Nature Of Services Research Articles

How China will protect one-quarter of its land.

Other nations could learn from China’s red-line initiative to preserve nature, biodiversity and ecosystem services in the country, says Jixi Gao. Other nations could learn from China’s red-line initiative to preserve nature, biodiversity and ecosystem services in the country, says Jixi Gao.

Commentary: Is the Focus on “Ecosystems” a Liability in the Research on Nature's Services?

Commentary: Is the Focus on “Ecosystems” a Liability in the Research on Nature's Services?

The Desire for Children, the Children of one’s Desire. The Meaning of Medically Assisted Procreation and Technological Family Planning

The spread of medically assisted procreation (MAP) techniques promises to realise the previously denied human dream of planning and controlling one’s progeny. The new social imaginary features a disproportionately greater freedom of choice and decision-making powers for adults (parents), along with increased risks of genetic determination also given the extremely rapid developments in genetics. At the same time, this demand is fuelled by the presence of a booming private reproductive market which often employs commercial marketing techniques by promising couples and women not only that they can achieve their desire for a child but can make the ‘child of their desire’ – they can have the children that they want, when and how they want them. This article presents the results of an exploratory study conducted with a sample of 360 subjects aged between 25 and 45 who may or may not have not used MAP and examines their responses to a questionnaire. In particular, what lies behind the idea that technology and private fee-based services can supplant nature and public services in areas that they cannot reach? How widespread is the idea? What are the ethical, social and cultural implications at the root of the concept? How can this idea modify the sense and meaning of procreation? What level of freedom and rights should the baby be granted? The results of the research show that the sample is divided almost equally on the issue of MAP between those who acknowledge its potential but are aware of its associated social and cultural risks and those who highlight its potential by referring to rights-based reasons and money-based reasons.

Influence of Invasive Species on the Ecosystems

Human impacts on the ecosystems of the planet increase rapidly in last few decades. Our increasing population, and expanding levels of consumption mean that more people are consuming more of nature resources and services, reaching the limit of sustainability. The global trade is feeding this consumption, by moving a wide range of goods from one part of the world to another with ship, plane, train, or truck. One critical element in this economic globalization is the movement of organisms into new ecosystems trough trade, transport, travel and tourism. In the new ecosystems where they alien, some of these species could be harmful to native species and human economic interests.

THE NEW IN THE SUBJECT OF ECONOMIC THEORY

Modern understanding of the subject of economic theory requires the study of economic problems arising in intangible production. Non-material production is heterogeneous: one part of it is associated with the production of spiritual goods and their distribution, exchange and consumption, the other with the provision of services of a non-material nature. This affects economic theory as the methodological basis of specific economic disciplines.

Is the Focus on “Ecosystems” a Liability in the Research on Nature's Services?

For the last 20 years, the concept of ecosystem has constituted one of the key pillars on which the study of “ecosystem services”, i.e., the benefits that human populations derive from nature, has been based. Yet, at this stage, one could argue that, in general and especially in fields related to agriculture, the ecosystem framework tends to limit unnecessarily the range of benefits to humans that are considered in practice, to hinder the necessary measurement of services, and to make it challenging to convince individuals to take nature’s services into account in their decision making. In the present Perspective piece, we analyze these 3 arguments in detail, conclude that the current focus on ecosystems is more a liability than an asset in the field, and suggest a return to the less constraining notions of “nature’s functions and services”, without a necessary tie to ecosystems.

