A systematic map protocol: What evidence exists to link agricultural practices with ecological impacts for Irish waterbodies?

Abstract

Background: Increasing world population, changing consumption patterns, and the agri-food industry ambition for expansion will drive an increase in outputs from future Irish agriculture. This must be achieved within the context of the targets established within E.U. environmental directives, such as the Nitrates (91/676/EEC) and Water Framework Directives (2000/60/EC). How and if sustainable intensification can be achieved is unclear, with climate change and competition for land (e.g. bioenergy crops) increasing pressures on agriculture and the environment. The Environmental Protection Agency's report, Ireland's Environment, investigated the status of water quality and concluded agricultural diffuse and small point sources of pollution were the main cause of 50 % and 13 % of river and groundwater pollution, respectively (EPA, 2012). As a result of significant investment in research, there is now an understanding of the factors controlling the impact of agriculture on water quality in Ireland. However, in facing the challenges of sustainable intensification, climate change, and increasing demand for delivery of ecosystem services from rural environments, there is a need to determine to what extent existing research can provide answers to these challenges and what further research is required to balance water quality protection and agricultural production in the future. Design: The objective of this systematic map protocol is to plan development of an evidence-base to inform recommendations for further research on mitigating the impact of agriculture on water quality in Ireland under future climate change and sustainable intensification. The primary question for this systematic map is: What evidence exists to link agricultural practices with ecological impacts in Irish waterbodies? This involves coding studies based on variables such as scale, methodology, chemical and ecological impacts, and location. Following an extensive search for relevant research documents, documents selected for inclusion in the systematic map will be implemented on a hierarchical basis, with documents first screened at title and abstract level and subsequently at full text level using predetermined selection criteria. Coding will include elements of critical appraisal (e.g. study length, study scale, and experimental design). A geographical map indicating where each study occurred will be linked to the database describing all studies included in the systematic map.