Ecosystem Services Framework Research Articles

Integrated framework for stakeholder participation: Methods and tools for identifying and addressing human–wildlife conflicts

AbstractAs wild areas disappear and agricultural lands expand, understanding how people and wildlife can coexist becomes increasingly important. Human–wildlife conflicts (HWCs) are obstacles to coexistence and negatively affect both wildlife populations and the livelihood of people. To facilitate coexistence, a number of frameworks have been developed to both understand the drivers of conflict and then to find solutions that mitigate conflict. However, each framework has different foci and strengths in particular stages of analysis. Here, we propose an integrated framework that leverages the individual strengths of previously fairly isolated methodologies, allowing for holistic HWC analysis. The framework for participatory impact assessment (FoPIA) provides a toolset for developing wildlife scenarios, selecting assessment indicators and assessing the impact of different scenarios. The social‐ecological framework of ecosystem services and disservices (SEEDS) analyzes the ecosystem services trade‐offs related to scenarios, and the 3i stakeholder analysis approach, supports the identification of stakeholders and provides a mechanism to explore, in detail stakeholders' interests, relative influence, and how outcomes of research are likely to impact different stakeholders. We apply these approaches to eastern Germany, where the increase in several wildlife populations (i.e., wild boar, common crane, gray wolf, and European bison) has contributed to conflict with people. We demonstrate the complementarity of FoPIA, SEEDS, and 3i in identifying stakeholder needs and showing how wildlife dynamics may affect coexistence and create imbalanced ecosystem service and disservice distributions. The integrated framework introduced here provides guidelines for analyzing the multistage process of stakeholder participation and enables a comprehensive approach to the complex challenge of HWCs.

Assessing Ecosystem Services in Mangroves: Insights from São Tomé Island (Central Africa)

Mangroves are some of the most productive coastal systems on the planet and provide valuable ecosystem services (ES). They are especially important in threatened ecosystems and developing countries, where they are likely to have direct impacts on local communities. An approach based on ES allows assessing ecosystems across the domains of ecology, sociology and economy. This study focused on the evaluation of ES in mangroves and started by creating a comprehensive global list of mangrove ES based on the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. These services were then quantified using the best available indicators for mangrove systems. The mangroves of Diogo Nunes, São João dos Angolares and Malanza, located in the São Tomé Island, were used to illustrate the challenges in applying ES indicators in this type of ecosystems. The obtained results confirmed that mangroves can provide important and diverse services. However, the high variability among mangrove systems affects their ability to deliver ES, requiring caution for the extrapolation across regions. This assessment emphasizes how the ES framework can be used as a tool to develop management plans that integrate conservation goals and human wellbeing.

Nature on a Plate: Linking Food and Tourism within the Ecosystem Services Framework

This paper explores the links between local resources (the natural environment) and the local food on offer; i.e., what parts of nature reach the tourist’s plate. It is based on a content analysis of restaurant menus in the Great Masurian Lakes region, which is considered to be one of the main nature-based tourism destinations in Poland. The concept of Ecosystem Services (ES), closely interlinked with the idea of sustainable development, is employed as it recognizes the relationships between humans and the natural environment. The results indicate that food representing the region’s history is almost non-existent. Instead, the local food heritage is being reinvented based on the area’s iconic ES, i.e., wild food. In this way, the supply side of the ES cascade (ecosystem resources and potential) and its demand side (the benefits for tourists and the costs they pay to obtain these benefits) are encompassed on a tourist’s plate in Masurian restaurants. The findings also reveal that, in many cases, the localness of “local” food is an illusion. This, in turn, poses an important challenge for the sustainability of food (and) tourism in the studied area.

