THE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION SYSTEM IS VULNERABLE TO CLIMATE CHANGE AND LAND-USE CHANGES ARE BEING PRACTICED AS THE MAJOR ADAPTATION STRATEGY. THE LONG-TERM GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO ENHANCE THE RESILIENCE OF THE FOOD/FIBER SUPPLY CHAIN, WHILE MINIMIZING THE NEGATIVE ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, AND ECONOMIC IMPACTS. WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT (I) CLIMATE-INDUCED INCREASE IN TEMPERATURE AND ALTERED PRECIPITATION PATTERNS WILL ADVERSELY IMPACT WATER YIELD AND QUALITY, AND AGRICULTURAL SOIL HEALTH, WHILE GHG EMISSION WILL INCREASE, RENDERING THE AGRICULTURAL SYSTEM MORE VULNERABLE AND (II) SPECIFIC, TARGETED LAND-USE CHANGES CAN MITIGATE THE ADVERSE ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, AND ECONOMIC IMPACTS, THUS REDUCING THE VULNERABILITY OF THE AGRICULTURAL SYSTEM. THESE HYPOTHESES WILL BE TESTED VIA VULNERABILITY ANALYSIS WITH INDICATORS REPRESENTING INTERNAL CHARACTERISTICS OF WATER YIELD AND SOIL, WATER AND AIR QUALITY AND EXTERNAL STRESSORS OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL FACTORS. ALL THE INDICATORS WILL BE GENERATEDBY PROCESS-BASED MODELS CALIBRATED BY LITERATURE, AVAILABLE DATA, AND ADDITIONAL LABORATORY AND FIELD EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS. THE FINDINGS OF THIS PROJECT WILL PROVIDE ACCEPTANCE GUIDELINES OF LAND-USE CHANGES TO ADAPT TO CLIMATE CHANGE AND WILL BE TRANSFERRED TO EDUCATION AND EXTENSION PROGRAMS AT MULTIPLE LEVELS. THIS PROJECT WILL BE COORDINATED BY FLORIDA A&M UNIVERSITY, ONE OF THE 1890 LAND-GRANT INSTITUTIONS, WITH JOINT EFFORTS OF WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY AND THE CENTER FOR FOREST WATERSHED RESEARCH OF USDA FOREST SERVICE.

Florida A & M University

Investigators