Enhance landscape connectivity

Connections across natural ecosystems also enable large-scale adaptation by creating a mosaic of habitats to support natural and facilitated migrations of plants, animals, and other organisms across the landscape (Stein et al. 2014). While species migration is a critical factor in the maintenance of natural ecosystem function in a changing climate, the fragmentation of landscapes and loss of habitat may restrict species movements and gene flow (Davis and Shaw 2001; Iverson et al. 2004a). Many species are not expected to be able to migrate at a rate sufficient to keep up with climate change and associated range shifts (Davis and Shaw 2001; Iverson et al. 2004a). Increasing landscape connectivity may help species to migrate without additional assistance by allowing for easier species movement, reducing lags in migration, and enhancing the flow of genetic material (Heller and Zavaleta 2009; Stein et al. 2014).

Individual farms, fields pastures, and grazing lands are part of a larger, landscape-level agroecosystem that provides critical ecosystem services and non-commodity goods in addition to agricultural products (McGranahan 2014). Because of the global nature of climate change, impacts will be observed across landscapes and regions. Actions to increase landscape diversity and connectivity can increase the ability of systems to adapt to changing environmental conditions and stresses (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 2007; Liebman and Schulte 2015; McGranahan 2014). While the ability of individual producers to affect landscape-level change will vary widely, the integration of landscape considerations into farm management may help to increase adaptive capacity of the agriculture sector in the long term.