Conservation Planning to Ensure Resilient Landscapes in North Carolina
Conservation Trust for North Carolina
In Partnership with Open Space Institute
Definitions and Datasets
February 2016
This documentincludesthefollowing guidanceforapplicants toCTNC’s Conservation Planning to Ensure Resilient Landscapes in NC Program:
Definitionsoftermsrelated to“terrestrial resilience”asTheNatureConservancy(TNC)definesitin itsResilientSitesfor Terrestrial Conservation in the Southeastreport(2014).[1] This isthedefinitionofresilience sciencethatisused intheCTNC NC Resilient Planning Request for Proposals and grant application.
A listof selected conservation and climatechange-related datasets(with links) thatapplicantsmay beinterested in using for planning and applied research projects. Otherrelevant datasetsmaybe used. Providetherationaleforyourdatasetchoicesinthegrantapplication.
INTRODUCTION
Giventhecomplexityof climatechangeimpacts,landconservationists need strategiestoidentifysitesthat will remain relevanttonatural and human communityconservation.Manystrategiescan belimitedin their relevanceforland conservation duetotheuncertaintyin species’and habitatresponses toclimatechangeimpacts. TNC’s terrestrial resiliencescienceutilizesenduring featuressuch asgeophysical settingsand landformsto identify the places that will best supportthefull-spectrumof speciesdiversity.Thisstrategyisbasedonobservationsthatspeciesdiversityis highlycorrelatedwith geophysical diversityin Eastern North America,[2]thatmore microclimatesexistin complexlandscapes,andthatspeciescanaccess these microclimatesin responsetoclimaticchangesif theareais “permeable” formovement. Thus,thecharacteristicsof geophysicalrepresentation,landscape complexity,and local connectedness (or “landscape permeability”) defined belowarekeycomponentsofanalysisand conservation prioritization under this approach.
DEFINITIONS (adapted from TNC’s Resilient Sites for Terrestrial Conservation)1
Ecoregions—Forthe Southeast resilienceassessment,Ecoregionsfollow the published TNC ecoregional boundaries with one exception (a redrawing of the boundary between Tropical Florida and the Florida Peninsula). The 2014 resilience analysis covered the entirety of these two ecoregions, as well as five others: Cumberlands and Southern Ridge and Valley; Southern Blue Ridge; Piedmont; Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain; and
South-Atlantic Coastal Plain. In addition, the resilience analysis covered only part of the following ecoregions: Low Interior Plateau, East Gulf Coastal Plain, and Upper East Gulf Coastal Plain (the data is subject to some degree of change when the analysis in these ecoregions is completed).
GeophysicalSettings—Geophysical Settings,designated by a unit’s elevation zone and geology type,areacritical underpinning of theresilienceanalysis.Forthis analysis,TNC classified each 30 meter grid cell in the region ashaving oneof 35 possibleGeophysical Settingsbased ontheunit’sdominantcharacteristics. Todeterminethemost resilient30 meter cellsforeachGeophysical Setting,theanalysis ranked theLandscapeResilienceScoreof each cell against other cellswithin thesameGeophysical Setting and withinthesame Ecoregion. For example,mid-elevation graniticsiteswereranked onlyagainstothermid-elevation graniticsites. Research indicatesthatconserving thefull spectrumof biological diversitydependson conserving high-quality examplesof allGeophysical Settingswithin eachEcoregion.
Landscape Complexity—LandscapeComplexityis ameasure ofabove-ground landform diversity,elevation range,and wetland density within a given area. Landform diversityincludessuch featuresasslopes,cliffs,valleys,coves,and moist flats,as well asthedirectionalorientation(aspect)ofmanyofthesefeatures.Somegeologytypes,such asgranite,areinherentlymorecomplex becausetheyweatherslowlyand retain rugged topography.Other geologytypes,such ascalcareousand coarsesand,weather more quicklyand tendto haveless topographical complexity. Theresilience analysis soughttoidentifythemostcomplexexamplesforeach Geophysical Setting.LandscapeComplexity Scoresarerelativeto othersiteswiththesameGeophysical Setting and in thesameEcoregion.High LandscapeComplexity createsdiversemicroclimates thatcreate the opportunity forspeciesto moderatetheeffectsofmoisture and temperaturelocally.
LocalConnectedness (or“Landscape Permeability”)—Ameasure oftherelativeopportunity within a given area for species to move and ecologicalprocesses to occur, based on the degree of resistance to movement created by different land uses and cover types. LikeLandscapeComplexity,Local Connectednessis scored relativetoGeophysicalSetting and Ecoregion. Local Connectednessis essential toproviding speciesaccessto the diversemicroclimatescreated bycomplex features. NotethatLocal Connectednessis not the sameconceptaswildlifeor conservation corridors between existing projectedblocks (that issueis more relevant to the concept of Regional Flow, defined below).
