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Climate Change

Tractor applying pesticides to rows of crops
Why We Don’t Accept Money from Pesticide or Oil Companies
Executive director Scott Black shares why Xerces Society doesn't accept funding from companies whose products are harming invertebrates.
U School garden in front of the school, which is painted in murals
High School Students Depave a Parking Lot to Plant a Garden
With support from USDA NRCS, Xerces, and the local community, a Philadelphia high school parking lot became a space for gardening and pollinator habitat.
A Xerces conservation biologist hikes down from a small glacier that is now mostly just a snowfield. A chain of meltwater lakes can be seen in the distance, with smoke from nearby wildfires on the horizon.
In Search of the Elusive Northern Forestfly
In a race against climate change as it warms high alpine streams, Senior Endangered Species Conservation Biologist Candace Fallon describes the ongoing hunt for an elusive stonefly, the northern forestfly. Cold-adapted alpine species like the northern forestfly are particularly threatened by extinction due to their patchy distributions, limited dispersal abilities, and reliance on cold water habitats. Fortunately, the increased survey efforts that Xerces and our partners have undertaken over the last few years have resulted in a larger than previously known range and distribution of this species.
Cover crop blooms in an orchard (Photo: Xerces Society)
More Than Food: A New Roadmap for Agriculture
In recent years, invertebrates on farms have received a little more mainstream attention, often under the broader umbrella of “regenerative agriculture,” a loosely defined philosophy that proposes farms should improve rather than diminish natural resources. With supporting investments from the USDA National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the Xerces Society recently inaugurated a five-year, multi-state research and development project focused on evaluating conservation practices that simultaneously maximize climate resilience, biodiversity, and market incentives.
Flowers bloom in the foreground of a Pennsylvania orchard with hills in the distance. Photo: Kelly Gill/ Xerces Society
Intrinsically Linked: Why Climate-Smart Agriculture Must Not Neglect Biodiversity
Agriculture is the single largest land use on the planet, with more than 40% of the Earth’s surface devoted to crops or grazing. In order to fully address climate change and sustain agriculture in an unstable climate, we must also address the biodiversity crisis. By making biodiversity conservation a part of regenerative farming and including it in funding options like the USDA Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program, the agricultural sector can tackle both the climate crisis and the biodiversity crisis simultaneously.
A monarch butterfly drinks nectar from a purple coneflower in the middle of a field of wildflowers. The monarch is orange-brown with black markings. The coneflowers have a reddish-brown raised dome in the center that is surrounded by drooping purple petals. The other flowers in the meadow are yellow and pink, and beyond is wall of green trees that forms the edge of a woodland.
For Wildlife and Humans, Native Plants Are a Key to Climate Resilience
In our work, we regularly put an emphasis on the importance of using native plants when creating habitat, whether it’s a new prairie, a farm hedgerow, a meadow in a park, or a flower border in your own backyard. Pollinators are often the principal interest for these types of projects, but the benefits of using native plants go far beyond, including, potentially, into a more climate-resilient future for people and wildlife.
Santa Fe Extension Master Gardeners and the habitat kits they are about plant at the Santa Fe County Extension Office Demonstration Gardens. The eighteen species in the kits are native, climate-resilient species which will support a diversity of native pollinators across seasons. (Photo: Kaitlin Haase / Xerces Society)
Conserving Desert Pollinators and Water in the Face of Climate Change
One of the most immediate and tangible ways we can prepare for climate change as individuals is to restore native habitat. This not only builds a greater buffer for plants and animals to survive changing conditions, but makes our own gardens and landscapes more prepared to withstand drier or wetter, hotter or colder weather. While it will take everyone to stop rising temperatures at a global scale, I find hope in the cultivation of little patches of earth throughout Santa Fe hosting pollinator habitat kits.
Young Nebraska Ecologists group climbs a hill in Gjerloff Prairie for Bumble Bee Atlas Surveys (c. Britton Bailey)
This Earth Week, We’re Finding Hope on the Climate Crisis
The week leading up to Earth Day, now in its 52nd year, is always a great time for reflection for conservationists. For challenges that feel unwieldy, like climate change, taking action helps us to feel less hopeless and more empowered. As we talk with others about what we’re doing and why, we can inspire them to join us.
A front garden in which flowers have been planted. Small circles of recently dug soil surround each small, green plant. The garden is edged by a wooden fence made of two horizontal rails and widely spaced posts. In the foreground, attached to the fence is a sign. The sign is green, with colorful flowers and an orange butterfly and brown lettering that says “pollinator habitat”.
