Climate connectivity explained: What is it and how can you support it?
By Chloe Bennett
Warmer temperatures are triggering more extreme weather in the park, including heavier rain and shorter winters. Researchers aren’t certain how local flora and fauna will change with developments, but studies suggest they could be on the move.
Nearly half of the world’s species may be moving northward and upslope, studies show. Fostering pathways and land connections could be key to helping some species survive the effects of climate change.
What is climate connectivity?
Plants and animals in the coming decades may need to travel long distances to find suitable climates and habitat. A 2016 research paper coined climate connectivity using established science and maps of wild areas in the U.S.
Jenny McGuire, an author of the study, said many animals are tracking to cooler areas, but much of the country’s wilderness is cut by development and roads. Planning for the migration is key to climate connectivity, the research shows.
Wildlife corridors, which are designed to aid animals along undeveloped land and waters, are prioritized by conservationists looking to boost connectivity. The North Country is close to several of the linkages, including Tug Hill to the west, Algonquin in Canada and Vermont’s Green Mountains.
How are the Adirondacks involved?
The Adirondacks are a nexus to the network of corridors and could provide critical habitat for species on the move. Its location and heavily forested land would benefit the migrating species, scientists say.
The protected park could also one day provide a breeding ground for declining animal populations, said Alissa Fadden, wildlife connectivity project manager for The Nature Conservancy. The organization views the Adirondacks as a stronghold against extreme weather that is expected to increase with climate change.
John Davis, a rewilding advocate based in the Champlain Valley, said the wilder the land, the better suited it is for the effects of climate change.
“Big wild connected habitats will tend to be more resilient, they’ll tend to withstand disturbances, natural and unnatural, more successfully than will fragmented habitats,”
JOhn Davis, who created the Hemlock Rock Wildlife Sanctuary on his land in Westport.
Are unusual animals going to appear in my backyard?
Plants and animals with permanent homes in southern climes will not show up in the Adirondacks tomorrow, as climate migration could take decades or centuries. Some efforts to move species proactively as temperatures rise have been made, such as assisted migration for monarchs in Mexico, but no such large-scale efforts are currently underway in the park.
How can I support animal migration and climate connectivity?
Adirondackers who want to conserve their land can work with local organizations to ensure connectivity. Fadden suggests strategies including keeping lands completely wild or managing forests for wildlife and climate resilience. That can be done through individual experts or by entering a conservation easement with the state.
“We also often would suggest meeting with a consultant or someone who maybe has experience in managing habitat for specific wildlife species that they’re interested in or increased resiliency so that their properties are well positioned to better withstand the impacts of climate change,” Fadden said.
People with plots big and small are encouraged to reach out to the conservancy, the connectivity project planner said. Small properties can add up to a large linkage of wild land to support migrating species.
“All of these things really play a role in keeping our landscapes healthy and connected, these are all solutions to the big issues that we’re facing,” Fadden said.
Photo at the top by Jeff Nadler
I moved to the adirondacks in 2012. In the 12 years I lived here I have seen the devastating effects of the changing climate. This optimism of wildlife moving north and us helping them seems to be a pipe dream or just hoping things get better without any of us making the changes that would really help the wildlife and the planet….. I will say it because most wont….. Stop putting carbon in the air and reverse the human population…..Hard pill to swallow, but it is the action that would help all around. As to helping the animals moving north…. the reason they are moving is to find food and beat the heat. The animals in the adirondacks now will be moving north, out of the adirondacks to look for their food, because the heating of the planet will kill what they live on now. We cant help them if we continue to populate and destroy their habitat. We build more and more housing in the wild Adirondacks and then look out our windows at the wilderness we just destroyed and ask, how can we help the wildlife. Seems silly i know. The answer is clear but the actions are mostly impossible. Man wont stop wanting more and wont give up what he already has in order to make a difference.
One example of what we would have to give up inorder to help,…. say the monarch butterfly,… would be to stop killing their food source (milkweed) with the herbicides we use on our soybean and corn fields. This means allowing the milkweed to grow amongst our food crops, along our road sides, and in our yards and fields, like it did in the 50s, before the chemical companys created the pesticides and herbicides that make mono croping possible to feeding millions of people at the expense of the monarchs. Do we think this is possible,,yes,, will we do it ,, no,,. The small efforts of making wildlife corridors and butterfly gardens and flyways are just that….small…. I applaud the people making this effort and like it to continue….It makes people feel good. What we cant have is this clouding of the minds of the masses thinking this is the solution. Because it makes us feel good wont solve the big problems. ( Pesticides, Herbicides, Urban sprawl, Plastic Production, Filling our skies with fossil fuel carbon, and most of all over population). These are the hugh problems man wont stop. These all need to stop now if the small efforts are going to make a difference.
Just an idea.
Maybe they should do some clear cuts, firebreaks at least, until they can start doing controlled burns more roads instead of fewer, The Ntl Forests are saving trees and here in KS even prairie with controlled burns. You all believe the droughts and raging wildfires were not just climate change but global warming? If you truly believe it then why would we hesitate to take preventive measures to save the ADK? Canada lost over 30 million acres; they had a lot of forever wild. I’ve seen it before back when the lumbered the Laurentians and floated logs to Hull. I have witnessed controlled burns in MO the same day wild fires blanketed nearly 30 square miles with smoke. I’ve seen controlled burns in the GWJ NTL FOR. I know in down state NY they did controlled burns I saw it reported in the AE. If we truly believe in climate change forever wild is a bad idea. Controlled burns have this advantage over wild fires, the temps are better regulated allowing for faster regrowth of the forest.