About this Research Topic
Riparian zones provide ecosystem functions and values important for supporting a variety of freshwater uses, including connecting terrestrial and aquatic habitats, supporting fisheries, maintaining biodiversity, providing cultural benefits, and regulating the transfer of water, sediments, and contaminants into water bodies. Farm and range lands are often found near rivers, streams, and floodplains due to highly fertile and productive soils and access to water sources for irrigation and livestock. The maintenance of riparian zones is essential for protecting surface waters from excess nutrient and contaminant loads, loss of hydrologic connectivity, and loss of habitat – all of which threaten the ecosystem functions and services that freshwater ecosystems provide. However, conserving and restoring riparian areas may result in less land available for agricultural and grazing use, threatening food security. Alterations to precipitation patterns, hydrological regimes, wildfire regimes, and temperatures associated with climate change alters the ecology and productivity of riparian zones and farm and range lands, presenting challenges for communities and land managers tasked with protecting natural resources while cultivating food security.
This research topic will focus on threats to surface waters and food security as riparian agricultural areas and range lands face challenges due to climate change. The topic will address questions such as 1) How do we balance food production on agricultural and range lands with riparian functions and services amidst a changing climate? What governance frameworks have been successful in finding this balance? 2) What agricultural and range land management practices, including application of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) are resilient to climate change and also contribute to riparian health? and 3) What gaps in scientific knowledge are limiting progress in balancing food security and riparian health? We are interested in solutions that highlight how scientists and managers have addressed these challenges through unique management strategies, policy changes, or technology advances.
We are interested in original research, reviews, and perspectives manuscripts that address:
(i) examples of effective management of the agricultural-riparian interface to mitigate or adapt to climate change, including integration of TEK
(ii) key scientific lenses, including TEK, useful for integrating the management of food security and riparian ecosystem functions and services,
(iii) novel approaches to study freshwater responses to climate change in watersheds dominated by agriculture and range lands, and
(iv) agricultural and range land conservation practices that result in enhanced food security while maintaining or enhancing riparian functions.
Balancing scientific understanding with effective management strategies that address critical need in coupled human and natural systems poses a challenge in the face of climate change. We are interested in articles that highlight advances in understanding the effects that agriculture, range land, and riparian zones are facing amidst a changing climate.
This research topic will focus on threats to surface waters and food security as riparian agricultural areas and range lands face challenges due to climate change. The topic will address questions such as 1) How do we balance food production on agricultural and range lands with riparian functions and services amidst a changing climate? What governance frameworks have been successful in finding this balance? 2) What agricultural and range land management practices, including application of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) are resilient to climate change and also contribute to riparian health? and 3) What gaps in scientific knowledge are limiting progress in balancing food security and riparian health? We are interested in solutions that highlight how scientists and managers have addressed these challenges through unique management strategies, policy changes, or technology advances.
We are interested in original research, reviews, and perspectives manuscripts that address:
(i) examples of effective management of the agricultural-riparian interface to mitigate or adapt to climate change, including integration of TEK
(ii) key scientific lenses, including TEK, useful for integrating the management of food security and riparian ecosystem functions and services,
(iii) novel approaches to study freshwater responses to climate change in watersheds dominated by agriculture and range lands, and
(iv) agricultural and range land conservation practices that result in enhanced food security while maintaining or enhancing riparian functions.
Balancing scientific understanding with effective management strategies that address critical need in coupled human and natural systems poses a challenge in the face of climate change. We are interested in articles that highlight advances in understanding the effects that agriculture, range land, and riparian zones are facing amidst a changing climate.
Keywords: riparian areas, agriculture, rangelands, food security, land use, climate change, rivers, streams, surface waters, fisheries
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.
