By Rick Schneider

Climate change is already having significant impacts on wild species and ecosystems, and these are likely to increase considerably in the future. Climate change components affecting biodiversity include increasing temperature, changes in precipitation patterns, and increases in the frequency and intensity of storms flooding, droughts, and wildfires. Natural systems provide numerous benefits to humans, including ecosystem services that sustain communities and economies. Action is needed now to safeguard species and ecosystems and the communities and economies that depend on them. Addressing the growing threats brought about by rapid climate change will require new approaches to natural resource management and conservation. The conservation community, including staff at state and federal natural resource agencies, nonprofit conservation organizations, and universities, has been working to develop and implement strategies to help species adapt to climate change. What follows is an exploration of some of the impacts of climate change, particularly in the Great Plains, and some adaptation strategies to address those impacts.