The Appalachian Mountains - A wildlife highway for climate change adaptation

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The July 16th Web Forum for the Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy (SECAS) will feature a presentation by Jacob Blandford, Appalachia Landscape Conservation Coordinator with the Center for Large Landscape Conservation.

Ecological connectivity is a critical component of landscape conservation, supporting viable fish and wildlife populations by enabling movement across the landscape, facilitating seasonal migrations, gene flow, and other natural processes. Additionally, connectivity is critical for enabling species to adapt to climate change by allowing them to move freely to track shifting habitats and suitable climate conditions.

The Appalachian Mountains have been identified as a climate corridor that will enable wildlife populations to expand northward and to high elevations as they seek habitats and suitable climate conditions under climate change.

Maintaining and enhancing ecological connectivity at multiple scales—from fine-scale habitat corridors and pinch points, up to the vast extent of the Appalachian Mountain corridor—is a priority shared by the Center…