Reframing water-related ecosystem services flows

Jingyu Lin,Jinliang Huang,Michalis Hadjikakou,Yaling Huang,Kun Li,Brett A Bryan

doi:10.1016/j.ecoser.2021.101306

Jingyu Lin, Jinliang Huang + Show 4 more

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2021.101306

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Abstract

To sustain water-dependent economic and socio-ecological systems, natural capital and its interactions with other types of capital is gaining attention, but a clear understanding of how to manage natural capital sustainably and how to make decisions relevant to water-related ecosystem services is yet to be achieved. In this study, we extended the framing of water-related ecosystem service flows by integrating water quantity and quality; capturing the flows of ecosystem services (i.e., green phase) and degraded ecosystem services (i.e., red phase); and connecting natural capital, built/human capital (i.e., water supply and wastewater treatment), and beneficiaries. We applied this framework to the Jiulong River watershed in China, using hydrological models to model water quantity and quality based on historical observations and experimental data. Our results showed that, during the green phase, the interactions of natural capital and built/human capital significantly improved water quality in downstream areas with higher flows. During the red phase, built/human capital reduced nitrogen by ~ 10% while natural capital further reduced it by over one half, which improved the water quality of degraded ecosystem services. Our extended water-related ecosystem services framework can provide explicit information for integrated basin management via investment in natural and built capital, eco-compensation schemes, and pollutant management.

Highlights

The concept of natural capital is gaining worldwide attention for its ability to inform sustainable management of social-ecological systems
A closer look at the overall statistical fit of the RSPARROW model indicated that model skill was strong for predicted load (RMSE = 0.39–0.40, R2 = 0.93, R2Yield = 0.92; Table S2)
In this study, we extended the framing of ecosystem services (ES) flows as a cycle to illustrate the interactions among natural capital, built capital, and beneficiaries within water-related ES

Summary

Introduction

The concept of natural capital is gaining worldwide attention for its ability to inform sustainable management of social-ecological systems. Natural capital refers to the living and non-living components of ecosystems that directly or indirectly provide services for human beings (Guerry et al, 2015). Natural capital cannot provide services to beneficiaries without the presence of people (i.e., human capital), communities (i.e., social capital), and the built environment (i.e., built capital; Costanza et al, 2014). Natural capital must interact with other forms of capital to realize its benefits (Costanza et al, 2017). Recent studies have measured the provision of ecosystem services (ES) by accounting for stocks of natural capital and other forms of capital. The effects of human-derived products, technology, and infrastructure (i.e., built or manufactured capital) as well as trust, community involvement, and social cohesion (i.e., social capital) are increasingly being considered in combination with natural capital (Bateman and Mace, 2020; Barnes-Mauthe et al, 2015; Chen and Graedel, 2015; Jone et al, 2016)

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