In some circumstances, this strategy might allow plants to adjust more easily to the negative effects of climatic change. An increasingly determined effort toward protection and revitalization of freshwater ecosystems in developed countries already has shown positive achievements, particularly through improvements in the water quality of watersheds. The protection of threatened aquatic habitats such as wetlands has facilitated the reintroduction of several endangered vertebrate species. This has been the case particularly in central Europe as a consequence of increased awareness of environmental problems. The impacts of climate change on agriculture can be defined at different scales including crop yield, farm or sector profitability, regional economic activity, or hunger vulnerability.
Impacts depend on biophysical and socioeconomic responses.
In the past decade, substantial amounts of research have focused on regional and national assessments of the potential effects of climate change on agriculture. In addition, a major shortcoming of most climate impact assessments has been their lack of in-depth treatment of adaptation, in part because of its complexity and in part because of the lack of a suitable methodological framework.