Cooperative Agreement F25AC00651

EFFORTS ARE UNDERWAY TO MAP CURRENT MESIC RESOURCES AND QUANTIFY PAST CHANGES IN MESIC RESOURCE AVAILABILITY IN THE SAGEBRUSH BIOME, YET NO DATA PRODUCTS EXIST PROJECTING FUTURE MESIC RESOURCE VULNERABILITY TO CLIMATE CHANGE, DROUGHT, AND LAND USE CHANGE AT THE BIOME SCALE, PARTICULARLY ACROSS MULTIPLE FACETS OF VULNERABILITY I.E., EXPOSURE, SENSITIVITY, AND ADAPTIVE CAPACITY. SUCH PROJECTIONS WILL BE CRITICAL TO IDENTIFY HOTSPOTS OF VULNERABILITY, AREAS OF RESILIENCE, AND TO GUIDE CONSERVATION INVESTMENTS FOR MESIC RESOURCES. TARGETED AND INFORMED CONSERVATION WILL BE KEY TO STOPPING, AND EVEN REVERSING, THE LOSS OF IMPORTANT MESIC AREAS THROUGHOUT THE SAGEBRUSH BIOME. TO ADDRESS THIS, CONSERVATION SCIENCE PARTNERS WILL PROJECT THE VULNERABILITY OF MESIC RESOURCES TO CLIMATE CHANGE, DROUGHT, AND LAND USE CHANGE UNDER A SUITE OF FUTURE SCENARIOS USING A NOVEL VULNERABILITY INDEX DEVELOPED JOINTLY WITH STAKEHOLDERS, GENERATING MAPS OF FUTURE VULNERABILITY HOTSPOTS AND RESILIENT MESIC AREAS AND COPRODUCING A GUIDANCE DOCUMENT OF TARGETED MANAGEMENT APPROACHES TO INFORM MESIC CONSERVATION IN THE BIOME. CRITICALLY, THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS GUIDANCE DOCUMENT WILL SUMMARIZE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES SPECIFICALLY ADDRESSING EACH LEVEL OF VULNERABILITY ACROSS SAGEBRUSH CONSERVATION DESIGN CATEGORIES CORE, GROWTH, AND OTHER, HELPING TO GUIDE TARGETED CONSERVATION INVESTMENTS AND ULTIMATELY SUPPORTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A BIOMEWIDE STRATEGY FOR MESIC RESOURCE MANAGEMENT. DELIVERABLES INCLUDE A MAP OF MESIC RESOURCE VULNERABILITY ACROSS THE BIOME FOR TWO DIFFERENT CLIMATE CHANGE SCENARIOS, A CONSERVATION STEPDOWN DOCUMENT, AN ANNUAL REPORT, AND TECHNICAL TRANSFER PRODUCTS INCLUDING A WEBINAR. IF TIME AND FUNDS ALLOW, AND MANUSCRIPT DESCRIBING THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE INDEX WILL ALSO BE DEVELOPED. EXPECTED OUTCOMES INCLUDE A GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF FUTURE MESIC RESOURCE VULNERABILITY TO GLOBAL CHANGE IN THE BIOME AND ENHANCED COORDINATION ACROSS AGENCIES AND ENDUSERS ENGAGED IN MESIC RESOURCE MANAGEMENT. ENDUSERS WILL BE FEDERAL AND STATE AGENCIES AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS SUPPORTING MESIC CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT IN THE SAGEBRUSH BIOME.