Responses of agricultural bioenergy sectors in Brandenburg (Germany) to climate, economic and legal changes: An application of Holling's adaptive cycle

► Bioenergy sectors respond to climatic, economic and legal changes in different ways. ► Responses to changes expose critical features and bottlenecks of bioenergy sectors. ► Resilience, potential and connectedness are critical features for bioenergy sectors. ► Stages of development of the biogas and biofuel production sectors are identified. ► Effective policy design needs to match the sectors' features and development stages.