Ecosystem Services Approach Research Articles

Using ecosystem-services assessments to determine trade-offs in ecosystem-based management of marine mammals.

The goal of ecosystem-based management (EBM) is to support a sustainable and holistic multisectored management approach, and is recognized in a number of international policy frameworks. However, it remains unknown how these goals should be linked to assessments and management plans for marine fauna, such as mammals and fish stocks. It appears particularly challenging to carry out trade-off analyses of various ocean uses without a framework that integrates knowledge of environmental, social, and economic benefits derived from nonstationary marine fauna. We argue this gap can be filled by applying a version of the ecosystem-service approach at the population level of marine fauna. To advance this idea, we used marine mammals as a case study to demonstrate what indicators could operationalize relevant assessments and deliver an evidence base for the presence of ecosystem services and disservices derived from marine mammals. We found indicators covering common ecosystem service categories feasible to apply; examples of indicator data are already available in the literature for several populations. We encourage further exploration of this approach for application to marina fauna and biodiversity management, with the caveat that conceptual tensions related to the use of the ecosystem service concept itself needs to be addressed to ensure acceptance by relevant stakeholders.

Potential, flow and demand of rice provisioning ecosystem services – Case study in Sapa district, Vietnam

Although Vietnam has become the third biggest rice exporter in the world, famine is yet challenging managers in many provinces, especially in the Northern mountainous areas of Vietnam. In contrast with financial profits, formal rice supply chains have recently not provided enough food for all people in these provinces. The ecosystem service approach has the potential to give better chances to communicate with decision makers, especially with agricultural managers by raising awareness and improving understanding related to potential, flow and demand of/for rice provision. In this study, probability approaches through a Bayesian Belief Network (BBN) and statistical approaches through a Hybrid Neural-Fuzzy Inference System (S-HyFIS) were used to quantify and map the potentials of the rice provisioning ecosystem service (RPES) in the Sapa district in the Lao Cai province in northern Vietnam. In addition, various statistical data related to actual rice production, population numbers and rice consumption were collected from 1990 to 2010 to quantify the RPES flows and demands. A conceptual model depicting the relations between RPES potential, flow and demand is proposed, in which the efficiency of site selection for rice cultivation and implemented farming practices play important roles in determining RPES supply. The results indicate an ineffective use of farming practices in the 1990s and show improvements in the new millennium in the case study area. A small surplus of RPES supply was found in the whole Sapa district since the year 2003, which has been used for tourism and export purposes. At the same time, the RPES demand was unmet in six communities. To generate a better rice supply chain and to better match supplies with actual demand, parts of the surplus of RPES could be transported from service providing areas to neighboring poor communities.

Landslides in the Andes: Forests can provide cost-effective landslide regulation services

Landslides cause billions of dollars (USD) in damage and hundreds of life losses every year in mountainous areas globally, and these effects are exacerbated by climate change and increased human occupation of vulnerable areas. In many mountainous regions forests deliver slope stability, helping to prevent landslides. However, forests are progressively converted into other land uses in many mountainous regions. In this study, we focus on the Colombian Andes, the most populated and deadly landslide-prone part of Colombia. We aim to determine the difference in frequency of landslides from forested and non-forested areas, and subsequently, quantify the potential costs and benefits of protecting forest and of restoring forest from agricultural lands. To that end, we combine economic data with geographical information related to public and private infrastructure, land use, and landslide susceptibility. Analyzing the national landslide database of Colombia, we established that landslides are almost six times (581%) more likely to occur on non-forested lands than on forested lands. From an economic perspective, by preventing landslides, forests provide a net benefit through the provision of slope stability services. Our most conservative estimates indicate it is 16 times more cost-effective to promote forest corridors, via conservation or reforestation along roads by paying farmers and cattle herders their opportunity costs, than for the public to pay the expected value of landslide damage. Our analysis provides strong evidence that vegetated hillsides can provide a cost-effective ecosystem service approach to mitigate economic losses due to landslides in one of the world's most landslide prone areas.

