Champlain-Adirondack Biosphere Reserve
Champlain-Adirondack Biosphere Reserve
Administrative details
Country: United States of America
Name of BR: Champlain-Adirondack Biosphere Reserve
Year designated: 1989
Administrative authorities: (7.6) Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, Adirondack Park Agency, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, US Forest Service
Name Contact: Co-coordinators: Brian L. Houseal, Kelly Cerialo
Contact address: Houseal Cerialo
Tel: 518-962-2677 518-327-6387
Westport, NY Paul Smiths College
Related links:
Contents
Description
General description:
The Champlain-Adirondack Biosphere Reserve overlaps the borders of north-eastern New York and northwestern Vermont. Lake Champlain, the sixth largest lake in the United States, and the Adirondack and Green Mountains are the central features of the biosphere reserve. It includes extensive temperate coniferous and deciduous forests, alpine mountain peaks, and extensive rivers, lakes, bogs, and freshwater wetlands. The primary goal of the Champlain-Adirondack Biosphere Reserve is to use education, research, and outreach to encourage social and economic vitality and to preserve and improve the environmental health of the region. The biosphere reserve and its outlying areas are inhabited by over 300,000 people (2010) and are within a day’s drive of 60 million people living in the metro regions U.S. and Canada. Forestry, farming and tourism are the economic base in the Adirondack region on the New York side of Lake Champlain. The more diverse economy on the Vermont side of the lake is based on forestry, farming, tourism, light manufacturing, and production of specialty agricultural products.
Major ecosystem type: Northern Appalachian ecoregion (source: The Nature Conservancy)
Major habitats & land cover types: northern hardwood, mountain conifer, alpine, spruce swamp, bog, aquatic lake, river, stream
Bioclimatic zone: Growing zones 2-3-4
Location (latitude & longitude): 43o-20’ to 45o-30’ latitude, 72o-30’ to 75o-00’ longitude
Total Area (ha): 3,990,000 hectares
Core area(s): 1,032,636
Buffer zone(s):1,057,364
Transition area(s): 1,900,000
Different existing zonation:
Altitudinal range (metres above sea level): 30 m. to 1,665 m.
Zonation map(s) (refer to section 2.2.2):
Main objectives of the biosphere reserve
Brief description
1) Revive and reconfigure the management structure of the CABR with greater emphasis on a participatory community driven process.
2) Actively engage in a U.S. and North American network of Biosphere Reserves with the U.S. National Park Service and UNESCO MAB.
3) Increase communications, public education and outreach regarding models for sustainable development within the CABR and extend lessons learned to the U.S. and internationally.
Research
Brief description
1) Focus research activities on Global Environmental Change and models for rural community resiliency and adaptation. 2) Complete an All Taxa Biological Inventory for the CABR 3) Disseminate results to policy makers and general public.
Monitoring
Brief description
1) Identify and initiate long-term monitoring of a discrete set of abiotic, biotic and socio-economic Global Environmental Change indicators 2) Disseminate results to policy makers and general public.