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Climate Connections: Questions from North and South Carolina: America has questions about climate change, and the USGS has real answers. In this episode of Climate Connections, USGS scientists answer questions gathered from North and South Carolina.

SAVS: A System for Assessing Vulnerability of Species: RMRS has developed a System for Assessing Vulnerability of Species (SAVS) that quantifies the relative impact of expected climate change effects for terrestrial vertebrate species.

Climate Change Hurts Indian Tribes Disproportionately, Report Finds: North American Indian Tribes are especially harmed by climate change, as more ecological shifts and more frequent, more extreme weather events occur, a new study concludes. Because Tribes are heavily dependent on natural resources, severe weather events like droughts, floods, wildfires, and snowstorms make tribal communities particularly vulnerable and impact American Indians and Alaska Natives more than they impact the general population.

EPA Accepts First GHG Reporting Data - Agency launches electronic GHG reporting tool: Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is launching a new tool to allow 28 industrial sectors to submit their 2010 greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution data electronically. Prior to being finalized, more than1,000 stakeholders, including industry associations, states and NGOs tested the electronic GHG Reporting Tool (e-GGRT) to ensure clarity and user-friendliness.

Global Warming May Cause Higher Loss of Biodiversity Than Previously Thought: If global warming continues as expected, it is estimated that almost a third of all flora and fauna species worldwide could become extinct. Scientists from the Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (Biodiversität und Klima Forschungszentrum, BiK-F) and the SENCKENBERG Gesellschaft für Naturkunde discovered that the proportion of actual biodiversity loss should quite clearly be revised upwards: by 2080, more than 80 % of genetic diversity within species may disappear in certain groups of organisms, according to researchers in the title story of the journal Nature Climate Change. The study is the first world-wide to quantify the loss of biological diversity on the basis of genetic diversity.

A System for Assessing Vulnerability of Species (SAVS) to Climate Change: Sustained conservation of species requires integration of future climate change effects, but few tools exist to assist managers. The System for Assessing Vulnerability of Species (SAVS) identifies the relative vulnerability or resilience of vertebrate species to climate change.

Threats to Freshwater Mussels and the Consequences for Ecosystems: Catastrophic decline in freshwater mussels may impact water quality and other species. These invertebrates play a crucial role in river ecosystems. With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Caryn Vaugh studies mussels' role in their environment. Almost 70 percent of the species are considered threatened in some way. They're the most globally threatened freshwater organism there is.

Building partnerships and establishing consensus on regional priorities across the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes Landscape Cooperative - Final Report: As part of our project to identify the most climate vulnerable species in the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes Landscape Conservation Cooperative we have completed phase one of our project. This report summarizes our findings to date.We completed ten workshops across the region and have compiled a regional list of priority wildlife species for consideration in a climate vulnerability assessment. Included in the report are the top 30 species shared as priorities across the region, as well as the individual lists from each workshop.

Restoration of Ailing Wetlands: It is widely held that humankind’s destructive tendencies when exploiting natural resources leads to irreparable harm to the environment. Yet, this thinking runs counter to evidence that many ecological systems damaged by severe natural environmental disturbances (e.g., hurricanes) can restore themselves via processes of natural recovery. The emerging field of restoration ecology is capitalizing on the natural restorative tendencies of ecological systems to build a science of repairing the harm inflicted by humans on natural environment. Evidence for this, for example, comes from a new metaanalysis of 124 studies that synthesizes recovery of impacted wetlands worldwide. While it may take up to two human generations to see full recovery, there is promise, given human will, to restore many damaged wetlands worldwide

Structural and Functional Loss in Restored Wetland Ecosystems: Wetlands, which include tropical mangroves and boreal peatlands, are among the most valuable ecosystems in the world because they provide critical ecosystem goods and services, such as carbon storage, biodiversity conservation, fish production, water purification, and erosion control. As global change accelerates the loss of wetlands, attempts are increasing to restore this fragile habitat and its associated functioning. There has been no global evaluation, however, of how effective such restoration efforts have been. Here, we present a meta-analysis of the biological structure (driven mostly by plant communities) and biogeochemical functioning (driven primarily by the storage of carbon in wetland soils) of 621 wetland sites.

US Fish and Wildlife Service - Science Seminar Series - Effects of sea-level rise and altered storminess on Piping Plover breeding habitat along the U.S. Atlantic Coast- January, 2012 - National LCC Event: January 2012 seminar of the five monthly seminar series presented on LCC projects. The January series features Sarah Karpanty's presentation: Effects of sea-level rise and altered storminess on Piping Plover breeding habitat along the U.S. Atlantic Coast.

US Fish and Wildlife Service - Science Seminar Series - Evaluating the Vulnerabilities of Ecological Resources to Climate Change in the Northeast- December, 2011 - National LCC Event: December 2011 seminar of the five monthly seminar series presented on LCC projects. The December series features Dr. Hector Galbraith and Lesley Sneddon's presentation: Evaluating the Vulnerabilities of Ecological Resources to Climate Change in the Northeast.

RFA Conference Call Q & A - March 19, 2011: There were approximately 12 participants on this second informational call. Many had participated in our first call, but new entities included: Downstream Strategies, Ecological Modeling, U. of VA., Penn. State, and Environmental Services.

ISC Notes September 2, 2011: Notes from the ISC meeting conference call September 2, 2011

Draft Mission and Vision by LCC - ISC Meeting: Draft Mission and Vision by LCC - ISC Meeting

Ken Elowe - ISC Meeting - May 4, 2011: Ken Elowe - Conservation Challenges, Opportunities, and Building the Partnership - ISC Meeting - May 4, 2011

Draft Mission and Vision by Organization - ISC Meeting: Draft Mission and Vision by Organization - ISC Meeting May 4, 2011

Draft Illustrative List of Conservation Research Needs - ISC Meeting: Draft Illustrative List of Conservation Research Needs - ISC Meeting May 4, 2011

Draft Appalachian LCC Communications Strategy 2011 - ISC Meeting: Draft Appalachian LCC Communications Strategy 2011 - ISC Meeting May 4, 2011

Megan Nagel Power Point - ISC Meeting May 4, 2011: Megan Nagel Power Point - ISC Meeting May 4, 2011