Project Information

Principal Investigator(s):
Damian Shea, North Carolina State University
Fred Johnson, Research Wildlife Biologist, Southeast Ecological Science Center, USGS
Mitch Eaton, Research Ecologist, SE Climate Adaptation Science Center
Project Timeline: September 2014. Phase I has now been completed. Phase II is known as Climate Change Adaptation for Coastal National Wildlife Refuges.
Implements Science Theme: 
2: Land use and land cover change projections
4: Ecological research and modeling
5: Impacts of climate change on coastal and nearshore marine environments

Key Points

• Focused on both maximizing efficiency of current operations in addition to looking at future changes to implement
• Facilitated communication between project team and coastal NWRs by holding a workshop
• Balanced pros and cons of short- and long-term decisions

Overview

Human development drastically changes coastal ecosystems in the eastern US. Wetlands are drained, and hydrology is changing. Land is cleared for agriculture, forestry, and building structures that “harden” the coast. Sea-level rise and increased frequency of extreme weather are now further harming coastal ecosystems. Coastal National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs) maintain critical ecological goods and services. They have important roles to play in helping systems adapt to global change. 

This project helped refuges address this challenge. We focused on the efficient use of limited staff time and budgets. The goal is to manage existing programs under the current refuge design. We then focused on how refuges might need to change their resources to adapt to global change. Long term, refuge managers need to decide when and where to acquire or protect new land and habitat. These additions would support the existing refuge to maintain the refuge’s values over time. 

By looking at both current operations and potential changes needed in the future, we saw the importance of tradeoffs. We made a prototype decision structure at a June 2014 workshop at the National Conservation Training Center (NCTC). This looked at the tradeoffs inherent in making short and long-term adaptation decisions. The prototype shows a balance between decisions the refuge can make itself, and decisions made at higher levels. High level decisions may include reconfiguration of the refuge, which may be needed for the long-term persistence of the refuge.