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Water access and use impact land management decisions and livelihoods. Despite the integral role water plays in land systems, land system science (LSS) research often fails to explicitly incorporate water into analyses of socioecological systems (SES) resilience related to land. Nonetheless, water scarcity, especially in the face of climate change and resource degradation, is a pressing issue. Water availability is crucial to many ecosystem functions, from supporting biodiversity to mitigating extreme weather events such as flooding or drought. In this introduction to the “Water in Land System Science” Special Issue, we argue for deeper integration of land and water dynamics in LSS to increase SES resilience. First, we present an overview of the need for this integration, followed by a synopsis of the authored contributions in this Special Issue towards this goal. We then provide potential entry points researchers can use to foster this integration, exploring the following topics: water governance and hydrosocial territories, the cultural geographies of water, hydrophilia, water in agricultural transitions, remote sensing innovations, and participatory approaches to the study of the water component of land systems. We conclude that interactions between land, water, and people remain understudied, despite being more important than ever for ensuring future sustainability. 

Abstract Hurricanes are becoming more frequent and intense, so understanding the consequences for biodiversity, including migratory species, has become critical. Studies suggest that migrants may avoid most of the direct harm of hurricanes by shifting their flight trajectories to less-impacted regions, but the majority of this research has focused on birds. We review the literature on migratory bird responses to hurricanes and also describe other taxa likely to be affected. We then focus on the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus), whose fall migratory pathway goes through Texas during hurricane season. Like birds, monarchs may be able to avoid direct damage from hurricanes. However, it may be more important to determine how they respond to shifts in availability of critical resources during migration. In fall, when a storm-triggered flush of out-of-season vegetation growth is especially likely, hurricanes could reasonably cause indirect impacts that could be positive (increased nectar) or negative (out-of-season host plants that could disrupt migration), or both. The monarch butterfly is an especially good target for this research because of its distinct migratory phases, the importance of hurricane-impacted zones to its annual cycle, and the large quantity of data available through an extensive network of citizen science programs.