Mapping Ecosystem Research Articles

Eco-Systems Mapping and Forecasting of Techno-Science Linkages at the Level of Scholarly Journals and Fields

Based on the number of references to patents aggregated at the level of journals, we develop two indicators of linkages between the sciences and technologies: patent intensity (PI) and patent density (PD). Journal maps can be overlaid with the values of PD and PI so that the portfolios can visually be identified and analytically be compared across fields. Distributions of techno-science linkages among journals and groups of journals are analyzed. Chemistry and Nano Science are the most prominent fields in patent references, but these linkages show declining trends. The continuity in terms of citing patents in successive years in these two fields are significantly higher than in other fields. Nano Science is composed of eight subfields, among which the chemistry-related subfields have the highest percentage of journals citing patents in successive years. Patent citations are very specific in domains other than Chemistry and Nano Science; patent citation in the Social Sciences, however, is above expectation.

Social–ecological mapping of urban landscapes: Challenges and perspectives on ecosystem services in Mashhad, Iran

The need for a sustainable approach to landscape management is increasingly felt in urban planning necessitating the need for new tools and techniques for spatially decision making. The spatial dimensions of sustainability engage processes and interconnections between different land uses and ecosystems at different scales. Therefore, planning for sustainability requires ecological knowledge and approaches. One of the newest and most important urban ecological planning principles is supporting ecosystem processes and services in urban green areas. Green and natural spaces provide ecological services that play a key role in the sustainability of cities. Different urban spaces have diverse needs for ecological services based on their land uses and demographic conditions. In mapping ecosystem services, the first step is reviewing the needs and comparing them with the ecosystem services supply in making integrated plans. This method would be very useful especially in a context with limited data (like the case study of this research). In this paper, an ecosystem services assessment of existing green spaces is done, and socio-ecological needs of these spaces are analyzed. Classification of ecosystem services needs and supply provide comparable data to find where we need more ecosystem services; in addition, it helps planners determine the supply of current ecosystem services in specific neighborhoods. The combination of these maps solves one of the main issues of planning, such as prioritizing neighborhoods in providing green areas according to the social needs to ecosystem services. Moreover, such maps will help to develop the best planting plan to satisfy the specific needs of different neighborhood.

Mapping Ecosystem Services to Human Well‐being: a toolkit to support integrated landscape management for the SDGs

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) emphasize the global and multi-dimensional nature of sustainability and thus require improving our capacity to articulate and trace the impact of ecosystem change to measures of human well-being. Yet, the integrated nature of these goals is challenging to assess without similarly integrated assessment tools. We present a new modeling toolkit, "Mapping Ecosystem Services to Human well-being" (MESH), that integrates commonly used, stand-alone ecosystem services (ES) models from the InVEST suite of models to quantify and illustrate the trade-offs and synergies across five ecosystem services and up to 10 associated SDGs. Development of the software and its functionality were informed by a broad stakeholder consultation with ministries, non-governmental organizations and civil society groups in West Africa to identify common barriers to uptake and application of modeling tools in developing countries. In light of this process, key features included in MESH are (1) integration of multiple ecosystem service (ES) models into a common modeling framework supported by a curated base data set, (2) built-in scenario generation capacity to support policy analysis, (3) visualization of outcomes and trade-offs, and (4) mapping of ecosystem service change to SDG targets and goals. We illustrate the use of MESH in a case study in the Volta basin of West Africa comparing the effectiveness of three alternative conservation prioritization approaches: (1) land cover-based, (2) topographic-based, and (3) an ecosystem service-based approach to minimize the impact of agricultural expansion. We evaluate these approaches by linking changes in service supply to potential impacts on achievement of specific SDG goals and targets.