Engaging urban nature: improving our understanding of public perceptions of the role of biodiversity in cities

In recognition of the value of biodiversity for cities and citizens, a number of international programs have been designed to help municipal governments sustain, protect, and augment the biodiversity and ecosystem services within their jurisdictions. A key component of these programs is public engagement, where citizens assume a more active role in maintaining urban biodiversity and associated ecosystem services. Yet, there are few studies which have as their focus public knowledge of the importance of nature, biodiversity, and ecosystem services in cities. To these ends, this study was conducted to develop a better understanding of how the public understands and interacts with urban biodiversity, particularly in comparison to subject matter experts. Using topics generated from expert interviews and the literature, an interview guide was developed for the general public, structured around the general themes of a definition of urban biodiversity, as well as the perceived benefits, costs, and threats related to urban biodiversity. While there were similarities in the responses of citizens and experts, some differences did emerge in terms of accounting for specific urban ecosystems, acceptable interventions to support and enhance biodiversity, and the character and extent of the cultural services derived from urban nature. Insights from this work can be used to inform education and information efforts for the public, as well as raise awareness among city planners and nature professionals of the array of urban ecosystem services recognized and made use of by the public.

The use of scenarios and models to evaluate the future of nature values and ecosystem services in Mediterranean forests

Science and society are increasingly interested in predicting the effects of global change and socio-economic development on natural systems, to ensure maintenance of both ecosystems and human well-being. The Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services has identified the combination of ecological modelling and scenario forecasting as key to improving our understanding of those effects, by evaluating the relationships and feedbacks between direct and indirect drivers of change, biodiversity, and ecosystem services. Using as case study the forests of the Mediterranean basin (complex socio-ecological systems of high social and conservation value), we reviewed the literature to assess (1) what are the modelling approaches most commonly used to predict the condition and trends of biodiversity and ecosystem services under future scenarios of global change, (2) what are the drivers of change considered in future scenarios and at what scales, and (3) what are the nature and ecosystem service indicators most commonly evaluated. Our review shows that forecasting studies make relatively little use of modelling approaches accounting for actual ecological processes and feedbacks between different socio-ecological sectors; predictions are generally made on the basis of a single (mainly climate) or a few drivers of change. In general, there is a bias in the set of nature and ecosystem service indicators assessed. In particular, cultural services and human well-being are greatly underrepresented in the literature. We argue that these shortfalls hamper our capacity to make the best use of predictive tools to inform decision-making in the context of global change.

Turning delivery of ecosystem services into a deliverable of ecosystem restoration

That ecological restoration helps restore natural capital and ecosystem services (ES) of value to human and societal well‐being is generally well‐accepted. But quantification of these societal benefits is sorely lagging our recognition that they exist. This may be the result of methodological concerns and/or philosophical objections to the monetization of nature's services; it may also be the result of practical challenges in monitoring that already plague restoration. In this article, I argue that, regardless of whether or not restoration efforts come to rely on formal systems of payment for ES, we should be doing a better job of rigorously quantifying the socioeconomic returns of our work. Recognizing the substantial obstacles to this effort, I suggest some possible ways to overcome them.

Triple-Similarity Mechanism for alarm management in the cloud

Its distributed nature and ubiquitous service make the cloud subject to several vulnerabilities. One of the main tools used for reporting suspicious activity in the network’s traffic is the Intrusion Detection System. However, two significant problems arise: the huge volume of control messages between the virtual machines and the servers; and the associated transfer costs. In this work, we propose a Triple-Similarity Mechanism (T-SyM) for grouping similar alarms that may correspond to the same attack (or attempt) in order to reduce the number of messages and, consequently, the total amount of information. In addition, we propose an algorithm for calculating the severity level of the alarms. T-SyM works on the basis of 3 steps: individual similarity (Euclidian distance), clustering relevant features (k-means algorithm) and generating the output (the Tanimoto coefficient). An evaluation of the most common attacks is performed using real traces from an IDS. Our mechanism was able to decrease the number of alarms by up to 90% and reduce the total amount of data by more than 80%.