Comprehensive decision-strategy space exploration for efficient territorial planning strategies

GIS-based Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis is a well-known decision support tool that can be used in a wide variety of contexts. It is particularly useful for territorial planning in situations where several actors with different, and sometimes contradictory, point of views have to take a decision regarding land use development. While the impact of the weights used to represent the relative importance of criteria has been widely studied in the recent literature, the impact of the order weights used to combine the criteria have rarely been investigated. This paper presents a spatial sensitivity analysis to assess the impact of order weights determination in GIS-based Multi-Criteria Analysis by Ordered Weighted Averaging. We propose a methodology based on an efficient exploration of the decision-strategy space defined by the level of risk and trade-off in the decision process. We illustrate our approach with a land use planning process in the South of France. The objective is to find suitable areas for urban development while preserving green areas and their associated ecosystem services. The ecosystem service approach has indeed the potential to widen the scope of traditional landscape-ecological planning by including ecosystem-based benefits, including social and economic benefits, green infrastructures and biophysical parameters in urban and territorial planning. We show that in this particular case the decision-strategy space can be divided into four clusters. Each of them is associated with a map summarizing the average spatial suitability distribution used to identify potential areas for urban development. We also demonstrate the pertinence of a spatial variance within-cluster analysis to disentangle the relationship between risk and trade-off values. At the end, we perform a site suitability ranking analysis to assess the relationship between the four detected clusters.

A gendered ecosystem services approach to identify novel and locally-relevant strategies for jointly improving food security, nutrition, and conservation in the Barotse Floodplain

ABSTRACT Multiple lines of evidence call for the use of locally-relevant strategies to guide and support sustainable agricultural intensification while improving development and conservation outcomes. The goal of this study was to identify the ecosystem services from natural and agricultural systems to achieve this aim in the Barotse Floodplain of Zambia. Our methodology utilized a gender-sensitive ecosystem services approach, whereby local knowledge from women and men was harnessed to understand which services and their sources are important. In addition, we identified the various constraints and options people encounter for developing sustainable and nutritious agriculture while achieving conservation outcomes. The results of our study indicate that the floodplain provides a broad range of ecosystem services, which are important for securing local livelihoods and wellbeing. The forests in the uplands and the grasslands in the plains are the primary sources of the 17 provisioning and regulating ecosystem services assessed. Nonetheless, both are often converted to agriculture due to their high soil fertility. We identified opportunities and challenges for sustainable agricultural intensification and development in areas with lower conservation concerns. We discussed the constraints and limitations for promoting sustainable and inclusive agriculture in those areas.

Identification of Marginal Landscapes as Support for Sustainable Development: GIS-Based Analysis and Landscape Metrics Assessment in Southern Italy Areas

Landscape is increasingly characterized by a multifaced nature. In scientific literature and landscape governance, new landscape definitions are often coined to explain new meanings and to define specific intervention strategies and tools. The present study purposes a framework for the identification of hybrid landscapes as support for land-use planners, which aim to guarantee development opportunities as well as natural heritage preservation and valorization. “Marginal lands” were identified starting from EU Directives and scientific approaches, by means of multicriteria analysis. Different scenarios were built: (1) no-change; (2) energy crops; (3) green infrastructures. An ecosystem services approach, via landscape metrics analysis, was used to compare the possible effects of scenarios. About 20% of the study area, an internal area of the southern Apennines, was identified as suitable for land-use change in a medium-short time, and scenarios of land-use changes show a better condition, in terms of fragmentation, than as a current asset. Results showed the strategic role and potentialities of marginal lands, as a trade-off between nature conservation and development issues, suggesting new opportunities for green infrastructures and a renewable energies chain. The study allowed for deepening the close connection among landscape planning approaches, land use change scenarios building and environmental assessment, focused on the ex-ante evaluation stage.

