Thursday, August 13, 2015
11am - 1230pm PST
Register here

Overview: Changing climate is predicted to substantially increase extinction risk for up to a third of all species. Resource managers are tasked with overseeing the security of our nation’s biodiversity. For some, that entails placed-based management of ecosystems (e.g., NPS); for others, this entails striving to minimize extinctions (e.g., USFS). Nearly everybody will be faced with making resource management plans, and taking resource management actions that do not resemble what they have done in the past. There are critical decisions to make on both how to respond and when to take adaptation action. Resource managers are faced with directives to both manage resources so as to slow the pace of change and allow systems to respond as well as foster change to create more resilient ecosystems. This requires balancing hard choices. Among the choices are a suite of radical ideas for conserving biological diversity. These carry particular legal, ethical, sociological and ecological challenges that must be addressed. For example, actively moving species stranded by changing environmental conditions so that they can survive (assisted migration) has been suggested as adaptation response. However, it is neither an easy choice to make or dismiss. This webinar will focus on assisted migration as a test case of criteria to consider in developing plans for actions, triggers for actions and justifications of actions for adaptation management. However, assisted migration is but one of several radical strategies. Geo-engieneering and synthetic biology are additional technological 'solutions' to adaptation management that will likely require addressing in the coming years.

About the Speaker:
Dr. Mark W. Schwartz researches plant ecology, biogeography, conservation biology under climate change. His current research projects include: (a) fire management adaptation strategies for climate change in the Sierra Nevada; (b) embedding social and ethical concerns into management decisions on assisted migration and endangered species translocation; and (c) assessing climate change impacts on the vulnerability of rare species and ecosystems. Collaborating with colleagues from federal agencies, international and local conservation agencies, Dr. Schwartz currently focuses on support tools for decision making for conservation. Dr. Schwartz is a professor in the Department of Environmental Science & Policy and the Director of the John Muir Institute of the Environment at the University of California, Davis.

About the Webinar Series
This monthly climate change webinar series is presented by the NPS Climate Change Response Program. The purpose of the series is to connect NPS employees, volunteers, and partners with scientists and experts in the field of climate change research. The webinar series is a Service-wide forum where researchers can share credible, up-to-date information and research materials about the impacts of changing climate in national parks and provide participants the opportunity to engage with them in discussion.

Presentations begin at 2 PM EST, on the second Thursday of the month, and last about 90 minutes. They are viewed by logging into GoToWebinar on-line at the time of the presentation. Audio is available via a call-in number (toll charges apply) or through your computer’s speakers (free, but may be limited by connection speed).

For more information about this webinar series contact: