In the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta of California (Bay-Delta), sea level rise and flooding will harm communities and critical infrastructure, prompting planners and policymakers to focus on nature-based solutions such as wetlands. Wetlands can buffer storm surges, control erosion, and provide flood protection that is itself adaptable; wetland migration into upland areas as sea levels rise creates flexible flood protection. Wetlands also provide numerous co-benefits for habitat and communities.

We are exploring the institutional and social factors involved with the adoption and diffusion or innovative grazing practices. This is in collaboration with rangeland ecologists who will use an experimental rangeland to measure changes in ecosystem services under different grazing strategies. Survey data will be collected from California and Wyoming ranchers to understand the factors influencing adaptive decision-making.