Strategy for Enhanced Monitoring of Natural Resource Condition in North Atlantic Coastal Parks to Address the Effects of Rapid Climate Change

In response to the growing knowledge and awareness of the effects of climate change on federal lands, the National Park Service (NPS) has developed a national Climate Change Response Strategy (NPS 2010). The science goals described in the national strategy include developing and applying climate science, collaborating with scientific agencies and institutions, and identifying and conducting scientific studies and resource monitoring activities. The NPS Inventory and Monitoring Program (I&M) will play a major role in meeting these goals by providing sound scientific information and data to parks on the effects of climate change on park natural resources, as well as contribute towards a multi-agency collaboration (e.g. Landscape Conservation Cooperatives and Climate Science Centers) to better understand these effects at both regional and national scales.