Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Northern Great Plains, North America

  • Chapter
Climate and Conservation

Abstract

The Northern Great Plains in many ways represents North America’s grassland future. It houses high-quality grassland and sagebrush habitat for a diverse assortment of species that are uniquely adapted to the region, and it supports farming and ranching livelihoods that have helped to shape the land. Because grasslands and shrublands are such complex systems that face myriad threats, the impact of climate change is often overlooked. Efforts to engage scientists and managers in climate change-scenario planning are under way. However, moving into the coming decades, it will be necessary for climate change to become a unifying theme in conservation in the region.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Ricketts, T. H., E. Dinerstein, D. M. Olson, and C. J. Loucks. 1999. Terrestrial Ecoregions of North America: A Conservation Assessment. Washington, DC: Island Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forrest, S. C., H. Strand, W. H. Haskins, C. Freese, and E. Dinerstein. 2004. Ocean of Grass: A Conservation Assessment for the Northern Great Plains. Bozeman, MT: Northern Plains Conservation Network and Northern Great Plains Ecoregion, WWF-US.

    Google Scholar 

  • Batt, B. D. 1996. “Prairie Ecology/Prairie Wetlands.” In Prairie Conservation: Preserving North America’s Most Endangered Ecosystem, F. B. Samson and F. L. Knopf, eds. Washington, DC: Island Press, 77–90.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGranahan, D. A. and C. A. Beale. 2002. “Understanding Rural Population Loss.” Rural America 17:2–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bragg, T. B. and A. A. Steuter. 1996. “Prairie Ecology: The Mixed Prairie.” In Prairie Conservation: Preserving North America’s Most Endangered Ecosystem, F. B. Samson, and F. L. Knopf, eds. Washington, DC: Island Press, 53–63.

    Google Scholar 

  • IISD (International Institute for Sustainable Development). 1990. Wetland Areas Lost or Degraded since Settlement in the Prairie/Parkland Region (Potential Areas Available for Restoration, Creation, and Enhancement). IISD, citing Ducks Unlimited 1990 Continental Conservation Plan. http://www.iisd.org/wetlands/sci_abstrct1.htm (accessed January 12, 2012).

    Google Scholar 

  • Higgins, K. F., D. E. Naugle, and K. J. Forman. 2002. “A Case Study of Changing Land Use Practices in the Northern Great Plains, USA: An Uncertain Future for Waterbird Conservation.” Waterbirds 25, special publication no. 2:42–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • TNC (The Nature Conservancy). 2000. Ecoregional Planning in the Northern Great Plains Steppe. TNC Northern Great Plains Ecoregional Planning Team.

    Google Scholar 

  • Karl, J. W. and J. Hoth. 2005. North American Central Grasslands Priority Conservation Areas: Technical Report and Documentation. Montreal, Québec: Commission for Environmental Cooperation and The Nature Conservancy.

    Google Scholar 

  • MFWP (Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks). 2010. Crucial Areas Planning System. Helena, MT: MFWP. fwp.mt.gov/wildthings/conservationInAction/crucialAreas.html (accessed January 6, 2012).

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, P. F., M. Grue, and J. Landry-DeBoer. 2007. “Resource Selection by Pronghorn Antelope in the Grassland Natural Region of Alberta; Progress Report No. 3.” Lethbridge, Alberta: Alberta Conservation Association. www.albertapronghorn.com/tasks/sites/default/assets/File/Antelope%202004–2005%20Summary_.pdf (accessed January 6, 2012).

    Google Scholar 

  • Tack, J. D. 2006. Sage Grouse and the Human Footprint: Implications for Conservation of Small and Declining Populations. MS thesis, University of Montana, Missoula.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jørgensen, D. and J. Nicholson. 2007. Reproductive Biology of Female Prairie Rattlesnakes (Crotalus viridis viridis) in Alberta. Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, Fish and Wildlife Division, Alberta Species at Risk Report No. 103, Edmonton, AB.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jørgensen, D., C. C. Gates, and D. P. Whiteside. 2008. “Movements, Migrations, and Mechanisms: A Review of Radiotelemetry Studies of Prairie (Crotalus v. viridis) and Western (Crotalus oreganus) Rattlesnakes.” In The Biology of Rattlesnakes, W. K. Hayes, K. R. Beaman, M. D. Cardwell, and S. P. Bush, eds. Loma Linda, CA: Loma Linda University Press, 303–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jørgensen, D. 2009. Annual migrations of female prairie rattlesnakes, Crotalus v. viridid, in Alberta. Master’s thesis, University of Calgary. dspace.ucalgary.ca/bitstream/1880/47445/1/Jorgensen_2009.pdf.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, T. D. and P. D. Jones. 2005. “An Improved Method of Constructing a Database of Monthly Climate Observations and Associated High-resolution Grids.” International Journal of Climatology 25:693–712.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meehl, G. A., C. Covey, T. Delworth, M. Latif, B. McAvaney, J. F. B. Mitchell, R. J. Stouffer, and K. E. Taylor. 2007. “The WCRP CMIP3 Multi-model Dataset: A New Era in Climate Change Research.” Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 88:1383–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schrag, A. M. 2011. “Addendum: Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Strategies.” In Ocean of Grass: A Conservation Assessment for the Northern Great Plains, S. C. Forrest, H. Strand, W.H. Haskins, C. Freese, J. Proctor, and E. Dinerstein, eds. Bozeman, MT: Northern Plains Conservation Network and Northern Great Plains Ecoregion, World Wildlife Fund-US.

