5th Annual RISCC Management Symposium

Toni Lyn Morelli (USGS Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center) welcomes participants to the 5th annual symposium of the RISCC Management network.

Stas Burgiel (DOI National Invasive Species Council Executive Director) gives an overview of invasive species management through the lens of climate change and discusses different approaches for moving forward.

Presentation Session 1: Marine Invasives in a Changing Climate

Moderated by Aly Putnam (UMass Amherst), the first presentation session featured the following speakers:

• Jeremy Miller (Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve), "Marine Invasions in a rapidly warming Gulf of Maine"

• Jim Carlton (Williams College), "Changes in Marine Bioinvasions of New England"

• Jenn Dijkstra (University of New Hampshire), "Marine Community Responses to Climate Change in the Gulf of Maine"

Presentation Session 2: Management Stories of Success (and Failure) in Invasive Species and Climate Change

Moderated by Annette Evans (UMass Amherst), the second presentation session featured the following speakers:

• Mike VanClef (Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space), "Examples from New Jersey - Not range expansion, but growing populations of plant invaders"

• Elizabeth Spinney (VT Dept. Forests, Parks & Recreation), "Building Forest and Community Resilience to Invasive Species through Proactive Management"

• Amanda Mahaffey (Forest Stewards Guild), "Ten Recommendations for Managing Ash in the Face of Emerald Ash Borer and Climate Change"

• Caroline Marschner (Cornell University), "Hemlock Woolly Adelgid in a Changing Climate"

• Jess Canciellere (NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation), "Managing the Expansion of Southern Pine Beetle into Northeastern Forests"

• Nancy Pau (USFWS, Parker River NWR) and Hannah Grinnell (Climate Cafe), "Climate Change inspires local youth to spend summers pulling invasive plants”

Panel Session 1: Managing Across Scales to Reduce Invasive Species and Climate Change Impacts

Moderated by Carrie Brown-Lima (Cornell University), the first panel session featured the following speakers:

• Jesse Wheeler (Acadia National Park), "Community-based Management to preserve Natural Communities at Acadia National Park"

• Laura Mattei (Sudbury Valley Trustees), "Complicated Decision Making for Invasive Control"

• David Gregg (Rhode Island Natural History Survey), "Invasives management in Rhode Island, a state with no invasives statute"

• Sarah Rang and Emily Posteraro (Invasive Species Centre), "The Invasive Species Centre’s Emerging Work on Climate Change"

Panel Session 2: Carbon Consequences of Climate Change and Invasive Species Management

Moderated by Meghan Graham MacLean (UMass Amherst), the second panel session featured the following speakers:

• Meghan Graham MacLean (UMass Amherst), "Interactive effects of management and invasive species in New England forests"

• Brendan Quirion (Cornell University), "Insect and Disease Disturbances Correlate With Reduced Carbon Sequestration in Forests of the Contiguous United States"

• Audrey Barker Plotkin (Harvard Forest & UMass Amherst), "Carbon consequences of invasive insects on hemlock and oak forests in New England"

Panel Session 3: Managing Across Organizations—Floodplain Forest Restoration

Moderated by Julie Richburg (The Trustees of Reservations), the third panel session featured the following speakers:

• Christian Marks (UMass Amherst)

• Jess Torro (Native Habitat Restoration)

• Tom Lautzenheiser (Mass Audubon)

• Karen Lombard (The Nature Conservancy)

• Tony D'Amato (University of Vermont)

NE RISCC Research Lightning Talks

Moderated by Will Pfadenhauer (UMass Amherst), the RISCC Research Lightning Talks portion features work from the following speakers:

• Aly Putnam (UMass Amherst), "Sea Squirts, Shrimps, and Seaweeds, Oh My! Gulf of Maine Invaders and Who to Watch Out For"

• Will Pfadenhauer (UMass Amherst), "Where Did You Come From, and Where Did You Go?: The Cotton Eye Joe of Invasive Plants"

• Bianca Lopez (American Association for the Advancement of Science), "How do invasions interact with environmental change to affect ecosystems?"

• Eve Beaury (UMass Amherst), "Ornamental invaders in a warming climate"

• Ayodelé O'Uhuru (UMass Amherst), "Identifying the sleeper species of future invading plants in the face of climate change"

• Justin Dalaba (Cornell University), “Communications: A Walk-through of RISCC Resources"

National Perspective

Closing Remarks

Moderated by Bethany Bradley (UMass Amherst), the final presentation session provides updates from the following Regional RISCCs:

• Kathryn Braddock (Northwest RISCC), "Northwest RISCC Network"

• Chelsea Nagy (North Central RISCC), "Interactions between invasive plants, wildfire, and climate in the North Central US"

• Heather Kerkering (Pacific Islands RISCC), "Endemic vs. invasive species: Unique management challenges in changing island climates"

Bethany Bradley (UMass Amherst) gives an overview of RISCC activities in 2022 and wraps up the 5th annual RISCC symposium with closing remarks.