Why is this important?Climate change poses great challenges to natural resource management. It is impacting the health and productivity of lands and waters and the animals and plants that depend on them, and will exacerbate other threats from habitat loss and invasive species. It threatens the services natural lands provide—from clean water and forest products to outdoor recreation. Increasing need to mitigate climate change: The governor's Minnesota Climate Change Advisory Group highlighted the role land management can play in reducing greenhouse gases. Preventing conversion of forest lands and protecting peatlands and wetlands play an important role in capturing and storing large quantities of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Increasing need to adapt to climate change: Minnesota ecosystems will be in transition over the next 50 to 100 years. Managers must find new ways to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of ecosystems in the face of climate change. Warming waters: Climate change is expected to cause major changes in lakes and streams. Warming waters could shrink the number of trout streams and lake trout and cisco lakes, push walleye and northern pike populations northward, and expand the distribution of bass and panfish populations.  Minnesota's northwestern moose population has dropped to fewer than 100 animals, and the northeastern population also is declining. DNR biologists have correlated heat stress and increased mortality. If trends continue, moose could disappear from Minnesota within 40 years. Drying wetlands: Wetlands are projected to become drier, altering plant communities and degrading waterfowl and other wildlife habitat. Shifting forests: The range of major northern tree species such as black and white spruce and balsam fir is projected to shift northeastward out of the state if warming trends continue over the next 100 years. Forests may become savannas, and hardwood forests may persist mainly on north-facing slopes in some areas. Recreation and tourism: Recreation will be affected by changed winter weather, loss of habitat, and shifts in fisheries and wildlife populations. |
Where is DNR headingDNR uses a three-pronged strategy to address climate change through mitigation, adaptation, and monitoring: Mitigation: Climate change mitigation includes actions that reduce the sources or increase the sinks for greenhouse gases. DNR is actively reducing fossil fuel consumption by its vehicles and facilities. We are investigating management strategies for DNR-administered peatlands, wetlands, forests, and other lands to enhance their natural capacity to store large quantities of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. DNR's Carbon Metrics Team is engaged in efforts to refine measurement and reporting protocols to track carbon storage and sequestration on natural lands. This is critical to participating in future "carbon credit" programs. Adaptation: Even with aggressive mitigation, Minnesota's climate will continue to change over the next 50 to 100 years because of past actions. Management actions that improve ecosystem health, diversity, and productivity are key to enhancing ecosystem resilience to climate change and associated impacts. Planned adaptations to reduce the vulnerability of ecosystems and wildlife to expected climate change include efforts to create wildlife corridors, improve habitat connectivity, and expand habitat buffers to facilitate plant and animal migration as climate changes. Monitoring and applied research: We will begin coordinating monitoring systems and participating in research to detect climate change impacts on natural resources. We will track the effectiveness of mitigation and adaptation efforts.
See DNR’s 2011 report titled: Climate Change and Renewable Energy: Management Foundations DNR actions (a few examples)Land managers will need to deploy their conservation "toolbox" in new ways to address the effects of climate change as it compounds other stressors such as habitat fragmentation and invasive species. |
(Detailed descriptions of these and other measures are found in DNR's Strategic Conservation Agenda: Part II - Performance and Accountability Report.)
Carbon Inventory: Acres of DNR-administered lands that have carbon stocks inventoried according to protocol (indicator in development)
Carbon storage and flows: Tons of carbon sequestered and emitted on DNR-administered lands (indicator in development)
Mitigation and Adaptation Planning: Percent of DNR management plans with comprehensive strategies for climate change mitigation and adaptation (indicator in development)
