Multiple affiliates of the Center for Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation were present at the SERCAL (California Society for Ecological Restoration) conference on May 9, 2018. Center Staff Dr. Amber Pairis and Affiliated Researcher Dr. Megan Jennings led a plenary presentation to open up the conference and Dr. Julie Kalansky and Dr. Alexander (Sasha) Gershunov later presented the key findings from the precipitation and fire chapters of the “San Diego County Ecosystems: The Ecological Impacts of Climate Change on a Biodiversity Hotspot” assessment.
Dr. Pairis and Dr. Jennings opened the plenary by introducing the key findings from the recent assessment “San Diego County Ecosystems: The Ecological Impacts of Climate Change on a Biodiversity Hotspot”, and local case studies where partners are putting adaptation strategies into action. The assessment which was led by a unique collaboration of local ecologists and climatologists under the umbrella of the Climate Science Alliance. The assessment articulates the state of the science on the projected climatic changes in temperature, precipitation regime, fire weather, and coastal low clouds and fog and the likely effects of these climatic shifts on the region’s diverse ecosystems, habitats, plants, and animals. This effort is a model of how science-based assessments can serve as a baseline for guiding future research, management, and planning efforts, highlighting knowledge gaps to be filled and providing opportunities for supporting resilience through adaptation.
Two abstracts from the assessment were also presented at the conference by Drs. Julie Kalansky and Alexander (Sasha) Gershunov on:
“Precipitation and Drought Impacts on Ecosystems in San Diego County” by Julie Kalansky, Dan Cayan, Dawn Lawson, Eric Stein, and David Pierce
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“Wildfire in a warming Southern California: Climatic drivers of change” by Alexandra Syphard, Alexander (Sasha) Gershunov, Dawn Lawson, Hiram Rivera-Huerta, Janin Guzman-Morales, and Megan Jennings
Learn more about the SDC Ecosystems Assessment here.
Learn more about SERCAL here.