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On Climate Change in the Southwestern U.S.

Climate change is already affecting fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats around the globe. The Service's Southwest Region has been working with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the academic community, and other natural resource management agencies and interest groups to translate available and emerging science into concrete actions that reduce the impacts of a changing climate on the broadly diverse ecosystems in Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. In the coming months, we will be initiating innovative climate change projects in several key southwestern habitats.

“What are we going to do now?” That question was posed as a challenge by Benjamin Tuggle, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (Service) Southwest Regional Director, to Service and United States Geological Survey (USGS) employees at the conclusion of a climate change workshop in 2008.

“We must be leaders in the climate change arena,” said Dr. Tuggle. “By taking incremental steps such as these, we will begin to make progress towards our goal of adjusting to climactic changes.” 

During the 2008 climate change workshop, the Climate Assessment for the Southwest (CLIMAS) facilitated four discussion sessions with participants divided into small groups. More than 200 people from 34 organizations participated in these sessions. The discussions produced a wealth of information, spanning topics that included climate change priorities and concerns, needs, methods to incorporate climate change in decisions, institutional obstacles, and new opportunites.

 

 
The Southwest Region co-sponsored its second Climate Change Workshop on August 10-12, 2009, in Austin, Texas. Approximately 240 people attended, with representatives from several Federal and State agencies, academia, and non-governmental organizations.  Dr. Benjamin Tuggle, Southwest Regional Director said “Climate change is a critically important issue that promises to significantly change the way we view and manage habitat, refuges, endangered species, and other species in the Southwest Region. This workshop, along with the Tucson meeting a year ago, sets the stage for the upcoming climate-related challenges in the Southwest Region that we are already beginning to face, but are only just beginning to identify.”
 

AFWA Climate Change Guidance

The Climate Change Wildlife Action Plan Guidance Document provides voluntary guidance for state fish and wildlife agencies wanting to better incorporate the impacts of climate change on wildllife and their habitats in the Wildlife Action Plans. The approaches and techniques described in this document also will be useful in modifying other wildlife plans to address climate change. The document provides an overview of the information currently available on climate change, tools that can be used to plan for and implement climate change adaptation, voluntary guidance and case studies.
 

Projects

The Service’s Southwest Region announced that it will provide $48,500 as “seed money” to fund 10 employee-initiated climate change project proposals. The projects will be completed within existing agency funds. Funded projects were selected by the Region’s interdisciplinary management team. All the projects were worthy, according to Tuggle, noting that only ten were funded due to budgetary limitations. The Service’s Southwest Region plans to consider and fund employee-initiated climate change projects annually.

   

The following projects will be funded during federal fiscal year 2009:
Conversion to Solar Powered Electrical System – $5,000 Submitted by the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge Complex

The Aransas National Wildlife Refuge Complex hopes to ultimately convert its entire electric system to solar power. As a first step in achieving this goal, the Complex will install a passive solar water heater system. This system is expected to meet at least half of the Complex’s hot water needs, and will significantly reduce its carbon footprint.		 spacer
rio grande citthroat trout
Credit: USFWS
Climate Change and Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout – $5,000
Submitted by the New Mexico Ecological Services Field Office

Climate change could cause temperature changes in natural water sources. This project will investigate historic and current water temperatures in streams occupied by the Rio Grande cutthroat trout. In conjunction with other studies that look at aquatic heat tolerance, this research will determine the level of risk that increased water temperatures pose to the Rio Grande cutthroat trout.
sun butterfly
Photo: USFWS
Native Pollinator Inventories in High-Elevation Plant Communities in Northern Arizona – $5,000
Submitted by the Arizona Ecological Service Field Office

Populations of many important native pollinator species are declining. The Service’s Arizona Ecological Field Office will establish pollinator inventory plots in high-elevation plant communities, which are  specially sensitive to climate change. The data collected will contribute to nation-wide monitoring efforts addressing the effects of climate change on native pollinators.		 Temperature Tolerance of Federally-Listed Aquatic Species in Southeastern Oklahoma – $4,000
Submitted by the Oklahoma Ecological Services Field Office

Certain aquatic species in southeast Oklahoma may be susceptible to the effects of increased stream temperatures and reduced stream flows related to a warming climate. This study aims to determine the effect of increasing water temperature (including the maximum temperature tolerated) on federally-listed or suitable surrogate species, such as the threatened leopard darter and several listed mussels. The study will determine the potential risks to these species based on climate change
projections.
dragonfly
Photo: USFWS

Bitter Lake Dragonfly Study – $7,500
Submitted by Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge

Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge is nationally recognized for the diversity and density of dragonflies (odonates) and damselflies that occur on the Refute. Several new neotropical odonates have recently been added to the Bitter Lake’s species list. Dragonflies and damselflies have been identified as a species group that may be particularly susceptible to climate change. The Refuge will initiate a monitoring program to detect new neotropical species as they move northward from their historical habitat to better understand and address migration patterns linked to a warming climate.

 Solar Energy for Remote Camera Equipment – $1,000
Submitted by the San Andres National Wildlife Refuge

San Andres National Wildlife Refuge maintains a system of remote cameras to monitor use of refuge habitats by various wildlife species. Converting the power source for these cameras from the current disposable dry cell batteries to solar power will reduce the number of driving trips necessary to maintain them, and the number of discarded dry cell batteries in local waste disposal areas.
Multi-Point Videoconferencing as a Means of Reducing the Service’s Carbon Footprint – $6,000
Submitted by Region 2 Ecological Services

Interactive communications technology will be installed in several field offices to allow Service professionals at two or more locations to meet via videoconference. The goal is to cut down on the number of face-to-face meetings/briefings and associated travel by various units of the Service, thus reducing our carbon footprint.
devils river minnow
Photo: Devil's River Minnow
Effects of Increased Temperature on Growth and Reproduction in Devils River Minnows – $5,000
Submitted by the San Marcos National Fish Hatchery

The Service has already determined the critical maximum temperature related to the survival of the threatened Devils River minnow. The next step is to evaluate the effects of increased water temperature (such as might occur due to climate change) on growth and reproduction in this species. Any detrimental effects on growth and reproduction will help the Service design
management strategies to maintain healthy spring flows, especially during the summer months.
Carbon Sequestration by Woody Plants in South Texas – $5,000
Submitted by the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge

Global warming has caused increasing levels of carbon in the atmosphere. Trees can help alleviate global warming by binding carbon in above- and below-ground plant biomass. The Lower Rio Grande National Wildlife Refuge will conduct a study to investigate the carbon sequestration capacities of several native woody plant species from south Texas and northern Mexico. The results will be used to promote carbon sequestration markets, and support primary brushlands restoration projects benefiting migratory birds, endangered species, and other native wildlife.		 Identify Potential Energy and Water Savings on Uvalde National Fish Hatchery – $5,000
Submitted by the Uvalde National Fish Hatchery

Aquaculture (fish breeding) depends upon both water and energy – two pricey resources. Uvalde National Fish Hatchery will conduct a short-term study on their water supply wells, as well as two individual ponds, to measure energy use and water efficiency. The results will be used to develop strategies for decreasing energy use and improving water efficiency in fish hatcheries.


 
Last updated: May 16, 2012
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