[env-trinity] Sacramento Bee 1 6 11

[Byron Leydecker]

Coalition declares Sierra, Delta habitats threatened by climate change


By Matt Weiser
mweiser at sacbee.com 

Published: Thursday, Jan. 6, 2011 - 12:00 am | Page 3B 

Both the  <http://topics.sacbee.com/Sierra+Nevada/> Sierra Nevada and the
San Francisco Bay- <http://topics.sacbee.com/Delta/> Delta have been named
by environmental groups to a new list of 10 American habitats threatened by
<http://topics.sacbee.com/climate+change/> climate change.

The list was released Wednesday by the
<http://topics.sacbee.com/endangered+species/> Endangered Species Coalition,
a network of hundreds of  <http://topics.sacbee.com/conservation+groups/>
conservation groups in the United States.

The 10 threatened habitats - deemed most important for
<http://topics.sacbee.com/endangered+species/> endangered species in a
warming world - were selected by a panel of 10 scientists from across the
country representing academia and the conservation community. They relied on
existing data rather than new research. 

It is a first by the coalition, which previously generated annual lists
focused on individual species rather than whole habitats.

"Our hope is to bring some attention to what we feel are key places to
offset some of the impacts that are going to come over the next several
years," said  <http://topics.sacbee.com/Mark+Rockwell/> Mark Rockwell, the
coalition's California representative.

Rockwell said the  <http://topics.sacbee.com/Delta/> Delta, as included on
the list, includes upstream river environments that flow toward the ocean.
Thus, it encompasses a huge range of habitats and species, from Sacramento
River salmon to upland areas that make the region America's largest winter
range for raptors as well as vital habitat for amphibians and wildflowers.

Much of this environment, Rockwell said, is threatened by reduced runoff and
warmer water linked to climate change, as well as increasing human demand
for water that may be a related consequence.

The Sierra Nevada made the list, in part, because its diversity of habitats
creates a home for many species found nowhere else, such as the mountain
yellow-legged frog and Sierra bighorn sheep.

A warmer climate threatens to further shrink habitats already diminished by
<http://topics.sacbee.com/population+growth/> population growth and changing
land uses.

 

 

Byron Leydecker, JcT

Chair, Friends of Trinity River

PO Box 2327

Mill Valley, CA 94942-2327

415 383 4810 land

415 519 4810 mobile

 <mailto:bwl3 at comcast.net> bwl3 at comcast.net

 <mailto:bleydecker at stanfordalumni.org> bleydecker at stanfordalumni.org
(secondary)

 <http://fotr.org/> http://www.fotr.org 

 

 

 

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