基于CVOR和电路理论的讨赖河流域生态安全评价及生态格局优化

生态安全格局优化是实现区域生态安全、维持区域可持续发展的重要途径。以生态系统服务与健康共同构建"贡献力-活力-组织力-恢复力"（CVOR）的生态安全评价体系，对2000和2015年讨赖河流域生态安全进行评估，识别生态源地，提取最小成本路径。基于电路理论连通度模型构建次优生态廊道，识别障碍点，基于生态源地、最小成本廊道、次优廊道、障碍点识别结果，构建并优化生态安全格局。结果表明：2000和2015年讨赖河流域低度安全等级区分别占流域总面积的63.68%、61.25%，高安全区和较高安全区仅占总面积的13.93%、15.80%。从空间分布来看，生态安全状况差异显著，呈现南高北低的分布格局。生态源地面积3165.41 km²，破碎度高，主要分布于流域南部山区及中部绿洲农业区。最小成本路径共1122条，共长3468.15 km，较大阻力廊道有242条。将流域生态格局优化分区划分为生态稳定区、生态发展区和重点保护区。提出流域生态安全格局的优化策略，为干旱区内陆河流域开发建设和生态保护提供参考。;The optimization of ecological security pattern is an important approach to achieve regionally ecological security and maintain regionally sustainable development. The Taolai River basin is a typically arid inland river basin with fragile and sensitively ecological background and prominently ecological problems. According to the ecological environment situation of the study area, the evaluation framework of ecosystem services and ecosystem health was developed to assess the ecological security of the basin in 2000 and 2015 based on contribution, vigor, organization, and resilience model. On this basis, the ecological sources were identified. With the help of Linkage Mapper tool, the least cost corridors were extracted. Sub-optimal corridors were constructed based on the Circuitscape software. In addition, barriers were identified by using Barrier Mapper tool. In order to provide references for the development and construction of arid areas and ecological protection, the optimization strategies of ecological security pattern in the basin were put forward. The results showed that:(1) on the whole, the ecological security of the basin was not optimistic. In terms of area, in 2000 and 2015, the low security area accounted for 63.68% and 61.25% of the total area, respectively, while the high level security areas and higher level security areas accounted for only 13.93% and 15.80%. From the perspective of spatial distribution, there were significant differences in the ecological security. The south and the central regions were higher than the north region. (2) We constructed and optimized the ecological security pattern based on the identification results of the ecological source, the least cost corridor, the sub-optimal corridor, and the barrier. The ecological sources were mainly distributed in the mountain of Sunan Yugur Autonomous County in the south of the basin and the agricultural areas of Jinta County, Jiayuguan City and Suzhou District in the middle areas of the basin. A total of 1122 least cost paths with a total length of 3468.15 km were generated among the ecological sources. There were 242 corridors distributed among the relatively far away source areas with higher resistance, which separated by higher resistance, such as bare rock and bare land. (3) The optimized division of the ecological pattern of the basin was divided into ecologically stable areas, ecological development areas and key protected areas. The optimization strategy of the ecological security pattern of the basin is proposed to provide a reference for the ecological protection, development and construction of the arid inland river basin.

Cultural Ecosystem Services in the Natura 2000 Network: Introducing Proxy Indicators and Conflict Risk in Greece

Within the ecosystem services framework, cultural ecosystem services (CES) have rarely been applied in state-wide surveys of protected area networks. Through a review of available data and online research, we present 22 potential proxy indicators of non-material benefits people may obtain from nature in Natura sites in Greece. Despite the limitations due to data scarcity, this first distance-based study screens a recently expanded protected area system (446 Natura sites) providing steps towards an initial CES capacity review, site prioritization and data gap screening. Results identify hot spot Natura sites for CES values and wider areas of importance for the supply of CES. Additionally, a risk analysis mapping exercise explores the potential risk of conflict in the Natura sites, due to proposed wind farm developments. Α number of sites that may suffer serious degradation of CES values due to the large number of proposed wind turbines within these protected areas is identified, with 26% of Greece’s Natura sites showing serious and high risk of degradation of their aesthetic values. Screening-level survey exercises such as these may play an important role in advancing conservation effectiveness by increasing the appreciation of the multiple benefits provided by Natura protected areas. Based on this review, we propose recommendations through an adaptive approach to CES inventory and research initiatives in the protected area network.

