The Colorado office of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), has been charged with developing a climate adaptation strategy for BLM lands within the state. The Colorado Natural Heritage Program conducted climate change vulnerability assessments of plant and animal species, and terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems ("targets") within a time frame of mid-21st century. Our assessments 1) evaluate the potential impact of future climate conditions on both species and ecosystems by identifying the degree of change expected between current and future climate conditions within the Colorado range of the target, and 2) address the potential impact of non-climate factors that can affect the resilience of the target to climate change, or which are likely to have a greater impact due to climate change.
This report includes a summary of the results of the past ten years of population monitoring of targeted noxious weeds at the U.S. Air force Academy, emphasizing changes that were observed between 2013 and 2014.
The Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District, as part of it stewardship of the natural habitats of the Middle Rio Grande corridor, has initiated a conservation action planning process. We report here on the first steps of the process: developing an ecologically based framework for stewardship, identifying conservation targets, and providing an initial assessment of their current and desirable future status based on measurable indicators. Additionally, major threats or stressors to the conservation targets are identified and evaluated with respect to the severity of their potential impacts. The overall goal of the planning process is to provide a foundation for developing strategies that can be applied to meet conservation goals in collaboration with the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District's many partners and stakeholders.
Wetlands in dense urban centers differ from natural systems due to highly modified hydrology and increased non-native plant species, but they perform critical functions such as wildlife habitat and storm water retention. Wetland extent and condition for the County were largely unknown prior to this study.
Wildlife fencing along highways can lower wildlife-vehicle collision rates by excluding animals from the road right-of-way. Still, animals can breach fencing and end up trapped within the fencing along the highway right-of-way, exposing wildlife and motorists to the risk of collision. Wildlife escape ramps are designed to allow animals safe passage out of the right-of-way. Few recommendations exist on effective design of escape ramps and monitoring data are limited.
