About this Research Topic

Background

The grand challenges confronting management and decision making in airshed, watershed, estuarine, and coastal waters result from the interaction of humans with their environment. Commercial and recreational fisheries, air quality, agricultural and energy production practices, population growth, and changes in land-use all impact the function of the land and water systems that together comprise the socio-environmental system. In turn, the health and quality of the environment affect humans and decision-making at multiple spatial and temporal scales--from individuals up through the state and federal levels, today and decades into the future. Models (from the conceptual to the mathematical) are representations of how we understand this critical nexus of interacting issues. Yet, coupling social, economic, policy, and governance models with environmental models to assess the impact of strategic management and policy actions remains challenging. This Research Topic invites research relevant to conceptual, theoretical or numerical models of socio-environmental systems, or that identifies gaps and challenges hindering the integration of social and environmental models, to better understand their combined impact.

The overarching goal of this Research Topic is to educate readers on what the topic of “coupled natural and human systems” (CNH) is all about. We are talking not only about how humans impact the environment but also how the environment impacts humans, and especially how human-induced changes (e.g., degradation) in the environment feedback and impact human quality of life and behavior.

This Research Topic will seek to address the following questions:
• What is the topic of “coupled natural and human systems” research, understanding, and applications all about?
• How is new understanding of coupled natural and human systems being applied in management and decision making in airshed, watershed, estuarine and coastal waters?
• What is the state of the art in the development of conceptual, theoretical or numerical models of socio-environmental systems with two-way feedbacks?
• What are the major challenges in terms of understanding, research, and applications in CNH?
• Are there barriers to incorporating CNH research and new understanding into programs and policy?
• How can the challenge of cross discipline communication in CNH research and applications be addressed?

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Socioeconomic, humans, environment, management, airshed, watershed, estuarine and coastal waters, two-way feedbacks, conceptual models, theoretical models, numerical models

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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