Skip to main content
ARS Home » Southeast Area » Tifton, Georgia » Southeast Watershed Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #390663
Research Project: Enhancing Water Resources, Production Efficiency and Ecosystem Services in Gulf Atlantic Coastal Plain Agricultural Watersheds

Location: Southeast Watershed Research

Title: Synthesis of domain-specific agroecoregions and characterization of outcomes

Author
item Pisarello, Kathryn
item Baffaut, Claire
item Coffin, Alisa
item Goslee, Sarah
item PONCE-CAMPOS - University Of Arizona

Submitted to: US-International Association for Landscape Ecology
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/21/2022
Publication Date: 4/11/2022
Citation: Pisarello, K., Baffaut, C., Coffin, A.W., Goslee, S.C., Ponce-Campos 2022. Synthesis of domain-specific agroecoregions and characterization of outcomes. US-International Association for Landscape Ecology. North American Annual Meeting, April 11-14, 2022

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Defining regions of socio-agroecological similarity is important for understanding multi-domain relationships within the overall agricultural system. The extrapolation of knowledge and associated predictive power across scales is justified only in areas of similar sensitivities and responses. In the LTAR Regionalization Project, we have evaluated regions of similar attributes across the contiguous United States (CONUS) within three agronomic contexts (i.e., domains): environment, production, and human dimensions. Regions of these three independently investigated domains were formed through knowledge-based identification of key variables and were vetted through literature-based frameworks and scientific consensus. The resulting socio-agroecoregions were ultimately synthesized and made spatially coincident to view the agricultural system through a multi-domain lens. We compared the regional geographies, which provided a quantitative cross-domain assessment that revealed the underlying processes governing the CONUS socio-agroecosystem. To build on this work, we will use independent validation data to evaluate the structure and evolution of our three assessed domains. Increased robustness and understanding of regional development over time will provide reliable agricultural management zones within anticipated changing socioeconomic and biophysical circumstances that are interrelated and impact the agricultural system at large. Synthesis and integration of multiple agricultural system domains can better inform natural resource management, agricultural practices, and societal needs that generally take place within political boundaries that straddle and encompass multiple socio-agroecological regions.