The North Cascadia Adaptation Partnership: A Science-Management Collaboration for Responding to Climate Change

The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and National Park Service (NPS) have highlighted climate change as an agency priority and issued direction to administrative units for responding to climate change. In response, the USFS and NPS initiated the North Cascadia Adaptation Partnership (NCAP) in 2010. The goals of the NCAP were to build an inclusive partnership, increase climate change awareness, assess vulnerability, and develop science-based adaptation strategies to reduce these vulnerabilities. The NCAP expanded previous science-management partnerships on federal lands to a larger, more ecologically and geographically complex region and extended the approach to a broader range of stakeholders. The NCAP focused on two national forests and two national parks in the North Cascades Range, Washington (USA), a total land area of 2.4 million ha, making it the largest science-management partnership of its kind. The NCAP assessed climate change vulnerability for four resource sectors (hydrology and access; vegetation and ecological disturbance; wildlife; and fish) and developed adaptation options for each sector. The NCAP process has proven to be a successful approach for implementing climate change adaptation across a region and can be emulated by other land management agencies in North America and beyond

Whitebark Pine in the Northern Cascades: Tracking the Effects of Blister Rust on Population Health in North Cascades National Park Service Complex and Mount Rainier National Park

Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis Engelm.) is a key component of subalpine and alpine ecosystems in the northern Cascades. The species’ survival is threatened by white pine blister rust, mountain pine beetle, fire exclusion, and climate change. We monitored whitebark pine in permanent plots in two national parks three times between 2004 and 2016. The proportion of live trees showing evidence of blister rust infection increased in North Cascades National Park Service Complex from 32% in 2004 to 51% in 2016 and from 18% to 38% in Mount Rainier National Park. Mortality increased from 7% to 21% in North Cascades National Park Service Complex and 38% to 44% in Mount Rainier National Park. The percent of live infected and dead whitebark pine increased with south and east aspects and mortality decreased with elevation. Annualized mortality rates calculated for the entire study period were 1.5% in Mount Rainier National Park and 2.3% in North Cascades National Park Service Complex. Although these rates decreased between the first time period (2004–2009) and the second time period (2009–2016), the prevalence of infected and dead whitebark pine increased across all park landscapes over time and increased in smaller diameter whitebark pine trees

Assessing trends and vulnerabilities in the mutualism between whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) and Clark's nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana) in national parks of the Sierra-Cascade region.

Dispersal of whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis Engelm.), a keystone species of many high-elevation ecosystems in western North America, depends on Clark's nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana Wilson), a seed-caching bird with an affinity for whitebark seeds. To the extent that this dependence is mutual, declines in whitebark seed production could cause declines in nutcracker abundance. Whitebark pine is in decline across much of its range due to interacting stressors, including the non-native pathogen white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola J. C. Fisch.). We used avian point-count data and tree surveys from four national park units to investigate whether trends in whitebark pine can explain trends in Clark's nutcracker. Spatial trends were modeled using recent data from two parks, while temporal trends were modeled using longer time-series of nutcracker and whitebark data from two additional parks. To assess the potential dependence of nutcrackers on whitebark, we linked a model of nutcracker density (accounting for detection probability) with a model of whitebark trends, using a Bayesian framework to translate uncertainty in whitebark metrics to uncertainty in nutcracker density. In Mount Rainier National Park, temporal models showed dramatic declines in nutcracker density concurrent with significant increases in whitebark crown mortality and trees infected with white pine blister rust. However, nutcrackers did not trend with whitebark metrics in North Cascades National Park Service Complex. In spatial models of data from Yosemite National Park and Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park, nutcracker density varied not only with local cover of whitebark but also with elevation and, in Sequoia-Kings Canyon, with cover of another species of white pine. Our results add support for the hypothesis that the mutualism between whitebark pine and Clark's nutcracker is vulnerable to disruption by blister rust, and our approach integrates data across monitoring programs to explore trends in species interactions

Global arthropod beta-diversity is spatially and temporally structured by latitude

Global biodiversity gradients are generally expected to reflect greater species replacement closer to the equator. However, empirical validation of global biodiversity gradients largely relies on vertebrates, plants, and other less diverse taxa. Here we assess the temporal and spatial dynamics of global arthropod biodiversity dynamics using a beta-diversity framework. Sampling includes 129 sampling sites whereby malaise traps are deployed to monitor temporal changes in arthropod communities. Overall, we encountered more than 150,000 unique barcode index numbers (BINs) (i.e. species proxies). We assess between site differences in community diversity using beta-diversity and the partitioned components of species replacement and richness difference. Global total beta-diversity (dissimilarity) increases with decreasing latitude, greater spatial distance and greater temporal distance. Species replacement and richness difference patterns vary across biogeographic regions. Our findings support long-standing, general expectations of global biodiversity patterns. However, we also show that the underlying processes driving patterns may be regionally linked.peerReviewe

Global arthropod beta-diversity is spatially and temporally structured by latitude.

Global biodiversity gradients are generally expected to reflect greater species replacement closer to the equator. However, empirical validation of global biodiversity gradients largely relies on vertebrates, plants, and other less diverse taxa. Here we assess the temporal and spatial dynamics of global arthropod biodiversity dynamics using a beta-diversity framework. Sampling includes 129 sampling sites whereby malaise traps are deployed to monitor temporal changes in arthropod communities. Overall, we encountered more than 150,000 unique barcode index numbers (BINs) (i.e. species proxies). We assess between site differences in community diversity using beta-diversity and the partitioned components of species replacement and richness difference. Global total beta-diversity (dissimilarity) increases with decreasing latitude, greater spatial distance and greater temporal distance. Species replacement and richness difference patterns vary across biogeographic regions. Our findings support long-standing, general expectations of global biodiversity patterns. However, we also show that the underlying processes driving patterns may be regionally linked