Genetics x Environment x Management (GEM) Interactive Approach to Climate Adaptation.

Adaptation to climate change is complex because of the need to integrate the variation in climate with the genetic and management components. To provide the production required to meet the projected demands created by the world population under the conditions in which the climate will create more stress on plants. The stress created by a combination of increasing temperatures and variability in precipitation will require innovation in management practices to offset these stresses and improvement in genetic capability to withstand the stresses. Development of effective adaptation strategies cannot rely on only improved genetics or innovative management practices solely but the integration of all of the components into solutions more capable to increasing climate resilience. Experimental approaches to quantify the GEM reveal that the metrics to quantify resilience include radiation, water, and nutrient use efficiency for a range of genetic material and management practices. However, these data only provide a limited response to existing weather conditions and to extend this knowledge into a range of seasonal weather scenarios requires the linkage of experimental and crop simulation models to construct new adaptation practices.