Incorporating Adaptive Capacity into Decision-Making in the North Central U.S.

Dennis Ojima, Jill Lacket
Posted on: 7/18/2022 - Updated on: 8/10/2023

Posted by

CAKE Team

Published

Abstract

Managers already face uncertainty when making decisions about how to best manage natural resources. Now, climate change is adding an additional level of complexity to resource management decisions. Understanding the ability of human and ecological communities to adapt to changing conditions (known as their adaptive capacity) is an integral component of effective management planning in the face of climate change. So too is identifying ways in which managers can better incorporate information on climate and the vulnerability of resources into their decision-making.
 
This project sought to improve decision-making in the North Central region by developing an approach to managing natural resources that acknowledges the uncertainties that exist and incorporates the adaptive capacity and vulnerability of resources to climate change.

To meet this goal, researchers assessed (1) the key factors that affect the ability of human and ecological communities to adapt to climate change; (2) the current vulnerability of communities to changing conditions; and (3) the current risk assessment methodologies being used by managers in the region. The results of this project can help improve natural resource management decisions under changing climate conditions.

Citation

Ojima, D. and Lackett, J. (2017). Final Report: Incorporating Adaptive Capacity into Decision-Making in the North Central U.S. https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/5873d4ade4b0a829a31e47cf.

Affiliated Organizations

Established in 2011, the North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center (NC CSC) is a partnership between the US Geological Survey, the University of Colorado Boulder and five consortium partners. The NC CASC fosters innovative and applied research in support of tribal, federal, state, and local natural resource management and decision-making.

The USGS is a science organization that provides impartial information on the health of our ecosystems and environment, the natural hazards that threaten us, the natural resources we rely on, the impacts of climate and land-use change, and the core science systems that help us provide timely, relevant, and useable information.

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