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 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 Highly Vulnerable 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 Moderately Vulnerable 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.