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In California, wastewater systems have adapted to water conservation and drought for decades. Yet, few studies have investigated how past design assumptions influence potential mitigation and adaptation actions. This paper evaluates adaptation pathways for wastewater management in California and addresses two questions. First, are wastewater facilities experiencing challenges from mismatches in design flow values and current rates of influent flow? Second, what, if any, adaptation actions are underway or planned? To answer these questions, we compiled historical literature and conducted surveys and interviews with wastewater system managers. Approximately half of respondents indicated that they are experiencing challenges associated with changing water use rates. Aging systems have implemented many types of mitigation and adaptation actions, including operational changes, chemical additions, and facility rebuilds. California's wastewater industry is largely pursuing an incremental adaptation pathway to manage drought and climate change. The paper demonstrates an engaged approach to research on climate change adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines five representative sites on the California coast to illustrate a cost-effective methodology using tools and data that local decision makers can apply to analyse the economics of sea level rise (SLR) adaptation. We estimate the costs/benefits of selected responses (e.g. no action, nourishment, seawalls) to future flooding and erosion risks exacerbated by SLR. We estimate the economic value of changes to public/private property, recreational and habitat value, and beach related spending/tax revenues. Our findings indicate that the costs of SLR are significant but uneven across communities, and there is no single best strategy for adaptation. For example, Los Angeles's Venice Beach could lose $450 million in tourism revenue by 2100 with a 1.4 m SLR scenario while San Francisco's Ocean Beach would lose $80 million, but the impacts to structures could total nearly $560 million at Ocean Beach compared to $50 million at Venice Beach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to examine the experiences of Latino clients following a naturalistic cultural adaptation made to SafeCare, an evidence-based home visiting intervention designed to address specific linguistic and cultural issues affecting the Latino community during implementation in San Diego County, California. Design/methodology/approach -- Hierarchical linear models examined whether Latino clients experienced differences in perceptions of SafeCare delivery, working relationship with the home visitor and satisfaction with services when compared with non-Latino clients and whether language of service delivery and provider-client ethnic match were related to Latino clients' experiences of the intervention. Findings -- Overall, across several different dimensions, there was no decrement in experience with SafeCare for Latino clients compared to non-Latino ones, implying that adaptations made locally adequately engaged Latino and Spanish-speaking clients in services without compromising perceived adherence to the programme model. Research limitations/implications -- Because this was a non-experimental study, conclusions could not be drawn as to whether the locally adapted SafeCare would fare better in Latino client ratings than SafeCare unadapted. However, the findings are important because they contradict concerns that EBPs may not be relevant to diverse client groups, and support the idea that when adaptations are made, it is possible to maintain adherence at the same level of adherence as when the programme is delivered in its non-adapted form. Originality/value -- The study explicitly documents and generates knowledge around an organic adaptation made in a community to an evidence-based intervention for a client group about whom there has been documented concern regarding the relevance of and engagement in services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The iconic monarch butterfly has undergone a dramatic decline in western North America since the 1990s, but in recent years has shown a capacity for resilience. This review identifies and investigates the likely drivers of this decline and resilience, and discusses their relative importance from a holistic viewpoint. Pesticides (particularly neonicotinoid insecticides), climate change, and habitat loss are likely to be the prime drivers of contemporary decline and instability in monarch population dynamics. Natural enemies (predators, parasites, and pathogens) are less likely to be a major contributor to contemporary population fluctuations, except on a local scale. Adaptation to changing environmental conditions will be an important component of the ongoing ability of western monarchs to show resilience. Human involvement with monarchs is a good and necessary thing for sustainable conservation, helping to prevent the 'extinction of experience', and the loss of human-nature contact, which has major adverse implications for nature conservation generally. Monarch butterfly populations in western North America suffered a substantial decline, from millions of butterflies overwintering in California in the 1980s to less than 400,000 at the beginning of the 21st century. The introduction of neonicotinoid insecticides in the mid–1990s and their subsequent widespread use appears to be the most likely major factor behind this sudden decline. Habitat loss and unfavorable climates (high temperatures, aridity, and winter storms) have also played important and ongoing roles. These factors kept overwintering populations stable but below 300,000 during 2001–2017. Late winter storm mortality and consequent poor spring reproduction drove winter populations to less than 30,000 butterflies during 2018–2019. Record high temperatures in California during the fall of 2020 appeared to prematurely terminate monarch migration, resulting in the lowest overwintering population (1899) ever recorded. Many migrants formed winter-breeding populations in urban areas. Normal seasonal temperatures in the autumns of 2021 and 2022 enabled overwintering populations to return to around the 300,000 level, characteristic of the previous two decades. Natural enemies (predators, parasitoids, parasites, and pathogens) may be important regional or local drivers at times but they are a consistent