How might climate change affect Apostle Islands National Lakeshore? It’s a simple question with lots of potential answers! This presentation will describe a recently published climate change vulnerability assessment for the terrestrial ecosystems throughout the park.
Peggy Burkman will describe why the park felt it was necessary to complete this vulnerability assessment, and she’ll also cover some of the important context of the Apostle Islands landscape that might cause climate change to play out differently than on the mainland. Stephen Handler will explain how the assessment was completed and share some of the results and remaining questions.
Click to access Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment for Terrestrial Ecosystems at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore
Click to access Park Service page on climate change.
Additional reading
Click to access Invasive Plant Management in the Apostle Islands
Click to access Formation of the Stockton Island Tombolo; A 6,000 Year Process
Click to access Bees on the Brink Research at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore
Presenter biographies
Stephen Handler, Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science
Stephen Handler is a climate change specialist with the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station and Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science.
His main role with NIACS is to coordinate the Northwoods Climate Change Response Framework, which involves building partnerships, assessing climate change risk, and working with forest managers and landowners to develop real-world projects to adapt and prepare for future change. Stephen moved to Houghton, MI, in 2011 and loves being a Yooper.
Peggy Burkman, Apostle Islands NL
Peggy Burkman is the Biologist at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore (2002) with former experience as a wildlife biologist, fire ecologist, and landscape ecologist in the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and the Forest Service.
Peggy coordinates several long-term monitoring projects in the park, works with researchers to address various questions, and maintains healthy vegetation through exotic plant management and restoration efforts. She fell in love with Lake Superior during her youth and has spent her life in the Great Lakes.
Questions and answers
“If you could look into your crystal ball, 50 years from now, what major differences would you expect to see, given that the lake is warming and shorelines are being reshaped faster.”
I tend to think first about the on-going trend toward warming winters, so that’s what I imagine when I look into my crystal ball. Right now, the Apostle Islands and other areas in the lake-effect snow belt are still consistently cold enough during the winter to receive plenty of lake-effect snow. In fact, as the lake has warmed over the past 40 years and lake ice has declined, areas like the Keweenaw Peninsula and northern Wisconsin are actually experiencing more total snowfall during the winter. But this feels a bit like Wiley Coyote running out over the cliff edge. At some point we will cross that threshold where more of our winter precip is delivered as rain and sleet, and consistent snowfall will most likely be constricted to the middle of winter. I hope I’m wrong about this because I love winter and northern ecosystems depend on winter. But that’s what I expect, and we need to be thinking about this change when we plan for the future.
— Stephen Handler
To sample more sessions choose below
50 Years of Archeology at the Apostle Islands
A Retrospective – Research and Resource Management at Apostle Islands NL
A singing wilderness: Songbirds of the Apostle Islands
A Vulnerability Assessment for Terrestrial Ecosystems
American Martens on the Apostle Islands
Amphibians of the Apostle Islands
Apostle Islands Flora
Emerging Water Resource Issues in the Apostle Islands
Fifty Years of Cultural Resource Research at Apostle Islands NL
Gaylord Nelson: mover, shaker, deal-maker
Longitudinal Trends and Ecology of the Small Mammal Community
New Insights Into the Dynamics of Apostle Islands Carnivore Communities
Past, Present and Future of Fire in the Apostle Islands
Past, present and future of fisheries management in the Apostle Islands
Past, present, and future of piping plovers in the Apostle Islands
Resiliency and vulnerability of Apostle Islands coastal wetlands
Through the eyes of 4th graders
Traditional Ecological Knowledge
Under the surface and Zaaga’igan Ma’iinganag (lakewolves)