Co-Creation of Knowledge for Ecosystem Services Approach to Spatial Planning in the Basque Country

Sustainable development has to be based on scientific knowledge, social agreements, and political decisions. This study aimed to analyse the implementation of the ecosystem services approach (ESA) in the spatial planning of the Basque Country, via the co-creation of knowledge. This paper uses a proposal for a regional green infrastructure (GI) to examine the co-creation of knowledge process. It addresses the community of practice; a process of co-creation of knowledge through workshops and meeting, SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis using an online survey, and mapping and identification of the multifunctional areas that provide ecosystem services (ES) to develop a GI. Results indicate that ESA has been included in spatial planning actions at different scales (biosphere reserve, metropolitan area, and region). This subsequently created an avenue for understanding the political necessities at play, so that scientists can develop useful tools for sustainable development. The findings also draw attention to the importance of establishing a constructive and mutually comprehensible dialogue between politicians, technical experts and scientists. For ES to be part of spatial planning, ESA has to be taken into account at the beginning of the planning process. We conclude that building bridges between science and spatial planning can help establish science-based management guidelines and tools that help enhance the sustainability of the territory.

Ecosystem services from mountain forest ecosystems: conceptual framework, approach and challenges

Mountain ecosystems play an essential role in sustainable mountain development, providing benefits and values to humanity not only for the rich biodiversity they contain, but also because of their important role in climate regulation, water cycle, provisioning of recreation, tourism, cultural or spiritual values. The high biodiversity of the mountain areas allow the provision of a wide range of ecosystem services. However, different impacts to the environment threaten the delivery of these services and, consequently, the quality of life of people, both living in the mountains and outside the mountains. Recognizing, demonstrating and capturing the value of ecosystem services can play an important role in setting policy directions for ecosystem management and conservation and, thus, in increasing the provision of ecosystem services and their contributions to human well-being. Quantifying and mapping of these benefits can also help managers and decision makers to realize the importance of these sites for conservation and to allow the proper understandings of the impacts of mountain forest ecosystems on territorial development and welfare of local populations. The paper aims to outline the relevance and applicability of the ecosystem services approach for the assessment of the condition of mountain ecosystems and the services, they provide, for better understanding by the scientific community and to support decision makers in sustainable management of mountain regions.

What is value? Impact assessment of cultural heritage

PurposeThere are currently various methodologies used for carrying out impact assessments of cultural heritage. This paper aims to critically explore the reasons for this diversity and ascertain their varying consistency.Design/methodology/approachThe paper does a comparative analysis of the methodologies used, exploring how they measure up to the theoretical underpinnings of the ecosystem services approach and the cultural values model, considered to be the most comprehensive strategies for assessing the impact of cultural heritage.FindingsThe study reveals that there are few methodologies, and they only inconsistently work upon the theoretical perspectives mentioned earlier. In addition, from the public policy perspective, surprisingly few areas endowed with cultural heritage have been, in one way or another, assessed for impact, perhaps in part due to the lack of adequate methodologies.Research limitations/implicationsThe methods analysed are those that have been made public, which can be found in English. Also, they may be exploratory themselves, so some of the conclusions reached here may have also been found by the analysts themselves. This research serves to provide some scientific groundings for developing a more comprehensive impact assessment method.Practical implicationsThe results of this paper highlight certain glaring absences from current methodologies which invite the development of more definitive cultural impact assessment models. This is possible given the current state of the art, and further research and practice are necessary to develop a more comprehensive cultural values model–based research assessment.Social implicationsBy focussing on the absence of certain indicators on behalf of impact assessment methodologies, this paper sheds light on the overlooked (or under-measured) benefits derived from cultural heritage. Many of the benefits derived from this type of resource find an opportunity to come out in the open, greatly affecting researchers, cultural heritage planners and local communities.Originality/valueThis paper also serves to substantiate a glaring absence within the ecosystem services framework, which is the lack of practical methodologies for measuring some of these service values.

Insights on expected streamflow response to land-cover restoration

Ecosystem service approaches to watershed management have grown quickly, increasing the importance of understanding the streamflow response to realistic land-cover change. Previous work has investigated the relationship between watershed characteristics and streamflow in catchments around the world, but little has focused on systematic relationships between watershed characteristics and streamflow change after land-cover restoration. To address this gap, we simulate streamflow responses to restoring 10% of watershed area from agricultural land to forest and natural pasture in 29 watersheds around the world. This change is consistent with that performed in watershed-service programs. We calculate the change in a broad array of streamflow indices for each site and use a graph-connectedness approach to cluster the sites based on the sign of the index value changes. We find three primary clusters with distinct responses to restoration. Permutation tests and effect sizes demonstrate the difference in watershed characteristics and streamflow indices across clusters. The low-flow intensifying sites have shallower soils and smaller saturated soil volumes. After restoration, simulated streamflow in these sites increases during relatively dry periods and declines during high-flow periods. The high-flow intensifying sites have larger saturated soil volumes. After restoration, simulated dry-season flow in these sites decreases. The high-flow enhancing sites have larger soil hydraulic conductivities than the high-flow intensifying sites. After restoration, simulated dry-season flow in these sites decreases less than in high-flow intensifying sites. The soil depth and hydraulic conductivity appear to be the characteristics that determine clusters, as clusters are not statistically related to climate, watershed location, proximity, size and shape, elevation, or pre-existing land cover. This study provides valuable understanding of land-cover restoration and the watershed characteristics that most impact streamflow change.

Integrating Ecosystem Services in Nature Conservation for Colombia

The ecosystem services (ES) approach has been introduced in environmental policies and management to serve as a link between nature and society. Communication, education, and participation actions (CEPA) have the potential to facilitate this link. In this research, we evaluated how CEPA have been implemented in biodiversity conservation projects that consider ES. We used content analysis to review 182 biodiversity conservation projects executed by 33 environmental authorities in Colombia. We also used multiple correspondence analysis and cluster analysis to classify projects on the basis of the purpose of CEPA, type of CEPA, integration of CEPA, ES addressed, main stakeholders, and aim of conservation. We found that five aspects are key to fostering social engagement in environmental management projects: promoting explicit consideration of the ES approaches, increasing conservation efforts focused on the non-material benefits of the ES, integrating different types of CEPA, including overlooked key actors (e.g., indigenous communities and women), and developing and implementing social indicators. These considerations might lead environmental managers to revise their daily practices and, eventually, inform policies that foster an explicit link between CEPA and ES approaches.

Deciphering support for woody biomass production for electric power using an ecosystem service framework

There is well established literature that focuses on measuring the public (social) value of ecosystem services, alongside traditional economic valuations, with the aim of better informing natural resource management decision-making. However, few studies have considered the role of ecosystem service values directly in the context of the general public's support for specific natural resource management decisions and practices. This leaves open the possibility that policy makers and resource managers may be relying on criteria that have negligible influence on public preferences. In this paper, we consider this gap, by testing hypotheses concerning the public's willingness to support forest harvesting for biomass material that will facilitate electricity generation based on a survey of households in Tomahawk, Wisconsin, U.S. An ecosystem service valuation model was developed and subjected to multivariate statistical analyses (factor analysis and OLS linear regression). The findings show that respondents in biomass producing communities may be more supportive of biomass sources such as forestry residues and forest thinnings than dedicated energy wood harvesting operations. In addition, the findings indicate that using an ecosystem service approach can help explain differences in support between these respondents and provide insight into socially acceptable forms of biomass harvesting operations.

Integrating Ecosystem Services Supply–Demand and Spatial Relationships for Intercity Cooperation: A Case Study of the Yangtze River Delta

Transboundary environmental problems caused by urban expansion and economic growth cannot be solved by individual cities. Successful intercity environmental cooperation relies on the clear identification and definition of the rights and obligations of each city. An Ecosystem services (ES) approach not only budgets the ES supply and demand of a city, but also defines the spatial relationships between Services Provisioning Areas (SPA) and Services Benefiting Areas (SBA). However, to date, quantitative studies integrating ES budgets and spatial relations have been scarce. This study integrates ecosystem services supply–demand budgeting with flow direction analysis to identify intercity environmental cooperation in the highly urbanized Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region of China for water-related ecosystem services (flood protection, erosion regulation and water purification). The results demonstrated that there were significant spatial mismatches in the supply and demand of three water-related ES among 16 core cities in the YRD region: five to six cities in the southern part of the region had significant service surpluses, while ten to 11 cities in the north–central part had significant service deficits. We then went on to offer definitions for Ecosystem Services Surplus City, Ecosystem Services Deficit City and Ecosystem Services Balance City, as well as Service Provisioning City, Service Benefiting City and Service Connecting City in which to categorize cities in the YRD Region. Furthermore, we identified two intercity cooperation types and two non-cooperation types. This framework can be used to promote ecological integration in highly urbanized regions to advance sustainable development.

