EcoAdapt has partnered with the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, the Santa Cruz Mountains Stewardship Network, and Pepperwood Preserve to conduct vulnerability assessments and develop climate-informed adaptation strategies for focal habitats and species in the Santa Cruz Mountains region, which includes San Mateo, Santa Cruz, and part of Santa Clara counties. This effort will integrate existing, best available science with an expert elicitation process, and will be used to inform regional planning processes and land management practices.

The overarching goal of the Santa Cruz Mountains Climate Adaptation Project is to improve understanding of and capacity to reduce climate-related vulnerabilities of important habitats and species within the region. Objectives include:

1. Generate vulnerability assessment and adaptation planning products for habitats and species of interest;
2. In partnership with Pepperwood Preserve, create customized data products on recent and projected future climate changes and their potential impacts on the Santa Cruz Mountains region;
3. Provide a framework and space for participating stakeholders to grapple with climate change impacts and how to manage resources effectively given these impacts; and
4. Help identify practical applications and next steps for stakeholders to incorporate information into their management plans and programs and on-the-ground projects.

This project involves a series of three workshops held with staff of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District and members of the Santa Cruz Mountains Stewardship Network.

• Project Scoping: We convened a half-day meeting to define the project's geographic boundary, select climate variables for spatial analysis, and collaboratively identify habitats and species to focus on for the vulnerability assessment and adaptation planning workshops. June 2019
• Assessing Vulnerability of Focal Resources: We convened a one-day, in-person workshop to assess the climate change vulnerability of a suite of stakeholder-identified habitats and species. October 2019
• Identifying Adaptation Strategies and Actions (Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District and Santa Cruz Mountains Stewardship Network): We convened separate two-day online workshops to develop climate-informed adaptation strategies and actions for focal habitats and species. November 2020

• Coastal dunes, wet meadows, and prairies
• Coastal scrub
• Chaparral
• Mixed grasslands
• Oak woodlands
• Mixed evergreen/montane hardwood forests
• Coastal redwood forests
• Rivers, streams, & floodplains
• Freshwater marshes, wetlands, and ponds
• Seeps and springs

• American badger and western burrowing owl
• Bats
• Butterflies
• Coyote brush
• California red-legged frog and San Francisco garter snake
• Marbled murrelet
• Salamanders
• Salmonids
• Wide-ranging mammals

• Bats
• Chaparral
• Coastal dunes, wet meadows, and prairies
• Coastal redwood forests (includes marbled murrelets)
• Coastal scrub (includes coyote brush)
• Freshwater marshes, wetlands, and ponds (includes California red-legged frog/San Francisco garter snake)
• Mixed evergreen/montane hardwood forests (includes salamanders)
• Mixed grasslands (includes butterflies and American badger/western burrowing owl)
• Oak woodlands
• Rivers, streams, & floodplains (includes salmonids)
• Seeps and springs
• Wide-ranging mammals