Name: NatureServe Vulnerability Index
Reference: Young, B. E., K. R. Hall, E. Byers, K. Gravuer, G. Hammerson, A. Redder, and K. Szabo. 2012. Rapid assessment of plant and animal vulnerability to climate change. Pages 129-152 in Wildlife Conservation in a Changing Climate, edited by J. Brodie, E. Post, and D. Doak. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL.
Download version 2.1: https://connect.natureserve.org/science/climate-change/ccvi
Conservation planning step(s) when this would be used: This is used during the threats analysis component of the Review Status step.
Description of tool use: This tool is used to assess the relative vulnerability of a species to climate change based on both exposure and sensitivity. Input is Excel-based and relies on expert opinion and peer-reviewed literature as available. Components of the tool include a species specific analysis of: direct and indirect exposure to climate change, biological sensitivity, and documented/modeled responses to climate change.
Experience and expertise required to use the tool: Though the software tool itself is relatively simple and intuitive to use, the input relies on expert opinion, so access to expert knowledge in the relevant areas is essential for appropriately interpreting the results and application.
Data requirements: Details of species biology, population dynamics, species interactions, and abundance are required for appropriate use (expert opinion preferred). Additional spatial information on current species distributions along with the best available information on projected shifts in temperature, precipitation, and soil moisture at the finest scale possible will allow for improved interpretation of overall impact. When available, documented species responses to climate change will influence and inform the result.
Cost: Tool is free; costs are associated with working with experts and/or securing any distribution or climate change projection spatial data.
Strengths and weaknesses, when to use and interpret with caution: The strength of this tool is in the ability to take complex climate change impacts and combine them into an interpretable index that incorporates both direct and indirect exposure as well as species-specific sensitivities. It also provides a unique forum for expert elicitation and recognition of the potentially key factors that contribute to a species’ vulnerability to climate change.
As with many tools, the interpretation of the results will be dependent on the quality of the inputs. Transparency will be key, as supporting information can often be provided by expert elicitation where assumptions about the inputs can be overlooked. Understanding how the index will be used to make decisions or prioritization will also be important. Is one more vulnerable species more important than another? The tool is agnostic on this front, as it should be, but users should be cautious in assuming that it will provide the answers needed for climate change ‘triage’. Finally, the tool is species-based, with a terrestrial focus. Use in marine systems and for complex habitats will be limited.
Case study:
Dubois et al. 2011. Integrating climate change vulnerability assessments into adaptation planning. Prepared for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
http://www.defenders.org/resources/publications/programs_and_policy/gw/integrating_climate_change_vulnerability_into_adaption_planning.pdf
Back to Abruzzi Table 1.
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Contributor(s): Amielle DeWan
Affiliation: IFAW
Email: adewan@ifaw.org
Date: 7 February 2011