From the Rocky Mountain Research Station:
To help evaluate ecosystem vulnerability across the Rocky Mountain Region, a team of scientists with the U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station compiled extensive research over the past few years, collaborating on a general technical report entitled Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment of Aquatic and Terrestrial Ecosystems in the US Forest Service Rocky Mountain Region. The general technical report covers six ecosystems that represent a large part of the Rocky Mountain Region’s 17 national forests and 7 grasslands from the semi-arid climate of the short-grass prairie to the cold and windy climate of the alpine tundra. Scientists evaluated each ecosystem in terms of several factors, including their current extent, exposure to climate change, sensitivity and adaptability to climate change, the ability of the ecosystem to shift geographically, and non-climate stressors such as recreational use, air pollution and infrastructure development.