Resources

Reports and assessments

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About the SW CASC

The Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center has produced an introduction to its mission and FY 2025 priorities to provide valuable insights to stakeholders, policymakers, and associated researchers. Click through to learn more about the center’s collaborative efforts and research activities aimed at tackling climate change in the southwestern U.S.

2020 SW CASC Highlights and Impact screenshot

Annual Reports

The Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center has produced yearly annual reports since 2011 in an effort to provide helpful information to stakeholders, policy makers, and associated researchers. Click through to find out more information about this and get a quick overview of the efforts and research the SW CASC has been doing throughout the years.

A feild of a salt marsh

Increasing Salt Marsh Elevation Using Sediment Augmentation

This article explores a strategy to protect our coastal wetlands from rising sea levels: adding new sediment! The study compares a marsh restoration project in southern California to natural processes to explore how effective this method is.

Cover page of Current Coastal Resource Management report

Current Coastal Resource Management Workshop

The one-day workshop, Current Coastal Resource Management and Planning Priorities – How does Climate Fit In?, was held in Los Angeles, California, at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) on August 20, 2019, and brought together SW CASC scientists and coastal resource managers. The first meeting, described in this report, set priorities and research aims, the second meeting will provide an interim assessment by a smaller select group of engaged stakeholders, and the final larger meeting will focus on communication of results and framing of management and planning actions required for current and future needs and priorities.

Screenshot of cover page for SW CASC 2019 Stakeholder Needs Assessment.

Stakeholder Needs Assessment

In 2018, to help fulfill the Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center’s (SW CASC) mission of developing useful science products for natural resource managers, researchers conducted a rapid assessment of science and information needs of Southwest natural resource managers in Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah.

Researchers assessed (a) stakeholder research, data and information needs, (b) communication and engagement preferences, (c) training and extension needs, and (d) identified partnership and collaboration barriers and opportunities. Outcomes from this assessment include improved communication with state natural resource agencies; increased understanding of the SW CASC stakeholder science needs; enhanced capacity for the SW CASC to conduct needs assessments, and relationships to seed a knowledge network. A final report from this assessment can be found attached below. Other products include a blog and a webinar.

Cover photo for The Ecological Society of America's Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment Issue No. 10, Vol. 15, December 2017. Features birds sharing a small fish together on a beach.

Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment - Translational Ecology

A new issue of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment published on December 1, 2017 focuses on the emerging field of translational ecology. Modeled after translational medicine, the field aims to connect researchers in ecology with the people who apply that research on a day-to-day basis—policy makers, local governments, and natural resource managers. Work featured in the special issue was funded by the USGS through the Southwest Climate Science Center and National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center.

Screenshot of cover page for Societal Impacts Guidebook

Societal Impact of Research

Societal impacts are the ways that research, or the process of conducting research, influence the world beyond academia. The following resources provide information on understanding the societal impact of research, and how to demonstrate and document the societal relevance of research.

Screenshot of cover page for 2013 SW Climate Change Assessment Report.

Southwest Climate Change Assessment Report

Assessment of Climate Change in the Southwest United States is a technical report prepared for the Third National Climate Assessment (https://nca2014.globalchange.gov/). The full report, along with all figures and a Spanish version of the Summary for Decision Makers, are available on the SWCCAR site.

The report was published in 2013, and was the first deliverable of the SW CASC. It is a synthesis of knowledge (from some 120 contributing experts) on climate and its effects on the people and landscapes of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, the U.S.– Mexico border region, and the lands of Native Nations. The report offers decision makers and stakeholders a substantial basis from which to make informed choices that will affect the well-being of the region’s inhabitants in the decades to come.

Round Table Final Report

Preventing Extreme Fire Events

The final technical report for "Preventing Extreme Fire Events by Learning from Historical Fire Events, Weather, and Drought" provides a better understanding of the longer- and shorter-term environmental factors that drive fire activity and provides the basis for a new set of predictive models of wildland fires using weather and drought measures for the major climate regions in California. The project is a combined effort from researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and Desert Research Institute.