Assessment of the environmental impacts of Xylella fastidiosa subsp. pauca in Puglia

The introduction of Xylella fastidiosa subsp. pauca in Puglia (Italy) has disturbed the flow of ecosystem services (ES). We assessed the short- and long term impacts of this disease and the control measures against it on ES provisioning and biodiversity in the olive-producing agroecosystem of Puglia at a landscape level by using an ES framework in combination with expert knowledge elicitation. Experts estimated the minimum, maximum and most likely relative reductions in ES delivery and biodiversity components in the affected area. The estimates were used to fit a PERT distribution. Results show that the loss of olive trees (the main woody plant in the region) in general, and of centenarian olive trees in particular, has affected ES delivery. The delivery of ES is estimated to diminish by 34% and 30% in the short- and long term, respectively, mainly due to the impact of the disease on food (olive) production, ornamental resources, soil erosion regulation, primary production and cultural heritage. Biodiversity components are estimated to diminish by 28%, mainly due to the impact of the disease on genetic diversity and habitats of high conservation value. The study provides a first assessment of the wider environmental impacts of Xylella fastdiosa subsp. pauca, which can serve as a basis for formulating hypotheses for further investigation.

A mixed-methods analysis for improving farmer participation in agri-environmental payments for ecosystem services in Vermont, USA

We examine whether using a payment for ecosystem services (PES) framework for agri-environmental programs could increase farmer participation through a mixed methods approach. We assess the institutional design of two U.S. agri-environmental programs, the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP), in the Lake Champlain Basin in the northeastern US, where managing eutrophication from phosphorus pollution remains a challenge. We synthesize a checklist of institutional markers previously derived from past PES literature and assess the extent to which these two programs increase participation and achieve environmental goals. Our analysis demonstrates EQIP and CREP meet several PES principles. However, transaction costs present a barrier towards participation with both programs. We suggest these costs can be lowered by greater technical assistance. We categorize EQIP program data by their ecosystem service provision using the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment classification. We find EQIP demonstrates cost-effective targeting and conditionality yet may have an institutional focus on large-scale structural practices focused on “end of pipe” prevention of nutrient runoff. The positive effect that PES institutional design criteria have on participation in agri-environmental incentive programs motivates further research on synergies and tradeoffs between farmer participation and environmental outcomes.

Ecosystem services: A new framework for old ideas, or advancing environmental decision‐making? Learning from Canadian forerunners to the ES concept

Frameworks of ecosystem services (ES) are promoted as a new and important way to recognize, understand, and account for nature's benefits. We questioned assertions of the novelty of ES ideas and conducted a comparative analysis of approaches in planning, landscape architecture, and sustainable forest management against the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment ES framework. We conclude that the newer Millennium Ecosystem Assessment ES framing may assist planners in connecting local land‐use change to human well‐being, assessing trade‐offs, and accounting for future uncertainty. Analogous approaches such as sustainable forest management offer practical insights, for example, about gauging, guiding, and reporting on sustainable use of ecosystems. We encourage environmental planners to engage with ES researchers to develop the approach and advance planning practice.

Do ecosystem service frameworks represent people’s values?

Since the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment was published, a plethora of ecosystem service frameworks have been developed to conceptualise the links between the natural environment and society. The intended geographic scales of application, the policy/practice context, and the scientific disciplines involved have driven variations in how the frameworks are constructed. However, the frameworks are homogenous in that they have been created predominately based on expert opinions and views of how ecosystem services are structured. Here, we use the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES) to examine the extent to which frameworks capture people’s values for British woodlands. Our findings reveal several disparities between how experts and the public conceptualise ecosystem services. The considerable refinement and specificity provided by CICES does not align with public values (e.g. some provisioning, and regulation and maintenance, services), which tend to be more generalised. We also demonstrate differences in values explained by social characteristics (e.g. ethnicity) that need to be accounted for in decision-making processes. Moving forwards, we need to consider how society views the services derived from nature and reflect this in frameworks to ensure ecosystem service approaches are effective, transparent and widely supported.

Certification and labeling for conservation of ecosystem services in the Pampa Biome: Case study of the Aliança do Pastizal scheme

Economic instruments are being used as a way of funding the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystems. In the last twenty years, ecosystem services have become an unavoidable part of the environmental management agenda. Currently the search is on to find practical ways of expanding the use of the ecosystem services framework. The objective of this article is to analyze, from a case study of Alianza do Pastizal certification for beef cattle in the Pampas biome, the potential for certification and labeling as an incentive for landowners to conserve biodiversity and ecosystem services on private land. The contribution of this article is to highlight the capacity of certification and labeling to create incentives for financing the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services in private lands.

