Ecosystem Impacts of Climate Change

This section looks at methods of phenological ecosystem observation, why climate change matters in Wisconsin, and how it might change the Earth.

• Wisconsin Phenological Society - A site dedicated to phenology resources in Wisconsin
• National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service
• The Aldo Leopold Archives - Aldo Leopold is considered by many to have been the most influential conservation thinker of the 20th Century. Contains his original works.
• Pheasant Branch Conservancy Phenology Calendar
• University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Phenology Records
• The Global Lake and River Ice Phenology Database - contains freeze and breakup dates and other ice cover descriptive data for 750 lakes and rivers.
• Project BudBurst
• Citizen-based Monitoring Network of Wisconsin
• Aldo and Nina Leopold phenology data from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Notable Books Leopold, Aldo. 1949. A Sand County Almanac and Sketches Here and There. Oxford University Press, New York. Ross, John and Beth. 1998. Prairie Time: The Leopold Reserve Revisited. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison.

Ecosystem Relationships (Activity and worksheets, 5 pages, PDF, 530KB)
Ecosystem Relationships-A Closer Look (poster, PDF, 3 MB)

Online Resources

• Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey Maps
• US Geological Survey:Climate Change - Ecosystem Impacts & Management Strategies for the Midwest U.S.
• US Global Change Research Program - Climate Change Impacts on the Midwest Overview
• Environmental Protection Agency - Climate Change, Wildlife, and Wildlands in the Great Lakes and Upper Midwest (11 pages, PDF)
• Wisconsin Land Legacy Report - Describes the special places in Wisconsin that will be critical to meet conservation and recreation needs for the next 50 years.
• Wisconsin State Natural Areas
• Center for Climatic Research - University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts - Partnership project between the University of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and others

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