Throughout the globe the future production of food and fiber is challenged by competition for water resources, soil depletion, and climate change. Instrumented catchments as well as experimental plots are critical for developing the long-term datasets that support research to develop sustainable management practices for the resources soil and water. Furthermore, demonstration areas play a critical role in communicating scientific results to both traditional producers and new populations at the rural/urban interface. In many regions, changing demographics have expanded the range of catchment resource concerns which highlights the need for improved communication of scientific results.

This session aims to provide a forum for those working in instrumented watersheds and demonstration areas. We encourage submissions describing catchments and field sites established to measure and quantify physical and biophysical processes and their interactions with the social and economic components of agricultural/urban systems across a range of land uses and climate regimes. Examples of measurements include, but are not limited to, those characterizing hydrologic, soil erosion, and sedimentation processes, conservation practices, as well as plant production and the efficiency of agricultural systems. In addition, contributions describing the synthesis of long-term data sets and the application of models and research results to on the ground agricultural problems are welcome, particularly related with irrigation and water management. Contributions addressing the social impacts of agricultural and forest practices in the rural and urban environment and the impacts of changing demographics on traditional agriculture are encouraged.