1. A searchable vulnerability
assessment database
Robin O’Malley and Laura Thompson
USGS National Climate Change and Wildlife
Science Center, Reston, VA
2. There is no way to know about VAs being conducted for
different regions, species, or other ecological elements
3. New assessments are being undertaken without knowledge of the
methods or results of relevant ongoing or completed assessments
4. Data and knowledge gathered by completed assessments are not being
used by managers outside the entity conducting the assessment
5. Compiling VA efforts into one place would reduce costs and increase the
value of existing assessment investments
Databas
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6. Database scope
• Include VAs from:
– Federal agencies
– State agencies
– Local agencies
– Universities
– Nongovernmental organizations
• A process has begun to ensure compliance
with the Paperwork Reduction Act
7. Database scope
Focus will be on domestic VAs, but the
country boundaries will be “fuzzy” and allow
assessments that encompass parts of
Canada, Mexico, Caribbean, and insular
Pacific, etc.
8. More of a “registry” than
database
• Basic reporting elements
– Contact information
– Location
– Assessment endpoint (target)
– Vulnerability assessment methodology
– Vulnerability assessment components
– Method of climate projection
– Partners or collaborators
– Link to a specific decision
– Abstract
9. Database hosting
• Federal self-hosting (USGS)
• Global Change Information System (GCIS)
• CAKEx – EcoAdapt
Individuals and institutions considering conducting vulnerability assessments. This includes a wide range of federal, state, local and other governmental entities, as well as nongovernmental organizations, universities, and other entities. The intent is to enable users to locate completed or ongoing VAs that share relevant characteristics with the users intended VA – for example, a fisheries manager in North Carolina could locate other studies of coldwater fish and climate change; or a Bureau of Land Management analyst may locate VAs conducted on a variety of resource types in her state. Either of these users might identify relevant methods for conducting their assessment, relevant conclusions or concerns raised in other assessments, and potential data sources that may have been assembled for other assessment