Assessing Species Vulnerability
   

The endangered Bradshaw’s desert-parsley (Lomatium bradshawii) is believed to be moderately vulnerable and highly sensitive to climate change (photo: DNR).
 Endangered Lomatium bradshawii (yellow) is
 believed to be moderately vulnerable and  highly
sensitive to climate change (photo: DNR).

The aim of NatureServe’s Climate Change Vulnerability Index (CCVI)   is to provide a means of rapidly distinguishing species likely to be most vulnerable to change, defined as the degree to which a species is susceptible to detrimental change (Young et al. 2012). The index considers two primary components of a species’ vulnerability to climate change: exposure to changes in climate and sensitivity of the species to changes in climate.
 
The CCVI scores a species on 17 factors related to its anticipated vulnerability to climate change, such as dispersal ability and habitat specificity. Vulnerability incorporates a species' sensitivity, exposure, and adaptive capacity (Dawson et al. 2011 ). Four factors addressing indirect exposure to climate change, such as presence in areas likely to be affected by rising sea levels are also evaluated. When available, documented responses to climate change (from prior field and/or modeling studies) are also included. The outcome is one of six possible Index categories: three degrees of “Vulnerable” (Extremely, Highly, Moderately), two degrees of “Not Vulnerable” (Presumed Stable, Increase Likely), and “Insufficient Evidence”. The Index also provides a report on the key factors that have contributed to the ranking, which can help inform conservation actions.
 
The results are summarized in the table, below, and reports are available for each of the species. Additional species will be added as assessments are completed for them. Species are listed alphabetically by scientific name.
 
Click on a species' CCVI score to open the assessment report (PDF).
 
