Conservationists must develop new strategies and adapt existing tools to address the consequences of anthropogenic climate change. To support statewide climate change adaptation, we developed a framework for assessing climate change vulnerability of California's at-risk birds and integrating it into the existing California Bird Species of Special Concern list. We defined climate vulnerability as the amount of evidence that climate change will negatively impact a population.

Over the next century, climate change will dramatically alter natural resource management. Specifically, historical reference
conditions may no longer serve as benchmarks for restoration, which may foster a