Farming in a Changing Climate: Agricultural Adaptation in Canada(Sustainability and the Environment)

In farming systems across Canada, effective risk management isnecessary to deal with drought, flooding, and extreme weather, and toadapt to altered climate and weather conditions. Unfortunately, climatechange risks and opportunities are not always well understood amongresearchers and policy makers in the Canadian agri-food sector. Thisbook addresses that gap by providing a wide-ranging synopsis ofwhat climate change means for Canadian agriculture, exploring differentapproaches to the topic, and presenting examples of current research.It covers all agricultural regions and a wide variety of commodityproduction and farming systems. This comprehensive survey synthesizestwenty years of research on climate change and Canadianagriculture.

Table of Contents:
Figures and Tables Preface Acknowledgments Abbreviations Part 1: Research Approaches to Climate ChangeAdaptation 1 Introduction / Ellen Wall, Barry Smit, and Johanna Wandel 2 Impact-Based Approach / Michael Brklacich, Barry Smit, Ellen Wall,and Johanna Wandel 3 Context-Based Approach / Ellen Wall, Barry Smit, and JohannaWandel 4 Process-Based Approach / Johanna Wandel, Ellen Wall, and BarrySmit Part 2: Impact-Based Studies 5 Potential Impacts of Climate Change on Agriculture in EasternCanada / Samuel Gameda, Andrew Bootsma, and Daniel McKenney 6 Climate Change Impacts on Agriculture in the Prairie Region /David Sauchyn 7 Agricultural Water Supply in the Okanagan Basin: Using ClimateChange Scenarios to Inform Dialogue and Planning Processes / DeniseNeilsen, Stewart Cohen, Scott Smith, Grace Frank, Walter Koch, YounesAlila, Wendy Merritt, Mark Barton, and Bill Taylor Part 3: Context-Based Studies 8 Climate Change Adaptation in a Wider Context: ConceptualizingMultiple Risks in Primary Agriculture / Ben Bradshaw 9 Biophysical and Socio-Economic Stressors for Agriculture in theCanadian Prairies / Henry David Venema 10 Institutional Capacity for Agriculture in the South SaskatchewanRiver Basin / Harry P. Diaz and David A. Gauthier 11 The Perception of Risk to Agriculture and Climatic Variability inQuébec: Implications for Farmer Adaptation to Climatic Variability andChange / Christopher Bryant, Bhawan Singh, and Pierre André Part 4: Process-Based Studies 12 Comparing Apples and Grapes: Farm-Level Vulnerability to ClimateVariability and Change / Suzanne Belliveau, Ben Bradshaw, and Barry Smit 13 Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Risks in SouthwesternOntario Farming Systems / Susanna Reid, Suzanne Belliveau, Barry Smit,and Wayne Caldwell 14 Community-Based Watershed Management as an AgriculturalAdaptation to Climatic Extremes in the Canadian Prairies / R. Cynthia Neudoerffer and DavidWaltner-Toews 15 Household Access to Capital and Its Influence on Climate-RelatedRural Population Change: Lessons from the Dust Bowl Years / Robert A. McLeman Part 5: Conclusions 16 Policy Implications: Panellists' Comments / Ellen Wall,Barry Smit, and Johanna Wandel 17 Climate Change Adaptation Research and Policy for CanadianAgriculture / Ellen Wall and Barry Smit References Contributors Index

About the Author :
Ellen Wall is a research scientist in environmentalsciences; Barry Smit is a professor of geography andCanada Research Chair in Global Environmental Change; andJohanna Wandel is a postdoctoral research associatewith the Department of Geography – all at the University ofGuelph. The authors/editors are also members of the Advisory Committeefor C-CIARN Agriculture (Canadian Climate Impacts and AdaptationResearch Network for Agriculture).

Review :
This timely collection will be of interest to scholars, policymakers, and agriculturalists throughout North America and beyond. It offers both a comprehensive collection of recent research on the vulnerability of Canadian farming systems to climate change and a thorough and articulate presentation of the breadth of concepts and methods currently employed in climate change vulnerability assessments. - Debra Davidson, University of Alberta (Great Plains Research, Vol.18, No.2, Fall 2008)