Resilient Sites for Terrestrial Conservation in the Great Plains Region

Abstract

The Great Plains region includes 10 TNC ecoregions and encompasses portions of 12 states: MT, ND, SD, WY, NE, CO, KS, MO, NM, OK, AR and TX. We analyzed these ecoregions in their entirety, which led us to include portions of two Canadian provinces, Alberta and Saskatchewan, in our assessment. Ecoregions are large contiguous units of land with similar environmental conditions, a roughly similar climate and a distinct assemblage of natural communities and species. They provide a needed ecological context for understanding landscape-scale conservation activities. We describe resilience scores and trends by ecoregion and roll the ecoregion results up to a composite map of the full study area. Climate change projections suggest the Great Plains region is likely to show some of the highest warming rates in North America. These temperature increases, along with a tendency toward more extreme precipitation patterns, will likely impact many sensitive species. These changes will occur far from coastal regions or mountain ranges that offer large-scale gradients in regional temperature, thus putting more emphasis on microclimatic refugia. The need to identify “climate-resilient” sites most likely to support species adaptation in the Great Plains was further heightened by the extensive loss of native prairie biodiversity and degradation of key processes in this region that have occurred over more than a century of grassland conversion and species extirpations.

Climate-Resilient Sites: We defined site resilience as the capacity of a site to maintain biological diversity, productivity and ecological function as the climate changes. This means that the character of the existing ecosystem, such as species assemblages and structures, may change even as the core functions and biodiversity of the evolving ecosystem continue to provide the ecosystem services we value. Site resilience differs from the classic definition of resilience in the ecological literature, which holds that an ecosystem demonstrates resilience if it quickly returns to a steady-state equilibrium after a disturbance. Under changing conditions, however, there is no steady-state to return to. Resilient sites will likely change in composition in response to a changing climate, but if adequately conserved they will be more likely to continue to support a diversity of species into the future that reflect the individual character (i.e., soil type, topography, etc.) of the site. Vulnerable sites may also be important to biodiversity and ecosystem services but are more likely to lose diversity and/or show evidence of degradation as the climate changes.

Additional Resources

Explore the methods and data layers in the Resilient Sites for Terrestrial Conservation in the Great Plains Storymap

Explore the data in the Resilient Land Mapping Tool

For the most up-to-date data see CRCS’s National Resilient and Connected Network Download Page

Download the original data that accompanies the report: Resilience Site Data for the Terrestrial Conservation in the Great Plains Region

Citation

Anderson, M. G., Ahlering, M. A., Clark, M. M., Hall, K. R., Olivero Sheldon, A., Platt, J., & Prince, J. (2018). Resilient sites for terrestrial conservation in the Great Plains. The Nature Conservancy, Eastern Conservation Science and North America Region.