Jon Hoekstra's Must-Read Papers on Climate Change Adaptation

 

• Biodiversity management in the face of climate change: A review of 22 years of recommendations

 

Heller, N.E. & Zavaleta, E.S. (2009). Biodiversity management in the face of climate change: A review of 22 years of recommendations. Biological Conservation 142,14-32. 

Click to view thearticle available onlineor todownload as a PDFat Science Direct <http://www.sciencedirect.com/> .

 

[Jon H:  THE adaptation paper at present.]

Abstract: Climate change creates new challenges for biodiversity conservation. Species ranges and ecological dynamics are already responding to recent climate shifts, and current reserves will not continue to support all species they were designed to protect. These problems are exacerbated by other global changes. Scholarly articles recommending measures to adapt conservation to climate change have proliferated over the last 22 years. We systematically reviewed this literature to explore what potential solutions it has identified and what consensus and direction it provides to cope with climate change. Several consistent recommendations emerge for action at diverse spatial scales, requiring leadership by diverse actors. Broadly, adaptation requires improved regional institutional coordination, expanded spatial and temporal perspective, incorporation of climate change scenarios into all planning and action, and greater effort to address multiple threats and global change drivers simultaneously in ways that are responsive to and inclusive of human communities. However, in the case of many recommendations the how, by whom, and under what conditions they can be implemented is not specified. We synthesize recommendations with respect to three likely conservation pathways: regional planning; site-scale management; and modification of existing conservation plans. We identify major gaps, including the need for (1) more specific, operational examples of adaptation principles that are consistent with unavoidable uncertainty about the future; (2) a practical adaptation planning process to guide selection and integration of recommendations into existing policies and programs; and (3) greater integration of social science into an endeavor that, although dominated by ecology, increasingly recommends extension beyond reserves and into human-occupied landscapes.

Keywords: Conservation; Adaptation; Reserve planning; Landscape connectivity; Resilience; Global warming

 

 

• Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States

 

Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States, Thomas R. Karl, Jerry M. Melillo, and Thomas C. Peterson,(eds.). Cambridge University Press, 2009.

[Jon H:  This is a very well written report.  Even though it is US-focused, the overview of climate change and the well-organized, plain-spoken explanations of how changes will affect different regions and sectors of society should still be valuable background even for international projects.   If only there were a global report that was as accessible, thorough and clear.]
 
Click to download the PDF <http://downloads.globalchange.gov/usimpacts/pdfs/climate-impacts-report.pdf>  available at US Global Change Research Program <http://www.globalchange.gov/publications/reports/scientific-assessments/us-impacts> .

Abstract: This report summarizes the science of climate change and the impacts of climate change on the United States, now and in the future. It is largely based on results of the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP),a and integrates those results with related research from around the world. This report discusses climate-related impacts for various societal and environmental sectors and regions across the nation. It is an authoritative scientific report written in plain language, with the goal of better informing public and private decision making at all levels.

 

 

• Preliminary review of adaptation options for climate-sensitive ecosystems and resources: Final Report, Sysnthesis and Assessment Product 4.4.

 

Kareiva, P., Enquist, C., Johnson, A., Julius, S. H., Lawler, J., Petersen, B., et al. (2009). Sythesis and Conclusions, Chapter 9 . In Preliminary review of adaptation options for climate-sensitive ecosystems and resources: Final Report, Sysnthesis and Assessment Product 4.4.

Click to view chapter available online <http://downloads.climatescience.gov/sap/sap4-4/sap4-4-final-report-Ch9-Synthesis.pdf>  at US Climate Change Science Program <http://www.climatescience.gov/Library/sap/sap4-4/final-report/> .

[Jon H:  Another US-centric report that is still globally relevant because it is well-written, makes suggestions that could be extrapolated to similar ecosystem settings, and reflects TNC thinking thanks to abundant TNC authorship.]

Abstract: The Nation’s public lands and waters traditionally have been managed using frameworks and objectives that were established under an implicit assumption of stable climate and the potential of achieving specific desirable conditions. Climate change implies that past experience may not apply and that the assumption of a stable climate is in some regions untenable. Previous chapters in this report examine a selected group of management systems (National Forests, National Parks, National Wildlife Refuges, Wild and Scenic Rivers, National Estuaries, and Marine Protected Areas) and assess how these management systems can adapt to climate change. Using these chapters and their case studies, as well as more general scientific literature concerning adaptive management and climate change, this chapter presents a synthesis of suggested principles and management approaches for federal management agencies as well as other resource managers.

 

 

• Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability.  Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC

 

Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, M.L. Parry, O.F. Canziani, J.P. Palutikof, P.J. van der Linden and C.E. Hanson, Eds., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 779-810.

Click to view the chapter available online <http://www.gtp89.dial.pipex.com/19.pdf> at IPCC <http://www.gtp89.dial.pipex.com/chpt.htm> .

[Jon H:  It’s long and dense, but read the Technical Summary — it will give you all the highlights with just enough detail to give you a sense of how much science goes into the many facets of climate change assessments.  Reading main text chapters will either build character or cure insomnia.]