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Organizations and agencies charged with protecting biodiversity have a conundrum -- how do you protect something that will not stay still? An interdisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, the University of Southern California and Virginia Tech has received a National Science Foundation grant to help conservation practitioners rethink biodiversity protection approaches for the new era of climate change.
"Much that we do as a society to protect species is ultimately tied to fixed geographies," said Paul Armsworth, an ecologist at UT. "We protect special places on the landscape in nature reserves or ask state agencies to lead on protecting species found within their borders. That, however, is a very static understanding of biodiversity. We are going to need much more flexible and dynamic approaches if we are to continue to protect species as climate change accelerates."