Making ecosystem services approach operational: Experiences from Dhauladhar Range, Western Himalaya.

Payment for ecosystem services (PES) has emerged as a promising tool to participatory natural resource management and sharing of benefits among the stakeholders. However, very few successful models of PES are available for replication. This study deals with an analysis of a PES model currently operational in the Dhauladhar Range, Western Himalaya, where upstream villagers are paid for maintaining the spring-shed that supplies drinking water to the downstream township. To understand the flow of various ecosystem services (ES), institutional mechanism, and governance, we conducted an in-depth analysis of this project. The study identified lack of monitoring and weak governance as factors affecting smooth operation of PES. To revamp the PES model more effectively at the present and new sites in future stakeholder integration, valuation of ES and inputs in terms of capacity building of primary and secondary stakeholders would be critical.

Global Overview of Ecosystem Services Provided by Riparian Vegetation

Abstract Fluvial riparian vegetation (RV) links fluvial and terrestrial ecosystems. It is under significant pressure from anthropogenic activities, and, therefore, the management and restoration of RV are increasingly important worldwide. RV has been investigated from different perspectives, so knowledge on its structure and function is widely distributed. An important step forward is to convert existing knowledge into an overview easily accessible—for example, for use in decision-making and management. We aim to provide an overview of ecosystem services provided by RV by adopting a structured approach to identify the ecosystem services, describe their characteristics, and rank the importance of each service. We evaluate each service within four main riparian vegetation types adopting a global perspective to derive a broad concept. Subsequently, we introduce a guided framework for use in RV management based on our structured approach. We also identify knowledge gaps and evaluate the opportunities an ecosystem service approach offers to RV management.

Contribución de la Reserva de la Biosfera de la Sierra del Rincón al abastecimiento de agua de la Comunidad de Madrid: Una aproximación desde los servicios de los ecosistemas

Zorrilla-Miras, P., Suárez, M., González-Garcia, A., Sancho Gómez, C., Bea, M. 2020. Water supply from Sierra del Rincón Biosphere Reserve to the Community of Madrid (Spain): An ecosystem services approach. Ecosistemas 29(1):1938. https://doi.org/10.7818/ECOS.1938 Water supply from Sierra del Rincón Biosphere Reserve to the Community of Madrid: An ecosystem services approach. Frequently, the people who benefit from the services (or contributions) that ecosystems provide to society are not those who reside in the territory that provides such services. Population of these rural areas that provide ecosystem services to large cities are sometimes limited in their economic development options, which contributes to rural depopulation. An example of this situation is given in the Sierra del Rincón Biosphere Reserve, located at the northern end of the Community of Madrid. The objective of this study is to evaluate biophysically and economically (in monetary terms) the water supply service of the Sierra del Rincón Biosphere Reserve. We have used the InVEST model and a market-based method (from the domestic water use rate). The results indicate that, although the area of the RBSR is only a 2% of the Community of Madrid, it provides 5% of the water consumed, with an approximate contribution of 93 hm3 per year, which would have an economic value of 28 million euros. The methodology followed has limitations that are presented with the aim to perform future studies with greater precision.

Co-creación de conocimiento para la inclusión del enfoque de servicios de los ecosistemas en la ordenación del territorio del País Vasco

