of parcel identification numbers with parcel size and sub-group identity. Lastly, optimization-model derived reserve design portfolios were created to define the Pareto-optimal frontier for each sub-group and for four budget scenarios along axes of reserve design benefits and risk. This data comes from SE CASC project, Climate Change Adaptation for Coastal National Wildlife Refuges.

Puerto Rico & US Virgin Islands Dynamical Downscaled Climate Change Projections

This data represents the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model and how it was used to downscale select general circulation models (GCMs) that participated in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5). The output parameters saved were in response to the needs of physical scientists and other stakeholders within the islands, including ecologists, biologists, and hydrologists. This data comes from the SE CASC project, Modeling Future Temperature and Precipitation for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Caribbean.

Table of Regional Species of Greatest Conservation Need

The Southeast CASC assessed how states addressed current and projected climate change in their 2015 State Wildlife Action Plans. A list of “Regional Species of Greatest Conservation Need” (RSGCN) was developed to promote regional coordination for species that are priorities in multiple states. This product is the result of SE CASC project, Vital Futures: Conservation Adaptation Planning for Landscape and Climate Change in the Southeast.

OptiPres

The Optimal Preservation (OptiPres) Model, to integrates multiple considerations (including budget constraints, cultural resource vulnerabilities to climate-change effects, cultural resource conditions, heritage values, and the use potential of cultural resources) to inform planning decisions for adapting cultural resources to climate change. The strategy was pilot tested with a subset of buildings listed on the National Historic Register at Cape Lookout National Seashore, located on North Carolina’s barrier islands. This model is the result of SE CASC project, Protecting Cultural Resources in the Face of Climate Change.

CAnVAS

This tool was developed by the State Climate Office of North Carolina with support from SE CASC to provide climate insights for US Fish & Wildlife Service biologists creating species status assessments. CAnVAS offers localized information about weather parameters known to impact a selection of priority-level endangered species across the southeastern United States. This tool is the result of SE CASC project, Analysis and Visualization of Climate Information to Support USFWS Species Status Assessments.

Fire managers’ perspectives on priorities, constraints, and future prospects

This project collected and analyzed data from prescribed fire managers across the full historic range of longleaf pine in the Southeast. Results from this project will provide crucial data on prescribed fire management that will help natural resource managers make science-based decisions about management priorities and adapt to future changes. The dataset analyzed in this study, excluding information that could be used to identify individual respondents, is available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. This paper is the result of SE CASC project, Understanding Prescribed Fire Management in the Context of Climate Change and Landscape Transformation.

Estuarine Vulnerability to Water Quality Change Shiny App

This interactive web-based application aims to display the vulnerability of 112 US estuarine systems across five regions based on projected water quality change by integrating climate and land-use projections under several scenarios defined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This tool is the result of SE CASC supported research, Mapping Estuarine Vulnerability to Water Quality Change Under Future Climate and Land Use Conditions.

Ecosystem Services Mapping Datasets

This project maps current ecosystem services, potential for future changes, and opportunity areas for management actions to enhance or protect ecosystem services for the southeastern United States. Data from publicly available, national-scale sources were used wherever possible to allow the analyses to be easily adapted to other areas of the United States. This project has multiple subprojects each with robust datasets publicly available.

Using FUTURES 2.0 & 3.0 for Future Patterns of Urbanization across Southeastern US

This data release as two parts: 1) projections of future patterns of urbanization for a business-as-usual trajectory of growth across the CONUS from 2020 to 2100 (computed with FUTURES version 2.0) and 2) scenarios of future urbanization in response to sea level rise and frequent flooding across the Southeast (computed with the most advanced version FUTURES 3.0). The data releases are a product of the SE CASC project, Improving Scenarios of Future Patterns of Urbanization, Climate Adaptation, and Landscape Change in the Southeast.

Modeling Hydrologic Simulations for Past & Future Conditions across the Conterminous US

This data release contains inputs for and outputs from hydrologic simulations for the conterminous United States (CONUS) using the Precipitation Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) version 5.1.0 and the USGS National Hydrologic Model Infrastructure (NHMI). This research simulates how daily hydrological conditions at CONUS extent may change under climate scenarios and explores potential risks to hydroperiod, flooding, and rapid onset drought in our river systems. The data releases are a product of the SE CASC project, Assessment of Water Availability and Streamflow Characteristics in the Southeastern U.S. for Current and Future Climatic and Landscape Conditions.

Strategic Adaptive Strategies for the Conservation of Coqui Frogs in Puerto Rico

These two data releases help identify adaptation strategies for the conservation of the endangered Eleutherodactylus (commonly known as “coqui”) frogs. Four temperature treatments were applied to four representative species of Eleutherodactylus to study effects on metabolic rates and better understand the mechanisms behind their responses. Translocation of the species was also studied as an adaptive measure. While managed translocation has the potential to become a useful conservation tool, challenges remain before it can be considered an integral part of post-translocation monitoring. The data releases are a product of the SE CASC project, Strategic Habitat Conservation and Adaptive Strategies for the Conservation of Coqui Frogs in Puerto Rico.