Community Relations in Őrség National Park

Abstract The Őrség National Park in Hungary, is a protected area that attracts domestic and, increasingly, international tourists. The case study demonstrates how a Cultural Ecosystem Services (CES) framework can be applied to a protected landscape providing new insights into local and tourism planning priorities. The national park’s tourism policy aims to decrease tensions between socio-economic development and ecological conservation. The National Park Authority (NPA) focuses on: (i) community development; (ii) education; (iii) local and regional development; (iv) place identity/attachment including local product development; and (v) cultural heritage protection. The NPA adopted sustainable tourism activities/initiatives involving both local tourism entrepreneurs and local communities including: (i) local tourism events and services; (ii) tourist routes to present protected areas and also the cultural heritage of the region; (iii) study trails; (iv) education programmes; and (v) local product development. Information Adapted from ‘Chapter 3 – Tourism, wellbeing and cultural ecosystem services: a case study of Őrség National Park, Hungary’. In: Azara, I., Michopoulou, E., Niccolini, F., Taff, B.D. and Clarke, A. (eds) Tourism, Health, Wellbeing and Protected Areas . CABI, pp. 26–38. © CAB International 2018

Inter-disciplinary assessment of greenspace health benefits applying the ecosystem services framework to urban heat reduction in Boston, MA

Background Vegetation is an indispensable component in cities for mitigation of negative health effects of urban exposures such as polluted air and urban heat islands. While there is epidemiology evidence showing urban vegetation exposure is associated with health benefits, knowledge on the underlying causal pathways is limited. We leveraged the ecosystem services framework (ESF) to bridge inter-disciplinary gaps between ecology and public health, and linked evapotranspiration produced by urban vegetation to heat-related exposure risks in Boston, MA.Methods ESF conceptualizes the benefits of nature as an outcome of supply and demand of services provided by ecosystems (ESS). We modeled hourly latent heat flux of tree canopy in Boston as the supply of heat reduction provided by ecosystems at 30 meter resolution. We mapped demand by calculating a risk score as a function of population, ambient temperature, and population vulnerability across multiple sociodemographic dimensions. Comparing the two products revealed to what extent the heat-reducing capacity of urban vegetation meets demand for this service by Boston residents.Results Our results generated fine scale metrics to quantify urban vegetation supply and demand in the context of heat exposure, and revealed spatial patterns of mismatch across Boston. Many areas where risk of heat-related health impacts was high received relatively low protection from extreme heat from surrounding trees, and these hotspots appeared mainly around large affordable housing complexes.Conclusions By applying an interdisciplinary ecosystem services framework, we generated a fine scale greenspace metric that reflects its direct impact on heat reduction. This novel metric can be used in environmental epidemiology studies across a range of heat related health outcomes, improving greenspace exposure assessment, and potentially advance analyses towards a causal pathway between urban vegetation and health.

Governing Landscapes for Ecosystem Services: A Participatory Land-Use Scenario Development in the Northwest Montane Region of Vietnam.

Land-use planning is an important policy instrument for governing landscapes to achieve multifunctionality in rural areas. This paper presents a case study conducted in Na Nhan commune in the northwest montane region of Vietnam to assess land-use strategies toward multiple ecosystem services, through integrated land-use planning. The assessment employed the Land-Use Planning for Multiple Ecosystem Services (LUMENS) framework and a number of methods and tools, including land-use mapping, GIS-based land-use change analysis, survey questionnaire, rapid carbon-stock appraisal for different land uses, qualitative ecosystem services assessment, and a backcasting technique. Our findings suggest that a lack of participation and acknowledgement of customary land-use practices inhibit successful implementation of current land-use planning and relevant policies such as payment for forest environmental services and the nationally determined contributions. The study also confirmed the contributions of forests and the land-use sector in achieving national emission reduction targets, especially when local stakeholders are involved early in the planning process. Other findings with important policy implications are: (i) tree-based land uses such as agroforestry are key to securing multiple ecosystem services and are highly relevant to local stakeholders, yet their potentials were not made explicit in current debates at the local level; (ii) local stakeholders are highly aware of the co-benefits of ecosystem services to climate-change mitigation and this should be considered in nationally determined contributions; and (iii) an approach for integrated, participatory land-use planning can help catalyze stakeholder engagement, and hence improve governance in rural landscapes.

