Example Species Assessments
The following examples demonstrate how SAVS can be applied to different types of species and the insights it provides for conservation planning.
🦅 Northern Spotted Owl
Strix occidentalis caurina | Pacific Northwest, USA
+8.2 Vulnerable
Habitat
+3.1
Physiology
+1.8
Phenology
+2.1
Biotic
+1.2
Key Findings:
- Habitat vulnerability: Old-growth forest habitat declining due to increased fire frequency and drought stress
- Limited dispersal: Poor ability to colonize new areas as habitat shifts
- Phenology mismatch: Breeding timing may become misaligned with prey species emergence
- Uncertainty: 35% - moderate uncertainty in climate impact projections
🎯 Management Implications:
Priority Actions: Habitat connectivity corridors, assisted migration trials, fire management in key breeding areas
🦆 American Black Duck
Anas rubripes | Atlantic Coast, USA/Canada
-0.3 Neutral
Habitat
+1.2
Physiology
-1.8
Phenology
-0.5
Biotic
+0.8
Key Findings:
- Mixed impacts: Sea level rise threatens coastal breeding areas, but species benefits from longer ice-free seasons
- High mobility: Strong dispersal ability allows adaptation to shifting habitat
- Physiological advantage: Broad thermal tolerance and flexible activity patterns
- Uncertainty: 45% - conflicting information on habitat change impacts
🎯 Management Implications:
Priority Actions: Monitor population trends closely, protect inland breeding alternatives, research habitat use changes
🦋 Monarch Butterfly
Danaus plexippus | Eastern North America
+12.7 Vulnerable
Habitat
+4.2
Physiology
+2.8
Phenology
+3.9
Biotic
+1.8
Key Findings:
- Complex migration: Requires multiple transitional habitats across vast geographic range
- Extreme phenology risk: Migration timing highly sensitive to temperature cues
- Specialist diet: Dependent on milkweed plants that face climate stress
- Uncertainty: 25% - well-studied species with good data availability
🎯 Management Implications:
Priority Actions: Landscape-scale milkweed habitat restoration, international coordination of conservation efforts, climate-adapted habitat management
🐢 Painted Turtle
Chrysemys picta | Great Lakes Region
-4.1 Resilient
Habitat
-1.2
Physiology
-2.1
Phenology
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