Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
stress..At.the.same.time,.increased.air.temperature.alters.net.primary.productivity.
of. vegetation.. Most. models. of. climatic. change. effects. focus. either. on. hydrologic.
behavior. or. ecosystem. structure. or. function.. WMI. has. addressed. the. interactions.
between.them.
We. used. a. coupled. model. of. ecohydrologic. processes. to. estimate. changes. in.
evapotranspiration. and. vegetation. productivity. in. a. warmer. climate.. Results. for.
Yosemite.suggest.that,.for.most.snow-dominated.elevations,.the.shift.in.the.timing.
of.recharge.is.signiicant.and.that.this.shift.is.likely.to.lead.to.declines.in.productiv-
ity.and.vegetation.water.use..The.strength.of.this.effect,.however,.depends.on.inter-
actions. between. several. factors. that. vary. substantially. across. elevation. gradients,.
including.the.initial.timing.of.melt.relative.to.the.summer.growing.season,.vegeta-
tion.growth,.and.the.extent.to.which.initial.vegetation.is.limited.by.water.or.energy..
These.climate-driven.changes.in.water.use.by.vegetation.also.have.implications.for.
summer. stream. low.. Results. from. this. analysis. provide. a. framework. that. can. be.
used. to. develop. strategic. measurements. and. a. context. for. scaling. local. measure-
ments.of.vegetation.responses,.including.sap.low,.carbon.lux,.tree.mortality,.and.
tree.growth.(Tague.et.al..2009).
d
eVeloping
a
dapTaTion
s
CienCe
Efforts.to.develop.strategies.that.facilitate.adaptation.to.documented.and.expected.
responses.of.natural.resources.to.climatic.change.are.now.beginning.in.earnest..In.
the. most. substantive. effort. to. date,. the. US. Climate. Change. Science. Program. has.
developed.Synthesis.and.Assessment.products.for.federal.land.management.agencies.
(Baron. et. al.. 2008;. Joyce. et. al.. 2008).. We. initiated. science-management. collabo-
rations. at. Olympic. National. Forest. (Washington). in. order. to. develop. management.
options.that.will.facilitate.adaptation.to.climatic.change.(Littell.et.al.)..This.was.the.
irst.attempt.to.work.with.a.federal.agency.to.develop.speciic.concepts.and.applica-
tions.that.could.potentially.be.implemented.in.management.and.planning..The.focus.
of.this.effort.was.to.develop.strategies.and.management.options.for.adapting.to.cli-
matic.change.across.multiple.resources.
Olympic.National.Forest.resource.staff.developed.the.following.
general adapta-
tion strategies
.(Littell.et.al..2011):
•.
Manage for resilience, decrease vulnerability -
The. success. of. adapta-
tion.strategies.can.be.deined.by.their.ability.to.reduce.the.vulnerability.of.
resources.to.a.changing.climate.while.attaining.speciic.management.goals.
for.the.condition.of.resources.and.production.of.ecosystem.services.
•.
Prioritize climate-smart treatments
. -. Prioritizing. treatments. with. the.
greatest.likelihood.of.being.effective.in.the.long.run.recognizes.that.some.
treatments. may. cause. short-term. detrimental. effects. but. have. long-term.
beneits.. For. example,. ish. species. may. be. vulnerable. to. increased. sedi-
mentation.associated.with.lood-driven.failures.of.unmaintained.roads,.but.
road.rehabilitation.may.produce.temporary.sedimentation.and.may.invite.
invasive.weeds..Ideally,.triage.situations.could.be.avoided,.but.given.lim-
ited. inancial. resources,. it. is. necessary. to. prioritize. management. actions.
