Files
Abstract
Natural resources practitioners working in Great Lakes coastal ecosystems face decisions about how to help coastal properties adapt to climate changes. Climate change can amplify existing stressors, interact with past coastal disturbance and management, and potentially increase the rate and magnitude of ongoing change. Practitioners can strengthen their long-term plans through proactive and intentional consideration of climate changes and by selecting adaptation options that address these changes while meeting management goals and objectives. In 2019-2021 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science convened regional managers and scientists to develop a menu of climate adaptation strategies and approaches for Great Lakes coastal ecosystems. This menu can be used along with a structured decision-making framework to facilitate planning and implementation of climate-informed tactics. The menu was tested with several organizations in project-level planning in the Great Lakes watershed.