Abstract
Southern California, an important producer of high-quality wines, continues to expand its winegrowing areas, supporting livelihoods, and contributing to thriving local economies. However, climate data indicate that the region is becoming increasingly warmer and drier, which threaten future winegrape production. Growers’ perceptions of climate change and their management response play a critical role in adaptive potential but have not been well examined for this region. We use a survey approach to better understand how winegrowers in the South Coast American Viticultural Area perceive climate and climate impacts, as well as their adaptive capacity based on demographic characteristics, resource accessibility, and subjective feelings of preparedness to climate risks. We find that over the past decade growers are observing fewer rain events (73%) and more frequent heat events (63%). This is followed by observed changes to vineyard phenology, particularly earlier bud burst (32%) and harvest dates (41%). Growers reported implementing a variety of short-term adaptive practices, such as canopy management, but fewer considered long-term anticipatory measures, such as planting drought/heat tolerant varieties. Those who perceived negative impacts of climate change were more likely to have implemented adaptive strategies (p = 0.02), and also reported feeling more prepared (p = 0.05). Despite some growers expressing confidence in overcoming climate challenges, many feel they do not have the necessary support (34%) or resources (52%) to do so. We identify a pressing need for participatory science that fosters cross collaboration and knowledge sharing between growers, academics, and local government agencies toward capacity building.