CA LCC reviews projects to help natural resource managers

More than 90 pre-proposals were reviewed by the California Landscape Conservation Cooperative this month as the partnership began the process of selecting science projects to fund in 2012.

“What stood out in this set of proposals was the diversity,” says Rebecca Fris, CA LCC science coordinator. “There were proposals addressing fire issues and forest management and some that addressed marine and coastal issues. This is the first time we have seen that many from those areas, and I think it shows that more people understand what the CA LCC can do, how it adds value and how it can help support the type of science natural resource managers need.”

The CA LCC has from $500,000 to $800,000 this year to support the development of science-based tools and products that will help enhance the conservation efforts of natural resource managers throughout the state. Five to eight projects will be funded, and final awards will be announced in late June.

Results of CA LCC-funded projects for birds, fish presented at conference

Emerson Parcel Tidal Marsh in California

Three CA LCC-funded projects were presented at the US Regional Association of the International Association for Landscape Ecology annual symposium in Newport, Rhode Island in April.

Nadav Nur, a quantitative ecologist with PRBO Conservation Science, presented “Population Modeling Tools to Achieve Long-term Viability of Tidal Marsh Birds in the Context of Climate Change.”

Rebecca M. Quiñones, a graduate student of Professor Peter Moyle at the University of California-Davis Center for Watershed Sciences, presented “The Effects of Climate Change on California’s Inland Fishes: Tools for Adaptation.”

Ryan Harrigan, a post-doctoral student of Professor Tom Smith at the UCLA Center for Tropical Research, presented "Maximizing Evolutionary Potential under Climate Change in Southern California Protected Areas."

Nur’s presentation highlights concerns over (more...)

CA LCC supports USGS workshop on fog

Fog off the California coast

More than 30 people attended a U.S. Geological Survey workshop on fog funded by the California Landscape Conservation Cooperative April 3-5.

The U.S. Geological Survey hosted natural resource managers and an international team of scientists in Menlo Park, CA, for the first Pacific Coastal Fog Workshop, which examined advective fog, a major modifier of climactic conditions along the California coast.

“The importance of fog to ecological communities on the coastline is significant because it not only provides moisture, but also affects the amount of sunlight received on the ground,” says Alicia Torregrosa, a physical scientist with the USGS Western Geographic Science Center in Menlo Park.

The workshop brought together (more)

Job plan includes the Landscape Conservation Cooperatives

The Landscape Conservation Cooperatives were identified as a vehicle to help protect jobs and the economy from the risks associated with climate change during an international meeting of Western States and Canadian Provinces this past March (http://www.pacificcoastcollaborative.org/Pages/ThirdAnnualLeadersForum.aspx).

During the GLOBE Conference on Business and the Environment in Vancouver, Canada, members of the Pacific Coast Collaborative, which included leaders from California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia, issued their 2012 West Coast Action Plan on Jobs, which included a commitment to create up to a million clean-economy jobs on the West coast within the next 10 years.

Leaders promised to leverage climate science and research to help achieve better job outcomes for communities. They also promised to “encourage sharing of scientific research underway at universities, research centers, and governmental agencies and coordinate identification of priority research topics to support decision-making and minimize overlap and duplication of effort, including the Regional Climate Science Centers, Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments, and Landscape Conservation Cooperatives.”

“I was thrilled when I saw (more)

CA LCC request for science projects to fund draws interest

The California Landscape Conservation Cooperative received nearly 100 responses to its call for pre-proposals for science projects to help natural resource managers enhance their management of native fish, marine and wildlife populations.

The CA LCC has between $500,000 and $800,000 this year to support science that meets the goals and priorities of the partnership, says Rebecca Fris, CA LCC science coordinator. Five to eight projects will receive funding.

“We’ve received a lot of great collaborative proposals from throughout the LCC, and it’s great to see new partnerships develop,” says Fris. “We’re excited to support existing science as well as fund development of new tools and information to support conservation efforts throughout the state.”

The call for pre-proposals closed March 26th, and awards will be announced in late May.

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CA LCC helps natural resource managers

Don Brubaker, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service manager, discusses restoration efforts at the San Pablo Bay Refuge.

Natural resource managers have a tough job conserving wildlife, and their work is made even more difficult by the impacts of climate change and other landscape-scale stressors.

But they are getting a hand from the California Landscape Conservation Cooperative, a partnership that supports the development of science-based products resource managers can use to enhance their on-the-ground conservation efforts.

“The people who are out there managing resources are very much in need of the latest technical information to do their job,” says Rebecca Fris, CA LCC science coordinator. “They are trying to manage the resources of today for a very different future. They want to know what is going to happen to the resources they are managing and what the potential impact could be on species and their habitats.”

Since 2010, the CA LCC has funded more than 25 climate science-based projects totaling almost $2 million. With partner contributions, more than $5 million has been invested in creating science-based tools and products during that time.

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