One of the focus areas of the Prairie RAC is to deal with policy issues associated with landscape and ecosystem change resulting from increasing moisture deficits and longer term drought which have been identified as a major risk across the prairies. All ecosystems in the Prairie Provinces are impacted by climate change. However, there are major ecosystem differences associated with the transition from grasslands in the south to forests in the north. Vulnerabilities to climate change, and resulting policy issues, show many parallels between grassland and forest, but also some differences. This component of the RAC has been titled Terrestrial Ecosystems.

A common assessment framework is proposed for the Forest and Grassland Management activities. The Forestry Component will deal with the vulnerability of the southern boreal forest, and the implications for forest management planning and forest policy. The Grassland Component will deal with the vulnerability of grasslands, and the implications for rangeland management, policy related to grassland biodiversity, and conservation/restoration of grasslands.

Decision makers in the Prairie Provinces range from Unawareness to General Awareness of climate change adaptation in relation to terrestrial ecosystem policy. The PRAC proposal for this component of the project is designed to raise awareness and engage decision makers to come to a consensus on adaptation priorities for further knowledge development and detailed analysis through selected case studies. The proposal also takes advantage of the opportunity to collaborate across Prairie jurisdictions on common objectives.

Go to the Ecosystems theme publications or view all PUBLICATIONS.