Onaindia, M., Peña, L., Fernández de Manuel, B., Méndez, L., Viota, M., Ametzaga-Arregi, I. 2020. Co-creation of knowledge for the inclusion of the ecosystem services approach in the landscape management planning in the Basque Country. Ecosistemas 29(1):1934. https://doi.org/10.7818/ECOS.1934 The type of sustainable development to which we aspire needs, among other things, to be based on scientific knowledge, social agreements and political decisions that direct management towards a sustainability path. Therefore, it is essential to identify the knowledge needed by the political and technical community and the type of science that is required to be developed for this purpose. The objective of this study was to analyze the work developed through a community of practice, which is contributing to an efficient collaboration between researchers and managers. The transdisciplinary work experience is based on a holistic and collaborative approach between university teams and public administration technical teams at different scales (Government, County Councils, Town-halls). The object of study of this community of practice is the application of the Ecosystem Services Approach in land management policies. The aim is the sustainable development of the territory based on the co-creation of knowledge for the application in policies. Because of the collaborative work, the approach based on ecosystem services has been included in the Guidelines for Territorial Planning of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country. This means that all the different departments of the Administration at different scales must implement actions to maintain ecosystem services and the promotion of a local green infrastructure. The results show that the bridges between science and management can be successful in establishing scientific-based management guidelines.

Exploring gaps in mapping marine ecosystem services: A benchmark analysis

We assessed the gaps between current and “model mapping routines”, which represent a benchmark for mapping marine ecosystem services (ESs). Model mapping routines comprised 17 selected variables and their best-rated alternatives depending on the mapping purpose, namely, marine spatial planning, environmental impact assessment, vulnerability and risk analysis, marine protected areas management, payments for ecosystem services, and natural resources management. We conducted a systematic search of articles (n = 64) from which information on the 17 variables and their alternatives was retrieved. We assessed gaps using similarity matrices, according to the co-occurrence index. The largest gaps (as measured by average distances >0.5 between actual and best options) occurred in articles reporting natural resources management as purpose, whereas the smallest were related to marine protected areas management and payments for ecosystem services. The gaps were due to departures in different individual variables. For example, in the case of marine spatial planning the omission of tradeoffs, scenario analysis, multiple scales, and threshold analyses explained the gap, whereas in vulnerability and risk assessment the omission of thresholds, the lack of consistency of the indicators used, and the absence of a definition of ESs explained the gap. We trust that this study will help to recognize that ESs mapping studies should be guided by the purpose of a given intervention rather than by the technical capacities and disciplines of the researchers, if the ESs approach expects to reach a real impact into public policies.

Ecosystem services approach for community-based ecotourism: towards an equitable and sustainable blue economy

This paper examines the role of community-based ecotourism within the developing market dynamics of the blue economy. The blue economy has become synonymous with generating wealth from ocean-related activities while protecting and supporting marine ecosystems. For remote coastal communities and Small Island Developing States, local economic development is a challenging balance between protecting marine biodiversity and maintaining sustainable and direct access to ecosystem services. In this paper, we present results of a study in the coastal region of South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia in the Coral Triangle. The paper illustrates that community-based ecotourism supports sustainable use of marine resources and offers an entry point for low-resource coastal communities to take part in the blue economy. Complementary livelihood pathways that enhance primary income and support ecosystem services play a key role. Study findings show that three key areas where multilateral support is most needed for communities with ecotourism aspirations are: waste management, hospitality skills, and market access. From these findings, we present a model for community-based ecotourism in the blue economy. The model demonstrates important interactions between community, the local economy, and coastal ecosystems, and the important role community-based ecotourism plays in creating effective mechanisms for preserving natural and cultural heritage.

Cultural Ecosystem Services of Geodiversity: A Case Study from Stránská skála (Brno, Czech Republic)

The concept of ecosystem services developed in the second half of the 20th century, and the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment was crucial for its acceptance. This assessment identified the services that ecosystems provide to society, but geodiversity (as an indispensable component of ecosystems) was somewhat underestimated. At present, geodiversity is intensively used by human society and it provides numerous services including cultural as a resource for tourism, recreation, as a part of natural heritage, and to satisfy matters of spiritual importance. The main purpose of this paper is to present the geocultural issues of Stránská skála (a limestone cliff with caves and an anthropogenic underground) in Brno (Czech Republic) and to evaluate the cultural ecosystem services of geodiversity by using the abiotic ecosystem services approach. This assessment of cultural ecosystem services of the Stránská skála enables the identification and description of the functions and services which are provided by geodiversity and confirms the high cultural and geoheritage value of the site.