Evaluating Trophic Status as a Proxy of Aquatic Ecosystem Service Provisioning on the Basis of Guidelines

Abstract Ecologists typically associate water quality with trophic status, where oligotrophic is considered excellent and presumably provides more aquatic ecosystem services. However, water quality is perceived differently among observers with different worldviews. For example, agriculture and public health sectors quantify the provisioning of aquatic ecosystem services on the basis of different guidelines, but are their guidelines breached more frequently with increasing productivity? We developed an integrative ecosystem service framework using Canadian guidelines as thresholds for drinking, swimming, irrigation, suitability for livestock and aquatic wildlife in rivers. Drinkability was the most sensitive ecosystem service, met in 23% of the sampling events, whereas livestock was provided in 99%. Trophic status is a fair proxy for ecosystem services limited by fecal contamination, because nutrients are related to human and animal populations but not to those limited by metals. Using guideline thresholds to assess the safe provisioning of multiple aquatic ecosystem services across diverse worldviews could facilitate understanding among different perspectives.

Deploying ecosystem services to develop sustainable energy landscapes: a case study from the Netherlands

PurposeThe transition to a low carbon future is an emerging challenge and requires the planning and designing of sustainable energy landscapes – landscapes that provide renewable energy while safeguarding the supply of other ecosystem services. The aim of this paper is to present the application of an ecosystem services trade-off assessment in the development of sustainable energy landscapes for long-term strategic planning in a case study in Schouwen-Duivenland, The Netherlands.Design/methodology/approachThe application consists in three activities: in (1) stakeholder mapping hot spots of ecosystem services and renewable energy technologies in a workshop, (2) landscape design principles being discussed by a focus group, (3) experts gathering the information and proceeding with an assessment of the potential synergies and trade-offs.FindingsThe case study indicates that (1) deploying the ecosystem services framework in planning and design can enhance the development of sustainable energy landscapes, (2) diversified and accurate spatial reference systems advance the trade-off analysis of both regulating and cultural ecosystem services and (3) the involvement of local stakeholders can advance the trade-off analysis and, ultimately, facilitates the transition to a low-carbon future with sustainable energy landscapes.Originality/valueThe originality of this research lies in the creation of an approach for the deployment of ecosystem services in the planning and design of energy transition. This is useful to advance energy transition by enhancing research methods, by providing methods useful for planners and designers and by supporting communities pursuing energy self-sufficiency in a sustainable manner.

From landscape practices to ecosystem services: Landscape valuation in Indigenous contexts

The well-being of Indigenous people relies on a deep and complex relationship with the land. The consequences of environmental changes on landscape value need to be addressed from an Indigenous perspective. To this end, the ecosystem services framework is a good starting point as it is comprehensive, bridges a number of disciplines and is acknowledged by decision-makers. However, ecosystem services face contextual limitations when used for landscape valuation in Indigenous contexts. In collaboration with two First Nations in boreal Quebec (Canada), we revisited the ecosystem services framework so that it better corresponds to Indigenous values and perspectives. We elicited value related to six landscape practices (moose and goose hunting, trapping, fishing, education and ressourcement) using semi-structured interviews and participatory mapping. Participants had to locate on a map and discuss places of high and low value for each landscape practice and for future generations. Four dimensions of landscape value emerged from thematic analysis: abundance, quality, access and experience. Landscapes contribute to the well-being of Indigenous people by sustaining livelihood, culture and identity. We developed a landscape valuation framework that is consistent with Indigenous people's relationship with the land. The framework can guide landscape management towards sustainable Indigenous landscapes.