High Resolution Mapping of Tundra Ecosystems on Victoria Island, Nunavut – Application of a Standardized Terrestrial Ecosystem Classification

Rapid warming of Arctic climate is driving complex ecological changes in Arctic terrestrial ecosystems that are not well understood. These ecological changes have important implications for northern communities and Arctic ecosystem resilience. Researchers require baseline information on tundra ecosystem compo sition, structure and function at a range of scales to begin to understand how and why tundra ecosystems are changing to anticipate future changes and their impacts. Here we develop and assess a process for obtaining a high-resolution ecosystem map of terrestrial ecological communities for the Intensive Monitoring Area (IMA) of the Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHARS) in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. The methodology is based on a standardized classification of tundra ecosystems, and will provide an ecological template for designing and implementing ecosystem research, long-term monitoring experiments, and for linking local scale research to regional scales using remote sensing tools and models. Finally, we discuss opportunities and challenges regarding the mapping approach tested for the ecosystem classification, and the usefulness of the mapped result for a range of potential applications.

Integrating MAES implementation into protected area management under climate change: A fine-scale application in Greece

Increasing anthropogenic pressures often jeopardize ecosystem integrity and policy-relevant conservation management in protected areas. To harmonize nature conservation with human well-being, EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 suggests Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services (MAES) as the key concept for environmental planning and management in EU Member States. Applying this procedure is challenging due to its data-demanding and multidisciplinary nature, resulting in the ecoystem services (ES) approach being scarcely used in protected areas management. Increased data availability under EU biodiversity-related inventories and monitoring projects, as well as theoretical and empirical research advances developed during the last decade, should be put into practice to guide Member States towards local management frameworks and scenario building under the ongoing changes in the EU socio-economic environment. This study aims at filling this gap by embodying into the MAES operational framework a scenario-based approach and demonstrates this in a challenging case study of a Natura 2000 site, Lake Stymfalia, in Greece. The present management strategy, an ecological-friendly management practice, a water-efficient management practice and a non-environmentally friendly option (e.g. ecosystem destruction) are examined for current and future water demand under current and future climatic scenarios. The proposed methodological framework for ES operationalization is based on the available data (derived by EU Directives and/or modelling), expert judgment and stakeholder involvement. Therefore, this work applies and tests the importance of the MAES approach as a management and coordination platform.

Mapping ecosystem services in a rural landscape dominated by cacao crop: A case study for Los Rios province, Ecuador

Abstract Ecosystem services can be defined as the conditions, processes, and components of the natural environment that provide tangible and intangible benefits for the sustainability of human life. The objective of this study was to experiment with the ECOSER protocol for the mapping of ecosystem services in a rural landscape dominated by cocoa crop to estimate its potential as a mechanism for adaptation to Climate Change. The study was carried out in Los Rios province in Mocache, Baba, Palenque, and Vinces cantons within the framework of the “The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity in Ecuador” project. ECOSER protocol was applied for the evaluation and mapping of ecosystem functions. The analysis integrated several disciplines around ecosystem functions, interactions between them and their vulnerability in climate changing scenarios. Ecosystem function and service maps allowed identifying different areas in the four cantons that could be useful to inform decisions regarding climate change. For example, the resulting spatial distribution of the ecosystem function soil organic carbon showed that 83.64% of the study area, which is dedicated to the production of agricultural crops, had a storage capacity of 125.5 Mg C ha−1; followed by a storage capacity of 244 Mg C ha-1in the area where pastures predominate. The remaining 1.74% of the area is covered with forests and had 583 Mg C ha−1. Conservation and protection of ecosystems require a better understanding of their ability to provide ecosystem services for long-term planning for sustainable development. Therefore, a friendly and easily replicable methodology will be useful for planning in rural landscapes, especially, in contexts where methodologies and information are usually scarce.

The colors of heath flowering – quantifying spatial patterns of phenology in Calluna life‐cycle phases using high‐resolution drone imagery

