Non Technical Summary
Adverse weather events including fall frosts, warm winters, spring frosts, drought and extreme heat have caused significant economic losses to growers of Prunus crops, which as a group are the second most valuable specialty crop in the United States. These events are expected to increase as a result of climate change.In recent years considerable effort has been made towards understanding the physiology and genetics of dormancy and cold tolerance in Prunus, as well as in modeling freeze tolerance and improving mitigation strategies. Fragmented and sometimes overlapping advances in understanding climate resilience in Prunus have not resulted in satisfactory solutions, and economic losses continue. Therefore, to maintain economic sustainability of production of these important crops, a coordinated, transdisciplinary effort is needed that combines efforts in crop modeling, frost/extreme heat mitigation and protection strategies to protect existing orchards, and breeding, genetics and genomics research to develop more climate-resilient varieties. In addition, stakeholders need timely information via Extension on when to employ mitigation strategies, which strategies are appropriate for weather conditions, and which current and soon-to-be-released varieties are more resilient to adverse weather. The PD and Co-PD's have extensive expertise in their fields and have already made significant progress in enhancing climate resiliency in Prunus and other crops.By working together via the support of this planning project, we will be able to develop a strong transdisciplinary research and extension proposal to meaningfully address the challenges posed to Prunus crops by climate change, which is a key focus area for SCRI.

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
203	1119	1080	60%
203	1119	1020	40%

Knowledge Area
203 - Plant Biological Efficiency and Abiotic Stresses Affecting Plants;

Subject Of Investigation
1119 - Deciduous tree fruits, general/other;

Field Of Science
1080 - Genetics; 1020 - Physiology;

Goals / Objectives
Develop a transdisciplinary, inter-institutional, and multi-state network of investigators to assess the state of climate-related challenges to Prunus crop production and research efforts dedicated to finding solutions.Identify research needs to fill gaps in scientific understanding and practical deployment of scientific knowledge.Determine achievable yet transformative goals toward the development of climate-resilient Prunus crops and production systems.Coordinate a specific research plan to submit a full SCRI grant proposal.

Project Methods
(N/A)