Santa Fe Pollinator Habitat Kit Program Connects Pollinators and People
In Santa Fe, NM, Xerces is working with local partners to develop a city-wide Pollinator Trail focused on creating connected habitat through neighborhoods that lack greenspaces. In September, after months of planning and preparation, 350 habitat kits were distributed to residents and organizations. When many people come together around a common goal, small efforts can quickly add up to large-scale conservation.
An underwater photo showing the bottom of a river and above it in the hazy water small brown fish. The river bottom is made of dark, rounded rocks, some large, some small, surrounded by pale brown sand. In the sand can be seen dozens of freshwater mussels. The mussels are oval shaped and very dark, almost black. The two halves of their shells are slightly open, showing the paler, soft flesh of the animal.
The Merit of Mussels
Freshwater mussels share our rivers and enrich our natural and cultural connections. They keep streams clean, provide habitat for other invertebrates, and support fish populations. Despite their importance, they are among the most threatened groups of wildlife and eight species were recently declared extinct.
A photo of a desert landscape. In the background, brown hills dotted with green shrbs rise toward the blue sky. In the foreground, flowers are in bloom. A row of low shrubs coverd in white flowers stretches away from the viewer toward a clump of short trees.
Climate News: Nature-Based Climate Solutions Address Climate Change and Support Pollinators
Habitat restoration can contribute to countering climate change. Native trees, shrubs, flowers, and grasses increase carbon sequestration, while also providing habitat for butterflies and bees.
A cluster of pink flowers, each with five petals, offers a place for a small brown, delicately marked butterfly to drink nectar
New in Santa Fe: Pollinator Trail and Habitat Kit Program
Santa Fe, New Mexico, is the home of our pilot Pollinator Trail program, which aims to address habitat loss in urban areas. The project will create connected, climate-resilient pollinator habitat in an urban landscape through the distribution of habitat kits and development of partnerships with local organizations to conduct pollinator conservation outreach.
A small brown and white butterfly rests with it's wings open on a brightly colored red and yellow flower
Announcing the 2021 DeWind Award Winners
The DeWind Awards are given annually to students engaged in research related to butterfly or moth conservation. The 2021 winners are Wendy Valencia-Montoya and Chris Halsch.
Smoke hangs over the charred trees and barren soil of a badly burned forest.
Forests, Fires, and Insects
Fire has always been part of the ecosystems of the western United States, but the fires we are experiencing now are bigger and hotter than they used to be. This is partly because of years of fire suppression, but is also a result of the changing climate. Invertebrates from caddisflies to slugs to bees and butterflies are likely negatively affected, but we still have much to learn about the effects on these populations.
The green grass of this Texas prairie is dotted with blue lupines, red paintbrush, and creamy colored yucca
Mitigating the Effects of Climate Change On Grassland Butterflies
Grasslands provide important habitat for a range of butterflies, some of which rely on these open sunny habitats for survival. Climate change adds an extra layer of threat and concern.
Fire truck drives across a burning landscape, with the sky full of brown smoke
Australia’s Green Carpenter Bee on the Brink
In late 2019, wildfires burned across Australia on an unimaginable scale, devastating towns and forests and pushing a rare bee closer to extinction.
Patches of snow remain all year on the green grass slopes of the San Juan Mountains of Colorado
Nature-Based Solutions: A Win for Both Biodiversity and the Climate
Natural areas support wildlife during a time of shifting weather patterns, and they also help with carbon sequestration. Protecting and creating habitat should be an integral part of our response to climate change.
A hairy, yellow-and-black bumble bee forages on a pink flower head of joe-pye weed.
Climate News Roundup: The Link Between Climate Change and Biodiversity
Addressing climate change and conserving biodiversity go hand-in-hand. Our ability to mitigate and adapt to climate change while retaining important ecosystem services such as pollination will depend on our ability to protect biodiversity. Meanwhile, because climate change accelerates biodiversity loss, our ability to protect biodiversity will also depend on how quickly and decisively we act on climate change.
A small house with light paint and bright blue trim is dwarfed by the lush garden in the foreground, featuring flowers of a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors.
12 Climate Actions for Earth Week
Some good news (amidst all the bad lately) is that even with physical distancing and shelter-in-place requirements, there are still a lot of actions many of us can take to help in the fight against climate change. Focusing on one or any combination of these actions can help.
