Operationalizing cultural adaptation to climate change: contemporary examples from United States agriculture.

Autor: Waring TM; School of Economics, University of Maine, Orono 04473, ME, USA.; Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions, University of Maine, Orono 04473, ME, USA., Niles MT; Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, University of Vermont, Burlington 05405-0160, VT, USA.; Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont, Burlington 05405-0160, VT, USA., Kling MM; Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, University of Vermont, Burlington 05405-0160, VT, USA.; Department of Biology, University of Vermont, Burlington 05405-0160, VT, USA., Miller SN; Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions, University of Maine, Orono 04473, ME, USA.; School of Biology and Ecology, University of Maine, Orono 04473, ME, USA., Hébert-Dufresne L; Department of Computer Science, University of Vermont, Burlington 05405-0160, VT, USA.; Vermont Complex Systems Center, University of Vermont, Burlington 05405-0160, VT, USA., Sabzian H; Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions, University of Maine, Orono 04473, ME, USA., Gotelli N; Department of Biology, University of Vermont, Burlington 05405-0160, VT, USA., McGill BJ; Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions, University of Maine, Orono 04473, ME, USA.; School of Biology and Ecology, University of Maine, Orono 04473, ME, USA.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences [Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci] 2023 Nov 06; Vol. 378 (1889), pp. 20220397. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Sep 18.
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0397
Abstrakt: It has been proposed that climate adaptation research can benefit from an evolutionary approach. But related empirical research is lacking. We advance the evolutionary study of climate adaptation with two case studies from contemporary United States agriculture. First, we define 'cultural adaptation to climate change' as a mechanistic process of population-level cultural change. We argue this definition enables rigorous comparisons, yields testable hypotheses from mathematical theory and distinguishes adaptive change, non-adaptive change and desirable policy outcomes. Next, we develop an operational approach to identify 'cultural adaptation to climate change' based on established empirical criteria. We apply this approach to data on crop choices and the use of cover crops between 2008 and 2021 from the United States. We find evidence that crop choices are adapting to local trends in two separate climate variables in some regions of the USA. But evidence suggests that cover cropping may be adapting more to the economic environment than climatic conditions. Further research is needed to characterize the process of cultural adaptation, particularly the routes and mechanisms of cultural transmission. Furthermore, climate adaptation policy could benefit from research on factors that differentiate regions exhibiting adaptive trends in crop choice from those that do not. This article is part of the theme issue 'Climate change adaptation needs a science of culture'.
Databáze: MEDLINE