Accomplishment Highlights

Threat Assessment and Planning

Landscape Assessment Tools Aid Land Managers—Strategic planning is necessary to design effective land use strategies that sustain resource values. Eastern Center researchers developed and used new landscape pattern indicators for large-scale natural resource assessments, which provide land managers and policy makers with new tools for strategic planning at regional, national, and international scales.

Rapid Assessments Produce Timely Results—Quick, targeted assessments are useful to determine risks associated with a particular threat, event, or situation and to clearly articulate the likelihood of expected physical and value loss. Western Center researchers recently conducted several timely assessments including: gene spills from genetically modified organisms on western public lands, western bark beetles and climate change, tamarisk (invasive plant) in the Pacific Northwest, and western forest pathogens and climate change.

Case Studies Examine Ecological/Social Impacts—Interdisciplinary research perspectives encourage a balanced approach as natural resource communities adapt to potential climate change impacts. Western Center researchers are coordinating case studies that assess the vulnerability of natural resources and explore potential land management options to facilitate ecological and social adaptation to changing climates.

How Vulnerable is the Ecosystem?—Climate change impacts on the ecosystem are still relatively unknown. The Western Center is partnering with the three western Forest Service research stations to address ecosystem vulnerability and climate change interactions with other stressors and land uses under various scenarios. A Center-hosted workshop also explored the interaction between insects and climate change in support of the west-wide Climate Change Initiative.


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Emerald ash borer photo by David Cappaert, Michigan State University, www.bugwood.org