Facing climate change in forests and fields: U.S. Forest Service taps into science-management partnerships

As a growing body of science shows, climate change impacts on wildlife are already profound—from shifting species’ ranges and altering the synchronicity of food sources to changing the availability of water. Such impacts are only expected to increase in the coming decades. As climate change shapes complex, interwoven ecological processes, novel conditions and ecosystems will continue to emerge. This reality poses unprecedented challenges, but also opportunities for natural resource managers as they plan for the decades to come. Addressing the impacts of climate change on wildlife and habitats involves assessing how the various components of and interactions within an ecosystem may change together and then, considering dynamic conservation targets informed by society’s values. Achieving such a complex goal can be daunting for any one organization or single branch of science and, as a result, the U.S. Forest Service is building on long-established research-management partnerships to develop real-world applications suitable to specific landscapes.