Optimizing Natural Features and BMPs in Agroecosystems Through a One-Health Approach

About this Research Topic

Background

The field of agricultural landscape management is increasingly recognizing the importance of natural features such as hedgerows, water bodies, wooded blocks, and wetlands in providing essential ecosystem services. These features, along with beneficial management practices (BMPs), play a crucial role in influencing agricultural productivity, ecosystem health, and the well-being of both animals and humans. However, the current research and management strategies often lack a comprehensive one-health framework, which integrates human, animal, and environmental health. This gap in approach can lead to challenges in accurately predicting the positive and negative impacts of BMPs and natural features on the overall agroecosystem. Recent studies have highlighted the need for a more integrated assessment to optimize the management of these natural features and BMPs, making agroecosystems more resilient to various stressors, including anthropogenic, environmental, and climate-related factors. Despite these advancements, there remains a significant need for research that adopts a one-health perspective to fully understand the benefits, side-effects, and trade-offs involved.
This research topic aims to apply a one-health framework to assess the role of natural capital and beneficial management practices in agricultural landscapes. The primary objective is to provide decision-makers with robust, integrated insights that can help in the optimal management of natural features and BMPs. Specific questions to be addressed include: How do natural features and BMPs impact agricultural productivity, ecosystem services, and human and animal health? What are the trade-offs and side-effects associated with these practices? How can a one-health approach improve the resilience of agroecosystems?

To gather further insights in the integration of natural capital and BMPs within a one-health framework, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

• Benefits, trade-offs, and side-effects of natural features/agricultural BMPs in agroecosystems, contextualized within a one-health framework.
• Innovative and/or non-traditional process-based modelling tools to predict ecosystem services and one-health impacts within an agroecosystem context.
• Studies utilizing ecosystem-scale observatories to examine BMPs, natural capital, and sustainable agricultural production systems within the one-health framework.

Keywords: One health, agro-ecosystems, ecosystem services, natural capital, modeling

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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