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Purpose of Workshop:  To provide resources and information to natural resource scientists and managers who work to conserve Columbia River Basin ecosystems. To engage scientists and managers in developing conservation strategies that anticipate and respond to a changing climate.

Target Audience:  Resource managers, planners, program leads, scientists, information & data specialists from Federal, State and Tribal agencies, and conservation groups.

The views in these presentations are those of the authors, not the Fish and Wildlife Service

Agenda
Executive Summary

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Foundational Presentations

Climate Change and Implications for Conservation
Jeff Burgett, Ph.D., Recovery Biologist, FWS
Biography & Contact Information
Copy of the Presentation (2.22 mb)
Recommended Reading:

• IPCC Fourth Assessment Report: Working Group II Report "Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability" See especially, the Introduction, the Summary for Policymakers, the Technical Summary, and Chapters 3 and 4.
• Target Atmospheric CO2: Where Should Humanity Aim?
• Projected distributions of novel and disappearing climates by 2100 AD (1.26 mb)
• Predicting Biodiversity Change: Outside the Climate Envelope, Beyond the Species-Area Curve
• Climate Change and Moving Species: Furthering the Debate on Assisted Colonization

Climate Drivers and Climate Change in the Columbia Basin
Philip Mote, Ph.D., Research Scientist, University of Washington, Climate Impacts Group;
Washington’s State Climatologist
Biography & Contact Information
Copy of the Presentation (6.21 mb)
Recommended Reading:

• IPCC Fourth Assessment Report
• University of Washington Climate Impacts Group—Past and Future Trends in Pacific Northwest Climate
• View Dr. Philip Mote’s Publications

Species and Biodiversity Responses to Climate Change
Jean Brennan, Ph.D., Senior Climate Change Scientist, Defenders of Wildlife
Biography & Contact Information
Copy of the Presentation (3.84 mb)
Recommended Reading:

• Reducing the Impact of Global Warming on Wildlife: The Science, Management and Policy Challenges Ahead (4.44 mb)
• Defenders of Wildlife Symposium 2007. Innovations in Wildlife
  Conservation

Species Climate Sensitivity Analyses
Elizabeth Gray, Ph.D., Director of Science, The Nature Conservancy, Washington
Biography & Contact Information
Copy of the Presentation (10 mb)
Recommended Reading

• The USGS EFFECTS Project website shows some examples of the type of future climate and vegetation simulations that USGS, TNC and the University of Washington propose to use for the project:
• Projected climate-induced faunal change in the western hemisphere, Lawler et al. (in press). Ecology. This article provides examples and some discussion of climate-envelope modeling at the continental scale. (1.37 mb)
• Predicting the impacts of climate change on the distribution of species: are bioclimate envelope models useful? Pearson and Dawson, 2003, Global Ecology and Biogeography

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Columbia Basin Ecosystems Module 1: Forests and Rangeland   

Climate Change Effects on Western Forests
Dave Peterson, Ph.D., Research Biologist, USFS Pacific Northwest Research Station,
Professor, College of Forest Resources, University of Washington 
Biography & Contact Information
Copy of the Presentation (4.14 mb)
Recommended Reading:

• US Climate Change Science Program, June, 2008: Preliminary review of adaptation options for climate-sensitive ecosystems and resources.
• Climate Change and Forests of the Future: Managing in the Face of Uncertainty

Forest Adaptation Strategies and Actions
Kathy O’Halloran, Natural Resources Staff Officer, USFS Olympic National Forest
Biography & Contact Information
Copy of the Presentation (1.58 mb)
Recommended Reading

• US Climate Change Science Program, June, 2008: Preliminary review of adaptation options for climate-sensitive ecosystems and resources
• Americans and Climate Change: Closing the Gap Between Science and Action

Climate Change Effects to Rangeland Ecosystems
Nicole DeCrappeo, Soil Ecologist, USGS Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center
Biography & Contact Information
Copy of the Presentation (13.6 mb)
Recommended Reading:

• Assessing Rangelands (832 kb)
• Science for the Changing Great Basin (560 kb)
• Bryophytes and Lichens: Small but Indispensable Forest Dwellers (933 kb)
• Loss of Sagebrush Ecosystems and Declining Bird Populations in the Intermountain West: Priority Research Issues and Information Needs (702 kb)
• SAGEMAP: A Web-based Spatial Dataset for Sage Grouse and Sagebrush Steppe Management in the Intermountain West (615 kb)

