<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class="">Environmental Research Letters Published 2 July 2020</span></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(0, 110, 178);" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none;" class=""><a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/collections?collection_type=FEATURED_ARTICLES" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iopscience.iop.org/collections?collection_type%3DFEATURED_ARTICLES&source=gmail&ust=1597330101853000&usg=AFQjCNEQ2dOat0_3SHlSdpm6tgnhUOcoNQ" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><b class="">FEATURED ARTICLE</b><span style="color: rgb(0, 110, 178);" class=""><b class=""></b></span></a></span></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none;" class=""><b class="">Between adaptive capacity and action: new insights into climate change adaptation at the household scale</b></span></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none;" class="">Colette Mortreux, Saffron O'Neill and Jon Barnett</span></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); min-height: 17px;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none;" class=""></span><br class=""></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 238);" class=""><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class=""><b class="">OPEN ACCESS</b></span><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""><b class=""> pdf</b> <<<a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834/pdf" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834/pdf&source=gmail&ust=1597330101853000&usg=AFQjCNEG0cKJI6JJBISt0hh0pvCl_Kyf4g" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 238);" class="">https://iopscience.iop.org/<wbr class="">article/10.1088/1748-9326/<wbr class="">ab7834/pdf</span></a>>></span></div><p style="font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none;" class=""><b class="">429</b> Total downloads</span></p><p style="font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 7.2px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none;" class=""><b class="">Abstract</b></span></p><div style="font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">Research on social vulnerability and adaptation to climate change assumes that increasing amounts of adaptive capacity increase the likelihood of actions to adapt to climate change. We test this assumption as it applies at the scale of households, through a study of the relationship between adaptive capacity and household actions to adapt to wildfire risk in Mount Dandenong, Australia. </span></span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); -webkit-font-kerning: none;" class="">Here we show a weak relationship exists between adaptive capacity and adaptation, such that high adaptive capacity does not clearly result in a correspondingly high level of adaptation.</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""> Three factors appear to mediate the relationship between household adaptive capacity and adaptation: their attitude to risk, their experience of risk, and their expectations of authorities. The findings suggest that to understand the adaptation practices of households, </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 251, 0);" class="">greater attention needs to be paid to socio-psychological factors that trigger people to apply their available capacities.</span></span></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; text-align: center; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); min-height: 17px;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none;" class=""></span><br class=""></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none;" class=""><b class="">Introduction</b></span></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none;" class="">A major challenge in climate adaptation is the difficulty in knowing if adaptation has happened, or is happening (Tompkins <i class="">et al</i> <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834#erlab7834bib74" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834%23erlab7834bib74&source=gmail&ust=1597330101854000&usg=AFQjCNFNtBYzWbh3Q1giynBDbhU-sW5H7g" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(39, 58, 173);" class="">2010</span></a>, Ford <i class="">et al</i> <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834#erlab7834bib33" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834%23erlab7834bib33&source=gmail&ust=1597330101854000&usg=AFQjCNGzobWJcHXORo5HokwEmMiX0Mrcyw" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(39, 58, 173);" class="">2013</span></a>, Dilling <i class="">et al</i> <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834#erlab7834bib20" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834%23erlab7834bib20&source=gmail&ust=1597330101854000&usg=AFQjCNGZFS1NaOBenLFgo0C4_fa14UhSXQ" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(39, 58, 173);" class="">2019</span></a>). Assessing adaptation is difficult, for it is an evolving process to which there is no clear end point (Eriksen and Kelly <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834#erlab7834bib29" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834%23erlab7834bib29&source=gmail&ust=1597330101854000&usg=AFQjCNFci5YR8GGlBUmkLZmJLkbEaGGKEA" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(39, 58, 173);" class="">2007</span></a>). Adaptation is also socially and politically mediated, involving diverse human experiences, intentions and behaviours such that it is intrinsically complex and unpredictable (Adger <i class="">et al</i> <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834#erlab7834bib2" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834%23erlab7834bib2&source=gmail&ust=1597330101854000&usg=AFQjCNEXKNTeaSPtNUQ_niT6hpLy7tsMDQ" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(39, 58, 173);" class="">2013</span></a>, Dilling <i class="">et al</i> <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834#erlab7834bib20" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834%23erlab7834bib20&source=gmail&ust=1597330101854000&usg=AFQjCNGZFS1NaOBenLFgo0C4_fa14UhSXQ" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(39, 58, 173);" class="">2019</span></a>). By way of a proxy, much vulnerability and adaptation research assesses adaptive capacity (as opposed to actual adaptation behaviours) (Yohe and Tol <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834#erlab7834bib81" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834%23erlab7834bib81&source=gmail&ust=1597330101854000&usg=AFQjCNFl-b_Ab-I9BBw_NR6ukImhdytazQ" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(39, 58, 173);" class="">2002</span></a>, Alberini <i class="">et al</i> <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834#erlab7834bib4" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834%23erlab7834bib4&source=gmail&ust=1597330101854000&usg=AFQjCNGqsjABITyP1ElHtcvZtaNcluMdYQ" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(39, 58, 173);" class="">2006</span></a>, Hinkel <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834#erlab7834bib39" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834%23erlab7834bib39&source=gmail&ust=1597330101854000&usg=AFQjCNFvXTElm2CQqScRSptsfXyWmPqp5g" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(39, 58, 173);" class="">2011</span></a>). </span>Adaptive capacity is defined as 'the ability of systems, institutions, humans, and other organisms to adjust to potential damage, to take advantage of opportunities, or to respond to consequences' (IPCC <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834#erlab7834bib42" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834%23erlab7834bib42&source=gmail&ust=1597330101854000&usg=AFQjCNEwWFldHofEDZlcyF7plVhIGbl3ag" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(39, 58, 173);" class="">2014</span></a>: 1758). </div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); min-height: 17px;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none;" class=""></span><br class=""></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 251, 0);" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none;" class="">Though there are many theories about what constitutes capacity, and these vary according to the nature and scale of the actor, most theories assume that that the conditions associated with wealthy liberal democracies such as high human capital, information, infrastructure, social networks, and wealth, confer greater adaptive capacity (Mortreux and Barnett <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834#erlab7834bib61" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834%23erlab7834bib61&source=gmail&ust=1597330101854000&usg=AFQjCNFXGehZeawZJGoipuFCu-bwkn0Ymw" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(39, 58, 173);" class="">2017</span></a>, Siders <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834#erlab7834bib71" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834%23erlab7834bib71&source=gmail&ust=1597330101854000&usg=AFQjCNGnWVj1vro6GGbAoHAbu62Hwjc-kA" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(39, 58, 173);" class="">2018</span></a>).</span></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); min-height: 17px;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none;" class=""></span><br class=""></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none;" class="">However, it is unclear if adaptation action can be inferred from the capacity to act, at least as presently theorised (Engle <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834#erlab7834bib26" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834%23erlab7834bib26&source=gmail&ust=1597330101854000&usg=AFQjCNG857TZPWpvRnnwZRI92WbpkStkJg" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(39, 58, 173);" class="">2011</span></a>, Malone and Engle <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834#erlab7834bib54" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834%23erlab7834bib54&source=gmail&ust=1597330101854000&usg=AFQjCNGtiM8BXZBQ_jxu78XDPF9x094ZpQ" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(39, 58, 173);" class="">2011</span></a>, Juhola and Kruse <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834#erlab7834bib44" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834%23erlab7834bib44&source=gmail&ust=1597330101854000&usg=AFQjCNFOXx1ibN9BQEPtet_x8Ju4KcNfZQ" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(39, 58, 173);" class="">2015</span></a>, Siders <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834#erlab7834bib71" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834%23erlab7834bib71&source=gmail&ust=1597330101854000&usg=AFQjCNGnWVj1vro6GGbAoHAbu62Hwjc-kA" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(39, 58, 173);" class="">2018</span></a>). Indeed, the literature provides several examples that demonstrate that adaptive capacity does not necessarily lead to adaptation (Vickers <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834#erlab7834bib76" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834%23erlab7834bib76&source=gmail&ust=1597330101854000&usg=AFQjCNEoPorTrQ16yS0q73YfED5zh5R5gA" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(39, 58, 173);" class="">2018</span></a>). In industrialised countries such as Norway and the USA, where levels of wealth and health would suggest high adaptive capacity, political resistance and the division of responsibilities and funding across government have seriously undermined adaptation (O'Brien <i class="">et al</i> <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834#erlab7834bib63" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834%23erlab7834bib63&source=gmail&ust=1597330101854000&usg=AFQjCNE_4zxPIZrSTC-6Wwxvo1VrA7GnGw" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(39, 58, 173);" class="">2006</span></a>, Repetto <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834#erlab7834bib69" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834%23erlab7834bib69&source=gmail&ust=1597330101854000&usg=AFQjCNG8iDQMOK2EAPSed-Wvh-sRJSz-Eg" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(39, 58, 173);" class="">2008</span></a>, Hinkel <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834#erlab7834bib39" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834%23erlab7834bib39&source=gmail&ust=1597330101854000&usg=AFQjCNFvXTElm2CQqScRSptsfXyWmPqp5g" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(39, 58, 173);" class="">2011</span></a>). </span></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); min-height: 17px;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none;" class=""></span><br class=""></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none;" class="">And, when adaptation does take place, it seems less to be a function of access to resources and more about experience of extreme events, place