    Google Scholar 

  • Karl, T. R., J. M. Melillo, and T. C. Peterson. 2009. Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States. U.S. Global Change Research Program: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, J. S., E. C. Grimm, J. J. Donovan, S. C. Fritz, D. R. Engstrom, and J. E. Almendinger. 2002. “Drought Cycles and Landscape Responses to Past Aridity on Prairies of the Northern Great Plains, USA.” Ecology 83:595–601.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bachelet, D., R. P. Neilson, T. Hickler, R. J. Drapek, J. M. Lenihan, M. T. Sykes, B. Smith, S. Sitch, and K. Thonicke. 2003. “Simulating Past and Future Dynamics of Natural Ecosystems in the United States.” Global Biogeochemical Cycles 17:14–1–14–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thorpe, J. 2010. Climate Change and the South of the Divide Project. Presentation at Climate Adaptation Workshop, Cypress Hills, Saskatchewan, June 23–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradley, B. A. 2009. “Regional Analysis of the Impacts of Climate Change on Cheatgrass Invasion Shows Potential Risk and Opportunity.” Global Change Biology 15:196–208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peterson, A. T. 2003. “Projected Climate Change Effects on Rocky Mountain and Great Plains Birds: Generalities of Biodiversity Consequences.” Global Change Biology 9:647–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Konrad, S. K., S. N. Miller, W. K. Reeves, and N. S. Tietze. 2009. “Spatially Explicit West Nile Virus Risk Modeling in Santa Clara County, CA.” Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases 9:267–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collinge, S. K., W. C. Johnson, C. Ray, R. Matchett, J. Grensten, and J. F. Cully Jr. 2005. “Testing the Generality of a Trophic-cascade Model for Plague.” EcoHealth 2:102–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snäll, T., R. B. O’Hara, C. Ray, and S. K. Collinge. 2008. “Climate-driven Spatial Dynamics of Plague among Prairie Dog Colonies.” American Naturalist 171:238–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skagen, S. K. 2009. Avian Conservation in the Prairie Pothole Region, Northern Great Plains: Understanding the Links between Climate, Ecosystem Processes, Wetland Management and Bird Communities. Project summary, USGS National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center.

    Google Scholar 

  • USFWS (United States Fish and Wildlife Service). 2010. Plains and Prairie Potholes Landscape Conservation Cooperative Map. www.fws.gov/midwest/climate/LCC/PPP/areamap.htm (accessed January 11, 2012).

    Google Scholar 

  • Covich, A. P., S. C. Fritz, P. J. Lamb, R. D. Marzolf, W. J. Matthews, K. A. Poiani, et al. 1997. “Potential Effects of Climate Change on Aquatic Ecosystems of the Great Plains of North America.” Hydrological Processes 11:993–1021.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Craine, J. M., E. G. Towne, A. Joern, and R. G. Hamilton. 2009. “Consequences of Climate Variability for the Performance of Bison in Tallgrass Prairie.” Global Change Biology 15: 772–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Memmott, J., P. G. Craze, N. M. Waser, and M. V. Price. 2007. “Global Warming and the Disruption of Plant-pollinator Interactions.” Ecology Letters 10:710–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prasad, P. V., S. R. Pisipati, Z. Ristic, U. Bukovnik, and A. K. Fritz. 2008. “Impact of Nighttime Temperature on Physiology and Growth of Spring Wheat.” Crop Physiology and Metabolism 48:2372–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council). 2010. “Climate Change, Water and Risk: Current Water Demands Are Not Sustainable.” Washington, DC: NRDC. www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/watersustainability/files/WaterRisk.pdf (accessed January 10, 2012).

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, S., M. Cross, and A. Schrag. 2008. Anticipating Climate Change in Montana: A Report on the Workshop with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Focused on the Sagebrush-stepppe and Yellowstone River Systems. NWF, WCS, WWF, and MTWFP. www.worldwildlife.org/what/wherewework/ngp/publications.html (accessed January 6, 2012).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Northern Great Plains Program, Montana, USA

    Anne M. Schrag (Ecologist)

  2. Oregon State University, USA

    Steve Forrest (Consultant)

Authors
  1. Anne M. Schrag
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Steve Forrest
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of California, Berkeley, USA

    Jodi A. Hilty (director) (director)

  2. environmental politics at Brandeis University and the Fletcher School at Tufts University, USA

    Charles C. Chester (assistant professor) (assistant professor)

  3. Wildlife Conservation Society, USA

    Molly S. Cross (coordinator) (coordinator)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2012 Island Press

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Schrag, A.M., Forrest, S. (2012). Northern Great Plains, North America. In: Hilty, J.A., Chester, C.C., Cross, M.S. (eds) Climate and Conservation. Island Press/Center for Resource Economics. https://doi.org/10.5822/978-1-61091-203-7_9

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation