title: Farm riparian land use and management: driving factors and tensions between technical and ecological functions.
abstract: Because of their specific role in the fate of natural resources of landscapes, riparian lands are considered as landscape management units. Yet, they are part of many farms: In what way does this influence their land use and sustainability? In this article, farm riparian land was defined as the set of riparian fields of a given farm. Our aim was to evaluate farm riparian lands as farm management units and the balance between technical and ecological functions associated with farm riparian land-use types. Technical functions designated the role of land use in elaborating farm production and maintaining farm territory. Ecological functions corresponded to farm riparian land-use intensity and ratio of permanent vegetation. The analysis was carried on 102 farms from 5 study sites representative of dairy agriculture and landscapes in a region straddling Brittany and Normandy (France). Farm riparian land-use types were identified using statistical clustering. Technical and ecological functions associated with land-use types were expressed in the light of agronomy and landscape ecology expertise. Descriptors of farm holdings and farm riparian land were tested as explanatory factors of farm riparian land-use types. The use of farm riparian lands was diverse but well defined; they proved to be farm management units. Compatibilities or antagonisms between technical and ecological functions were underscored according to farm riparian land-use type. We argued that decision support could gain in combining perspectives on riparian lands as landscape management units and farm management units.
authors.affiliation: Department of SAD-Sciences for Action and Sustainable Development, INRA-French National Institute for Agronomic Research, 35045 Rennes Cedex, France. Claudine.Thenail@rennes.inra.fr
authors.forename: Claudine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Thenail
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Baudry
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D003657:Decision Making; D004463:Ecology; D005602:France; D005618:Fresh Water