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.
“Back in the day, we didn’t have these kinds of science tools,” says Don Brubaker, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service manager in charge of restoration efforts at Antioch Dunes, Marin Islands and San Pablo Bay Refuges in California. “We just got together and said, ‘Let’s try this and see what happens.’ A few years later, we would go, ‘Well, that didn’t work as well as we would have liked,’ and we would try something different. Better science helps us make better management decisions and get it right the first time.”
One of the products funded is an online tool that will allow natural resource managers to generate maps that show where invasive species are likely to spread in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The tool, called the CalWeedMapper, was developed by the California Invasive Plant Council.
"This will make a large amount of data available to managers in a format that will help them with their management decisions,” says Fris. “The risk maps will show where invasive plants are found and where they may occur later on. Managers can use this information to better understand potential future challenges and to help prioritize their resources."
Another CA LCC-funded product is a modeling tool that examines the effects of sea-level rise on coastal areas. The tool is being developed by the United States Geological Survey.
“Sea level rise has the potential to change the way we do business in terms of habit management,” says Brubaker. “Increasing sea levels will turn mudflats and salt marshes into open water areas, forcing species to seek new habitats. The challenge then is to develop restoration efforts to compensate as the water marches up in elevation. By looking at models and using engineering techniques we can build marshlands that will be robust enough to compensate for sea level rise 30, 40 or even 50 years out.”
This CA LCC continues to look for new products and strategies to help resource managers. A call for projects to fund in 2012 went out in mid-March, and the partnership will begin reviewing projects in the spring. To view previous previously funded projects visit californialcc.org/projects.html.
For more information on CalWeedMapper, contact the California Invasive Plant Council at mapping@cal-ipc.org. For more information on the CA LCC, visit Californialcc.org