Abstract
Aim of the study: The aim of the research is an analysis of the concept of ecosystem services in context of urban water bodies. In result of the study, final ecosystem services and the goods and benefits of urban aquatic ecosystems were identified. Material and methods: The study of the development of the concept of ecosystem services was based on the literature review. Water ecosystems were analyzed in terms of their ecosystem services that can be assigned to individual classes listed in CICES V5.1. The next step of the analysis was to consider which of the identified ecosystem services of water ecosystems were also provided by urban water bodies. The results of the analysis were divided into biotic and abiotic services in three basic divisions: provisioning, regulation & maintenance, cultural services. Due to the specificity of CICES classification, examples of both, final ecosystem services and ecosystem goods and benefits, were assigned to each class code. The research was conducted in relation to Polish conditions. Results and conclusions: The 26 biotic and 12 abiotic classes of ecosystem services provided by urban water bodies were identified in the analysis. Cultural services of the urban water bodies seem to be the most important for the daily life of city residents. The demand for urban water bodies ecosystems services grows together with increasing social awareness. Social expectations should be reflected in the decisions and actions taken by urban planners and policy makers.
Highlights
Ecosystems in urban agglomerations are under strong human pressure and are subject to significant changes
The analysis identified 26 biotic and 12 abiotic ecosystem services (ES) classes provided by urban water bodies
The financial valuation of the ecosystem services provided by an assessed element of the blue infrastructure must be preceded by an identification of ES
Summary
Ecosystems in urban agglomerations are under strong human pressure and are subject to significant changes. Progressive urbanization seems to be an inevitable process. Urban areas have grown rapidly in recent decades. Areas of transformed land increase with the demand for its new functions: residential, industrial and service (Das and Das, 2019). Active areas decrease along with transformations of urban land. The number of inhabitants of urbanized areas is constantly growing. In 2018, more than 55 % of the world’s population were city dwellers. More than 23 % of people live in large agglomerations (of over a million inhabitants). United Nations estimates that these values will
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