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Columbia Basin Ecosystems Module 2: Aquatic Ecosystems and Hydrology

Hydrologic Implications of Climate Change for the Western U.S., Pacific Northwest and the Columbia River Basin
Alan Hamlet, Ph.D., Research Scientist, Water Resources Engineer, University of Washington, Climate Impacts Group
Biography & Contact Information
Copy of the Presentation (3.65 mb)
Recommended Reading

• University of Washington Climate Impacts Group—Past and Future Trends in Pacific Northwest Climate
• View Dr. Alan Hamlet’s Publications

Climate Impacts to Groundwater Resources and Surface Water Recharge
John Vaccaro, Hydrologist, USGS, Washington Water Science Center
Biography & Contact Information
Copy of the Presentation (11.5 mb)
Recommended Reading:

• Vaccaro, J.J., 1992, Sensitivity of groundwater recharge estimates to climate variability and change Columbia Plateau, Washington: J. Geo. Res., Vol. 97, No. D3, p. 2821-2833
• Ground-Water Recharge in the Arid and Semiarid Southwestern United States edited by Dave Stonestrom, Jim Constantz, Ty Ferre, and Stan Leake, 2008, U.S. Geological Survey, Professional Paper 1703, Various Chapters,
• Vaccaro, J.J., and Olsen T.D., 2007, Estimates of ground-water recharge to the Yakima
  River Basin Aquifer System, Washington, for predevelopment and current land-use and land-
  cover conditions: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2007-5007, 30 p.,
• Example of a Ground-Water Project

Changes in Historical Patterns of Streamflow from Unregulated Watersheds
Greg Clark, USGS, Idaho Water Science Center, Idaho
Biography & Contact Information
Copy of the Presentation  (2.95 mb)          

Climate Change and Native Species Responses in Riverine Ecosystems of the Pacific Northwest
Jason Dunham, Ph.D., Research Aquatic Ecologist, USGS Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center
Biography & Contact Information
Copy of the Presentation (3.71 mb)
Recommended Reading:

• Dr. Jason Dunham’s Publications
• Dr. Bryan Black’s Publications:  Application of dendrochonrology (tree-ring analysis) to growth increments of long-lived marine and freshwater organisms with objectives of: 1) age validation, 2) development of multidecadal growth chronologies, 3) determining the effects of climate on growth, and 4) climate reconstructions
• Dan Isaak’s Research and Publications, such as Reiman, Isaak, et al., 2007, Anticipated climate warming effects on bull trout habitats and populations across the Interior Columbia River Basin
• Bull Trout and Climate Change: Presentations at the 2008 Western Division Meeting of the American Fisheries Society. (Includes video presentations.)

Predicting effects of climate change on aquatic biota: developing a decision support system for the Yakima River Basin
Alec Maule, USGS, Western Fisheries Research Center, Washington
Biography & Contact Information
Copy of the Presentation (1.48 mb)
Recommended Reading:

• Climate Regimes and Water Temperature Changes in the Columbia River: Bioenergetic Implications for Predators of Juvenile Salmon
• Assessment of Smolt Condition: Biological and Environmental Interactions (683 kb)
• Toward Efficient Riparian Restoration: Integrating Economic, Physical, and Biological Models

Adaptation Strategies to Mitigate Climate Change Impacts to Freshwater Species and Ecosystems
Allison Aldous, Ph.D., Director of Research and Monitoring, The Nature Conservancy,
Oregon
Biography & Contact Information
Copy of the Presentation (1.35 mb)
Recommended Reading:

• Technical Paper on Climate Change and Water, IPCC, 2008 (6.35 mb)

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General Session

State and Federal Efforts to Reduce and Mitigate Carbon Emissions, and Congressional Efforts to Provide States, Federal Agencies and Tribes Funding to Adapt to Climate Change 
Michael Powelson, Director of Agency Relations, Western U.S., The Nature Conservancy
Biography & Contact Information
Copy of the Presentation
Recommended Reading:

• Western Climate Initiative   
• Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of 2008 (Search for S.3036 at Thomas)