Introducing ccviR: An app and R package for calculating the NatureServe Climate Change Vulnerability Index

Background/Question/Methods

Trait-based climate change vulnerability assessments (CCVAs) are used to assess the relative vulnerability of species to climate change. These approaches are appealing as they often rely on expert derived information and can be used as a screening tool to assess large numbers of species. This makes trait-based CCVAs ideal for application in a wide range of management contexts such as extinction risk assessments, recovery planning or protected areas management. The NatureServe Climate Change Vulnerability Index (CCVI) is one example of a trait based index that has been used to assess the climate change vulnerability of species in a variety of jurisdictions. However, there are some barriers to its use, including the need to use GIS software to analyse the spatial data that informs the index and the lack of a user friendly interface. To address these we have developed an application and R package that implements the NatureServe CCVI algorithm and processes the spatial data internally. The app was developed in R using the Shiny package and provides an interactive user interface and detailed results page.

Results/Conclusions

The ccviR app makes the NatureServe CCVI more accessible for use in many contexts and provides insights into the drivers of vulnerability that can inform climate change adaptation actions. The app incorporates best practices for CCVAs by allowing for the inclusion of multiple climate change scenarios and evaluation of uncertainty. With the R package experienced users can batch calculate the index allowing for detailed sensitivity and uncertainty analyses. This project demonstrates one method for producing a user-friendly tool that can make evidence based decision making easier for practitioners.