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CLIMATE CHANGE ALBERTAS BIODIVERSITY 57 1. Expand and refine modeling of species and ecosystem distributions in Alberta especially with a focus on representing uncertainty in ways that can be incorpo- rated into management and planning. 2. Betterunderstandecologicalresponsesto climatechangeintheprovinceincluding therateandnatureofecosystemtransitions in-situadaptationtheinteractionsandlags betweenspeciesandhabitattransitions theroleoflandscapeconnectivityandhow interactionsbetweenclimatechangeand futurelandusemayimpactspeciesand ecosystemdistributions. 3. Identify and address the consequences of climate change for aquatic species and ecosystems which are potentially highly sensitive to climate change. 4. Understand the responses of species of interest to changes in environmental conditions and evaluate potential targeted management actions in terms of their social and economic costs through field research and pilot studies. A starting point would be to address species identi- fied as high vulnerability by the Climate Change Vulnerability Index and species with dramatic projected range shifts. TheBMCCAprojectmadeconsiderableprogressinidentifyingthepotentialeffectsofclimatechangeon Albertasbiodiversityandinexploringpotentialadaptationresponses.Howevereffectivelyaddressing theeffectsofclimatechangeonAlbertasbiodiversitywillrequirecontinuedresearchthatbroadensand refinestheresultsfromthisproject. Continued effort and further research is necessary to 5. Furtherdeveloptheprovincialbiodiversity monitoring system to ensure data are collectedtodetectearlysignalsofclimate change impacts validate and refine biodiversity projections based on climate envelope modeling evaluate adaptive management actions and effectivelydescribecurrentconditions asbenchmarksforfuturereference. 6. Better understand and address the policy implications of incorporating climate change into provincial planning and management including for regional land use planning and accommodate the uncertainty associated with projecting the consequences of future climate change. 7. Enable Albertas municipalities to incor- porate climate change into their planning and to implement adaptation strategies including ecosystem-based adaptations. 8. Improve public awareness and under- standing of climate change and its conse- quences for our species ecosystems and communities as an essential prerequisite for public and political support for new approaches to management and policy.