A review of machine learning and big data applications in addressing ecosystem service research gaps

Abstract

Ecosystem services are essential for human well-being, but are currently facing many natural and anthropogenic threats. Modeling and mapping ecosystem services helps us mitigate, adapt to, and manage these pressures, but overall the field faces multiple major limitations. These include: 1) data availability, 2) understanding, estimation, and reporting of uncertainties, and 3) connecting socio-ecological aspects of ecosystem services. Recent technological advancements in machine learning coupled with rising availability of big data, offer an opportunity to overcome these challenges. We review studies utilizing machine learning and/or big data to overcome these limitations. We collect 56 papers that exemplify the current use of machine learning and big data to address the three identified gaps in the ecosystem service field. We find that although the use of these tools in ecosystem service research is relatively new, it is growing quickly. Big data can directly address data gaps, especially as new big data resources relevant to ecosystem service mapping become available (ex. social media data). Some properties of machine learning can also contribute to addressing data gaps in data sparse environments. Also, many machine learning algorithms can estimate and consider uncertainty, whereas big data can significantly increase sample size, reducing uncertainties in some situations. Some big data sources, like crowdsourced data, provide direct sources of social behaviors and preferences that relate to ecosystem service demand, thus allowing researchers to connect social and biophysical aspects of ecosystem services. Machine learning algorithms provide an effective and efficient tool for handling these large nonlinear socio-ecological datasets in tandem, giving researchers the ability to more realistically model and map ecosystem services without relying on oversimplified proxies or linear algorithms. Despite these opportunities, implementation is still lacking and limitations still hinder use.