and fundamental part of monarch ecology. Human interference (capture, rearing) likely has the least impact on monarch populations. The rearing of monarch caterpillars, particularly by children, is an important human link to nature that has positive ramifications for insect conservation beyond monarch butterflies and should be encouraged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Train-the-trainer (TTT) is a promising method for implementing evidence-based psychological treatments (EBPTs) in community mental health centers (CMHCs). In TTT, expert trainers train locally embedded individuals (i.e., Generation 1 providers) to deliver an EBPT, who then train others (i.e., Generation 2 providers). The present study will evaluate implementation and effectiveness outcomes of an EBPT for sleep and circadian dysfunction—the Transdiagnostic Intervention for Sleep and Circadian Dysfunction (TranS-C)—delivered to CMHC patients with serious mental illness by Generation 2 providers (i.e., trained and supervised within CMHCs via TTT). Specifically, we will investigate whether adapting TranS-C to fit CMHC contexts improves Generation 2 (a) patient outcomes and (b) providers' perceptions of fit. Methods: TTT will be implemented in nine CMHCs in California, USA (N = 60 providers; N = 130 patients) via facilitation. CMHCs are cluster-randomized by county to Adapted TranS-C or Standard TranS-C. Within each CMHC, patients are randomized to immediate TranS-C or usual care followed by delayed treatment with TranS-C (UC-DT). Aim 1 will assess the effectiveness of TranS-C (combined Adapted and Standard), compared to UC-DT, on improvements in sleep and circadian problems, functional impairment, and psychiatric symptoms for Generation 2 patients. Aim 2 will evaluate whether Adapted TranS-C is superior to Standard TranS-C with respect to Generation 2 providers' perceptions of fit. Aim 3 will evaluate whether Generation 2 providers' perceived fit mediates the relation between TranS-C treatment condition and patient outcomes. Exploratory analyses will (1) evaluate whether the effectiveness of TranS-C for patient outcomes is moderated by generation, (2) compare Adapted and Standard TranS-C on patient perceptions of credibility/improvement and PhenX Toolkit outcomes (e.g., substance use, suicidality), and (3) evaluate other possible moderators. Discussion: This trial has potential to (a) inform the process of embedding local trainers and supervisors to expand delivery of a promising transdiagnostic treatment for sleep and circadian dysfunction, (b) add to the growing body of TTT literature by evaluating TTT outcomes with a novel treatment and population, and (c) advance our understanding of providers' perceptions of EBPT "fit" across TTT generations. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT05805657. Registered on April 10, 2023. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taiwanese immigrants in Los Angeles stand in contrast to the well-documented homeownership deficit among immigrants. Despite the tremendous growth in Taiwanese immigrants during the 1980s, the Taiwanese homeownership rate was not only among the highest of all ethnic groups in 1990, but also recorded a phenomenal increase of 16 percentage points between 1980 and 1990. This paper examines this trend and assesses the contributing factors. It reveals that (1) education and wealth were contributors to Taiwanese high homeownership; (2) Chinese immigrants in general and Taiwanese immigrants in particular had endowment-adjusted homeownership rates well above that of non-Hispanic whites, while the ways in which ethnic Chinese immigrants achieve high homeownership were reflective of their distinctive paths of immigration; (3) surprisingly, higher English proficiency, an indicator of acculturation, was negatively associated with Taiwanese homeownership; (4) the large rise in Taiwanese homeownership in the 1980s was largely contributed to by young, highly educated, newly arrived Taiwanese with a low level of income and a high level of wealth. Findings refute the hypothesis that immigrants are always plagued by homeownership deficits. Well-off immigrants, such as the Taiwanese, may have followed a path of assimilation not yet documented in the literature; acculturation and social adaptation may no longer be preconditions for their economic integration. The arrival of well-off immigrants has a significant potential to bolster regional demand for owner-occupied housing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Serious mental illness (SMI) can have devastating consequences. Unfortunately, many patients with SMI do not receive evidence-based psychological treatment (EBPTs) in routine practice settings. One barrier is poor "fit" between EBPTs and contexts in which they are implemented. The present study will evaluate implementation and effectiveness outcomes of the Transdiagnostic Intervention for Sleep and Circadian Dysfunction (TranS-C) implemented in community mental health centers (CMHCs). TranS-C was designed to target a range of SMI diagnoses by addressing a probable mechanism and predictor of SMI: sleep and circadian problems. We will investigate whether adapting TranS-C to fit CMHC contexts improves providers' perceptions of fit and patient outcomes. Methods: TranS-C will be implemented in at least ten counties in California, USA (N = 96 providers; N = 576 clients), via facilitation. CMHC sites are cluster-randomized by county to Adapted TranS-C or Standard TranS-C. Within each county, patients are randomized to immediate TranS-C or usual care followed by delayed treatment with TranS-C (UC-DT). Aim 1 will compare TranS-C (combined Adapted and Standard) with UC-DT on improvements in sleep and circadian problems, functional impairment, and psychiatric symptoms. Sleep and circadian problems will also be tested as a mediator between treatment condition (combined TranS-C versus UC-DT) and functional impairment/psychiatric symptoms. Aim 2 will evaluate whether Adapted TranS-C is superior to Standard TranS-C with respect to provider perceptions of fit. Aim 3 will evaluate whether the relation between TranS-C treatment condition (Adapted versus Standard) and patient outcomes is mediated by better provider perceptions of fit in the Adapted condition. Exploratory analyses will (1) compare Adapted versus Standard TranS-C on patient perceptions of credibility/improvement and select PhenX Toolkit outcomes and (2) evaluate possible moderators. Discussion: This trial has the potential to (a) expand support for TranS-C, a promising transdiagnostic treatment delivered to patients with SMI in CMHCs; (b) take steps toward addressing challenges faced by providers in delivering EBPTs (i.e., high caseloads, complex patients, poor fit); and (c) advance evidence on causal strategies (i.e., adapting treatments to fit context) in implementation science. Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT04154631. Registered on 6 November 2019. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04154631 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The slender wild oat (Avena barbata) was widely studied in California using allozymes in the 1970s and interpreted as a case of ecotypic adaptation to contrasting moisture environments. However, common garden studies suggested that the moist-associated (“mesic”) ecotype had high fitness in both moist and dry habitats, thus predicting an adaptive spread into areas occupied by the dry associated (“xeric”) ecotype. To test this prediction, we revisited 100 populations of A. barbata that were screened genetically 40 y ago. As expected, mesic allozyme and morphological markers are much more common than in the 1970s. The less-fit xeric ecotype, while still widespread, has declined markedly in range and frequency. Genotyping by sequencing of modern populations reveals striking genetic uniformity within each of the two ecotypes. In recombinants between the two ecotypes, the mesic allele at a major fitness quantitative trait locus (QTL) shows a high frequency but so do many other genomic regions not identified as fitness QTL. Additional introduced genotypes are diverse and more widespread than in the past, and our results show that these have spread into the former range of the xeric ecotype to an even greater extent than the mesic ecotype has. While these results confirm the prediction of contemporary evolution from common gardens, they also suggest that much of the change has been driven by additional waves of introduced genotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study simulates the impacts of higher temperatures resulting from anthropogenic climate change on residential electricity consumption for California. Flexible temperature response functions are estimated by climate zone, which allow for differential effects of days in different temperature bins on households' electricity consumption. The estimation uses a comprehensive household level dataset of electricity bills for California's three investor-owned utilities (Pacific Gas and Electric, San Diego Gas and Electric, and Southern California Edison). The results suggest that the temperature response varies greatly across climate zones. Simulation results using a downscaled version of the National Center for Atmospheric Research global circulation model suggest that holding population constant, total consumption for the households considered may increase by up to 55% by the end of the century. The study further simulates the impacts of higher electricity prices and different scenarios of population growth. Finally, simulations were conducted consistent with higher adoption of cooling equipment in areas which are not yet saturated, as well as gains in efficiency due to aggressive energy efficiency policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Terminal drought is the most important abiotic stress of dryland chickpea. The principal adaptive strategy of the crop is drought escape through early phenology. In regions where average temperatures at flowering <14–16°C, such as southern Australia or northern South Asia, the lack of reproductive chilling tolerance forces chickpea to delay podset. This delay compromises drought escape by exposing chickpea to terminal drought during much of the pod filling phase, reducing yield potential and stability, depending on seasonal climatic fluctuations. This paper defines chickpea growing seasons in time throughout the crop''s global production regions using published data and feedback from local breeders. This information is used to calculate and map regionally specific chickpea bioclimatic variables such as flowering phase temperatures and the peak rate of growing season temperature change. Flowering phase temperatures <14°C are uncommon. Mediterranean climates in southern Australia, Chile, California and Portugal tend to be cool during flowering (<15.4°C), while much of WANA is moderate to warm (15.4–24.4°C), with exceptions in coastal N Africa, the Nile valley and higher elevations in Morocco, the Balkans, central Afghanistan, NE and SW Iran. Ethiopia contains a wide range of flowering phase temperatures depending on altitude. In South Asia flowering phase temperatures tend to decrease with increasing latitude, with large cool regions in the Punjab, N Haryana, N Uttar Pradesh and the Nepali terai. Superimposing the peak rates of temperature change within the growing season identifies habitats which are likely to be consistently cool throughout the reproductive phase by eliminating regions with transient chilling stress, such as much of N South Asia. It is suggested that reproductive chilling tolerance is rare in chickpea because of the late Neolithic shift from autumn to spring sowing in WANA, and subsequent dissemination into predominantly moderate to warm flowering habitats with only transient low temperature stress. The search for reproductive chilling tolerance should concentrate on these relatively uncommon consistently cool habitats. These are not well represented in the world chickpea collection, a shortcoming which is exacerbated by the lack of passport data in regions of potential interest from Iran to Central Asia. An alternative strategy is to search for reproductive chilling tolerance in the wild Cicer species, which have maintained a winter annual lifecycle and appear to be more cold tolerant than the cultigen. This approach is limited by the lack of germplasm. Currently, there are <30 original wild accessions in the primary genepool of chickpea (C. reticulatum, n =18; C. echinospermum, n =10) in the world''s genebanks, so more collection is required. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

