Season 1, Episode 8
Combating Climate Change by Understanding Climate and Animal Migration Patterns Through Projection Models with Josh Lawler
In this episode of From the Field, guest Josh Lawler, an ecologist and professor, discusses how climate projections in relation to animal migration could show how and where landscapes need to be improved in order to ensure the survival of hundreds of species throughout the Americas.
You'll Learn
How Josh’s interests in ecology began early on as a child.
Josh’s path through academia.
How a trip on the Appalacian trail changed Josh’s views on conservation forever.
Creating a lab at the University of Washington for climate projections and conservation.
Conservation planning didn’t always take climate change into account.
Understanding how plants and animals might move in the face of climate change is key base line information.
Finding out how little landscapes in Americas are connected and what needs to be done about it.
How Josh and his team used models to build maps to identify areas that animals and plants will move to and areas that need to be improved.
What is connectivity and how do you see that on the landscape?
How uncertainty of the future plays a role in modeling and landscape management.
Beavers can play a role in climate adaptability by creating dams and cooling water.
Why people should still have hope despite the startling projected survival rate numbers.
Links From the Episode:
Migrations in Motion Map – Josh’s study used to create map.
Landscape Ecology and Conservation Lab
About Josh
ABOUT DR. JOSH LAWLER
Josh Lawler is an ecologist driven by applied conservation questions and their real-world applications, with climate change at the root. In particular, he is interested in how climate change can drive shifts in plant and animal distributions, and the impacts those shifts have at both the species and the ecosystem level. He uses a combination of field experiments and statistical and simulation modeling techniques, and works with collaborators to design tools that conservation planners can use to assess the impacts that climate change will have on protected landscapes. Additionally, he studies how climate change affects not only animals and plants, but also people, in this case through the loss of ecosystem services such as carbon storage, as well as the ways that human health, climate, and environment are connected. (UW Website)