The Massachusetts Wildlife Climate Action Tool is designed to inform and inspire local action to protect the Commonwealth’s natural resources in a changing climate. This Tool focuses on providing information for a range of local decision-makers, including conservation practitioners, landowners, municipal agencies, and community leaders, seeking to conduct on-the-ground climate change adaptation efforts. With this tool, users can: Access information on climate change impacts and vulnerabilities of fish and wildlife species and associated habitats; Explore adaptation strategies and actions to help maintain healthy, resilient natural communities based on location and area of interest; and Find additional resources to help guide decision-making and actions

Atmospheric deposition can be an important contribution to nitrogen loading in coastal regions. Atmospheric loading is suggested to have declined due to pollution control efforts, however the degree and impact of this has not been quantified on Cape Cod. Additionally, it is predicted that climate change, especially with respect to rain events and durations, may interact with atmospheric conditions to affect estuarine productivity.  This project analyzed a long-time series of atmospheric N deposition and climate to determine trends and the associated impacts to estuarine systems.  We have compiled the data and examinied the trends. Results have shown significant decreases in NO3 deposition in the NE US, similar to those observed in other regions such as central Europe

Freshwater discharge is an important driver of coastal ecosystem productivity. We use a variety of approaches from stable isotope assessments of foodwebs to tracking coastal herring migration through estuaries into rivers to understand the freshwater to saltwater linkages in food webs

The hydrologic and biological dynamics of the oligohaline transitional zone, where nutrients and organic matter from the upper water shed first enter an estuary, can significantly impact the biogeochemical cycling and productivity of the entire estuarine ecosystem. We observed a strong influence of freshwater residency time on the contribution of benthic and pelagic production sources in the food web in the upper Parker River. By using long term data we are able to infer how changes in flow may alter the source of production and community composition in the oligohaline transitional zone. As climate change shifts the timing and amount of freshwater inputs to estuaries or results suggest that the source of production to the estuary will also be impacted.Information from this project will allow managers and citizen groups to determine how much freshwater inflow is needed  to sustain productive estuaries