PREMISE: Due to climate change, more frequent and intense periodic droughts are predicted to increasingly pose major challenges to the persistence of plant populations. When a severe drought occurs over a broad geographical region, independent responses by individual populations provide replicated natural experiments for examining the evolution of drought resistance and the potential for evolutionary rescue. METHODS: We used a resurrection approach to examine trait evolution in populations of the common monkeyflower, Mimulus guttatus, exposed to a record drought in California from 2011 to 2017. Specifically, we compared variation in traits related to drought escape and avoidance from seeds collected from 37 populations pre‐ and post‐drought in a common garden. In a parallel experiment, we evaluated fitness in two populations, one which thrived and one which was nearly extirpated during the drought, under well‐watered and dry‐down conditions. RESULTS: We observed substantial variation among populations in trait evolution. In the subset of populations where phenotypes changed significantly, divergence proceeded along trait correlations with some populations flowering rapidly with less vegetative tissue accumulation and others delaying flowering with greater vegetative tissue accumulation. The degree of trait evolution was only weakly correlated with drought intensity but strongly correlated with initial levels of standing variation. Fitness was higher in the post‐drought than pre‐drought accessions in both treatments for the thriving population, but lower in both treatments for the nearly extirpated population. CONCLUSIONS: Together, our results indicate that evolutionary responses to drought are context dependent and reflect the standing genetic variation and genetic correlations present within populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enhanced flood hazard due to global warming and climate change imposes an additional threat to safety and serviceability of river crossing bridges. This study proposes an integrated approach to assess how climate change might affect bridge performance under multihazard conditions involving floods and earthquakes. The approach is used for an existing bridge spanning over the San Joaquin River, California. The multihazard impact considering climate change is evaluated in terms of risk and resilience of the bridge. Future flood projections under climate change are obtained from general circulation model simulations in conjunction with a macroscale hydrological model. Enhanced intensities of future design floods are observed to cause higher expected scour at around bridge piers. This resulted in significant rise in risk (−21%) and drop in resilience (−14%) of the bridge, when compared to no climate change scenario, at a specific seismic hazard level. To reduce possible consequences, ripraps are applied around piers as a climate change adaptation measure. Size of the riprap is determined based on the maximum expected design flood flow at the bridge site over the projection period. The applied adaptive measure is observed to be cost-effective through a cost-benefit analysis performed over the remaining bridge service life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This literature review highlights the effects of extreme heat exposure on perennial agriculture. • California crop production will be impacted by climate change and heat extremes. • Both cool- and warm-season heat extremes will influence crop development, yield, and quality. • Current extreme heat adaptation practices may not be sustainable under future climatic conditions or regulatory constraints. • Further research in breeding, genetics, and irrigation will be necessary to maintain perennial agricultural production. Extreme heat events will challenge agricultural production and raise the risk of food insecurity. California is the largest agricultural producer in the United States, and climate change and extreme heat may significantly affect the state's food production. This paper provides a summary of the current literature on crop responses to extreme heat, with a focus on perennial agriculture in California. We highlight contemporary trends and future projections in heat extremes, and the range of plant responses to extreme heat exposure, noting the variability in plant tolerance and response across season, crop, and cultivar. We also review practices employed to mitigate heat damage and the capacity for those practices to serve as adaptation options in a warmer and drier future. Finally, we discuss current and future research directions aimed at increasing the adaptive capacity of perennial agriculture to the increased heat exposure anticipated with climate change. Collectively, the literature reviewed makes clear the need to understand crop responses and tolerances to heat within the context of climate change and climate extremes in order to sustain crop production, preserve agricultural communities, and bolster food security at local, national, and global scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding how interspecific interactions mould the molecular basis of adaptations in coevolving species is a long‐sought goal of evolutionary biology. Venom in predators and venom resistance proteins in prey are coevolving molecular phenotypes, and while venoms are highly complex mixtures it is unclear if prey respond with equally complex resistance traits. Here, we use a novel molecular methodology based on protein affinity columns to capture and identify candidate blood serum resistance proteins ("venom interactive proteins" [VIPs]) in California Ground Squirrels (Otospermophilus beecheyi) that interact with venom proteins from their main predator, Northern Pacific Rattlesnakes (Crotalus o. oreganus). This assay showed that serum‐based resistance is both population‐ and species‐specific, with serum proteins from ground squirrels showing higher binding affinities for venom proteins of local snakes compared to allopatric individuals. Venom protein specificity assays identified numerous and diverse candidate prey resistance VIPs but also potential targets of venom in prey tissues. Many specific VIPs bind to multiple snake venom proteins and, conversely, single venom proteins bind multiple VIPs, demonstrating that a portion of the squirrel blood serum "resistome" involves broad‐based inhibition of nonself proteins and suggests that resistance involves a toxin scavenging mechanism. Analyses of rates of evolution of VIP protein homologues in related mammals show that most of these proteins evolve under purifying selection possibly due to molecular constraints that limit the evolutionary responses of prey to rapidly evolving