The implications of environmental change for migration are little understood. Migration as a response to climate change could be seen as a failure of in situ adaptation methods, or migration could be alternatively perceived as a rational component of creative adaptation to environmental risk. This paper frames migration as part of an adaptation response to climate change impacts to natural resource condition and environmental hazards. Thresholds will be reached by communities after which migration will become a vital component of an effective adaptation response. Such changes to migration patterns have the potential to undermine migration policy unless appropriate preparations are undertaken. This paper describes an approach to assist researchers to frame how climate change will influence migration by critically analysing how thresholds of fundamental change to migration patterns could be identified, primarily in relation to two case studies in Nepal and Thailand. Future policy for internal and international migration could be guided by the analysis of such thresholds of non-linear migration and resourced effectively to ensure that socio-economic and humanitarian outcomes are maximised.

a b s t r a c tThe climate sensitive social-ecological systems of the Nepali Himalaya are increasingly exposed to the impacts of rapid climate change. As a result, the changing climate is negatively impacting upon livelihoods of the region. Effective adaptation responses could reduce the negative impacts of change, and assessments of vulnerability of local social-ecosystems are helping to initiate that process. However, insufficient research has assessed climate change-induced vulnerability of Nepali Himalayan socialecosystems at different scales. This study measures the vulnerability of social-ecosystems at the household level and within three village clusters of the Kaligandaki Basin in the Central Himalaya, Nepal. The clusters represent different ecological zones: Meghauli in the hot and wet tropical Tarai; Lumle in the cool, wet temperate Middle-Mountains; and Upper-Mustang in the cold and dry Trans-Himalaya. Data on the exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity of the social-ecosystems were collected through face-toface interviews with 360 households. Exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity sub-indices were calculated and integrated to develop the vulnerability indices. The social-ecosystems reveal significant levels of exposure to climate change and are sensitive to change and extreme weather events, but limited capacities to adapt across all spatial scales result in very high social-ecological vulnerability. Yet, there is variation in the levels of vulnerability across the households, primarily because of different non-climatic factors such as the livelihood assets that a household commands. Given that many Nepali households have very limited adaptive capacities, the country requires an adaptation policy to address the needs of the most vulnerable households through a 'poor people first' approach, before adaptation planning and investment is extended gradually to reduce the vulnerability of social-ecosystems across the country.

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Invasive species pose an increasing environmental problem across the globe, but to date socio-economic perspectives on this problem have been limited. In this study stakeholder perceptions of the impacts of invasive exotic plant species on the islands of Mallorca, Sardinia and Crete are examined through the use of semi-structured interviews, Likert scales and Contingent Valuation. Results showed substantial concerns about the impact of invasive exotic plant species on the islands, particularly on Mallorca where awareness of the issue has increased in recent times due to campaigns to eradicate terrestrial and aquatic invasive plants. Not all perceptions are negative and several respondents suggest that a turnover in local species is an inherent part of the sense of the place in the region. If the management of invasive exotic plant species in the Mediterranean region is to improve then there is a need to raise awareness of the impact of invasive species amongst both the general public and professional stakeholders.

International audienceClimate change could put at risk viticultural areas situated at the hotter margins of Vitis vinifera growth climatic range. We focus on two such regions with a Mediterranean climate (CSb type in Köppen classification): Côtes-du-Roussillon in southern France and McLaren Vale in South Australia. They share a relatively similar recent climate evolution. Based on data from two synoptic weather stations, Perpignan (France) and Adelaide (Australia), with daily time series running from 1956 to 2010, we identified changes in temperatures and precipitation patterns, especially an increase of maximum temperatures, of the Huglin Index and Cool Night Index. According to climate models (data from DRIAS project in France, CSIRO Mk3.5 model in Australia) this tendency is likely to continue in the future. In these two regions, two red varieties are mainly grown: Grenache and Shiraz, as they are relatively well suited to Mediterranean climate and to market demand in volatile global markets. Based on twenty in-depth semi-structured interviews in both regions, we identified that vineyard management practices -current and planned for a near future, are based in their vast majority on economical considerations. Concerns of producers include: maintaining income and market position by producing optimal yields, a constant wine style and quality and a diversified offer. In addition, producers feel they have to deal with an increasing uncertainty regarding climate variability, confirmed by climate data. Adaptation strategies of producers to various types of changes, including climate change, take into account a multiplicity of factors, in which climate change is often not the main concern. Two opposite systems of legislation and cultural traditions in the two regions also make the choice and implementation of adaptation strategies very different. Thus the sensitivity of viticultural systems to climate change depends strongly on non-climatic factors