A long line of people of diverse ages, genders, and races are all sporting bright yellow and black-striped bee outfits in an outdoor festival setting.
Evolution in Attitudes Leads to Greater Interest in Pollinator Conservation
Twenty years ago, being referred to as the “bee guy” wasn’t always positive. In contrast, today many people are keen to learn about what they can do to protect pollinators. We are proud to be part of the reason that the public has become more aware of, and engaged in, pollinator conservation.
A woman in a red rain coat and gray hiking pants stands on the edge of a rocky mountain stream, holding a net, and scanning the water carefully. She is in a mountain meadow with yellow flowers.
Xerces' Holistic Approach to Conservation
We at the Xerces Society view our work as an interconnected whole rather than as separate parts. To achieve conservation success, we must understand both science and policy. We need to inspire people and at the same time empower them with the tools they require.
A line of colorful, flowering plants, including a bush with red blossoms in the foreground, recedes into the distance. Parallel to this line are rows of trees in an orchard.
Climate News Roundup: IPCC Lands Report
When most people think about climate change, they likely think of CO2 emissions from cars or factories. But the way land is used and managed has a significant impact on the climate.
In this landscape image, rows of green, leafy trees are on the left, and on the right are blossoming cover crops of various colors. There is also blue sky and puffy clouds to round out this idyllic scene.
Pollinator Conservation Program Digest – October 2019
October's featured staff members recently attended a carbon farm planning training in California, and spoke at an event that paired art and conservation in Iowa.
A high country bumble bee (Bombus kirbiellus) looks directly at the camera, wings blurred, as it perches atop the red petals of a paintbrush blossom.
The Source of Hope and Wonder Comes in Small Packages
Rich Hatfield, senior endangered species conservation biologist and bumble bee lead for the Xerces Society, trekked into Washington state’s Pasayten Wilderness to find the elusive high country bumble bee (Bombus kirbiellus).
Bright green trees are shown alongside a wall of windows, reflecting a blue sky and a tall building.
Climate News Round-Up: The Power of Trees!
Carbon sequestration is a key component to mitigating the climate crisis. Trees are efficient, effective, and they can be deployed on a large scale. So plant a native tree today!
Both Dewind awardees are shown in this composite image.
Announcing the 2019 DeWind Awardees
The Xerces Society is happy to announce the 2019 DeWind awardees: Niranjana Krishnan, a PhD candidate at Iowa State University, and Molly Wiebush, a master’s student at Florida State University.
Landscaping outside an office building includes purple coneflower and goldenrod.
Mitigating the Effects of Heat on Urban Pollinators
Climate change will bring higher temperatures and greater extremes in weather, as well as increases in the frequency and intensity of heat waves. These variations will be exacerbated in cities in ways that may spell trouble for bees.
Brightly colored pollinator plants burst from a vibrant hedgerow running alongside an orchard.
Climate News Round-Up: January 2019
Climate change is an unprecedented global challenge. Angela Laws, our resident climate change expert, reviews recent news on the topic and provides concrete ways to help.
Close up view of freshwater mussels filtering water.
Are Freshwater Mussels in Hot Water?
Freshwater mussels play an important role in maintaining water quality in creeks. Climate change is altering water conditions, impacting the mussels and the fish on which they rely for part of their life cycle.
Brown-belted bumble bee nectaring on eastern redbud.
A Shifting Climate Creates Winners and Losers
We are already observing impacts on some species that are emerging earlier or whose distributions are changing, but it is difficult to characterize how insects as a whole will be impacted: some species will benefit while most will lose out.
Two women look into an insect net to see whether they have captured a bumble bee. The net has a long white bag. The woman on the left is older, with brown hair tucked under a grey hat. Her t-shirt is purple and white. The other women is younger and has red-blonde hair pulled back into a bun. She wears a red t-shirt with the words Nebraska Bumble Bee Atlas.
Unblinded by Science
As the anniversary of the March for Science approaches, we reflect on ways science has informed our conservation efforts over the past year.
aromatic aster
Planning Your Plantings for Climate Resiliency
With earlier springs and warmer fall days - pollinators need plants that provide resources at the farthest fringes of the growing season.
bombus occidentalis
Climate Change Driving, Not the Only Passenger; Bumble Bee Conservation in Context
Interpreting recent research about the impacts of climate change on bumble bees, providing context for the results, and examining how they may affect conservation efforts.

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