snake venom proteins. Our method represents a general approach to identify specific proteins involved in co‐evolutionary interactions between species at the molecular level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change can shape evolution directly by altering abiotic conditions or indirectly by modifying habitats, yet few studies have investigated the effects of climate‐driven habitat change on contemporary evolution. We resampled populations of Threespine Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) along a latitudinal gradient in California bar‐built estuaries to examine their evolution in response to changing climate and habitat. We took advantage of the strong association between stickleback lateral plate phenotypes and Ectodysplasin A (Eda) genotypes to infer changes in allele frequencies over time. Our results show that over time the frequency of low‐plated alleles has generally increased and heterozygosity has decreased. Latitudinal patterns in stickleback plate phenotypes suggest that evolution at Eda is a response to climate‐driven habitat transformation rather than a direct consequence of climate. As climate change has reduced precipitation and increased temperature and drought, bar‐built estuaries have transitioned from lotic (flowing‐water) to lentic (still‐water) habitats, where the low‐plated allele is favoured. The low‐plated allele has achieved fixation at the driest, hottest southernmost sites, a trend that is progressing northward with climate change. Climate‐driven habitat change is therefore causing a reduction in genetic variation that may hinder future adaptation for populations facing multiple threats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

State and local governments, businesses, community organizations, and the general public are taking an increasingly significant role in climate impact assessment. Driven by impacts to constituents and customers and threats to human health, essential services, and property values, local organizations are on the front lines of responding to climate change. National and international efforts such as the U.S. National Climate Assessment and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change provide fundamental scientific understanding as well as methods and modeling tools. Subnational climate assessments can build on this foundation and tailor models and analyses to specific local or decision contexts. However, subnational climate assessment and adaptation presents new scientific and research challenges, such as those related to downscaling climate models, simulating extreme events, and understanding local values and institutional practices. As state, local, and sectoral assessments become more common across the nation, there is a critical opportunity to share learnings and identify challenges and pitfalls. Building off a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine activity focusing exclusively on subnational climate assessment, we consider the methods and results from a variety of examples to synthesize findings about current practices and the future of subnational climate assessment. Plain Language Summary: Climate assessments provide descriptions of the current and future impacts of climate change. Such assessments have long been a part of national and international activities on climate change. Increasingly, state and local governments, businesses, and other groups have begun climate assessments that address possible impacts from climate change specific to their constituents or customers. When taking national and international efforts to a local level, two important challenges arise. One is related to the challenge of applying science and modeling developed for the large scale to a smaller scale. The second is the need to translate technical analysis into usable information for decision makers and the public. Here we build off of a workshop convened by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to consider these issues. Key Points: State and local governments and others are taking an increasingly significant role in climate impact assessmentSuch assessments present analytical challenges from downscaling national models, simulating extremes, and integrating local perspectivesThe evolution of California's assessments, in its fourth iteration, reflects the demands for climate assessments to translate science into response activities [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As climate changes, locally adapted tree populations may become maladapted to the sites in which they presently occur. When natural adaptive processes are insufficient for populations to keep pace with changing climate, human-assisted relocation of genotypes (assisted gene flow) may be a useful tool for maintaining forest resilience. While existing empirical evidence provides insight into the potential outcomes and consequences of assisted gene flow, its applicability to large-scale plantings needs to be evaluated. We conducted a test of assisted gene flow in the context of operational postfire restoration plantings in three U.S. Department of Agriculture National Forests in California. Our experimental restoration plantings included seedling provenances representing both the local planting site and lower-elevation provenances that may be adapted to hotter and drier conditions. For the duration of the experiment, the planting sites experienced anomalously hot, dry conditions, offering a window into the potential outcomes of assisted gene flow in a future climate characterized by warmer temperatures and more frequent drought. In most cases, there was no significant difference in seedling growth or survival among provenances. However, in a few cases, lower-elevation provenances performed better than local provenances, suggesting a potential benefit of assisted gene flow as a management response to climate change. Our analyses accounted for spatial variation in shrub cover and detected a consistent and substantial negative association between shrub cover and seedling growth. In addition, our study revealed that the use of operational seed collections that are not geographically precise (and therefore also not climatically precise) can complicate selection of appropriate provenances and lead to unpredictable outcomes. Numerous other risks and uncertainties—including the fact that tree populations are often adapted to local site factors other than climate and that long-term outcomes may