  Element
  Scientific Name		   Element
  Common Name		   CCVI
  Score		  Element
Rank1
Vascular Plants      
Allium campanulatum Sierra onion Less Vulnerable G4S1
Allium constrictum constricted onion Moderately Vulnerable G2G3/S2S3
Allium dictuon Blue Mountain onion Presumed Stable G2S2
Anemone patens var. multifida pasqueflower Highly Vulnerable G5T5S1
Arabis olympica Olympic rockcress Highly Vulnerable GHSH
Arcteranthis cooleyae Cooley's buttercup Moderately Vulnerable G5S1
Artemisia campestris var. wormskioldii Wormskiold's northern
wormwood		 Moderately Vulnerable G5T1S1
Astragalus arrectus Palouse milkvetch Moderately Vulnerable G2S2
Astragalus arthurii Arthur's milkvetch Moderately Vulnerable G4S2
Astragalus asotinensis Asotin milkvetch Highly Vulnerable G2S1
Astragalus australis var. cottonii Cotton's milkvetch Highly Vulnerable G2QS2
Astragalus columbianus Columbia milkvetch Moderately Vulnerable G2G3S2S3
Astragalus microcystis least bladdery milkvetch Moderately Vulnerable G5S2
Astragalus misellus var. pauper pauper milkvetch Moderately Vulnerable G3T3S2
Astragalus sinuatus Whited's milk-vetch Presumed Stable G1S1
Bolandra oregana Oregon bolandra Moderately Vulnerable G3S2
Botrychium lineare skinny moonwort Presumed Stable G3S1
Botrychium paradoxum two-spiked moonwort Presumed Stable G3G4S2
Carex anthoxanthea yellow-flowered sedge Moderately Vulnerable G5S1
Carex chordorrhiza cordfoot sedge Highly Vulnerable G5S1
Carex circinata coiled sedge Moderately Vulnerable G5S1
Carex heteroneura smooth-fruited sedge Highly Vulnerable G5S2S3
Carex pauciflora few-flowered sedge Highly Vulnerable G5S2
Carex proposita Smoky Mountain sedge Moderately Vulnerable G4S2
Carex rostrata beaked sedge Highly Vulnerable G5S2
Carex sychnocephala many-headed sedge Moderately Vulnerable G5S2
Carex tenuiflora sparse-flowered sedge Highly Vulnerable G5S2
Carex vallicola valley sedge Highly Vulnerable G5S2
Castilleja cryptantha obscure paintbrush Highly Vulnerable G2G3S2S3
Castilleja levisecta golden paintbrush Highly Vulnerable G2S2
Chaenactis thompsonii Thompson's chaenactis Moderately Vulnerable G3S3
Chrysolepis chrysophylla var. chrysophylla golden chinquapin Moderately Vulnerable G5T5S2
Chrysosplenium tetrandrum northern golden-carpet Moderately Vulnerable G5S2
Cicuta bulbifera bulb-bearing water-hemlock Moderately Vulnerable G5S2S3
Coptis aspleniifolia spleenwort-leaved goldthread Moderately Vulnerable G5S2
Corydalis aquae-gelidae Clackamas corydalis Moderately Vulnerable G5T3S2
Cryptantha leucophaea gray cryptantha Moderately Vulnerable G2G3S2
Cryptantha rostellata beaked cryptantha Moderately Vulnerable G4S2
Cryptantha spiculifera Snake River cryptantha Moderately Vulnerable G4?S2S3
Cypripedium parviflorum yellow lady's-slipper Moderately Vulnerable G5S2
Dactylorhiza viridis long-bract frog orchid Highly Vulnerable G5S1
Damasonium californicum fringed water-plantain) Moderately Vulnerable G4S1
Delphinium viridescens Wenatchee larkspur Moderately Vulnerable G2S2
Dendrolycopodium dendroideum treelike clubmoss Moderately Vulnerable G5S2
Dodecatheon austrofrigidum frigid shooting-star Moderately Vulnerable G2S1
Draba cana lance-leaved draba Extremely Vulnerable G5S1
Draba taylori Taylor's draba Highly Vulnerable G1G2S1
Erigeron aliceae Alice's fleabane Moderately Vulnerable G4S2
Erigeron basalticus basalt daisy Moderately Vulnerable G2S2
Erigeron howellii Howell's daisy Presumed Stable G2S2
Erigeron salishii Salish fleabane Moderately Vulnerable G3S2
Eriogonum codium Umtanum desert buckwheat Moderately Vulnerable G1S1
Eriophorum viridicarinatum green keeled cottongrass Moderately Vulnerable G5S2
Eritrichium argenteum pale alpine forget-me-not Highly Vulnerable G4S1
Eryngium petiolatum Oregon coyote-thistle Moderately Vulnerable G4S2
Erythranthe pulsiferae Pulsifer's monkeyflower Moderately Vulnerable G4?S2
Erythronium quinaultense Quinault fawn-lily Presumed Stable G1G2S1S2
Gaultheria hispidula creeping snowberry Moderately Vulnerable G5S2
Gentiana douglasiana swamp gentian Highly Vulnerable G5S2
Geum rossii var. depressum Ross' avens Highly Vulnerable G5T1S1
Hackelia hispida var. disjuncta sagebrush stickseed Moderately Vulnerable G4T3S3
Hackelia taylorii Taylor's stickseed Highly Vulnerable G1S1
Hackelia venusta showy stickseed Moderately Vulnerable G1S1
Heterotheca oregona Oregon goldenaster Moderately Vulnerable G4S2
Howellia aquatilis water howellia Highly Vulnerable G3S2
Iliamna longisepala longsepal globemallow Presumed Stable G3S3
Impatiens noli-tangere western jewel-weed Moderately Vulnerable G5S1
Juncus howellii Howell's rush Moderately Vulnerable G4S1
Juncus uncialis inch-high rush Moderately Vulnerable G3G4S2
Kalmia procumbens alpine azalea Extremely Vulnerable G5SH
Leptosiphon bolanderi Baker's linanthus Less Vulnerable G4G5S2
Lomatium bradshawii Bradshaw's desert-parsley Moderately Vulnerable G2S1