AbstractRecent developments in high‐resolution ecosystem mapping using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) open up promising perspectives for the monitoring of fine‐scale vegetation patterns and ecological functioning. In this study, we examine the potential of UAV imagery to track the structural composition and related phenological traits of the dwarf shrub Calluna vulgaris on a former military training area. On a European Natura 2000 heathland site, habitat management is shown to be evaluated on the basis of flowering dynamics and reproductive recovery as a proxy of functional changes that are generated after fire destruction. In particular, we utilize true color camera information and digital surface models to determine the spatiotemporal evolution of Calluna life‐cycle phases and flowering phenology 2 years after controlled burning. A stepwise methodological framework is presented that extracts Calluna pixels, spatially separates juvenile and mature life‐cycle phases, differentiates between generative and vegetative shoot extension and finally quantifies proportions of flowers, fruits and vegetative growth in two consecutive peak flowering periods. We show that Calluna life‐cycle phases can be spatially differentiated in pioneer, building and mature phases in UAV imagery. In the juvenile phase, regeneration from germination is low (<10%) and sprouting from the stem base dominates recovery patterns after fire management. The study further reveals that the distribution of flowering and fruiting during peak flowering time is spatially heterogeneous with high variations between years. In the fire unaffected mature phase, proportions of flowers and fruits are reduced indicating a decrease in reproductive capacity of unmanaged Calluna stands. A phenological phase shift is detected from flowering to fruiting that is related to an increase of Calluna growth height. The study shows that the functional patterns of growth and reproduction can be mapped for heathland ecosystems using simple true color drone cameras.

Making the Most of Ecological Data from the LTER Site: Manager’s Point of View

Climate change is affecting the ecosystems and the services they provide for human well-being. For a better understanding of the causes and effects of this change in the functioning of ecosystems, detailed information of environmental parameters needs to be considered. Researchers generate multiple databases in their academic disciplines but often this data collection is not openly available nor does it fulfill the FAIR principles of Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability (Wilkinson et al. 2016). In this regard, Long-Term Ecosystem Research (LTER) plays an important role as an open research infrastructure that helps to integrate in-situ data, remote sensing products and modelling efforts, related to biodiversity and geodiversity. Within LTER networks, the Dynamic Ecological Information Management System – Site and Dataset Registry (DEIMS-SDR), is used as the central site catalogue to provide information about facilities, ecosystems and environmental parameters in an openly available and standardized way (Wohner et al. 2019), organized by each location’s site. These LTER sites from all around the globe, receive a special protection status due to their ecological value, which through research and observation, enhances the protection and conservation of these areas. The LTER Ria de Aveiro site in Portugal (DEIMS.ID; LTER website), classified under the Natura 2000 network, is of paramount importance for the regional and national economy, agriculture, commercial fisheries, aquaculture, manufacturing, tourism, sports and recreational activities (e.g. Lillebø et al. 2019). Since the establishment of the LTER Ria de Aveiro site in 2011, its research has focused on the contribution to the effective implementation of the Water Framework Directive and European Union Biodiversity Strategy targets. Studies have been developed to target key policies within Natura 2000 areas, Action 5 including habitat mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services, data collection of important fauna groups, and engagement of stakeholders and common frameworks for the conservation of biodiversity. Currently, the site is part of the Portuguese e-Infrastructure for Information and Research on Biodiversity (PORBIOTA), being aligned with the European Research Infrastructure Consortium (LifeWatch-ERIC). The LTER site team infrastructure includes laboratory facilities for field observation and environmental monitoring of water quality and environmental parameters that are used to feed models. A recently obtained Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), commonly known as drone, will contribute to ecological observations, generating data to provide biodiversity monitoring in space and time. As LTER site managers and data providers, we have to deal with how to make the transition from our metadata to FAIR ecological data. Our aim is to deal with the implementation of standardized data profiles in our own data. For instance, to upload data files to the central repositories (e.g. DEIMS-SDR), to store and publish our raw data (e.g. B2Share), to create online distribution links and digital object identifiers (DOIs), and to use a convenient vocabulary (e.g. Environmental Thesaurus) to be understandable by everyone (Pérez-Luque et al. 2019). This substantially will increase the potential of databases in the scientific community, and will contribute to a successful building of LTER.

The LTTV Consultations: Mapping Old and New Interests in Television Today

This article unpacks two infographic analyses to highlight two important themes regarding changes to the distribution systems and business models for the converging broadcast and telecommunications industry. First is that the recent revolution in production practices is now reverberating through the distribution system, as illustrated by a provisional mapping of a complex stakeholder ecosystem. Second is the clarity and consistency of the messages received from Canadians during CRTC consultations. In the Let’s Talk TV consultations, consumer-citizen messages centered on the desirability of readily available online and on-demand content, particularly Canadian and local content. By showing various stakeholders and their points of intersection throughout the process, this article aims to make a complex business more comprehensible, or at least more accessible, to a broad audience.

