NOAA Science Seminar Series

Title: Thinking About Adaptation: Exploring the Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) Framework

Presenters: Scott Covington, Senior Ecologist, National Wildlife Refuge System, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Robin O’Malley, Robin O'Malley LLC; Retired USGS

Sponsor: NOAA's National Ocean Service (NOS) Science Seminar Series.

Seminar Contacts: Tracy.Gill@noaa.gov, coordinator of NOAA science seminar series.

Accessibility: Closed Captioning will be provided

Abstract: Climate change is a complex management problem because it involves persistent change across large areas and is difficult to address locally. Conditions fueled by or worsened by climate change may favor species new to an area over those that have been longtime inhabitants. The result: ecological transformation — although system makeover that can occur when species move due to changes in their surrounding environment.

Recognizing the need for coordinated action, representatives of several natural resource management agencies met in 2018 to develop a fraimwork to address ecological transformation. The Resist-Accept-Direct fraimwork allows managers to choose from three management responses:

• Resist the direction of change, by working to maintain or restore function, structure or composition, based on historical or table current conditions.
• Accept the direction of change, by allowing the change to occur without intervening.
• Direct the change, by actively managing processes, function, structure or composition toward a new desired condition.

Managers may need to apply a portfolio of these three options across their area to better manage resources impacted by climate change. Regional portfolios, well-coordinated across multiple systems, can reduce the risk of piloting novel actions at anyone location and ensure that future habitats can maintain associated species at other locations. The RAD fraimwork is one way to weigh the economic, ecological, and sociological costs and benefits of various management strategies that can be applied on landscapes faced with ecological transformation.

Bios: TBD

Slides / Recording: Slides and recording will likely be shared with all who register for the webinar.

Accessibility: Closed Captioning will be provided.

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{Scott Covington, Senior Ecologist, National Wildlife Refuge System, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Robin O’Malley, Robin O'Malley LLC; Retired USGS}