Current research in land, water, and agroecosystems: ASABE journals 2017 year in review

Abstract

This article highlights current research into land and water resources, agroecosystems, and agricultural production systems published by the Natural Resources and Environmental Systems (NRES) community of ASABE journals (Transactions of the ASABE and Applied Engineering in Agriculture) in 2017. Context, scope, and key results of the published articles are reviewed and perhaps more importantly areas for increased research attention are recommended. This article describes experimental and modeling advances in hydrology, agroecosystems, climate change effects, soil erosion, agricultural irrigation, agricultural drainage, forest resource management, livestock systems, natural treatment systems, international water issues, and water quality topic areas. Three special collections were published (International Watershed Technology, Crop Modeling and Decision Support for Optimizing Use of Limited Water, and Advances in Drainage). Other focal areas included 14 articles relating to livestock waste management, 13 concerning irrigated agricultural systems, 8 addressing climate change effects on land, water, and agroecosystems, and 16 on various aspects of soil erosion measurement and modeling. Building on the articles reviewed from 2017 and toward a vision of future agroecosystems research, the NRES community of ASABE journals strives to expand its role in making new knowledge accessible to sustain agricultural and natural systems in a changing world. With this goal in mind, recommendations for future research needs are proposed with an emphasis on increased application of remote sensing data to agroecosystems research, improved assessment of agroecosystem resiliency and vulnerability to land and climate change, development of integrated models of agroecosystem services, meeting stubborn water management challenges in agricultural production systems, and focusing on publishing fully reproducible model results.