Spotlight Posters on National Park Resources
Background Materials: Climate Change Vulnerability in the Appalachians
Background Materials: Climate Change Vulnerability in the Appalachians - Read More…
Phase I: Alternatives for Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment: Expert Panel Findings PDF
Publication Date: 2014
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Classification and Mapping of Cave and Karst Resources
In order to develop and deliver landscape-level planning tools, it is essential to create an Appalachian-wide map depicting where cave and karst habitats and resources occur across the landscape. Despite other efforts to classify and map karst systems of the United States, the more fine-scale classification and mapping data for biodiversity and resource management were still needed.
Researchers from an array of organizations and institutions were funded by the Appalachian LCC to gather and analyze data on caves and karst region wide. The project first summarized pre-existing efforts to collect and present karst resource information and developed an appropriate classification system for karst habitats within Appalachia. From this foundational work, researchers next produced a series of deliverables, including data tables, geospatial information layers, and maps. The maps and other products provide a comprehensive overview of available data for examining relationships between environmental factors and biological diversity and distribution within karst areas of the Appalachian LCC.
A visual survey compiles all this information and guides users to what this project has accomplished, as well as new questions and results that would interest end-users. This vital spatial information on the physical and biological resources of cave and karst systems – compiled by researchers at American University, U.S. Geological Survey, University of the South, University of Illinois, and University of Florida - is now being incorporated into landscape conservation planning for the region.
View a video presentation by Dr. David Culver of American University, which provides an overview of the unique cave and karst ecosystems of the Appalachians as well as the research and decision support tools created from this Appalachian LCC funded project.
Interactive Conservation Planning for the Appalachian LCC
Interactive Conservation Planning for the Appalachian LCC - Read More…
Riparian Restoration to Promote Climate Change Resilience Research Update
Riparian Restoration to Promote Climate Change Resilience Tool Tutorial from Ferguson Lynch on Vimeo.
Riparian Restoration to Promote Climate Change Resilience Tool
Riparian Restoration to Promote Climate Change Resilience Tool - Read More…
Integrating Cultural Resource Preservation at a Landscape Scale
Integrating Cultural Resource Preservation at a Landscape Scale - Read More…
Environmental Flows from Water Withdrawals in the Marcellus Shale Region
The Appalachian LCC provided a grant to Cornell University Environmental Engineers to study how the region’s surface freshwater supply – and the health of natural systems delivering this resource – have been impacted and may be altered in the coming years under increasing water withdrawals.
The research focuses on the Marcellus Shale region in the Central Appalachians, including portions of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia. In addition to considering the cumulative impacts of water withdrawals, the researchers looked at specific impacts of large water withdrawals with hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus Shale region as one example.
The study attempts to answer these key questions:
- What are the observed impacts on freshwater fish communities and ecosystems associated with current levels of water withdrawals?
- What might those impacts look like under a range of potential water withdrawal scenarios?
- Is it possible, using sophisticated computer modeling techniques, to identify different flow regimes that deliver a more balanced approach for regulating water withdrawals to meet human demands and sustain healthy ecosystems?
The overall goal of this research is to provide new information to help resource managers, industry and others make more informed decisions in achieving sustainable river and stream flows that balance the needs of society and healthy ecosystems. Information could also be beneficial for early project design and planning as well as setting a foundation for discussions about associated biological and ecological effects.
View a video presentation by Dr. Todd Walter, Professor of Biological and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University, and Brian Buchanan, Post-doctoral Researcher at Cornell University, which provides a brief overview of this study's background, findings, and major products.
Scientific Research Papers Associated with this Collaborative Research
- Environmental flows in the context of unconventional natural gas development in the Marcellus Shale. Brian P. Buchanan, Daniel A. Auerbach, Ryan A. McManamay, Jason M. Taylor, Alexander S. Flecker, Josephine A. Archibald, Daniel R. Fuka, and M. Todd Walter. 2016 Ecological Applications, 27(1), 2017, pp. 37–55.
Stream Classification System for the Appalachian LCC
Stream classification information is essential to develop and implement flow standards and water management recommendations that will sustain aquatic biodiversity. Unfortunately, standardized information was lacking for the Appalachian landscape. The goal of this project was to develop a state-based, consistent stream classification system for aquatic ecosystems in the region.
Unifying state-based stream classifications into a single consistent system, principal investigators at The Nature Conservancy developed a hierarchical classification system and map for stream and river systems for the Appalachian LCC that represents the region’s natural flowing aquatic habitats. It represents aquatic habitat types across this region in a manner that is appropriate and useful for building ecological flow ecology relationships and other conservation planning tools.
The study includes a "Story Map" illustrating the mapped classification system for streams and rivers, a report describing the methods used to evaluate and develop the classification system, a literature review of existing stream classifications, and a GIS stream data set. The results from this project can be used to understand ecological flow relationships and inform conservation planning for aquatic biodiversity in the region.
View a video presentation by Mark Anderson and Arlene Olivero Sheldon of The Nature Conservancy, which provides an overview of The Stream Classification System research, design, and major deliverables.
Assessing Vulnerability of Species and Habitats to Large-scale Impacts: CCVA
The Appalachian region is rich in biodiversity that is highly threatened by energy production, development, and a host of other factors. Large-scale impacts such as climate change will play out within this context, affecting habitats and species in different ways. Understanding the vulnerability of various species and habitats within the Appalachian LCC to such changes is of critical importance. Identifying the steps needed to acquire vulnerability information and then using this information to inform adaptation and mitigation strategies is a major research priority of the LCC.
The Appalachian LCC provided a grant to NatureServe to conduct critical vulnerability assessments. Researchers first convened a panel of experts to compile and review existing vulnerability assessments, compare strengths and weaknesses of methodologies used, and recommend a vulnerability assessment method for adoption. The recommended method was then deployed to generate vulnerability assessments for a suite of key species and habitats selected in consultation with partners of the Cooperative. The completed assessments are now on the Web Portal, where users can view and search by vulnerability scores, conservation status ranks, state and subregion of assessment, and higher taxonomy.
In the presentations below, Dr. Lesley Sneddon of NatureServe gives an in-depth overview of this research. The bulk of the presentations provide viewers with step by step instructions on how to access, utilize, and interpret the many vulnerability assessments for species and habitats - both previous assessments that were assembled by the research team and new assessments that were developed for this project.
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PHASE 1In 2012, the LCC tasked NatureServe with a two-phase project that provided the LCC with: guidance on the most appropriate climate change vulnerability approaches; compilation of the existing assessments, of which there are many; and conducting new assessments where they're needed.
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The first order of business was to assemble a panel of experts to provide guidance on selecting the approaches, identifying the appropriate climate data, and providing criteria to help select species and habitats that need to be assessed. |
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The panel convened a two-day working session at NatureServe's Arlington office to discuss this and document their findings and the recommendations. You can find the result of their work in the PDF document titled Understanding Land Use and Climate Change in the Appalachian Landscape: Phase I. The following Videos will walk you through the Assessing Vulnerability of Species and Habitats to Large-scale Impacts Toolkit
PHASE 2 |
Final Report: A Stream Classification for the Appalachian LCC
or read it online:
LanDAT Map Viewer
AppLCC Partnership Dashboard
Executive Summary - Present and Future Possibilities of Landscape Scale Conservation
Publication Date: 2018
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The Present and Future Possibilities of Landscape Scale Conservation: AppLCC Ethnographic Study Video of Presentation
Landscape Conservation Fellowship
Cultural Landscapes
Presentation by Maddie Brown - Research Results - Partnership
Publication Date: 2018
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