Top 6 Ways to Save Nature from Climate Change
Climate change got you worried? Us too. In order to survive, plants and animals will need to adapt to a new climate or move to a new place. The good news is that our actions can make a huge difference. The conservation and land management strategies we take today will largely determine what plants and animals survive climate change.
Here are the top six ways we can save nature from climate change.
1) Know what is going to happen.
To save nature from climate change, we first need to know what actual changes we can foresee in a given place. By understanding what is going to happen, we can then begin to take the necessary steps to prepare.
For northern California and southern Oregon, when scientists “downscale” climate projections, we can see very clear trends: it is going to get at least 2 degrees warmer in the next 20 years, and up to 8 degrees warmer in the next 60 years! However, our region will get lucky and see about the same amount of annual precipitation, while other regions in the U.S. will see a lot less. More of our precipitation will be in rain and much less in snow and researchers note that rain will come more often in downpours. The warmer weather will also dry out the landscape much more quickly.
2) Look forward, not back.
If our goal is to protect wildlife and wild places, climate change demands that we look forward to the likely climate changes in a given place. Conservation often looks back to protect ecosystems as static and timeless on the landscape.
Restoring natural systems that have been damaged from abuse is critically important and is certain to help preserve nature. However, we must ask the question: How do we help species and natural systems survive in the climate that we can predict will be here in 20, 60 ore even 100 years from now? This requires new ways of thinking about the conservation of natural systems, one that anticipates the new climate and incorporates that information into species conservation programs and land management plans.
3) Protect the most Vulnerable.
To prepare for changes in climate, we need information about what species and ecosystems are most vulnerable and why. Climate vulnerability assessments are a new approach to determine the most vulnerable species and habitats, and then plan our conservation and management actions accordingly.
As one example, in northern California and southern Oregon, we know that high elevation species like the Pika won’t have any place to find cooler, higher elevation climates as temperatures get warmer. For the Pika, we also know protecting forest shade near their rocky, talus slopes help shelter them from warming temperatures. Our conservation strategies must protect these habitats to ensure the Pika have enough room to adapt.
American Pika - Photo credit: commons
Siskiyou Mountain Salamander - Photo credit: John Cox, 2018
4) Remove the stress.
Ecosystems, just like people, are more likely to be harmed if they are stressed out. Strengthening the ability of ecosystems to recover from stress of a warming climate is perhaps the most critically important action we can take. This is called ecosystem resilience, and the primary manner in which we can increase ecosystem resilience is to remove other stressors.
Here in the Klamath-Siskiyou, some of the non-climate stressors include industrial logging of large trees, grazing, illegal off road vehicles, heavy equipment use and deforestation near streams, fish blocking dams, and excessive roads. Remove the stress and the natural system will be stronger.
5) Save the refugia.
What is refugia, you ask? This is just a fancy science term for areas on the landscape that are most likely to harbor plants and animals (life!) in the changing climate. The reason these areas are so important is that they will buffer against the most extreme impacts of climate change.
Refugia often stay cool and wet, and plants and animals will take “refuge” in these places. In our region, refugia include old forests with canopy, especially those on north facing slopes that are shaded most of the day. It can be 15 degrees cooler under the canopy of a forest. Near the coast is also important. The Pacific Ocean will moderate the extreme weather and keep it mild. Other refugia include areas near water and deep canyons. It is critical that we identify, map, and protect climate refugia.
6) Stay flexible.
Climate Change demands that we stay flexible. We don’t know exactly what is going to happen or what the impacts of our actions will be with precision. So, we need to embrace that uncertainty, try new strategies, learn, and adapt.
In our region, we have the chance to test our actions. For example, we can use prescribed fire and see how rare plants respond versus areas where we don’t use fire. We can employ thinning and fuels reduction in some areas and not others. By staying flexible, and not “putting all of our eggs in one basket,” natural systems will have the best shot at overcoming the climate crisis while we learn more and refine conservation approaches through applied science.
For more information about Climate Smart Conservation, the National Wildlife Federation and land management agencies have produced a guide to Climate Smart Conservation.
KS Wild is thankful to our partners in Southern Oregon Climate Smart working group that are developing climate smart approaches for land management agencies in southern Oregon. We also owe a debt of gratitude to all of the work being done by tribes, NGOs, and public lands managers to advance climate adaptation throughout southern Oregon and northern California. The Karuk Tribe of northwest California has one of the most comprehensive climate adaptation plans we’ve ever seen and incorporates cultural management of the land that is key to climate smart conservation and management in the Klamath-Siskiyou.