This menu of adaptation strategies and approaches was developed to provide managers with a tool to facilitate the planning and implementation of climate adaptation actions specifically for grassland ecosystems. The Grassland Adaptation Menu is a structured hierarchy of management practices that move from broad concepts to specific actions. It incorporates 8 general strategies and 32 approaches and is designed to be flexible, with multiple strategies and approaches able to be used in combination. This menu can also be used in tandem with the Adaptation Workbook, a structured decision-support tool for climate adaptation planning.
The Grassland Adaptation Menu was the result of a collaboration with the University of Wisconsin-Madison and other partners. USDA Climate Hub funding and a U.S. Geological Survey Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center fellowship supported the effort. Collaborators from The Nature Conservancy, USDA Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Geological Survey helped organize workshops to test the menu, organize adaptation ideas, and prepare the final manuscript.
Read the peer-reviewed publication
- Citation: Bernath-Plaisted, J.S.; Handler, S.D.; Ahlering, M.; Brandt, L.A.; Maresh Nelson, S.B.; Niemuth, N.D.; Ontl, T.; Peterson, C.L.; Ribic, C.A.; Strohmeyer, D.; Zuckerberg, B. 2025. A climate adaptation menu for North American grasslands. Conservation Science and Practice, 7(4), e700017. https://doi.org/10/1111/csp2.70017.
Browse the interactive version of this menu on AdaptationWorkbook.org
Download the one-page summary of the Grassland Menu of Adaptation Strategies and Approaches (pdf link below):