"Wisconsin is world-renowned for its diversity of ecological landscapes and wildlife. As climatic fluctuations intensify, the distribution and abundance of these landscapes and associated wildlife populations will be altered. In the following report, we summarize the main issues regarding climate change impacts and adaptation as these relate to Wisconsin's wildlife. In the first part, we provide a general review of Wisconsin's climate and ecosystems, outlining trends in recent and anticipated climate change. The second part provides an overview, based on peer-reviewed research and technical publications, of direct and indirect impacts of climate change on wildlife in Wisconsin. Parts three through five illustrate the impacts of climate change using case studies from three major habitat types in the state (forests, wetlands, and grasslands). This discussion serves to highlight impacts that we anticipate across an array of species. Finally, the last part includes a review of adaptation strategies for wildlife management in an era of global environmental change."--Title page verso (page 2 of cover).

Straddling temperate forests and grassland biomes and stretching along the coastline of two Great Lakes, Wisconsin contains tallgrass prairie and oak savanna, broadleaf and coniferous forests, wetlands, natural lakes, and rivers. But, like the rest of the world, the Badger State has been transformed by urbanization and sprawl, population growth, and land-use change. For decades, industry and environment have attempted to coexist in Wisconsin—and the dynamic tensions between economic progress and environmental protection makes the state a fascinating microcosm for studying global environmental change. The Vanishing Present brings together a distinguished set of contributors—including scientists, naturalists, and policy experts—to examine how human pressures on Wisconsin’s changing lands, waters, and wildlife have redefined the state’s ecology. Though they focus on just one state, the authors draw conclusions about changes in temperate habitats that can be applied elsewhere, and offer useful insights into future of the ecology, conservation, and sustainability of Wisconsin and beyond. A fitting tribute to the home state of Aldo Leopold and John Muir, The Vanishing Present is an accessible and timely case study of a significant ecosystem and its response to environmental change.

A definitive textbook for students of wildlife management. Wildlife Management and Conservation presents a clear overview of the management and conservation of animals, their habitats, and how people influence both. The relationship among these three components of wildlife management is explained in chapters written by leading experts and is designed to prepare wildlife students for careers in which they will be charged with maintaining healthy animal populations; finding ways to restore depleted populations while reducing overabundant, introduced, or pest species; and managing relationships among various human stakeholders. Topics covered in this book include • The definitions of wildlife and management • Human dimensions of wildlife management • Animal behavior • Predator–prey relationships • Structured decision making • Issues of scale in wildlife management • Wildlife health • Historical context of wildlife management and conservation • Hunting and trapping • Nongame species • Nutrition ecology • Water management • Climate change • Conservation planning

This Second Edition of an academic yet non-technical resource examines the effects, history and ongoing research in the important field of global warming and climate change.

Wildlife Responses to Climate Change is the culmination of a three-year project to research and study the impacts of global climate change on ecosystems and individual wildlife species in North America. In 1997, the National Wildlife Federation provided fellowships to eight outstanding graduate students to conduct research on global climate change, and engaged leading climate change experts Stephen H. Schneider and Terry L. Root to advise and guide the project. This book presents the results, with chapters describing groundbreaking original research by some of the brightest young scientists in America. The book presents case studies that examine: ways in which local and regional climate variables affect butterfly populations and habitat ranges how variations in ocean temperatures have affected intertidal marine species the potential effect of reduced snow cover on plants in the Rocky Mountains the potential effects of climate change on the distribution of vegetation in the United States how climate change may increase the susceptibility of ecosystems to invasions of non-native species the potential for environmental change to alter interactions between a variety of organisms in whitebark pine communities of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem Also included are two introductory chapters by Schneider and Root that discuss the rationale behind the project and offer an overview of climate change and its implications for wildlife. Each of the eight case studies provides important information about how biotic systems respond to climatic variables, and how a changing climate may affect biotic systems in the future. They also acknowledge the inherent complexities of problems likely to arise from changes in climate, and demonstrate the types of scientific questions that need to be explored in order to improve our understanding of how climate change and other human disturbances affect wildlife and ecosystems. Wildlife Responses to Climate Change is an important addition to the body of knowledge critical to scientists, resource managers, and policymakers in understanding and shaping solutions to problems caused by climate change. It provides a useful resource for students and scientists studying the effects of climate change on wildlife and will assist resource managers and other wildlife professionals to better understand factors affecting the species they are striving to conserve.