Rocky Mountain Research Station

Title: A System for Assessing Vulnerability of Species (SAVS) to Climate Change

Author: Bagne, Karen E.; Friggens, Megan M.; Finch, Deborah M.

Date: 2011

Source: Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-257. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 28 p.

Station ID: GTR-RMRS-257

Description: Sustained conservation of species requires integration of future climate change effects, but few tools exist to assist managers. The System for Assessing Vulnerability of Species (SAVS) identifies the relative vulnerability or resilience of vertebrate species to climate change. Designed for managers, the SAVS is an easily applied tool that uses a questionnaire of 22 predictive criteria to create vulnerability scores. The user scores species' attributes relating to potential vulnerability or resilience associated with projections for their region. Six scores are produced: an overall score denoting level of vulnerability or resilience, four categorical scores (habitat, physiology, phenology, and biotic interactions) indicating source of vulnerability, and an uncertainty score, which reflects user confidence in the predicted response. The SAVS provides a framework for integrating new information into the climate change assessment process.

Keywords: climate change, vulnerability, vertebrate species, conservation, resource management

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Citation

Bagne, Karen E.; Friggens, Megan M.; Finch, Deborah M.  2011.  A System for Assessing Vulnerability of Species (SAVS) to Climate Change.   Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-257. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 28 p..