In a statement released last week (26 January 2010) on Ecosystem Management in a Changing Climate, the Ecological Society of America said that "[b]uffering against the impacts of climate change will require new strategies to both mitigate the extent of change and adapt to changes that are inevitable" (emphasis added). The ESA says that "[t]he sooner such strategies are deployed, the more effective they will be in reducing irreversible damage."

After warning that "ecosystems are already responding to climate change," and that further warming "may impair the ability of many such systems to provide critical resources and services like food, clean water, and carbon sequestration," the ESA outlines a series of appropriate mitigation and adaptation responses.

Managing Ecosystems to Limit Climate Change ("mitigation")

"Prioritize low-alteration strategies. Many ecosystems sequester a sizable amount of carbon—simply allowing them to function naturally can significantly help mitigation efforts. Deforestation, for example, has a two-fold impact: removing agents of carbon sequestration—trees in this instance—while simultaneously releasing stored carbon. Therefore, preserving forests is a straightforward way to both reduce and offset emissions.

Critically evaluate management-intensive strategies. Management strategies that seek to increase carbon sequestration above natural levels should undergo thorough life-cycle analysis and evaluation prior to implementation. For example, increasing carbon uptake on agricultural lands—one approach to enhancing the sequestration potential of ecosystems—typically requires more fertilizer than standard processes; the tradeoff, therefore, is higher emissions and pollution associated with fertilizer production.

Acknowledge the ecological implications of geoengineering. Understand the potential risks associated with engineering the environment, called geoengineering, and the unintended negative impacts that could emerge from long-term or widespread use. For example, injecting sulfur particles into the atmosphere to reflect solar rays would have a cooling effect but could also increase acid rain and destabilize weather patterns.

Address long-term risks. Assess the far-reaching consequences of ecosystem alterations. Monitor carbon stores sequestered under given management practices and develop or apply models to forecast ecosystem responses several decades into the future."

Managing Ecosytems to Withstand Climate Change Impacts (commonly called "adaptation")

"Take additional steps to protect water quality and quantity. Freshwater resources are at particular risk from the interaction of climate change and intensification of human use. Rising temperatures have already lowered river flows, warmed surface waters and dried out wetlands. Sustaining freshwater resources is critical to both environmental and public health.

Enable natural species migration across human dominated landscapes. Create and maintain wildlife corridors across jurisdictions and private lands to help species relocate and adapt as habitats shift with climate change. Steps should be taken to restore the ability of native species to migrate across landscapes severely fragmented by human land use.

Improve capacity to predict extreme events. Monitoring and modeling natural disturbance and recovery processes at regional scales will help state and federal agencies understand and respond to novel rates and intensities of environmental change.

Manage collaboratively at the ecosystem level. Many natural resources and services, such as fresh water, clean air and crop pollination, are not contained within jurisdictional boundaries; resource management should reflect this and operate at the ecosystem level."

Online resources:

• Managing ecosystems in a changing climate.  Press release (26 January 2010) from ESA.
• ESA Position Statement: Ecosystem Management in a Changing Climate (2010).  Statement issue on 26 January 2010 by the ESA