Assessing Species Vulnerability
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 or CCSD 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 dictuon | Blue Mountain onion | Presumed Stable | G2S2 |
Artemisia campestris var. wormskioldii | Wormskiold's northern wormwood |
Moderately Vulnerable | G5T1S1 |
Astragalus asotinensis | Asotin milkvetch | Highly Vulnerable | G2S1 |
Astragalus columbianus | Columbia milkvetch | Moderately Vulnerable | G2G3S2S3 |
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 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 |
Castilleja levisecta | golden paintbrush | Presumed Stable | G2S2 |
Chrysolepis chrysophylla var. chrysophylla | golden chinquapin | Moderately Vulnerable | G5T5S2 |
Chrysosplenium tetrandrum | northern golden-carpet | Moderately Vulnerable | G5S2 |
Corydalis aquae-gelidae | Clackamas corydalis | Moderately Vulnerable | G5T3S2 |
Cryptantha leucophaea | gray cryptantha | Moderately Vulnerable | G2G3S2 |
Cryptantha spiculifera | Snake River cryptantha | Moderately Vulnerable | G4?S2S3 |
Cypripedium parviflorum | yellow lady's-slipper | Moderately Vulnerable | G5S2 |
Delphinium viridescens | Wenatchee larkspur | Moderately Vulnerable | G2S2 |
Dodecatheon austrofrigidum | frigid shooting-star | Moderately Vulnerable | G2S1 |
Erigeron howellii | Howell's daisy | Presumed Stable | G2S2 |
Erigeron salishii | Salish fleabane | Moderately Vulnerable | G3S2 |
Eriogonum codium | Umtanum desert buckwheat | Presumed Stable | G1S1 |
Eriophorum viridicarinatum | green keeled cottongrass | Moderately Vulnerable | G5S2 |
Erythronium quinaultense | Quinault fawn-lily | Presumed Stable | G1G2S1S2 |
Gaultheria hispidula | creeping snowberry | Moderately Vulnerable | G5S2 |
Hackelia taylorii | Taylor's stickseed | Highly Vulnerable | G2S2 |
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 |
Kalmia procumbens | alpine azalea | Extremely Vulnerable | G5SH |
Lomatium bradshawii | Bradshaw's desert-parsley | Moderately Vulnerable | G2S1 |
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 | G4T2S1S2 |
Muhlenbergia glomerata | marsh muhly | Moderately Vulnerable | G5S2 |
Navarretia tagetina | marigold navarretia | Moderately Vulnerable | G5S1 |
Nicotiana attenuata | coyote tobacco | Less Vulnerable | G4S2 |
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 |
Penstemon barrettiae | Barrett's beardtongue | Presumed Stable | G2S2 |
Penstemon wilcoxii | Wilcox's beardtongue | Moderately Vulnerable | G4S1 |
Petrophytum cinerascens | Chelan rockmat | Moderately Vulnerable | G1G2S1S2 |
Physaria douglasii ssp. tuplashensis | White Bluffs bladderpod | Moderately Vulnerable | G5T1QS1 |
Polemonium carneum | great polemonium | Less Vulnerable | G3G4S2 |
Polemonium pectinatum | Washington polemonium | Moderately Vulnerable | G2S2 |
Polyctenium fremontii | Fremont's combleaf | Moderately Vulnerable | G4S1 |
Pyrrocoma hirta var. sonchifolia | sticky goldenwed | Moderately Vulnerable | G4G5T3S2 |
Ranunculus populago | mountain buttercup | Moderately Vulnerable | G4S2 |
Rubus arcticus ssp. acaulis | nagoonberry | Moderately Vulnerable | G5T5S1 |
Salix candida | hoary willow | Highly Vulnerable | G5S1 |
Salix glauca var. villosa | glaucous willow | Moderately Vulnerable | G5T5S1S2 |
Salix pseudomonticola | false mountain willow | 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 | G5TNRS1 |
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 spaldingii | Spalding's silene | Moderately Vulnerable | G2S2 |
Sisyrinchium sarmentosum | pale blue-eyed grass | Highly Vulnerable | G2S2 |
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 | G3S3 |
Vaccinium myrtilloides | velvetleaf blueberry | Moderately Vulnerable | G5S1 |
1The Element Ranks listed here are current as of 09/03/2020 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.