Understanding environmental conflicts through cultural ecosystem services - the case of agroecosystems in Bulgaria

Cultural ecosystem services (CES) that people co-create with agroecosystems, such as place attachment and traditional knowledge, are declining in rural areas undergoing abrupt economic, environmental, and social changes. As a result, environmental conflicts arise. This article uses an ecosystem services framework to trace causes, outcomes, and responses to open and latent environmental conflicts in rural Bulgaria. Based on a correlation network analysis, the obtained results reveal the perceived importance of rural place identity and connectedness to nature as central and the most influenced CES in latent environmental conflicts responses (without visible mobilizations). As such, CES can be overlooked as important to local people in rural areas when environmental decisions are made. The study connects these findings with the notion of latency conflicts and argues how environmental conflicts over the agricultural land enclosure and rural marginalization are intertwined with non-material contributions – CES, unveiled through the network analysis.

Integrating Key Insights of Sociological Risk Theory into the Ecosystem Services Framework

Environmental risks give urgency to the need to understand the society–nature relationship. While the ecosystem services (ES) framework allows analysis of interrelationships between biophysical supply and human demand for natural resources, further research is needed to understand what drives societal demand for ES. Here, I explore how incorporation of the key sociological theories of risk (systems theory, ‘world risk society’, and cultural theory of risk) can advance this understanding. By examining these theories, the following key insights were identified: (1) A deeper understanding of societal structures and risk perception helps to understand culturally driven patterns of ES demand; (2) sociological ES research must use inter- and transdisciplinary methods to understand the drivers of ES demand and risk perception. It must also link this understanding to the natural sciences’ knowledge of the drivers of ES supply if it is to identify new instruments of environmental governance; (3) while anthropocentric in character, the ES framework, especially one that is modified by the concept of risk, enables society to reflect on its role as a proactive part of a social–ecological system, rather than a passive victim of nature’s whims. This change in perspective may prove to be a key step in achieving sustainable development.

Urban forms and green infrastructure – the implications for public health during the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT Recent health issues have raised awareness among the general public and stimulated debate over the future forms of urban living. Those factors which enhance healthier environments are receiving broader recognition in maintaining the health of citizens in a time of pandemic. The current article explores the framework of ecosystem services to examine the temporary interventions introduced in response to the current challenges. These short-term adjustments may indicate possible pathways for the future. Analyses of the impacts of forms of urban settings and particularly of green infrastructure as a primary element which improves citizens’ health are used to support the reflections.

The Business Side of Ecosystem Services of Soil Systems

Current applications of the Ecosystems Services (ES) framework to soils are narrowly defined (e.g., soil-based, pedosphere-based, etc.), and focus on soil properties while treating soil as a closed system. Because soil is an open system, it receives and loses matter across its boundaries within Earth’s spheres (atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, ecosphere, and anthroposphere), which also need to be accounted for in economic analysis. In market economies, the market transforms resources from the Earth’s pedosphere and related spheres into goods and services for societal welfare with non-market institutions mediating human and environmental interactions. These transformations and mediations can result not only in welfare but damages as well. The concept of soil ES and ecosystem disservices (ED) is a human-centered framework, which can be a useful tool in business decision-making. Soil ES (e.g., provisioning, regulation/ maintenance, and cultural) are used to produce goods and services, but the value of these ES and ED are not always accounted for as a part of business decision-making. The objective of this review is to illustrate the monetary valuation of ecosystem services of soil systems (SS) with examples based on the organizational hierarchy of soil systems. The organizational hierarchy of soil systems can be used in economic valuations of soil ES by scale (e.g., world, continent), time (e.g., soil, geologic), qualitative and quantitative degrees of computation (e.g., mental, verbal, descriptive, mathematical, deterministic, stochastic), and degree of complexity (e.g., mechanistic, empirical). Soil survey databases, soil analyses, Soil Data Systems (SDS), and Soil Business Systems (SBS) provide tools and a wide range of quantitative/qualitative data and information to evaluate goods and services for various business applications, but these sources of soil data may be limited in scope due to their static nature. Valuation of soil resources based on soil and non-soil science databases (e.g., National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP) databases, etc.) is critically needed to account for these ES/ED as part of business decision-making to provide more sustainable use of soil resources. Since most ecosystems on Earth have been modified by human activity, “soil systems goods and services” (SSGS) may be a more applicable term to describe soil contributions (benefits/damages) to economic activity, compared to a term such as “soil ecosystem goods and services.”