Adaptive capacity

Biology

Computer science

Geography

Empirical research

Framing (construction)

Philosophy

Economics

Vulnerability (computing)

Adaptive strategies

Climate change

Archaeology

Computer security

Epistemology

Psychology

Ecology

Social psychology

Environmental resource management

Psychological resilience

Environmental Research Letters

The concept of adaptive capacity has received significant attention within social-ecological and environmental change research. Within both the resilience and vulnerability literatures specifically, adaptive capacity has emerged as a fundamental concept for assessing the ability of social-ecological systems to adapt to environmental change. Although methods and indicators used to evaluate adaptive capacity are broad, the focus of existing scholarship has predominately been at the individual- and household- levels. However, the capacities necessary for humans to adapt to global environmental change are often a function of individual and societal characteristics, as well as cumulative and emergent capacities across communities and jurisdictions. In this paper, we apply a systematic literature review and co-citation analysis to investigate empirical research on adaptive capacity that focus on societal levels beyond the household. Our review demonstrates that assessments of adaptive capacity at higher societal le...

Adaptive capacity beyond the household: a systematic review of empirical social-ecological research