Prioritizing Adaptation Needs for Ecosystem Services: A Regional Case Study in the Eastern Alps

Abstract

Ecological systems and natural resources are significant sources to generate human well-being (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005; TEEB 2010; Summers et al. 2012). Climatic and socio-economic changes will have many adverse impacts on natural systems and thus threaten human well-being (Schroter et al. 2005; Metzger et al. 2006; Staudinger et al. 2012). Therefore, there is an urgent need for society to adapt to these future challenges in order to preserve ecosystem services (ES) and secure human well-being for future generations. The amount of literature concerning impact assessments of climate change on ES has been growing in recent years, with the consensus being that climate change has already an effect on the supply of ES, thus threatening human well-being and that immediate action is needed (Schroter et al. 2005; Briner et al. 2012; Elkin et al. 2013; IPCC 2014). Facing this need for action requires the integration of ES in regional and local decision making processes on climate change adaptation (Daily et al. 2009; UNEP 2012; Loft et al. 2015). Including multiple ES simultaneously into this decision making process and identifying ES of concern, which require immediate action (Metternicht et al. 2014), reduces the risk of unintended trade-offs between adaptation measures.