Rio Grande Phenology Trail and Bosque Ecosystem Monitoring Program, Bosque School, 4000 Bosque School Road NW, Albuquerque, NM, 87120, USA.
Sustainable Communities Program and School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, 19W. McConnell, Flagstaff, AZ, 86011-6039, USA.
Environ Manage. 2019 Jan;63(1):94-109. doi: 10.1007/s00267-018-1114-6. Epub 2018 Nov 15.
Climate change will pose unprecedented challenges for agricultural producers globally, requiring the ability to adapt to new and unpredictable conditions. This study explores the adaptive capacity of crop growers in the Verde Valley, Arizona (US). Rather than examining pre-determined indicators of adaptive capacity, this study adopts a situated framework that examines material conditions, perceptions, and the larger social context. Interviewers used past experiences and future scenarios to allow factors that enhance or constrain adaptive capacity to emerge from the interviews. Findings reveal adaptation is site specific but general measures can be taken to enhance adaptive capacity. Encouraging diversity in crops and water sources, the use of drought and heat tolerant crops, and the use of water conservation practices will likely increase growers' adaptive capacity. In contrast, lack of support from organizations and government programs, lack of diverse crops and sources of water, lack of awareness about climate change, and growers' confidence in their ability to always adapt impairs adaptive capacity. Verde Valley growers will need increased support from local and national organizations to adapt to projected changes. The situated framework applied in this study reveals important insights and could be used to explore adaptive capacity in other agricultural regions.
气候变化将给全球农业生产者带来前所未有的挑战，需要具备适应新的和不可预测的条件的能力。本研究探讨了美国亚利桑那州维德谷（Verde Valley）作物种植者的适应能力。本研究没有考察预先确定的适应能力指标，而是采用了一种情境框架，考察了物质条件、观念和更大的社会背景。采访者利用过去的经验和未来的情景，让增强或限制适应能力的因素从采访中显现出来。研究结果表明，适应能力具有特定地点的特点，但可以采取一般措施来增强适应能力。鼓励作物和水源的多样性，使用耐旱和耐热作物，以及采用节约用水的做法，可能会增加种植者的适应能力。相比之下，缺乏组织和政府计划的支持、缺乏多样化的作物和水源、对气候变化缺乏认识，以及种植者对自己适应能力的信心不足，都会损害适应能力。维德谷的种植者将需要得到当地和国家组织的更多支持，以适应预期的变化。本研究应用的情境框架揭示了重要的见解，可以用来探索其他农业地区的适应能力。
