Explore case studies in the application of the Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) Framework
The Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) framework is a tool that helps resource managers make informed strategies for responding to socio-ecological changes, including climate change.
The RAD Framework
Intensifying global change is propelling ecosystems towards irreversible transformations. When ecosystem restoration, rehabilitation, or other ongoing practices are increasingly untenable, the Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) framework can help start constructive conservations about what comes next.
The RAD framework lays out three approaches for making management decisions for systems undergoing ecosystem transformation: 1) Resist, where managers work to maintain or restore ecosystem composition, structure, processes, or function on the basis of historical or acceptable current conditions, 2) Accept, where managers allow ecosystem composition, structure, process, or function to change autonomously, and 3) Direct, where managers actively shape change in ecosystem composition, structure, processes, or function toward preferred new conditions.
Explore case studies in the application of the RAD framework
Kenai Peninsula
Florida Reef Tract
Midwest Glacial Lakes
Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Maryland
Upper Mississippi River Basin
The Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Spanning 24,300-km2 and encompassing boreal and coastal rainforest biomes, three icefields, and an elevation range from sea level to >1,600 m, the Kenai Peninsula—home to the celebrated Kenai River, Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, Kenai Fjords National park, and Chugach National Forest—is undergoing marked ecosystem transformation due to climate change.
Most changes have been accepted by practitioners, either because they are infeasible to manage (e.g., changes in bird migration, glacial ablation) or are not impactful enough to warrant a management response (e.g., afforestation, American marten establishment). Some changes have been resisted, for example by reforesting areas affected by beetle-induced tree mortality, protecting riparian parcels that harbor cold-water refugia for salmon, and eradicating invasive plants. Elsewhere, change is being directed, for example by planting exotic tree species for landscaping and fruit production as the growing season increases. Change could also be directed by introducing a nonnative grazer, like bison, to steward the system towards a richer grassland.
The Florida Reef Tract
The Florida Reef Tract, the only tropical coral reef system in the continental USA, is transforming due to warming ocean temperatures and other change drivers. It is home to over 500 fish and thousands of invertebrate species and generates US$6 billion per year in coastal tourism and fishing that are at risk due to system change.
Resisting transformation is the central management response to the loss of reef-building corals within this ecosystem. Some climate-related mass mortality events and associated shifts in community composition may have to be accepted if global sea surface temperatures are allowed to fluctuate outside of historical ranges. Experiments assessing stress tolerance show promise for directing change towards hardier corals.
Midwest Glacial Lakes
Environmental conditions in the Midwest Glacial Lakes and associated Great Lakes basin are likely to shift considerably because of warming temperatures, introduced species, and changes in nutrient runoff. These changes can negatively affect forage fish communities that support top lake predators.
Managers can resist climate-induced loss of cisco in these deep, clear lakes as long as their water quality remains high. To this end, managers are pursuing conservation easements and other land protection mechanisms to protect the watersheds of these lakes from development. Managers may also choose to accept the decline of cisco, given the higher cost of conservation efforts. In turn, this acceptance acknowledges that warmwater species, such as largemouth bass and smallmouth bass, are increasing, two species that have the potential to support a popular sportfishing industry that has historically been focused on other species.
Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Maryland
Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, a protected area in tidal Maryland for waterfowl and other wildlife, has very low and flat topography, with elevations ranging from below mean sea level to 2.5 m above it. Sea-level rise in this region (3.44 mm/year) is almost twice the global average (1.8 mm/year) and has had catastrophic effects on the tidal saltmarsh.
To resist change, managers and partners completed a 16-ha project to build elevation and enhance plant vigor and productivity. They have also nearly eradicated introduced nutria from the area, which has allowed for increases in native vegetation. Outside the refuge, a US\$475,000 demonstration project directs change, accelerating tidal marsh migration into low-lying farmlands using a low ground-pressure excavator to extend the head of a nearby tidal creek, which reduces inundation, introduces tidal exchange, and reinvigorates marsh vegetation.
The Upper Mississippi River Basin
Managing expansive river systems like the Upper Mississippi is a challenge due to their size, connectivity, dynamic nature, multiple uses, and interacting threats. Here, the RAD framework can be implemented at three spatial scales: basin, reach, and site. Basin goals provide the foundation for unified river governance; reach objectives bridge basin goals and site actions by specifying desired outcomes for different aspects of the ecosystems; and site actions at the local scale are implemented to achieve reach goals and basin objectives.
The Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) framework is a tool that helps resource managers make informed strategies for responding to socio-ecological changes, including climate change.
The RAD Framework
Intensifying global change is propelling ecosystems towards irreversible transformations. When ecosystem restoration, rehabilitation, or other ongoing practices are increasingly untenable, the Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) framework can help start constructive conservations about what comes next.
The RAD framework lays out three approaches for making management decisions for systems undergoing ecosystem transformation: 1) Resist, where managers work to maintain or restore ecosystem composition, structure, processes, or function on the basis of historical or acceptable current conditions, 2) Accept, where managers allow ecosystem composition, structure, process, or function to change autonomously, and 3) Direct, where managers actively shape change in ecosystem composition, structure, processes, or function toward preferred new conditions.
Explore case studies in the application of the RAD framework
Kenai Peninsula
Florida Reef Tract
Midwest Glacial Lakes
Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Maryland
Upper Mississippi River Basin
The Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Spanning 24,300-km2 and encompassing boreal and coastal rainforest biomes, three icefields, and an elevation range from sea level to >1,600 m, the Kenai Peninsula—home to the celebrated Kenai River, Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, Kenai Fjords National park, and Chugach National Forest—is undergoing marked ecosystem transformation due to climate change.
Most changes have been accepted by practitioners, either because they are infeasible to manage (e.g., changes in bird migration, glacial ablation) or are not impactful enough to warrant a management response (e.g., afforestation, American marten establishment). Some changes have been resisted, for example by reforesting areas affected by beetle-induced tree mortality, protecting riparian parcels that harbor cold-water refugia for salmon, and eradicating invasive plants. Elsewhere, change is being directed, for example by planting exotic tree species for landscaping and fruit production as the growing season increases. Change could also be directed by introducing a nonnative grazer, like bison, to steward the system towards a richer grassland.
The Florida Reef Tract
The Florida Reef Tract, the only tropical coral reef system in the continental USA, is transforming due to warming ocean temperatures and other change drivers. It is home to over 500 fish and thousands of invertebrate species and generates US$6 billion per year in coastal tourism and fishing that are at risk due to system change.
Resisting transformation is the central management response to the loss of reef-building corals within this ecosystem. Some climate-related mass mortality events and associated shifts in community composition may have to be accepted if global sea surface temperatures are allowed to fluctuate outside of historical ranges. Experiments assessing stress tolerance show promise for directing change towards hardier corals.
Midwest Glacial Lakes
Environmental conditions in the Midwest Glacial Lakes and associated Great Lakes basin are likely to shift considerably because of warming temperatures, introduced species, and changes in nutrient runoff. These changes can negatively affect forage fish communities that support top lake predators.
Managers can resist climate-induced loss of cisco in these deep, clear lakes as long as their water quality remains high. To this end, managers are pursuing conservation easements and other land protection mechanisms to protect the watersheds of these lakes from development. Managers may also choose to accept the decline of cisco, given the higher cost of conservation efforts. In turn, this acceptance acknowledges that warmwater species, such as largemouth bass and smallmouth bass, are increasing, two species that have the potential to support a popular sportfishing industry that has historically been focused on other species.
Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Maryland
Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, a protected area in tidal Maryland for waterfowl and other wildlife, has very low and flat topography, with elevations ranging from below mean sea level to 2.5 m above it. Sea-level rise in this region (3.44 mm/year) is almost twice the global average (1.8 mm/year) and has had catastrophic effects on the tidal saltmarsh.
To resist change, managers and partners completed a 16-ha project to build elevation and enhance plant vigor and productivity. They have also nearly eradicated introduced nutria from the area, which has allowed for increases in native vegetation. Outside the refuge, a US\$475,000 demonstration project directs change, accelerating tidal marsh migration into low-lying farmlands using a low ground-pressure excavator to extend the head of a nearby tidal creek, which reduces inundation, introduces tidal exchange, and reinvigorates marsh vegetation.
The Upper Mississippi River Basin
Managing expansive river systems like the Upper Mississippi is a challenge due to their size, connectivity, dynamic nature, multiple uses, and interacting threats. Here, the RAD framework can be implemented at three spatial scales: basin, reach, and site. Basin goals provide the foundation for unified river governance; reach objectives bridge basin goals and site actions by specifying desired outcomes for different aspects of the ecosystems; and site actions at the local scale are implemented to achieve reach goals and basin objectives.