Editorial: Rural land change and the capacity for ecosystem conservation and sustainable production in North America

Authors: Coffin, Alisa; AKHTER, FARDAUSI - Agriculture And Agri-Food Canada; DRUMMOND, MARK - Us Geological Survey (USGS); Huggins, David

Submitted to: Frontiers in Environmental Science
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/25/2022
Publication Date: 3/25/2022
Citation: Coffin, A.W., Akhter, F., Drummond, M., Huggins, D.R. 2022. Editorial: Rural land change and the capacity for ecosystem conservation and sustainable production in North America. Frontiers in Environmental Science. 10. Article 850424. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.850424.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.850424

Interpretive Summary: Rural landscapes across the globe are vital to the production of food, timber, energy, and other resources for an increasing human population. They are also essential for sustaining ecosystem health for future generations. Accordingly, the challenge for humanity is to advance global production systems while also conserving and even enhancing ecosystem services and recognizing tradeoffs among them. The failure to meet this challenge is critical, pushing against planetary constraints of our biosphere, with cascading and potentially catastrophic repercussions to human well-being. For societies to thrive, the capacity for ecosystem conservation must be enhanced, and rural landscapes are widely recognized as a key geography for this capacity. Research on North American lands has examined trends in rural land cover including urbanization, woody encroachment, 20th century cropping patterns, and the periodic transitions of production forestry. The dynamics of land change have been linked to multiple drivers associated with economics, policy, population, and climate. Emerging research increasingly emphasizes concepts that agriculture and nature can and should co-exist in ways that provide for people and healthy ecosystems. Developing a better understanding of human-environment dynamics in rural landscapes, including proximal and distant interactions, is critical. The collection of papers in this research topic responded to this aim, identifying key aspects of rural landscapes in North America. The authors’ approach ranged from broad examinations of national and regional trends, to more focused models addressing specific biophysical components of agroecosystems.

Technical Abstract: Rural landscapes across the globe are vital to the production of food, timber, energy, and other resources for an increasing human population. They are also essential for sustaining ecosystem health for future generations. Accordingly, the challenge for humanity is to advance global production systems while also conserving and even enhancing ecosystem services and recognizing tradeoffs among them. The failure to meet this challenge is critical, pushing against planetary constraints of our biosphere, with cascading and potentially catastrophic repercussions to human well-being. For societies to thrive, the capacity for ecosystem conservation must be enhanced, and rural landscapes are widely recognized as a key geography for this capacity. Research on North American lands has examined trends in rural land cover including urbanization, woody encroachment, 20th century cropping patterns, and the periodic transitions of production forestry. The dynamics of land change have been linked to multiple drivers associated with economics, policy, population, and climate. Emerging research increasingly emphasizes concepts that agriculture and nature can and should co-exist in ways that provide for people and healthy ecosystems. Developing a better understanding of human-environment dynamics in rural landscapes, including proximal and distant interactions, is critical. The collection of papers in this research topic responded to this aim, identifying key aspects of rural landscapes in North America. The authors’ approach ranged from broad examinations of national and regional trends, to more focused models addressing specific biophysical components of agroecosystems.