Ecosystem Services: Nature's Balance Sheet

Abstract

In the Research Article “Bringing ecosystem services into economic decision-making: Land use in the United Kingdom” (5 July, p. [45][1]), I. J. Bateman et al. summarize current efforts to assign economic value to ecosystem services. We add three factors that should be taken into account, based on life cycles and contribution of agricultural land use and associated habitats providing food. First, both income and expenditures should be included in valuation of ecosystem services. Expenditures are a major consideration in land-management decisions alongside income and value of products; recovery of food from ecosystems requires financial and other capital inputs. Second, using farm gate prices (i.e., the prices when leaving the farm, which are often lower than retail prices paid by consumers) to estimate the contributions of food from agriculture underestimates the product's value. In 2010, the base year for Bateman et al. 's analysis, total UK farm gate income was £4.34 billion, whereas the UK food and drink sector—including manufacture, wholesale, and retail—was valued at £86.2 billion ([ 1 ][2]). In current ecosystem assessment and economic valuation methodologies, the downstream economic and societal benefits value is not attributed to food production in ecosystem services. Third, agricultural land management influences ecosystem services beyond food provision. As Bateman points out, in Great Britain, agriculture directly influences about 75% of the land surface through management schemes and crop and livestock production activities. Many other ecosystem services recognized by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and UK National Ecosystem Assessment are thus directly and indirectly affected by agricultural land management. Economic valuation and accounting requires increased recognition of, and sensitivity to, interrelationships between services and the contributions made by land management to their availability. 1. [↵][3] Department for Environment, Food and Rural “Affairs, Agriculture in the United Kingdom 2011” (2012); [www.gov.uk/government/publications/agriculture-in-the-united-kingdom-2011][4]. [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1234379 [2]: #ref-1 [3]: #xref-ref-1-1 View reference 1 in text [4]: http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/agriculture-in-the-united-kingdom-2011