Assessments

standing water over fieldThe USDA Climate Hubs published a series of regional vulnerability assessments to provide their stakeholders with a baseline “snapshot” of current climate vulnerabilities, along with specific adaptive management strategies to increase the resilience of working lands in each region. They also include regional greenhouse gas profiles, which identify opportunities to reduce emissions and increase carbon sequestration. Each document also gives an overview of how partner USDA agencies are being affected by and addressing changing climate conditions.

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Lambs in spring

  Project Area John and Jessica Small operate Small Acres Family Farm on the edge of the Muscatatuck Plateau and the Dearborn Upland region, within Major Land Resource Area (MLRA) 114A. The topography of this region ranges from nearly level to very steep glaciated uplands,…

Small Acres Family Farm, Southeastern Indiana

Burning undergrowth in ponderosa pine forest

Decision-makers need better methods for identifying critical ecosystem vulnerabilities to changing climate and fire regimes. Climate-wildfire-vegetation interactions are complex and hinder classification and projection necessary for development of management strategies. The…

FireCLIME Vulnerability Assessment Tool

Forestry log camp

Some content excerpted from "Carbon and Land Management" on the USFS Climate Change Resource Center and the USFS report Considering Forest and Grassland Carbon in Land Management (WO-GTR-95).   Forests play a critical role in mitigating climate change by capturing carbon…

Forest Carbon and Land Management

A newly constructed stream simulation culvert on the George Washington National Forest.

Extreme Precipitation and Trends There is clear evidence that precipitation in the Northeast is more intense than it was in the past. The increase in the Northeast has been greater than any other region in the U.S. (Figure 1). Between 1901 and 2014, total annual precipitation…

Storms and Stream-Crossings

bird

As climate change continues to influence ecosystems around the world, wildlife species will be under increasing pressure to adapt. Wildlife managers face the growing challenge of helping wildlife populations and ecosystems respond to climate change. Partners in the Great Lakes…

Wildlife climate change vulnerability and adaptation

Little Sand Bay, WI.

Traditional and indigenous knowledge and perspectives have not often been recognized in climate adaptation planning efforts focused on natural resources. The Northern Forests Climate Hub is collaborating with regional tribal partners to address this gap, and collaborating to…

Climate Adaptation and Indigenous Knowledge in the Great Lakes

Landscape photo of the Little Missouri National Grasslands, North Dakota.

The USDA Northern Plains Climate Hub (NPCH) contributed, as coauthors, to three articles in as special issue of the journal of Climatic Change on the "Vulnerability Assessment of US Agriculture and Forests developed by the USDA Climate Hubs" (January 2018, Volume 146, Issue…

Northern Plains Contributions: Vulnerability Assessment of US Agriculture and Forests developed by the USDA Climate Hubs

An Assessment of the Impacts of Climate Change on the Great Lakes Cover

The Environmental Law & Policy Center, in concert with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, commissioned the following scientists and experts to produce this report to educate policymakers and the public about the significant changes affecting the Great Lakes, and the…

An Assessment of the Impacts of Climate Change on the Great Lakes

Peppers

Specialty crops are an important component of the Midwest region’s rural economy with an estimated value of $1.8 billion (estimate from 2012). They are generally more sensitive to climatic stressors and require more comprehensive management compared to traditional row crops.…

Specialty Crops and Climatic Variability

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