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Stream Classification System for the Appalachian Landscape Conservation Cooperative
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Stream classification information is essential to develop and implement flow standards and water management recommendations that will sustain aquatic biodiversity. Unfortunately, standardized information was lacking for the Appalachian landscape. The goal of this project was to develop a state-based, consistent stream classification system for aquatic ecosystems in the region. Unifying state-based stream classifications into a single consistent system, principal investigators at The Nature Conservancy developed a hierarchical classification system and map for stream and river systems for the Appalachian LCC that represents the region’s natural flowing aquatic habitats.
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A Stream Classification for the Appalachian LCC PDF
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A classification system and map was developed for stream and river systems in the Appalachian LCC region, encompassing parts of 17 states. The product is intended to complement state-based stream classifications by unifying them into a single consistent system that represents the region’s natural flowing-water aquatic habitats. The results can be used to understand ecological flow relationships and inform conservation planning for aquatic biodiversity in the region.
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Stream Classification System for the Appalachian Landscape Conservation Cooperative
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Review of Subterranean Faunal Studies of the Appalachians and Models of Subterranean Species Richness PDF
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Historically, the cave fauna, and any biota for that matter, were largely studied from a taxonomic perspective. Papers focused on a lineage or a set of closely related lineages because of the strictures of taxonomic expertise, the difficulty in collating and summarizing information for a variety of taxonomic groups, and because, until relatively recently, there was no research agenda that emphasized patterns of species richness. With the advent of interest in species diversity per se in the late 1960’s and especially with the interest in biodiversity and biodiversity hotspots in the late 1980’s, the focus changed. Studies of cave fauna reflected the changing research agendas. In this bibliographic review, we examine five areas of interest:
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Classification and Mapping of Cave and Karst Resources
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Cave/Karst Resources Across the Appalachian LCC: A Visual Guide to Results PDF
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This visual guide documents 18 months of work gathering and analyzing data on caves and karst resources in the Appalachian LCC. The maps and files provide a comprehensive overview of data available for examining relationships between environmental factors and biological diversity and distribution within karst areas in the region. This visual survey is intended to be a guide to what the researchers have accomplished, and a guide to what new questions and results would be interesting to end-users.
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Classification and Mapping of Cave and Karst Resources
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Cumberland - Southern Appalachian Climate Change Vulnerability Species Assessments
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These results are a compilation of climate change vulnerability assessments in the southeastern portion of the LCC, covering the area from southern West Virginia, south to Alabama, west to eastern Kentucky and Tennessee. Hyperlinks to additional information are separated into two additional spreadsheets, one for aquatic and subterranean, and another for terrestrial species.
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Assessing Vulnerability of Species and Habitats to Large-scale Impacts
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Vulnerability Assessment Foundational Data by Subregion
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Southern Appalachian Climate Change Vulnerability Species Assessments Excel Spreadsheet
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Downloadable spreadsheet to accommodate the Cumberland - Southern Appalachian Climate Change Vulnerability Species Assessments.
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Vulnerability Assessment Foundational Data by Subregion
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Cumberland - Southern Appalachian Climate Change Vulnerability Species Assessments
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Assessing the Potential Effects of Climate Change on Species in the Cumberland Piedmont Network of the National Park Service
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In this study, we evaluate the climate change vulnerability of a subset of key species found in the Cumberland Piedmont Network (CUPN) of the National Park Service (NPS), an ecologically important and diverse region. We developed a list of species of conservation concern (globally and sub-nationally) within each of the fourteen NPS units in the CUPN. Next, we employed NatureServe’s Climate Change Vulnerability Index (CCVI) in order to determine which of those species may be most vulnerable to climate change, based on each species’ 1) direct exposure to climate change, 2) indirect exposure to climate change, 3) sensitivity, and 4) documented/ modeled response to climate change. CCVI results showed a range of vulnerability scores among taxonomic groups, including high vulnerability for mollusks and low vulnerability for migrant songbirds. Furthermore, we found that species of conservation concern were not necessarily those most vulnerable to climate change.
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Assessing Vulnerability of Species and Habitats to Large-scale Impacts
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Vulnerability Assessments Source Materials
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Instructions – Central Appalachian Spreadsheet
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This spreadsheet is a subset of a larger data set that contains a compilation of climate change vulnerability scores for over 700 species in the Appalachian LCC.
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Assessing Vulnerability of Species and Habitats to Large-scale Impacts
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Background Materials: Climate Change Vulnerability in the Appalachians
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Assessing Vulnerability of Species and Habitats to Large-scale Impacts
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CCVA Fact Sheets: Forested Stream and / or Seepage
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Forested Stream and/or Seepage
Forested stream environments are typically found in the buffer zones between forested land and stream banks, often
known as riparian zones. Stream headwaters and seepage areas occur where ground water percolates to the surface
through muck, mossy rock, and nettles. It can also be found under rocks, among gravel, or cobble where water has
begun to percolate in areas near open water. Breeding grounds are commonly found beneath mosses growing on
rocks, on logs, or soil surfaces in these types of seepage areas.
Predicted climate change will largely impact changes in temperature and moisture availability in forested stream
and/or seepage systems, likely having a cascading effect on a species habitat and increasing stress to many of these
species. The Appalachian LCC funded NatureServe to conduct vulnerability assessments on a suite of plants,
animals, and habitats within the Appalachians. These assessments can be used as an early warning system to alert
resource managers about changing conditions.
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CCVA Fact Sheets