Priorities for Climate Change Connectivity in Pennsylvania
A guide to working with a new statewide data set to support conservation of climate change connectivity
Pennsylvania is already experiencing the impacts of climate change, including an increase in flooding intensity and frequency.
In the past, species could move great distances relatively unimpeded in response to changes in their environment. As our climate shifts at an unprecedented rate, however, fragmentation of the natural environment by human land uses may prevent species from successfully moving into areas with suitable climate.
Maintaining and restoring connectivity—the degree to which a landscape facilitates the movement of organisms—has emerged as an important strategy for conservation in the face of climate change. The Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program (PNHP) developed a climate change connectivity analysis for Pennsylvania, based primarily on the Nature’s Network project , facilitated by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The results of this GIS spatial analysis highlight a statewide network of connected and resilient high biodiversity value terrestrial areas.
This digital guide will introduce you to the results of this analysis and highlight some of the aspects of the data set which are best suited for application to conservation planning solutions.
Climate Change Connectivity Priority Scores
The darkest red areas on the map are the highest priority natural lands for maintaining climate change connectivity in Pennsylvania. All of the Cores and Connectors identified on the map, however, are considered key parts of a network of natural terrestrial habitats that facilitate movement of species, allowing populations to naturally redistribute in response to changing temperature and precipitation.
The overall climate change connectivity score calculated in this model is an index combining five individual conservation factors: regional flow, biodiversity value, resiliency, geophysical setting, and landscape condition. Each Core and Connector within the climate change connectivity data set has a separate score for each of these metrics, in addition to the overall connectivity priority score. Examining individual priorities for each of these metrics can provide insight into the ecological basis for prioritizing some areas over others, when planning for climate change in Pennsylvania.
PNHP envisions this data being particularly useful for identifying high priority restoration, management, and land protection projects to support climate change connectivity in Pennsylvania.
We included additional attribute fields in this data set, highlighting a set of supplemental conservation priorities. The below maps are interactive, and clicking on an individual Core or Connector will display attribute information.
The climate change connectivity dataset is a new planning and management resource for conservation in Pennsylvania. Assessing how Pennsylvania's landscape provides for species movement between remnant habitat patches should be an important component of all future Pennsylvania conservation efforts. We encourage the widespread use of these resources, in projects ranging from local-scale conservation efforts to strategic statewide conservation planning. We also encourage feedback from users, and recommend pairing these datasets with other existing spatial data, such as parcel maps, species habitat suitability models, and greenway plans.
To gain access to the Climate Change Connectivity dataset, visit CCC Parcels Layer for Public Use - Overview (arcgis.com) .
See examples of how to use the data at Climate Change Connectivity Case Studies (arcgis.com) and a recorded webinar with user instructions at https://youtu.be/gvevEekWt1c .
If you have specific questions about this analysis and the results, please contact David Yeany, dyeany@paconserve.org.
