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Evaluating the Ecological Performance of Compensatory Mitigation: The Association of State Wetland Managers (ASWM) is pleased to invite you to attend the next webinar in our popular Improving Wetland Restoration Success webinar series on “Evaluating the Ecological Performance of Compensatory Mitigation.”

Biodiversity Critical to Maintaining Healthy Ecosystems: Researchers have found clear evidence that biological communities rich in species are substantially healthier and more productive than those depleted of species.

New Climate Change Vulnerability Assessments for 41 Species: This spreadsheet functions as a tool to determine climate change vulnerability of species. Information is entered in the calculator, and results are stored in the results tab. Explanations of climate change measures and species-specific attributes that contribute to adaptive capacity are in subsequent tabs. The documentation tab provides justification for ratings of each individual factor, with a complete list of references also provided in a separate tab. Also available for download below is the county distribution for 41 of the species evaluated.

Pine, Bill: Fish biologist with experience in quantitative methods, adaptive management, and experimental design.

January 2012 Expert Panel Meeting, NatureServe Home Office: Expert Panel discussing a decision tree to aid in selecting vulnerability assessment methods. Panel members (from left to right): Kim Hall, The Nature Conservancy, Great Lakes; Robert Cooper, University of Georgia; Bruce Young, NatureServe; Jean Brennan, Appalachian LCC; Kyle Barrett, Clemson University; Healy Hamilton, Marine Conservation Institute (now of NatureServe); not shown: John O'Leary, Massachusetts Department of Fish and Wildlife; Hector Galbraith, National Wildlife Federation; Patricia Butler, Michigan Technical University, Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science; Lesley Sneddon, NatureServe

Conserving imperiled species in the Upper Tennessee River Basin: When we think of river life, for many of us a handful of animals may come to mind – trout, smallmouth bass, muskie. But in the Southern Appalachians, waters of the Upper Tennessee River Basin are alive with a whopping 255 species of fish and mussels.

Conservation Strategy for Imperiled Aquatic Species in the UTRB: The Strategy provides guidance to Field Offices in reevaluating current ("status quo") conservation approaches in order to deliver the most cost effective approach toward the conservation and management of imperiled freshwater fish and mussel species in the Upper Tennessee River Basin.

Publications & Outreach: A collection of our education, outreach, and workshop products along with other documents related to the work of the Appalachian LCC

A Stream Classification System for the Appalachian Landscape Conservation Cooperative: Unifying state-based stream classifications into a single consistent system, principal investigators at The Nature Conservancy developed a hierarchical classification system and map for stream and river systems for the Appalachian LCC that represents the region’s natural flowing-water aquatic habitats. This river classification information is needed to develop and implement instream flow standards and management recommendations so that environmental flows can become integral to all water management decisions from the onset.

Phase 1 Report: Conservation Planning and Design for Appalachian LCC PDF: Conservation planning is concerned with spatially identifying and prioritizing lands and waters important for functioning ecosystems and biodiversity. It is a science utilizing geographic information systems and large datasets to generate scenario-based maps of conservation potential. These scenarios can balance social, economic, and regulatory constraints with processes that occur over time and space. The planning process itself, as well as final products, helps practitioners prioritize where and when to take conservation action.

Phase I: Alternatives for Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment: Expert Panel Findings PDF: In 2012, the Appalachian LCC tasked NatureServe with a two-phase project that explores the understanding of climate change in the Appalachian landscape. The first phase focused on assembling a panel of experts to provide guidance on a) prioritizing species and habitats to assess vulnerability to climate change; b) selecting approaches to conduct vulnerability assessments, and c) identifying appropriate climate data to use in the assessments. Using the recommendations of the Panel, the second phase of the research conducted vulnerability analyses on selected species and habitats, and provided results within the context of other existing assessments. This report summarizes Phase I of this effort.

Review of Subterranean Faunal Studies of the Appalachians and Models of Subterranean Species Richness PDF: Historically, the cave fauna, and any biota for that matter, were largely studied from a taxonomic perspective. Papers focused on a lineage or a set of closely related lineages because of the strictures of taxonomic expertise, the difficulty in collating and summarizing information for a variety of taxonomic groups, and because, until relatively recently, there was no research agenda that emphasized patterns of species richness. With the advent of interest in species diversity per se in the late 1960’s and especially with the interest in biodiversity and biodiversity hotspots in the late 1980’s, the focus changed. Studies of cave fauna reflected the changing research agendas. In this bibliographic review, we examine five areas of interest:

A Stream Classification for the Appalachian LCC PDF: A classification system and map was developed for stream and river systems in the Appalachian LCC region, encompassing parts of 17 states. The product is intended to complement state-based stream classifications by unifying them into a single consistent system that represents the region’s natural flowing-water aquatic habitats. The results can be used to understand ecological flow relationships and inform conservation planning for aquatic biodiversity in the region.