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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Columbia, Missouri » Cropping Systems and Water Quality Research » Additional Resources » Long-Term Agro-ecosystem Research in the Central Mississippi River Basin (1)

Long-Term Agro-ecosystem Research in the Central Mississippi River Basin

Special Section of the Journal of Environmental Quality, 2015, Vol 44:3-96

JEQ graphicThis special section of nine articles informs the scientific community about an extensive database relevant to hydrology, climatology, water quality, and cropping systems research. The hydrology and climate data date to ~1970 and water quality and cropping systems data, to ~1990. Much of the data collection is continuous and remains active, with annual updates to the online ARS STEWARDS database system. The central core data are from the 72.5 km? Goodwater Creek Experimental Watershed, with scales up to the >6000km? Mark Twain Lake basin and down to plot and point level. The goal of the authors was to provide sufficient data, metadata, and narrative information to support its future use in research to solve natural resource problems important to US agricultural, environmental, and science policy.

*This issue's cover: Row-crop agriculture is the primary land use in the Goodwater Creek Experimental Watershed in northeastern Missouri. The USDA-ARS has developed infrastructure such as pictured here and nearby to enable long-term research to improve process understanding and inform agricultural policy. See Sadler et al., "Long-term agroecosystem research in the Central Mississippi River Basin: Introduction, establishment, and overview," p. 3. Photo by Newell Kitchen.

Table of Contents (Link to full citations and supplemental materials) 

Q&A CSA News Journal Special Sections: Long-term Agroecosystem Research in the Central Mississippi River Basin