Assessing species' vulnerability to climate change is a prerequisite for developing effective
strategies to conserve them. The last three decades have seen exponential growth in the
number of studies evaluating how, how much, why, when, and where species will be
impacted by climate change. We provide an overview of the rapidly developing field of
climate change vulnerability assessment (CCVA) and describe key concepts, terms, steps
and considerations. We stress the importance of identifying the full range of pressures …

This project assessed and ranked the relative climate change vulnerability of 185 animal
and plant species in West Virginia. Most species were selected based on their status as
Species of Greatest Conservation Need within the West Virginia Wildlife Conservation
Action Plan. Among the species identified in the state plan, priority was given to globally
vulnerable or imperiled species identified by NatureServe (G1-G3), and selected species
that are critically imperiled at the state level (S1). A small number of more common species …