Adaptation Barriers and Opportunities in the Prairie Potholes Region

Heather M. Yocum (1), Andrea J. Ray (2), Balaji Rajagopalan (1, 3)

Abstract
Understanding and identifying how managers currently perceive and use climate information can expose barriers to adaptation, open up possibilities for engaging climate science, and reveal additional adaptation opportunities. As part of a larger NSF-funded project with climate scientists at Columbia and University of Colorado, we are working to understand the climate sensitivities and needs of decision makers and natural resource managers in federal and state agencies in North Dakota and the wider Plains and Prairie Pothole Region. Our approach began with qualitative research (interviews) to explore the various socio-economic and other factors that managers identify as impediments to using climate science in their planning and decision-making processes. We also identify narrative storylines that describe managers’ understanding of how weather and climate impact the management of priority ecosystems and species. Linking these narratives with weather and climate information, we then identify potential adaptation opportunities and entry points for climate science in the natural resource management and decision-making process for different time scales. We will describe how our research on the climate sensitivities is informing the climate studies under the project and will also elevate potential usability of climate information produced by this project.