LIGHTNING ROUND PRESENTER CO-AUTHORS: Sophie LaFond-Hudson, Wisconsin Sea Grant; Madeline Magee and Cherie Hagen, WDNR TITLE: Assessing the climate sensitivity and resiliency of Great Lakes coastal wetlands ABSTRACT: Great Lakes coastal wetlands are diverse and dynamic ecosystems that have developed to function under disturbances at the interface of terrestrial and aquatic systems. Climate change is projected to alter these disturbances outside their historical ranges, subjecting wetlands to warmer temperatures, more extreme precipitation events, larger fluctuations in lake levels, and increased wind and wave action. These anticipated changes pose an uncertain risk to coastal wetland habitats and are therefore challenging for natural resource managers who have limited resources for wetland management, preservation, and adaptation efforts. Using wetlands in the Lake Superior basin as a pilot, we are developing a framework to quantify the relative sensitivity of Great Lakes coastal wetland habitats to the anticipated effects of climate change. Data from the Coastal Wetlands Monitoring Program (CWMP) and state databases (e.g. Wisconsin National Heritage Inventory, Wisconsin Wetland Inventory) are used in conjunction with the Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts (WICCI) and expert opinion of regional and state-wide wetland professionals to assign sensitivity scores to each wetland. Here, we present this framework and initial wetland vegetation sensitivity rankings for 38 coastal wetlands in the Lake Superior basin of Wisconsin. By combining sensitivity and adaptive capacity scores, estimates of wetland resiliency may assist in prioritizing management efforts and distributing limited funds in the Lake Superior basin, and can then be replicated on other Great Lakes systems. BIO: Mike Smale is a Wisconsin Sea Grant Kelior Great Lakes Fellow stationed with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. He completed his undergraduate degree in geography, GIS, and environmental studies at UW-Madison and recently received a master’s degree in water resources management from the Nelson Institute at UW-Madison.