Signs of climate change come to the Appalachians

[theHandpuppet]

Note: If you have articles/information to share about the subject of climate change in the Appalachians, feel free to add to this thread. It would be most appreciated!

Study: Salamanders in the Appalachians are smaller
By BRUCE SMITH
Associated Press
June 29, 2014

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Some scientists suggest it could be still another sign of climate change: Salamanders in the Appalachian Mountains are getting smaller, they say, because in a drier, warmer climate, the little cold-blooded creatures use more energy to stay alive.

"As their temperature rises, all their physiological rates increase," said Michael Sears, a Clemson University biologist. "All else being equal, that means there is less energy for growth."

In a study earlier this year in the journal Global Change Biology, Sears and other researchers compared museum specimens of salamanders collected over a half century beginning in 1957 with those measured at the same sites in 2011 and 2012.

In all, they measured almost 9,500 adult salamanders and found their bodies were on average about 8 percent smaller after 1980 than in the earlier decades....

Read more here: http://www.bnd.com/2014/06/29/3280135/study-salamanders-in-the-appalachians.html#storylink=cpy

[theHandpuppet]

1. And now for a different perspective...

Nature Conservancy Study Shows Appalachian Mountains To Be A Climate Change 'Stronghold'
06/06/2012
From Mother Nature Network's Russell McLendon:

North America's Appalachian Mountains may be a safe haven from climate change, according to a new study by the Nature Conservancy, thanks to hardy ecosystems that can endure warmer, drier weather over time. If left intact, these habitats may become oases for people and wildlife pushed out of other areas, the researchers say.

The study covered 156 million acres from Virginia to Nova Scotia, looking for landscapes that are best-equipped to handle global warming. Places with diverse topography, geology and elevation scored highest — namely the highland forests of West Virginia, the coastal plains and oak-pine forests of Virginia and New Jersey, the river floodplains of New York, and the limestone flats of Maine and southeast Canada. According to Rodney Bartgis, director of the Nature Conservancy in West Virginia, this is because varied environments give plants and animals more opportunities to adapt.

"If you're a plant that lives on a low slope, and as the climate warms you have access to cool, north-facing slopes or higher elevations, you have more options for surviving into the future," Bartgis says in an interview with MNN. "Resiliency depends both on ecological complexity and permeability, or the ability of things to move within a given area." While much of the Eastern U.S. is now divided by roads, cities and farms, he adds, Appalachia still has vast wilderness areas that give it a leg up as temperatures rise: "The Appalachians really stand out because they are much more ecologically complex, and they do have a lot of remaining forest cover."

These forests aren't immune to wild weather, of course, as Hurricane Irene proved last year when it spurred deadly flooding in parts of New England. But they are more resilient overall, Bartgis says, especially if they're big. "In larger areas, it's less likely that any one event will drastically alter everything, whether it's a flood, a wildfire or a pest outbreak. So all the areas identified tend to be substantially large, tens of thousands of acres in most cases, especially in the Appalachians."....

Read more at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/06/nature-conservancy-study-global-warming_n_1574671.html