Mapping Biodiversity Patterns across Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia represents a global biodiversity hotspot, and yet compared to much of the rest of the world we have a relatively poor understanding of the patterns of biodiversity and endemism, or even basic distributions for many taxa. Global maps such as the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) species range maps often have major inaccuracies in the spatial mapping of species localities, which are particularly problematic around political administrative boundary regions, and make any form of spatial prioritization difficult or impossible. Here I show various approaches to mapping biodiversity across the landscape, including the mapping of both ecosystems with high levels of endemism, and databasing huge volumes of data as a basis for mapping out species distributions when combined with other forms of data, to map out diversity at numerous different taxonomic levels. I showcase the initial results of mapping for various taxa, and different ways of aggregating the data to better understand different facets of biodiversity. Additionally I discuss various approaches to developing spatial priorities for conservation across the region and the relative tradeoffs between each.

Mapping ecosystem services provided by wetlands at multiple spatiotemporal scales: A case study in Quebec, Canada

Wetlands are affected by climate and anthropogenic changes, which influence the ecosystem services (ES) they provide. This study presents a spatially explicit quantification of wetland ESs. The study site is the Yamaska river watershed located in Quebec, Canada. The proposed approach includes four main steps: (1) statistical selection of function indicators (FI) to build a composite ecosystem service indicator (ESI); (2) temporal land use mapping for past (1984), recent (2011) and future scenarios (2050); (3) mapping and quantification of FIs and ESIs at all temporal and spatial scales; and (4) synthesis of multispatial and multitemporal information using a diagram representation.Results present the spatiotemporal evolution of the ES on maintaining habitat provided by wetlands in the studied watershed. The historical characterization shows a general degradation of this service on the entire study area for the last 30 years. The proposed approach can target priority sectors in which this service has deteriorated or is lacking. Future scenarios show the urgency to act in order to preserve current intact areas, because even the optimistic scenario indicates that the studied ES would not return to its 1984 state. The proposed approach allows a spatiotemporal mapping of ESs combined with a visualization of their ecological, social, and economic components in a context of territorial management scenarios. This multi-scale method is reproducible, robust and can be replicated for other ESs in different territories.

Assessing the gap between conservation need and protection status for select rare ecosystems in Alaska

AbstractRare ecosystems support unique assemblages of flora and fauna within a small geographic area. As such, their conservation represents an effective method of biodiversity protection. The description, mapping, and assessment of rare ecosystems is a necessary and initial conservation action, yet this has not been completed for Alaska. Here, we provide the first comprehensive treatment of rare terrestrial ecosystems for the state. Thirty‐five rare systems, representing different levels of ecological organization and geographic scale, are presented. In addition, a gap analysis was conducted to evaluate the systems' current level of land management protection relative to their conservation need. Eleven of the mapped ecosystems are considered adequately protected, two are moderately protected, and 22 are less protected. Conservation ranks are incongruously aligned with land management protection levels such that the rarest systems are often not well protected and the less‐imperiled systems are often well protected. On the ecoregion scale, systems with arctic distributions are less protected than are those with boreal and maritime distributions. This rare ecosystem assessment complements species‐ and landscape‐scale conservation studies previously completed for Alaska. Collectively, the recommendations from these assessments provide a science‐based strategy for biological conservation in a vulnerable region of the world.

Methodological interlinkages for mapping ecosystem services – from data to analysis and decision-support

A broad array of methods have been developed and applied to map ecosystem services and their values at various geographic scales. For example, the ESMERALDA project developed methods for ecosystem service mapping across Europe. This paper describes how different methodological interlinkages can be used in ecosystem service mapping and assessment and how the integration of information can be facilitated to assist in decision-making processes related to sustainable use and protection of ecosystem services. This paper is based on a literature review and expert consultations throughout the project. The accumulation of knowledge in ecosystem assessment processes will be described through multiple steps: 1) data compilation, 2) analyses run via independent or linked methods applications and tools, 3) integration of information from multiple analyses and 4) finally, feeding into the decision-support frameworks. The challenges and possibilities of using combinations of various datasets and methods will be discussed. This workflow is demonstrated with real-world applications. In addition, technical pitfalls and challenges, as well as linkages to overall ecosystem assessments and policy questions, are analysed and discussed.