Lomatium knokei Knoke’s desert-parsley Highly Vulnerable G1S1
Lomatium lithosolamans Hoover's tauschia Moderately Vulnerable G2G3S2S3
Lomatium serpentinum Snake Canyon desert-parsley Highly Vulnerable G4S2
Lomatium suksdorfii Suksdorf's desert-parsley Presumed Stable G3S3
Lomatium tuberosum Hoover's desert-parsley Moderately Vulnerable G2G3S2S3
Lupinus oreganus var. kincaidii Kincaid's sulfur lupine Presumed Stable G4T2S1
Luzula arcuata ssp. unalaschcensis curved woodrush Highly Vulnerable G5T4T5S1
Micranthes tischii Tisch's saxifrage Highly Vulnerable G2S1?
Muhlenbergia glomerata marsh muhly Moderately Vulnerable G5S2
Myosurus alopecuroides foxtail mousetail Moderately Vulnerable G3?S2
Navarretia tagetina marigold navarretia Moderately Vulnerable G5S1
Nicotiana attenuata coyote tobacco Less Vulnerable G4S2
Orthocarpus bracteosus rosy owl's-clover Highly Vulnerable G3?S2
Oxytropis campestris var. wanapum Wanapum crazyweed Moderately Vulnerable G5T1S1
Packera porteri Porter's butterweed Highly Vulnerable G4S1
Parnassia kotzebuei Kotzebue's grass-of-Parnassus Highly Vulnerable G5S1
Pedicularis rainierensis Mt. Rainier lousewort Highly Vulnerable G2G3S2S3
Pediocactus nigrispinus snowball cactus Moderately Vulnerable G4S2
Pellaea breweri Brewer's cliffbrake Moderately Vulnerable G5S2
Penstemon barrettiae Barrett's beardtongue Presumed Stable G2S2
Penstemon eriantherus var. whitedii Whited's fuzzytongue penstemon Moderately Vulnerable G4G5T2S2
Penstemon wilcoxii Wilcox's beardtongue Moderately Vulnerable G4S1
Petrophytum caespitosum ssp. caespitosum Rocky Mountain rockmat Highly Vulnerable G5T4T5S1
Petrophytum cinerascens Chelan rockmat Moderately Vulnerable G1G2S1S2
Phacelia lenta sticky phacelia Moderately Vulnerable G2?S2?
Physaria douglasii ssp. tuplashensis White Bluffs bladderpod Moderately Vulnerable G5T1QS1
Polemonium carneum great polemonium Less Vulnerable G3G4S2
Polemonium pectinatum Washington polemonium Moderately Vulnerable G2S2
Polemonium viscosum skunk polemonium Extremely Vulnerable G5S2
Polyctenium fremontii Fremont's combleaf Moderately Vulnerable G4S1
Pyrrocoma hirta var. sonchifolia sticky goldenwed Moderately Vulnerable G4G5T3S2
Ranunculus californicus California buttercup Moderately Vulnerable G5S1
Ranunculus populago mountain buttercup Moderately Vulnerable G4S2
Ribes cereum var. colubrinum wax currant Highly Vulnerable G5T3S1
Rubus arcticus ssp. acaulis nagoonberry Moderately Vulnerable G5T5S1
Sabulina nuttallii var. fragilis Nuttall’s sandwort Moderately Vulnerable G5T4S1
Salix candida hoary willow Highly Vulnerable G5S1
Salix glauca var. villosa glaucous willow Moderately Vulnerable G5T5S1S2
Salix maccalliana MacCalla's willow Highly Vulnerable G5S1
Salix pseudomonticola false mountain willow Moderately Vulnerable G5S1
Sanicula arctopoides bear's-foot sanicle Moderately Vulnerable G5S1
Saxifraga cernua nodding saxifrage Highly Vulnerable G5S1
Scribneria bolanderi Scribner's grass Moderately Vulnerable G4S1
Sericocarpus oregonensis ssp. oregonensis Oregon white-top aster Moderately Vulnerable G5T3T4S1
Sidalcea hirtipes hairy-stemmed checker-mallow Moderately Vulnerable G2S2
Sidalcea nelsoniana Nelson's checker-mallow Presumed Stable G2G3S1
Sidalcea oregana var. calva Wenatchee Mountain
checker-mallow		 Highly Vulnerable G5T1S1
Silene seelyi Seely’s catchfly Moderately Vulnerable G3S3
Silene spaldingii Spalding's silene Moderately Vulnerable G2S2
Sisyrinchium sarmentosum pale blue-eyed grass Highly Vulnerable G2S2
Spartina pectinata prairie cordgrass Moderately Vulnerable G5S2
Spiranthes diluvialis Ute ladies' tresses Moderately Vulnerable G2G3S1
Sullivantia oregana Oregon sullivantia Moderately Vulnerable G2S1
Swertia perennis swertia Moderately Vulnerable G5S1
Thelypodium sagittatum ssp. sagittatum arrow thelypody Moderately Vulnerable G4T4S1
Trifolium douglasii Douglas' clover Moderately Vulnerable G3S1
Trifolium thompsonii Thompson's clover Presumed Stable G2S2
Trillium albidum ssp. parviflorum small-flowered trillium Moderately Vulnerable G4G5T2T3S2S3
Utricularia intermedia flat-leaved bladderwort Moderately Vulnerable G5S2S3
Vaccinium myrtilloides velvetleaf blueberry Moderately Vulnerable G5S1
Veronica dissecta ssp. lanuginosa cut-leaf synthyris Highly Vulnerable G4T2S2
1The Element Ranks listed in the table are current as of 02/08/2022 and may have changed since the CCVI scores were determined. For more information on determining species’ ranks, visit our Natural Heritage Methodology page.
 
Citations and Additional Resources
 
 
 
Young B.E., Hall K.R., Byers E., Gravuer K., Hammerson G., Redder A., and Szabo K. 2012. Rapid assessment of plant and animal vulnerability to climate change. In: J. Brodie, E. Post, and D. Doak, editors. Wildlife Conservation in a Changing Climate. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p 129-152.