Ecosystem based Disaster Risk Reduction approaches (EbDRR) as a prerequisite for inclusive urban transformation of Nagpur City, India

Nagpur city is among the fastest growing agglomerations of Central India. The city is considered to be a fore-runner in sustainable development amist the rapid urbanization occurring in India. Though, selected under the “smart city” project launched by the Indian government, the city faces many urban challenges ineffectively addressed by the current development plan. Haphazard and rapid infrastructural development without any comprehensive plan is leading to urban sprawl that compromises urban green infrastructure across the city. It excludes utilizing benefits of nature and ecosystem services to complement and reduce urban stress. This has led to wetland reductions, reduced water infiltration affecting the water table and causing water shortage, flash floods, significant loss of vegetation cover and biodiversity across the city and increased heat island effects. These issues along with current approach that discounts the importance of ecosystems-based approach has put forward many challenges and a question with regard to sustaining “green image of the city”. To reduce risk against uncertainties, it is imperative to understand human-environment connections that involves diverse values and ecosystem services provided by the natural environment of the cities. Present study is a review of major issues raised due to un-planned development and addresses the feasibility and appropriateness of using the EbDRR approach. Environmental engineering based approaches having potential to transform Nagpur City into to a “smart city” can set an example for other Indian cities to follow. This article facilitates understanding and practical applications of ecosystem based approaches and practices to counter negative impact of urbanization.

Produção do conhecimento sobre as instituições especializadas para a pessoa com deficiência intelectual (1996-2015)

O presente artigo analisa a produção científica acadêmica em formato de teses e dissertações sobre as instituições especializadas para as pessoas com deficiência intelectual disponível na Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações (BDTD) do Instituto Brasileiro de Informação em Ciência e Tecnologia (IBICT). Trata-se de estudo quali-quantitativo, de abordagem metodológica bibliométrica e de análise de conteúdo, realizado em três etapas: preparação teórica e metodológica; coleta e registro de dados; sistematização e análise dos resultados. Os resultados mostram que existem 18 pesquisas sobre a temática pesquisada, a maioria de mestrado, entre os anos de 1996 a 2015. Os estudos pertencem a nove diferentes instituições de ensino superior, em sua maioria na região Sudeste e com significativa participação da Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie (Mackenzie) e da Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar), articuladas aos seus respectivos programas de pós-graduação: Distúrbios do Desenvolvimento e Educação Especial. Os trabalhos abordam principalmente os temas de qualidade de vida da pessoa com deficiência e a formação para o trabalho e a vida, desenvolvidos nas próprias instituições especializadas. Predominam as abordagens qualitativas com fundamentos da teoria comportamental, com base nos instrumentos de entrevistas e escalas, entre outros. O mapeamento dos estudos evidencia poucas pesquisas que focam a própria instituição especializada para a pessoa com deficiência intelectual como objeto de estudo, apesar de os trabalhos contemplarem as dimensões da saúde, trabalho, educação e assistência. Porém não encontramos pesquisas que problematizem, dentre outros: o papel de escola especial que as instituições assumem; o direito à escolarização da pessoa com deficiência; a relação público-privado que constitui a oferta dos serviços em caráter privado filantrópico e não público.

АЛГОРИТМ И МЕТОДИКА РАСЧЕТА СТАВОК ПОРТОВЫХ СБОРОВ С УЧЕТОМ УРОВНЯ КОНКУРЕНТОСПОСОБНОСТИ МОРСКИХ ПОРТОВ

The article defines the improvement of main directions of state regulation of port dues system operating in the Russian Federation seaports, in order to ensure economic feasibility, openness and transparency in establishing rates of port dues in accordance with the Russian Federation legislation. Following the results of world and Russian practice analysis of establishment and levy of port dues in seaports the authors propose their division into two groups: dues of public legal nature and payment for services of civil nature, rendering in the port. Instead of eight types of dues, which are currently established in the Russian Federation seaports, it is proposed to establish two port dues: tonnage and infrastructure, in order to facilitate the administration of payments between payers and payees of port dues. The tonnage due will be a source of monetary funds for financing costs for maintenance and operation of the seaports infrastructure facilities, and infrastructure dues will be an extra-budgetary source of monetary funds allocated for modernization and development of port infrastructure owned by the Russian Federation, and transferred to state unitary enterprises in economic management. There have been developed the algorithm and the method of calculating tonnage dues and infrastructure dues. The proposed algorithm for establishing dues of tonnage and infrastructure dues is based on the conceptual approach, which determines, that a key criterion for assessing the adequacy of levied amounts of port dues is the level of the seaport competitiveness. The use of this approach allows to optimally allocate the burden of the port dues payment in the Russian Federation seaports, in order to ensure financing costs on the maintenance and operation of port infrastructure, as well as its development and modernization.