A multiple-class distance-decaying approach for mapping temperature reduction ecosystem services provided by urban vegetation in Santiago de Chile

Mapping ecosystem services is a challenging task, particularly for regulating services presenting spatial mismatches between the areas providing the services and those benefiting from them, such as the temperature reduction ecosystem service (TRES) provided by urban vegetation. The challenge for mapping TRES arises because vegetation not only reduces temperatures at the immediate location, but also in distance-decaying rates in surrounding areas. Furthermore, different functional types of vegetation have differential cooling capabilities, making difficult to assess the accumulated level of TRES provided by vegetated areas if these are heterogeneous in terms of vegetation cover and functional types. To help overcoming these challenges, this work presents a GIS-based methodological approach for mapping TRES that takes explicit consideration of the differential cooling capabilities of vegetation functional types and the distance-decaying spatial transference of services from vegetated to surrounding areas. This approach is applied to the city of Santiago, comparing the mapping results with two other potential alternative mapping methods. The mapping approach presented in this work consistently outperformed the alternative methods. This approach could be easily applied to other urban areas and adapted to be used for mapping other regulating services, such as air and noise pollution mitigation provided by urban vegetation.

Remote Sensing Analysis of Seagrass Beds in Bontosua Island, Spermonde Archipelago

Research on mapping and monitoring of seagrass ecosystems using satellite imagery data is still lacking. The availability of spatial information on benthic habitat is becoming very important with the increasing awareness of environmentally based management. Various methods of analysing remote sensing information on benthic habitat have been developed and utilized, such as the application of the Lyzenga algorithm. This algorithm requires data on the variation of water depth in the coastal areas to be mapped. The purpose of this research was to study the effect of using Lyzenga algorithm on the mapping of coral reef / seagrass ecosystem by comparing the results of seabed classification from Sentinel-2a imagery processed and without using the Lyzenga algorithm. Image classification with Lyzenga algorithm is easily recognizable with the Lyzenga index value format that has been freed from the effect of water depth. In this study, benthic cover in the shallow waters around Bontosua Island, Spermonde Archipelago-Indonesia, was classified using six habitat types: aquatic, land, sand, rubble, coral and seagrass. Seagrass habitat was further classified based on percentage cover as class 4 (76-100%), class 3 (51-75%), class 2 (26-50%) and class 1 (0-25%). Based on the analysis of Sentinel-2a data, the area with seagrass cover was estimated at 31.27 Ha. Seagrass mapping using medium-resolution satellite imagery can be helpful in providing data over a more extensive area than is likely to be possible using direct observation in the field alone.

Review of Methods to Quantify Trade-offs among Ecosystem Services and Future Model Developments

Ecosystem services are spatially heterogeneous and temporal variability, which results in trade-offs, synergies and neutrality. The trade-off is a key problem in ecosystem management and requires optimized decision-making research. This paper reviews methods for identifying trade-offs and suggest future model developments. We conclude that (1) ecosystem service assessment depends on quantitative indicators and its modeling; (2) scenario analysis, multi-objective analysis and production possibility boundary are an effective means of ecosystem service trade-off decision-making; (3) future research needs to strengthen ecosystem service supply and demand flow and assist decision-making ecosystem mapping. Finally, integrated models should be developed to simulate and diagnose different scenarios and to optimize measures in land and ecosystem management for sustainability.

