Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7014, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden.
Environ Sci Technol. 2024 Mar 19;58(11):4852-4858. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.3c10165. Epub 2024 Mar 4.
Agricultural headwaters are positioned at the interface between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and, therefore, at the margins of scientific disciplines. They are deemed devoid of biodiversity and too polluted by ecologists, overlooked by hydrologists, and are perceived as a nuisance by landowners and water authorities. While agricultural streams are widespread and represent a major habitat in terms of stream length, they remain understudied and thereby undervalued. Agricultural headwater streams are significantly modified and polluted but at the same time are the critical linkages among land, air, and water ecosystems. They exhibit the largest variation in streamflow, water quality, and greenhouse gas emission with cascading effects on the entire stream networks, yet they are underrepresented in monitoring, remediation, and restoration. Therefore, we call for more intense efforts to characterize and understand the inherent variability and sensitivity of these ecosystems to global change drivers through scientific and regulatory monitoring and to improve their ecosystem conditions and functions through purposeful and evidence-based remediation.
农业源头位于陆地和水生生态系统的交界处，因此处于科学学科的边缘。它们被认为是缺乏生物多样性的，被生态学家污染太严重，被水文学家忽视，被土地所有者和水管理部门视为一种滋扰。虽然农业溪流分布广泛，从溪流长度来看，它们是主要的栖息地，但它们仍未得到充分研究，因此被低估了。农业源头溪流受到了显著的改造和污染，但同时也是陆地、空气和水生态系统之间的关键联系。它们在溪流流量、水质和温室气体排放方面表现出最大的变化，对整个溪流网络产生级联效应，但在监测、修复和恢复方面的代表性不足。因此，我们呼吁通过科学和监管监测来更深入地研究和了解这些生态系统对全球变化驱动因素的固有变异性和敏感性，并通过有目的和基于证据的修复来改善其生态系统条件和功能。