differ from short-term observations—complicate evaluations of the potential utility of assisted gene flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction of dams and water diversions has severely limited access to spawning habitat for anadromous fishes. To mitigate for these impacts, hatchery programs rear and release millions of juvenile salmonids, including steelhead, the anadromous ecotype of the species Oncorhynchus mykiss. These programs sometimes use nonindigenous broodstock sources that may have negative effects on wild populations. In California, however, only one anadromous fish hatchery program currently uses nonnative broodstock: the steelhead program at Nimbus Fish Hatchery on the American River, a tributary of the Sacramento River in the California Central Valley. The goal of this study was to determine if potentially appropriate sources to replace the broodstock for the Nimbus Hatchery steelhead program exist in the Upper American River, above Nimbus and Folsom dams. We show that all Upper American River O. mykiss sampled share ancestry with other populations in the Central Valley steelhead distinct population segment, with limited introgression from out-of-basin sources in some areas. Furthermore, some Upper American River populations retain adaptive genomic variation associated with a migratory life history, supporting the hypothesis that these populations display adfluvial migratory behavior. Together, these results provide insights into the evolution of trout populations above barrier dams. We conclude that some Upper American River O. mykiss populations represent genetically appropriate sources from which fisheries managers could potentially develop a new broodstock for the Nimbus Hatchery steelhead program to reestablish a native anadromous population in the Lower American River and contribute to recovery of the threatened Central Valley steelhead distinct population segment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Project Re-Engineered Discharge (RED) is an evidence-based strategy to reduce readmissions disseminated and adapted by various health systems across the country. To date, little is known about how adapting Project RED from its original protocol impacts RED implementation and/or sustainability. The goal of this study was to identify and characterize contextual factors influencing how five California hospitals adapted and implemented RED and the subsequent impact on RED program sustainability.Methods: Participant observation and key informant and focus group interviews with 64 individuals at five California hospitals implementing RED in 2012 and 2013 were conducted. These involved hospital leadership, personnel responsible for Project RED implementation, hospital staff, and clinicians. Interview transcripts were coded and analyzed using a modified grounded theory approach and constant comparative analysis.Results: Both internal and external contextual factors were identified that influenced hospitals' decisions on RED adaptation and implementation. These also impacted RED sustainability. External factors included: impending federal penalties for hospitals with high readmission rates targeting specific diagnoses, and access to external funding and technical support to help hospitals implement RED. Internal or organizational level contextual factors included: committed leadership prioritizing Project RED; RED adaptations; depth, accountability and influence of the implementation team; sustainability planning; and hospital culture. Only three of the five hospitals continued Project RED beyond the implementation period.Conclusions: The sustainability of RED in participating hospitals was only possible when hospitals approached RED implementation as a transformational process rather than a patient safety project, maintained a high level of fidelity to the RED protocol, and had leadership and an implementation team who embraced change and failure in the pursuit of better patient care and outcomes. Hospitals who were unsuccessful in implementing a sustainable RED process lacked all or most of these components in their approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study which described the process of adapting and evaluating group curriculum modules for Latino or Spanish speaking clients in a Driving Under the Influence (DUI) social work program in the U.S. Topics covered include testing the acceptability of the group evaluation measure Group Topic Evaluation Scale (GTES), the group topics evaluated in the study such as problem recognition and taking responsibility, and the significance of the study findings.

Increasing aridity, more frequent and intense drought, and greater degrees of water scarcity create unique challenges for agriculture. In response to these challenges, which often manifest themselves as lower and more variable surface water supplies, as well as depleted and degraded ground water supplies, growers tend to seek opportunities to adapt. One option for growers to reduce their exposure to water scarcity and heightened uncertainty is to diversify. Indeed, access to a portfolio of supplies is one way in which water and irrigation districts, as well as individual growers, are responding to the changing landscape of water resource availability. This article evaluates the benefits to irrigated agriculture from having access to multiple sources of water. With farm-level information on 1,900 agricultural parcels across California, we use the hedonic property value method to investigate the extent that growers benefit from having access to multiple sources of water (i.e., a water portfolio). Our results suggest that while lower quality waters, less reliable water, and less water all negatively impact agricultural land values, holding a water portfolio has a positive impact on land values through its role in mitigating the negative aspects of these factors and reducing the sensitivity of agriculture to climate-related factors. From a policy perspective, such results identify a valuable adaptation tool that irrigation districts may consider to help offset the negative impacts of climate change, drought, and population increases on water supply availability and reliability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Significant efforts are underway to translate improved understanding of how climate change is altering ecosystems into practical actions for sustaining ecosystem functions and benefits. We explore this transition in California, where adaptation and mitigation are advancing relatively rapidly, through four case studies that span large spatial domains and encompass diverse ecological systems, institutions, ownerships, and policies. The case studies demonstrate the context specificity of societal efforts to adapt ecosystems to climate change and involve applications of diverse scientific tools (e.g., scenario analyses, downscaled climate projections, ecological and connectivity models) tailored to specific planning and management situations (alternative energy siting, wetland management, rangeland management, open space planning). They illustrate how existing institutional and policy frameworks provide numerous opportunities to advance adaptation related to ecosystems and suggest that progress is likely to be greatest when scientific knowledge is integrated into collective planning and when supportive policies and financing enable action. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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Climate action at the local level represents an important and unique complement to global and national-level policies. This study provides one of the first systematic analyses of local climate actions in the State of California by comparing cities’ adoption of alternative policies and statistical modeling of local choices of climate actions. The pattern of adopting different climate actions incrementally suggests that cities prefer certain actions than others. Coastal location, instead of the usual predictors of local mitigation actions, is found to affect cities’ adaptation actions. Whether a city is more likely to keep its commitment to mitigate climate change depends on the nature of the commitment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The paradox motivating this article is why California has acted globally by enacting a comprehensive mitigation policy to reduce the emissions of Greenhouse gases, a true public good since the benefits will be shared across the planet, but has not mustered the will to act locally through the adoption of an equally comprehensive adaptation policy for the state to protect its own public and private assets and interests. We attempt to explain the paradox by identifying what it is that differentiates climate change adaptation from mitigation, both substantively and politically. The paradox notwithstanding, we identify several imaginable adaptation policies and strategies that would be commensurate with individual and collective self-interested behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Mediterranean pines share many common life-history traits. They are found at almost all altitudinal levels around the Mediterranean Basin, from sea level to high-elevation mountains, and from hot and dry to wet and cold bioclimates. Their distribution ranges from widespread to regional and narrow, and from dense extensive populations to small populations of scattered individuals. They have been extensively used by human civilizations for millennia. Aims: I show which are the main phylogenetic, ecological, and climatic factors explaining the patterns of within and among-population genetic diversity in Mediterranean pines. Methods: I use a narrative synthesis approach and multiple examples from the literature on pine species from the Mediterranean Basin and California. Results: While Mediterranean pines have the highest levels of differentiation worldwide, their genetic diversity increases from west to east and is significantly reduced in low-elevation species. Factors such as ancestral adaptation to wildfire, reduction of effective population size during the Last Glacial Maximum, long distance dispersal during the Holocene, and more recent adaptation to patchy environmental conditions could explain these patterns. Conclusion: Because of contrasted ecological, demographic, historical, and geographical processes, and despite their common biological attributes, pines of the Mediterranean Basin display complex biogeographic patterns at neutral gene level that can help retrace their evolutionary history. Although individual species often represent unique case studies that make generalizations risky, locating habitats of significantly high and low genetic diversity is key for detecting and understanding the major factors affecting gene diversity and may prove useful for profiling areas of high conservation value in the Mediterranean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem: Even if significant reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions are achieved, some amount of climate change appears to be inevitable. Local, regional, state, and federal planning and regulation should begin to address how to adapt to these changes. Purpose: This article presents a policy synthesis of adaptation planning issues, using California as a case study. We examine the institutional and regulatory challenges and tradeoffs that climate change poses in six particularly vulnerable areas: water resources, electricity, coastal resources, air quality, public health, and ecosystem resources. We discuss obstacles to adaptation planning and successes overcoming these barriers, and suggest how planning can incorporate adaptation. Methods: This article presents a policy synthesis of adaptation planning issues, drawing on our recent research on California's experience and related literature. We summarize the results of six studies that draw on quantitative and qualitative information gathered through surveys, interviews, and literature review. Results and conclusions: Planners should use forward-looking climate data that include higher water and air temperatures, sea-level rise, and increased numbers of extreme events like heat waves, floods, and wildfires when making decisions about future development, infrastructure investments, open-space protection, and disaster preparedness. Climate change will exacerbate conflicts between goals for economic development, habitat protection, and public safety, requiring stronger interagency coordination and new laws and regulations. Takeaway for practice: Local and regional planners can help society adapt to a changing climate by using the best available science, deciding on goals and early actions, locating relevant partners, identifying and eliminating regulatory barriers, and encouraging the introduction of new state mandates and guidelines. Research support: Partial support for this research was provided by Pacific Gas and Electric, The Nature Conservancy, and Next 10. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adaptation to novel habitats and phenotypic plasticity can be counteracting forces in evolution, but both are key characteristics of the life history of steelhead/rainbow trout (Oncorbynchus mykiss). Anadromous steelhead reproduce in freshwater river systems and small coastal streams but grow and mature in the ocean. Resident rainbow trout, either sympatric with steelhead or isolated above barrier dams or waterfalls, represent an alternative life-history form that lives entirely in freshwater. We analyzed population genetic data from 1486 anadromous and resident 0. mykiss from a small stream in coastal California with multiple barrier waterfalls. Based on data from 18 highly variable microsatellite loci (He = 0.68), we conclude that the resident population above one barrier, Big Creek Falls, is the result of a recent anthropogenic introduction from the anadromous population of 0. mykiss below the falls. Furthermore, fish from this above-barrier population occasionally descend over the falls and have established a genetically differentiated below-barrier subpopulation at the base of the falls, which appears to remain reproductively isolated from their now-sympatric anadromous ancestors. These results support a hypothesis of rapid evolution of a purely resident life history in the above-barrier population in response to strong selection against downstream movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every decade, a suite of standardized climatological metrics known as climate normals are updated, providing averages of temperature and precipitation data over the previous 30-year period. Although some of these climate normals are directly applicable to agricultural producers, there are additional agroclimate metrics calculated from meteorological data that provide physiologically relevant information for on-farm management decisions. In this study, we identified a suite of energy-based agroclimate metrics and calculated changes over the two most recent normal periods (1981–2010 and 1991–2020), focusing on specialty crop production regions in California. Observed changes in agroclimate metrics were largely consistent with broader global warming trends. While most metrics showed small changes between the two periods, during the 1991–2020 period, the last spring freeze occurred ~5 days earlier as compared to the 1981–2010 period, contributing to a >6 day longer frost-free period in the Sacramento and Salinas Valleys; likewise an additional 6.4 tropical nights (Tn > 20 °C) occurred in the Coachella Valley during the 1991–2020 period. A complementary trend analysis of the agroclimate metrics over the 1981–2020 period showed significant increases in growing degree days across all agricultural regions, while significant increases in heat exposure were found for the Salinas and Imperial Valleys and over the Central Coast region. Moreover, summer reference evapotranspiration increased approximately 40 mm in California's Central Valley during 1981–2020, with implications for agricultural water resources. Quantifying the shifts in these agroclimate metrics between the two most recent 30-year normal periods and the accompanying 40-year trends provides context for understanding and communicating around changing climatic baselines and underscores the need for adaptation to meet the challenge that climate change poses to agriculture both in the future and in the present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The heat shock response is a critical mechanism by which organisms buffer effects of variable and unpredictable environmental temperatures. Upregulation of heat shock proteins (Hsps) increases survival after exposure to stressful conditions in nature, although benefits of Hsp expression are often balanced by costs to growth and reproductive success. Hsp-assisted folding of variant polypeptides may prevent development of unfit phenotypes; thus, some differences in Hsp expression among natural populations of ectotherms may be due to interactions between enzyme variants (allozymes) and Hsps. In the Sierra willow leaf beetle Chrysomela aeneicollis, which lives in highly variable thermal habitats at the southern edge of their range in the Eastern Sierra Nevada, California, allele frequencies at the enzyme locus phosphoglucose isomerase (PGI) vary across a climatic latitudinal gradient. PGI allozymes differ in kinetic properties, and expression of a 70 kDa Hsp differs between populations, along elevation gradients, and among PGI genotypes. Differences in Hsp70 expression among PGI genotypes correspond to differences in thermal tolerance and traits important for reproductive success, such as running speed, survival and fecundity. Thus, differential Hsp expression among genotypes may allow functionally important genetic variation to persist, allowing populations to respond effectively to environmental change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ecology of a recently evolved species, Mimulus cupriphilus, was compared with its presumed progenitor, M. guttatus. Both species live sympatrically as annuals on two small copper mines in Calaveras county, California, USA. There are almost no other species present in the areas where Mimulus dominates. The production of seed by the two species was compared. The relationship between capsule number and plant height differs, with M. cupriphilus having the steeper slope, so that at any particular height it produces more capsules. Mean seed number per capsule, and the relationship between seed number and size of plant, also varies between the two species. M. cupriphilus is normally self-fertilizing, and thus has a higher probability that a capsule will be fertilized than M. guttatus, which relies more on fertilization by insects. The various parameters can be combined to produce a predicted relationship between size of plant and seed production. When plants are small, M. cupriphilus will produce more seeds, but at heights greater than about 9 cm M. guttatus will be fitter. The overall resource allocation pattern also reveals that M. cupriphilus devotes a greater proportion of its dry weight to seed and capsule production. These results show that in the habitat where the two species co-exist, arid deserted copper mines, the derived species is better adapted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]