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Analysis of institutional authors

Varela-Ortega, ConsueloCorresponding AuthorBlanco-Gutierrez, IreneAuthorEsteve, PalomaAuthor

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June 9, 2019
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How can irrigated agriculture adapt to climate change? Insights from the Guadiana Basin in Spain

Publicated to: Regional Environmental Change. 16 (1): 59-70 - 2016-01-01 16(1), DOI: 10.1007/s10113-014-0720-y

Authors:

Varela-Ortega, C; Blanco-Gutiérrez, I; Esteve, P; Bharwani, S; Fronzek, S; Downing, TE
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Affiliations

Finnish Environm Inst, Helsinki 00251, Finland - Author
Oxford Ctr Innovat, Global Climate Adaptat Partnership, Oxford OX1 1BY, England - Author
Stockholm Environm Inst, Oxford OX2 7JT, England - Author
Univ Politecn Madrid, Dept Agr Econ Stat & Management, E-28040 Madrid, Spain - Author
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Abstract

Climate change is already affecting many natural systems and human environments worldwide, like the semiarid Guadiana Basin in Spain. This paper illustrates a systematic analysis of climate change adaptation in the Guadiana irrigation farming region. The study applies a solution-oriented diagnostic framework structured along a series of sequential analytical steps. An initial stage integrates economic and hydrologic modeling to evaluate the effects of climate change on the agriculture and water sectors. Next, adaptation measures are identified and prioritized through a stakeholder-based multi-criteria analysis. Finally, a social network analysis identifies key actors and their relationships in climate change adaptation. The study shows that under a severe climate change scenario, water availability could be substantially decreased and drought occurrence will augment. In consequence, farmers will adapt their crops to a lesser amount of water and income gains will diminish, particularly for smallholder farms. Among the various adaptation measures considered, those related to private farming (new crop varieties and modern irrigation technologies) are ranked highest, whereas public-funded hard measures (reservoirs) are lowest and public soft measures (insurance) are ranked middle. In addition, stakeholders highlighted that the most relevant criteria for selecting adaptation plans are environmental protection, financial feasibility and employment creation. Nonetheless, the social network analysis evidenced the need to strengthen the links among the different stakeholder groups to facilitate the implementation of adaptation processes. In sum, the diagnostic framework applied in this research can be considered a valuable tool for guiding and supporting decision making in climate change adaptation and communicating scientific results.
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Keywords

Climate change adaptationDecision makingHydro-economic modelingModelMulti-criteria analysisPolicySocial network mappingSpain's agricultureSpain’s agriculture

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Regional Environmental Change due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2016, it was in position 73/229, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Environmental Sciences.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations provided by WoS (ESI, Clarivate), it yields a value for the citation normalization relative to the expected citation rate of: 1.75. This indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 13, 2025)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Weighted Average of Normalized Impact by the Scopus agency: 1.97 (source consulted: FECYT Mar 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2026-04-27, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 66
  • Scopus: 76
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Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-04-27:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 238.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 238 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 6.

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
  • Assignment of a Handle/URN as an identifier within the deposit in the Institutional Repository: https://oa.upm.es/35888/

As a result of the publication of the work in the institutional repository, statistical usage data has been obtained that reflects its impact. In terms of dissemination, we can state that, as of

  • Views: 401
  • Downloads: 273
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Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Finland; Sweden; United Kingdom.

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (VARELA ORTEGA, CONSUELO) .

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been VARELA ORTEGA, CONSUELO.

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Awards linked to the item

The authors wish to acknowledge the EU project Mediation (Methodology for Effective Decision-making on Impacts and AdaptaTION, from the EC FP7, No. 244012) for funding this research. They are also indebted to the numerous stakeholders that have taken part in this study and to Rob Swart, Alexander Bisaro, Jochen Hinkel, Christian Siderius, Paul Watkiss, Timothy Carter and Tahia Devisscher for their valuable comments throughout the development of the research.
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