Managing agricultural nonpoint sources of contaminants under a changing climate: USDA Agricultural Research Service perspectives

Authors: Bryant, Ray; Buda, Anthony; Baker, John; Bosch, David; Garbrecht, Jurgen; Smith, Douglas; Kleinman, Peter; Tsegaye, Teferi

Submitted to: American Chemical Society Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/25/2019
Publication Date: 8/26/2019
Citation: Bryant, R.B., Buda, A.R., Baker, J.M., Bosch, D.D., Garbrecht, J.D., Smith, D.R., Kleinman, P.J., Tsegaye, T.D. 2019. Managing agricultural nonpoint sources of contaminants under a changing climate: USDA Agricultural Research Service perspectives[abstract]. American Chemical Society Abstracts. Pg. 1.

Interpretive Summary: No Interpretive Summary is required for this Abstract Only. JLB.

Technical Abstract: By mid- 21st Century, producing enough food to feed the world population on a shrinking agricultural land base and under a changing climate will require transformative changes to agriculture. In 2014, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Forest Service, and Agricultural Research Service (ARS) partnered to establish eight regional Climate Hub sites that are designed to assist farmers, ranchers, forest landowners, rural communities, and Tribal governments with planning for and managing risks associated with climate change. ARS leads USDA’s research efforts to address the need for adapting agricultural systems to climate changes that threaten sustainability. The Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) network was established as the foundation for a national research network to support the sustainable intensification of agriculture. LTAR consists of nineteen locations distributed across the continental United States that are conducting watershed scale research and monitoring. A common experiment across all locations is grounded in empirical experimentation and coordinated observation that seeks to integrate national and local priorities for the sustainable intensification of agricultural production in the face of global change. The vision for the LTAR network is to conduct transdisciplinary science over decades in different regions, geographically scalable, for the purpose of understanding, forecasting, and enhancing our nation’s capacity to provide agricultural commodities while protecting water quality and other natural resources. Findings from the US National Climate Assessment indicate that some agricultural areas are already experiencing climate-related disruptions due to extreme weather events and rising sea levels. Some areas will be resilient to climate change, but others will have to adapt to extreme heat, drought, and heavy downpours; all drivers of nonpoint source losses of nutrients, pesticides and sediment from both rainfed and irrigated agriculture. Increased innovation will be needed to adapt to these changes, especially in places where critical thresholds are already being exceeded.