MAPPING AND MONITORING CLIMATE-CHANGE REFUGIA TO ENHANCE HABITAT PROTECTION AND STEWARDSHIP FOR PRIORITY SPECIES & ECOSYSTEMS

Lead: Wildlife Conservation Society Canada (WCS Canada)

Timeframe: 2021-2025

Climate overheating is forcing species and ecosystems to respond by ‘adapting in place’ or ‘moving in space’. We are mapping climate-change refugia at multiple scales across Yukon to ensure plant and animal species have opportunities to respond to the changing climate. Climate-change refugia are sites relatively buffered from changing temperature and moisture where plant and animal habitats can persist. Enduring features are physical features of the landscape that will not change nearly as fast as habitat that is directly influenced by climate, and so are a type of refuge. Combined, these sites will give plants and animals an opportunity to adapt to the changing habitats of Yukon South Beringia. With our research partners University of Alberta/Yukon University, Canadian Forest Service, and Kehm Consulting, we are using a novel approach that combines the mapping of climate-change refugia and enduring features at multiple scales in a single framework. The maps produced by this project will aid Yukon South Beringia partners to identify, protect, and monitor a network of sites with the highest climate-change resilience and thus potential to support persistence of priority species and ecosystems.

Values: Ecosystems - Riparian, Wetland, Forest, Dry Meadow, Dune, Alpine, and Tintina Trench

Threats Addressed: Climate Change

Photos (below) credit: Hilary Cooke