Wild Connections hosted a Climate Modeling event on January 26,where Alison Gallensky of Rocky Mountain Wild presented the Wild Connections Conservation Plan. The main question being considered was: “where will biodiversity persist as the climate changes”?
Biodiversity is defined as the variety of life in the world, or particular ecosystem. This presentation focused on the region and its ecosystems.
Courtesy image.
Biodiversity can be measured in four different ways:
- Species richness, which is the total number of species within an area,
- Genetic diversity, which is the total variety of genes within a single species
- Endemic species or a species that occur somewhere and nowhere else in the world
- Ecosystem diversity, which is the total number of ecosystems in the region.
Gallensky went on to explain that climate changes threatens biodiversity. She then explained that Climate Refugia are places where climate scientists believe biodiversity will likely persist.
An interactive map was created to model what is happening in the natural world. Rocky Mountain Wild combined different models and data sets to create a more complete understanding of what is happening now and what could happen in the future. To see the interactive map beginning with our Rocky Mountain region, including where conservation easements have been created in our own county (zoom out to see how we fit into the interactive map of the U.S.), click here.
To watch the full presentation, click here.
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