Abstract
Comprehensive mapping of Ecosystem Services (ES) is necessary to understand the impact of global change on crucial ES and to find strategies to sustain human wellbeing. Economic valuation of ES further translates their biophysical values into monetary values, which are then comparable across different ES and easily understandable to decision makers. However, a comprehensive synthesis of methods to measure ES indicators in grasslands, a central element of many landscapes around the globe, is still lacking, hampering the implementation of grassland ES-multifunctionality surveys. To identify suitable and recommendable methods, we reviewed the literature and evaluated labor intensiveness, equipment costs and predictive power of all methods. To facilitate the translation of biophysical ES into monetary terms, we further provide an overview of available methods for the economic valuation of ES.This review resulted in a toolbox comprising 85 plot-scale methods for assessing 29 different ES indicators for 21 provisioning, regulating, supporting or cultural ES. The available methods to measure ES indicators vary widely in labor intensiveness, costs, and predictive power. Based on this synthesis, we recommend 1) to choose direct over indirect methods and ES indicators, 2) to use the most accurate methods to estimate ES indicators, 3) to take into account that one ES indicator can have implications for more than one final ES, and 4) to utilize the wealth of available methods and indicators to assess as many ES for ES-multifunctionality studies as possible, especially including cultural ES. Moreover, the overview of approaches that can be used for the economic valuation of different grassland ES shall facilitate economic ES-multifunctionality assessments. Thus, this methodological guidance will considerably support researchers and stakeholders in setting up ES comprehensive assessments and monitoring schemes in grasslands and shall ultimately help overcome incomplete or superficial surveys based on single or few ES only.
Highlights
Economic valuation of Ecosystem Services (ES) further translates their biophysical values into monetary values, which are comparable across different ES and understandable to decision makers
To facilitate the translation of biophysical ES into monetary terms, we further provide an overview of available methods for the economic valuation of ES
From the 59 biotic ES included in Classification of Ecosystem Ser vices” (CICES), we identified 21 as impor tant ES in grassland ecosystems and included those in our study
Summary
Humans depend on well-functioning ecosystems for vital resources, protection from natural hazards and general well-being This is acknowledged and explored by the concept of Ecosystem Services (ES), describing the multiple ways people benefit from ecosystems (MA, 2005). To capture the degree of human benefits from ES, a number of ES valuation concepts have been put forward These can be grouped into ecological, sociocultural and economic valuation concepts (GomezBaggethun et al 2016). The moneti zation of ES can contribute to increase public concern about ES (Cheng et al 2019) If successful, it enables the easier integration of these ser vices in public decision-making (Brauman et al 2007; Sekercioglu 2010; Pascual et al 2012) and especially helps policy-makers to better un derstand the trade-offs in the use of ecosystems (Lazo 2002).
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