attachment, and trust in authorities (Amundsen <i class="">et al</i> <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834#erlab7834bib6" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834%23erlab7834bib6&source=gmail&ust=1597330101854000&usg=AFQjCNGrfVYcPYASdo8xI2-d2ian3WfVMg" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(39, 58, 173);" class="">2010</span></a>, Koerth <i class="">et al</i> <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834#erlab7834bib46" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834%23erlab7834bib46&source=gmail&ust=1597330101854000&usg=AFQjCNFmE87TTKtia6RR35KDztGMa2OqYw" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(39, 58, 173);" class="">2013</span></a>, Eakin <i class="">et al</i> <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834#erlab7834bib24" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834%23erlab7834bib24&source=gmail&ust=1597330101854000&usg=AFQjCNF5GeZeVxyRW9tc7a8CTgNHQZOj-g" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(39, 58, 173);" class="">2016</span></a>, Elrick-Barr <i class="">et al</i> <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834#erlab7834bib25" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834%23erlab7834bib25&source=gmail&ust=1597330101854000&usg=AFQjCNHdgoeD4jFAKiu8RnOp_Kkp7WVTcw" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(39, 58, 173);" class="">2017</span></a>, Stoll <i class="">et al</i> <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834#erlab7834bib73" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834%23erlab7834bib73&source=gmail&ust=1597330101854000&usg=AFQjCNHbKE3Z4HQZgs31gb4J5WbSnHSOEw" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(39, 58, 173);" class="">2017</span></a>, Torres <i class="">et al</i> <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834#erlab7834bib75" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834%23erlab7834bib75&source=gmail&ust=1597330101854000&usg=AFQjCNHg7Xb7uQKQ7Unkvj6qAcTiJQdeTg" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(39, 58, 173);" class="">2018</span></a>). <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 251, 0);" class="">Conversely, adaptation is occurring in social systems with seemingly low adaptive capacity. </span></span><span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: rgb(255, 251, 0);" class="">A study of artisanal fisheries in South India demonstrates that the <font face="Arial" class=""><b class="">most vulnerable households were not those that were poorest and so are assumed to have the lowest capacity, but rather those who were less willing to adopt new practices</b> (</font>Coulthard <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834#erlab7834bib18" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834%23erlab7834bib18&source=gmail&ust=1597330101854000&usg=AFQjCNHzaNMfdJBa9iKiVLlCQWuoF_vYLQ" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(39, 58, 173);" class="">2008</span></a>). Similarly, a recent study that synthesised adaptive behaviours across fishing communities found that adaptive capacity <b class=""><font face="Arial" class="">is not merely about having resources, but more importantly about the willingness to deploy those resources </font></b>(Cinner <i class="">et al</i> <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834#erlab7834bib17" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834%23erlab7834bib17&source=gmail&ust=1597330101854000&usg=AFQjCNFiLPfY98hEmg2TikR8-0l27tl15A" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(39, 58, 173);" class="">2018</span></a>). Similar results have been shown in pastoral areas in Burkina Faso (Nielsen and Reenberg <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834#erlab7834bib62" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834%23erlab7834bib62&source=gmail&ust=1597330101854000&usg=AFQjCNESh1OV5RNYNfQovO9eKMRlQ3kNcQ" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(39, 58, 173);" class="">2010</span></a>), and in informal settlements in Uganda (Waters and Adger <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834#erlab7834bib77" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7834%23erlab7834bib77&source=gmail&ust=1597330101854000&usg=AFQjCNFySU9gfBwWONtBSChm9pnWjRzd1A" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(39, 58, 173);" class="">2017</span></a>). So, if people with low adaptive capacity are adapting, and not all people with high adaptive capacity are adapting, it appears that adaptive capacity is limited in its ability to explain adaptation.</span></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); min-height: 17px;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none;" class=""></span><br class=""></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">In this paper we report on empirical research that aimed to test the relationship between adaptive capacity and adaptation. We used a case study of household adaptation to wildfire in Mount Dandenong, Australia, which is </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 251, 0);" class=""><b class=""><font face="Arial" class="">a suburb characterised by both high wealth and high fire risk</font></b></span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">. As explained below, </span></span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 251, 0); -webkit-font-kerning: none;" class=""><b class=""><font face="Arial" class="">if adaptive capacity does explain adaptation, then there is arguably nowhere else where the relationship should be as obvious as in Mount Dandenong. </font></b>If adaptation is not progressing well here</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); -webkit-font-kerning: none;" class="">, then knowledge about the reasons for this can help inform theories about adaptation, as well as policies and practices to help.</span></div><div class=""><span style="font-kerning: none;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div class="">
<div dir="auto" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div dir="auto" style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">**********************************</div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">“The changes experienced by the biosphere over the past century ... have raised concerns about the possibility of rapid shifts from green to desert states.” (Sole. Scaling laws in the drier. Nature 13 September 2007)</div></div></div>
</div>
<br class=""></body></html>