Mapping ecosystem services bundles to detect high- and low-value ecosystem services areas for land use management

How to manage multiple ecosystem services (ES) in complex social-ecological systems during rapid urbanization is a key challenge for sustainable development. We used the ES bundles method to identify counties with similar dominant ES and then determine low- and high-value ES areas in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Metropolitan Area (BTH), China. Seven vital ES, including provision of grains, vegetables, fruits, carbon storage, and water, soil, and sand retention were analyzed in 202 BTH counties to determine their spatial patterns, pairwise relationships, and relationships with nine social-ecological factors. There were synergies within provisioning and regulating services and trade-offs between groups. Five distinct ES bundles were identified, which were consistent with land use in the BTH, and the proportions of forestland and cropland were the major factors determining ES patterns. The 45 counties within the “urban-water bundle” and the 64 counties within the “suburban bundle” provided only 4% carbon storage, were suggested to increase the green space thereby increasing the capacity of ES providing. The “high regulating ES bundle” comprised 33 counties and provided 74% carbon storage, 75% soil retention, and 54% water retention for the BTH. The “sand retention bundle”, including 17 counties, provided 78% sand retention. These two ES bundles were suggested to be protected from land development for urbanization and reclamation. The “suburban bundle” and the “agriculture bundle”, which provided 78% of the grains, were the main source of food and responsible for avoiding the conversion of cropland to construction land. Overall, these results suggest that ES bundle analyses can not only identify the dominant services, but also demonstrate the multiple functions of landscape. The characteristics of each ES bundle can provide information to find potential win-win solutions for the land management.

OM Forum—Healthcare Operations Management: A Snapshot of Emerging Research

A new generation of healthcare operations management (HOM) scholars is studying timely healthcare topics (e.g., organization design, design of delivery, and organ transplantation) using contemporary methodological tools (e.g., econometrics, information economics, and queuing games). A distinguishing feature of this stream of work is that it explicitly incorporates behavior, incentive, and policy considerations arising from the entanglements across multiple entities that make up the complex healthcare ecosystem. This focus is a departure from an earlier generation of research that primarily centered on optimizing given operations of a single entity. This paper provides an introduction to this burgeoning field and maps out research opportunities. We start with identifying key entities of healthcare delivery, financing, innovation, and policymaking, illustrating them on a healthcare ecosystem map (HEM). Next, we explore the HOM literature examining the interactions among various entities in the HEM. We then develop a taxonomy for the recent HOM literature (published in Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, Management Science, and Operations Research between 2013 and 2017), provide a tool-thrust graph mapping methodological tools with research thrusts, and situate the HOM literature in context by connecting it with perspectives from medical journals and mass media. We close with a reference to technological innovations that have the potential to transform the healthcare ecosystem in future decades.

Эколого-экономическое картографирование Республики Татарстан

The world’s economic welfare is supported by its natural resources. Mapping ecosystem services (ES) is essential to understand how ecosystems contribute to human wellbeing and to support policies, which have an impact on nature. Mapping (ES) is an important tool in their assessment. ES mapping and assessment include ecosystem properties and conditions, ES potential, supply, flow and demand. Approaches to the assessment and mapping the role of Tatarstan’s natural and transformed ecosystems in the carbon dioxide’s balance are presented. The contribution of forest ecosystems to the species’ balance composition and age of forests are estimated. The crop photosynthesis and soils’ respiration are used for agricultural lands. Emissions from industrial production are considered. Fuel combustion and other processes contribute to the balance of carbon dioxide as well. Maps compiled for these purposes prove to be an important tool to assess carbon capacity.

Empirical Validation of an Ecosystem Service Map Developed From Ecological Principles and Biophysical Parameters

Mapping ecosystem services in marine systems is difficult due to a lack of underpinning ecological data. The Ecological Principles Approach (EPA) was developed to link simple summary statements on how ecosystems function to ecosystem services and was further advanced into a mapping technique by aligning and weighting commonly available spatial datasets to generate maps of specific services. The objective of the present investigation was to validate a predicted map of biogenic habitat provision with empirical ground-truthed data. A survey was undertaken to assess the biogenic habitat structure at 56 sites in the Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand. Information on benthic biogenic structure was ranked from 1-5 relating to a combination of height and complexity. Rank groups were assessed for differences in predicted levels of service and the accuracy of supporting data. We found high agreement between the empirical observations and the model predictions: in areas predicted by the approach to have the highest levels of biogenic habitat complexity the habitat was typified by complex rocky reef communities and macroalgal forests. We showed that ecosystem services can be accurately mapped in marine systems at low cost and with modest data requirements, which further enhances the utility of this approach.