Landscape Resilience—LandscapeResilienceistherelativeabilityofasitetomaintain ecologicalfunction and a diversityof nativespecieseven asspecies composition changesinresponsetoclimate. A highly resilientsiteoffers:(1)LandscapeComplexitytoprovidespecieswith a broad range of landformsand microclimates,and (2)LocalConnectedness, whichenablesspecies to accessthesecomplexlandforms.The LandscapeResilienceScorerepresentsthecombinationofvaluesforLocal ConnectednessandLandscape Complexity for each 30 meter cell, which is then rankedrelativetotheLandscape Resilience Scoresof other sites in the Southeast region with the same Geophysical Setting and in the same Ecoregion.
RegionalFlow—Regional Flowis a measurementdesigned toidentify potential pathways for directionalmovements by species at a larger-scalethan Local Connectedness,and isnotused asa factor in thefinal Landscape ResilienceScore. Rather than focusing in on the most apparent corridors,Regional Flowdata uses modeling to identify multiple optionsformovement that could be significant forrangeshifts,migrations,or otherdispersalpatterns in response to climate change. Regional Flowcan highlightwhere land use patterns are likely to cause movementstobecomeconcentratedwhenlimited surrounding options exist,or diffuse whenmanyoptionsexist. Thismeasureis useful foridentifyingthelinkageareasthatmaybeimportantto maintaining a baselevelof permeabilityacrossthewholeregion.
Underrepresented Setting—An UnderrepresentedSetting is aGeophysicalSetting for which protection has elevated urgencybecausea relativelylowpercentageofthatsetting type is currently secured forconservation and arelativelyhighpercentage hasbeen converted outof natural land cover. Conserving land in abroad rangeof Geophysical Settingsiscritical toensure the survivalofthe full spectrumof biodiversityastheclimate changes. Focusingprotection goals on UnderrepresentedSettingswill be necessary in ordertoprotectthebest remainingexamplesofthese “at-risk”settings.Open Space Institutehasidentified fifteenparticularlyunderrepresented Geophysical Settings in the Southeast.Tier1settings areimportantbecausetheyhavea relativelylowlevelof protection,a high levelof conversionoutof natural use,andtend tobe morespecies-rich thanothergeologytypes. Tier2settingstend tohavea smaller number of species particularly associatedwith that one setting, but still have lowlevelsofprotectionand high levelsof conversion out ofnatural land cover.
Tier 1: Underrepresented and Highest Biological Significance / ElevationCalcareous / Low / Mid
Tier 2: Underrepresented / Elevation
Moderately Calcareous / Low / Mid
Surficial Sediment—Mountain / Low / Mid
Mafic / Low / Mid
Ultramafic / Low
Fine / Low
Fine/Lime / Low
Sedimentary—Coastal Plain / Low
Loam/Lime / Low
Granite / Low
Shale / Low
SELECTCONSERVATIONANDCLIMATECHANGE-RELATEDDATASETS
Belowis asampling ofdatasetsthatmay beparticularlyrelevanttoconservationplanning and appliedresearch projectsin the Southeast:
TNCRESILIENCESCIENCEANDRELATEDCONSERVATIONDATASETS
Datasetsareavailableatthis linkunlessotherwisespecified:
SoutheastTerrestrialResilience Data
All data related totheresilienceanalysis intheSoutheast,including the Basic dataset, which includes 30 meter and 1000-acre hexagon data displaying results for resilience and its major components; the Analysis dataset, which can be used to replicate or iterate the analysis; and the Stratification dataset, which includes Geophysical Settings data.
Secured (Protected)Areas
Publicand privatelandsand waterssecured bya conservation arrangementthatincludesan explicitlevelof protection fromfutureconversion and currentincompatibleuses.
CLIMATEDATASETS
Climate Wizard Custom
Browser Link:
User can definearelativelysmall geographicareaof interestand conductsite-specificanalysesusing both historical data and possiblefutureconditionsthatare based on low,moderate,and high carbon emissions scenarios.
National Climatic Data Center
Link:
Historical climate data for querying and download.
COASTAL CHANGE AND SEA LEVEL RISE
NOAA Digital Coast
Link:
Datasets related to coastal change in intertidal areas, wetlands, and adjacent uplands of the contiguous landscape; sea level rise impact viewer.
Climate DataInitiative(newNASA/NOAA-led FederalPartnership)
Link:
Newtools related tosea level riseand coastal flooding. Other climaterelated datasetsand tools tobe added asdeveloped.
CORRIDORPLANNING
Conservation CorridorPlanningTools
Browser Link:
VEGETATION(FOREST)CHANGE
Climate ChangeTreeAtlasDataset
Browser Link:
Currentstatusof 134forestspeciesin theeastern United States,and potential changesin suitablehabitat thatmayoccur under several scenariosof climatechange.
[1] Anderson,M.G., A. Barnett, M.Clark, C. Ferree, A.Olivero Sheldon, and J. Prince. 2014.ResilientSitesfor TerrestrialConservationin the Southeast Region.TheNatureConservancy,EasternConservationScience. 127 pp.
[2] Anderson,M.G.and C.E. Ferree. 2010.Conservingthe Stage:ClimateChangeand theGeophysicalUnderpinningsofSpecies Diversity.PLoSONE 5(7): e11554.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0011554.