Long term agroecosystem research experimental watershed network

Authors: Goodrich, David - Dave; Bosch, David; Bryant, Ray; Cosh, Michael; Endale, Dinku; Veith, Tameria - Tamie; Kleinman, Peter; Langendoen, Eddy; McCarty, Gregory; Pierson Jr, Frederick; Schomberg, Harry; Smith, Douglas; Starks, Patrick; Strickland, Timothy; Tsegaye, Teferi; AWADA, T. - University Of Nebraska; SWAIN, H. - Archbold Biological Station; Derner, Justin; Bestelmeyer, Brandon; Schmer, Marty; Baker, John; Carlson, Bryan; Huggins, David; Archer, David; Armendariz, Gerardo

Submitted to: Hydrological Processes
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/6/2022
Publication Date: 3/7/2022
Citation: Goodrich, D.C., Bosch, D.D., Bryant, R.B., Cosh, M.H., Endale, D.M., Veith, T.L., Kleinman, P.J., Langendoen, E.J., McCarty, G.W., Pierson Jr., F.B., Schomberg, H.H., Smith, D.R., Starks, P.J., Strickland, T.C., Tsegaye, T.D., Awada, T., Swain, H., Derner, J.D., Bestelmeyer, B.T., Schmer, M.R., Baker, J.M., Carlson, B.R., Huggins, D.R., Archer, D.W., Armendariz, G.A. 2022. Long term agroecosystem research experimental watershed network. Hydrological Processes. 36(3). Article e14534. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.14534. [Corrigendum: Hydrological Processes: 2022, 36(6), Article e14609. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.14609.]
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.14534

Interpretive Summary: The USDA-Agricultural Research Service (ARS) has a multi-decadal to century long history of experimental watersheds, ranges and research farms throughout the USA. Many of these ARS research facilities, as well as three led by private foundations or land grant universities, are now part of the USDA Long-Term Agro-ecosystem Research (LTAR) network that currently has 18 locations. These 18 locations encompass a diversity of agricultural systems as well as provide a research platform for regional to national scale assessments and modeling scenarios of ecosystem goods and services for society. LTAR will expand the mission of the ARS Experimental Watersheds network to include intensification of agricultural production, without ecosystem degradation while working to enhance rural prosperity. A central challenge that LTAR will address is: How can we sustain or enhance agricultural productivity, profitability, and ecosystem services to feed 9 billion people by 2050? To accomplish the central challenge, LTAR locations will leverage existing historical data with new network-level data collection and initiatives such as wind erosion, phenology, water/carbon/nutrient/energy fluxes, complete water balances, greenhouse gas fluxes and remote sensing/modeling efforts to determine the sustainability of US agriculture across regional to continental scales. This presentation will provide a brief overview of the LTAR network as well as links to access site location data.

Technical Abstract: The USDA-Agricultural Research Service (ARS) has a multi-decadal to century long history of experimental watersheds, ranges and research farms throughout the USA. Many of these ARS research facilities, as well as three led by private foundations or land grant universities, are now part of the USDA Long-Term Agro-ecosystem Research (LTAR) network that currently has 18 locations. These 18 locations encompass a diversity of agricultural systems as well as provide a research platform for regional to national scale assessments and modeling scenarios of ecosystem goods and services for society. LTAR will expand the mission of the ARS Experimental Watersheds network to include intensification of agricultural production, without ecosystem degradation while working to enhance rural prosperity. A central challenge that LTAR will address is: How can we sustain or enhance agricultural productivity, profitability, and ecosystem services to feed 9 billion people by 2050? To accomplish the central challenge, LTAR locations will leverage existing historical data with new network-level data collection and initiatives such as wind erosion, phenology, water/carbon/nutrient/energy fluxes, complete water balances, greenhouse gas fluxes and remote sensing/modeling efforts to determine the sustainability of US agriculture across regional to continental scales. This presentation will provide a brief overview of the LTAR network as well as links to access site location data.