Knowledge Of Adaptation Strategies Research Articles

Farmers’ Knowledge of Adaptation Strategies to Mitigate Climate Change and Factors Influencing Their Adoption

Climate change has emerged as a global threat negatively affecting the productivity and production efficiency of agriculture systems thereby endangering food security and livelihoods of rural communities in most of the developing countries like India. Climate change and extreme climatic events have caused India’s agriculture production to decline and exacerbated food insecurity during the last few decades. Consequently, Indian farmers have developed indigenous practices to mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change on agriculture. This study aims at studying farmers’ knowledge of adaptation strategies, identifying the adoption of adaptation strategies and find out various factors influencing farmers’ adoption of adaptation strategies to cope up with climate change. The present study draws upon data collected through personal interviews with 180 farmers in one district of North-Western Himalayan state of Uttarakhand. The results showed that farmers knowledge of adaptation strategies was found to be medium; most common adaptation strategies employed were – change in sowing time/ date, crop diversification, inter/ mixed cropping, use of drought and heat resistant crop varieties, and short duration and early maturing crop varieties. Further, Using Karl Pearson Correlation, the results indicated that age, farming experience, landholding, annual income, information seeking behavior, scientific orientation, credit and subsidy orientation, decision making ability, extension contact were likely to affect their knowledge of adaptation strategies to cope up with climate change. The results of the present study will provide policy makers with new insights for the government and encourage agricultural extension services providers to promote location specific adoption of coping strategies so as to tackle the adverse impacts of climate change on agriculture.

Understanding characteristics of forest professionals and small woodlot owners for communicating climate change adaptation

Forest stakeholders are a highly heterogeneous group with varied perceptions that are important to consider when engaging in dialog to increase climate change adaptation. We conducted an online survey of two forestry groups in Maine, U.S., classified as (1) forest professionals, and (2) small woodlot owners. We compared their climate change risk perceptions, socio-cultural influences, information sources, self-efficacy, barriers and incentives to adaptation, and management strategies. Small woodlot owners have much less knowledge of adaptation strategies, and greater perceived need for financial incentives, while forest professionals have higher social norms and more interest in market-based incentives. We found that both groups perceived climate change as a strong influencer on forest ecosystems, and that complexity of information was a key barrier to effective adaptation. The similarities that transcend forestry groups highlight several key perceptions of climate change that unify those working in diverse roles and positions. Implications for increasing implementation include framing communication messages to connect with specific audiences, such as discussing climate change in terms of forest health and wildlife concerns.

Adaptive strategies and driving factors of a montane riparian tree: Trait-specific mechanisms across latitude

Investigating the drivers of phenotypic and genetic divergence can reveal the underlying processes and strategies that species adopt in rapidly changing environments. However, knowledge of adaptive strategies and the underlying mechanisms is lacking for the majority of taxa, especially those living in habitats sensitive to climate change. Here, we investigated 20 populations of a Tertiary-relict tree species, Euptelea pleiospermum (Eupteleaceae), scattered in a mountain riparian habitat in China. We integrated genetic, growth, and reproductive traits, and evaluated the relative contributions of climatic and soil factors on genetic and functional trait divergence. The E. pleiospermum populations were divided into south and north genetic clusters, and there were significant differences in leaf density and seed mass of adult trees between the two. The spatial pattern of genetic divergence resulted from effects of both isolation by distance (IBD) and isolation by environment (IBE), whereas the divergence of growth and reproductive traits resulted solely from IBE effects. Spatial distance and selection by temperature and soils played dominant roles in genetic divergence. Precipitation drove the spatial divergence of sprouting. Both divergence of leaf density and seed mass were prominently induced by genetic divergence, and the influences might be enhanced by temperature and soil nutrients. We infer that E. pleiospermum populations adopt a resource-conservative strategy with low growth rates and higher sprouting under flooding disturbance, with larger seeds for improved seedling recruitment at lower latitudes. In contrast, high growth rate and sexual reproduction with small seeds are strategies adopted by populations at higher latitudes. We conclude that sprouting reflects a plastic response to precipitation, and leaf density and seed mass reflect local adaption under selection by temperature and soil factors. The underlying mechanisms of species adaptation strategies were trait-specific. Temperature and soil conditions are likely the main ecological factors shaping plant divergence in montane riparian regions.

Environmental Health and Adaptation Strategy to Climate Change

The United Nation's 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are an urgent call to all countries for action to combat climate change and its impacts (United Nations, 2015). In response, Taiwan's highest national body, the Executive Yuan, has designated health as one of eight primary areas of threats and challenges in the policy document "Adaptation Strategy to Climate Change in Taiwan". Further, the Ministry of Education has been promoting climate-change adaptation education since 2012 and, in 2016, the Teaching Alliance was established to promote the integration of climate change issues into public education curricula as well as resource sharing and multidisciplinary collaboration (Ministry of Education, 2019). The focus of nursing on primary healthcare and community care makes nursing professionals critical to successfully attaining UN SDGs (Shmian, 2016). In addition, the environmental health component of nursing education addresses core global health and public health competences directly (Clark, Raffray, Hendricks, & Gagnon, 2016). The American Nurses Association (2013) includes environmental health as one of the eleven standards of professional performance for public health nursing. This column invites Teaching Alliance educators to share their experiences in multidisciplinary professional, teaching, and practice environments in articles that hopefully enhance readers' knowledge of adaptation strategies and of the sustainable development of public health under climate change.