Assessing, valuing and mapping ecosystem services at city level: The case of Uppsala (Sweden)

Urbanization is an important driver of environmental changes causing an increasing demand of ecosystem services while altering natural ecosystems. Yet, the sustainable management of urban areas can support the long-term provision of goods and services typical of healthy and resilient ecosystems and essential for human well-being. In this study, multiple ecosystem services generated by forest, agricultural (cropland and grassland), and urban areas in the municipality of Uppsala (Sweden) were first assessed in biophysical terms and then valued in money units. Afterwards, the economic value of provisioning and regulating services was spatialized using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The economic value of all investigated services amounted to 1.81 billion Swedish Kronor (SEK) or 198 million € per year, of which: 80% generated by forest areas, 19% by agricultural areas, and 1% by green urban areas. Considering the size of different land uses, the average economic value of green urban areas was the highest (20,000 SEKha−1 or 2200 € ha−1), followed by forest areas (11,387 SEKha−1 or 1250 €ha−1), and agricultural areas (6398 SEKha−1 or 703 €ha−1). The integration between the assessment of the biophysical and economic value of several ecosystem services provided by different land uses as well as their spatial analysis allowed a deeper understanding on the ecological life-support system to the urban area of Uppsala. In conclusion, we maintain that the interplay between nature services and human settlements can be better explored by using an interdisciplinary approach providing ecological and economic information integrated in support of policy makers and urban planners.

Nivel de Consumo de bienes y servicios de índole cultural. Clasificación a través de características socioeconómicas y demográficas de la población paraguaya

Nivel de Consumo de bienes y servicios de índole cultural. Clasificación a través de características socioeconómicas y demográficas de la población paraguaya

Do charismatic species groups generate more cultural ecosystem service benefits?

The relationship between nature and cultural ecosystem service (CES) benefits is well accepted but poorly understood, as is the potential role of biodiversity in the relationship. By means of a public questionnaire survey in Wiltshire, UK, the relationship between the presence of a range of common species groups, species group ‘charisma’, group abundance in the landscape, and the benefit that people felt that they derived from the species groups was investigated for a lowland multifunctional landscape.Findings showed that species group charisma influenced the benefit reported by respondents for current abundance levels, and influenced their response to potential increases or decreases in abundance. Respondents reported high levels of benefit from species groups hypothesised to be charismatic (birds, flowering plants, butterflies) and there was high consistency in the pattern of response. Respondents reported less benefit from groups hypothesised to be less charismatic (beetles/bugs, brambles and nettles), the latter response patterns showing much greater variation. These results could be used to promote a more holistic understanding of the value of biodiversity by educating and informing the public so that they derive benefit not just from the charismatic, but also from the everyday, the commonplace and less obviously charismatic species.

The Suitability of the Remedy of Specific Performance to Breach of A "Player's Contract" with Specific Reference to the Mapoe and Santos Cases

During the 1990s, rugby union formation in the Republic of South Africa developed rapidly from a system of strict amateurism to one of professionalism. Professional participants in the sport received salaries for participation, and rugby became a business like any other. As in all forms of business, rugby had to be regulated more efficiently than had previously been the case. Tighter regulations were instituted by governing bodies, and ultimately labour legislation became applicable to professional rugby. A professional sportsman or woman participating in a team sport is generally considered an employee. This means that the same principles that govern employees in general should also apply to professional sportsmen and women. The exact nature of the "player's contract", a term generally used to describe the contract of employment between a professional sportsman or sportswoman and his or her employer, deserves closer attention. It has been argued with much merit that the "player's contract", while in essence a contract of employment, possesses certain sui generis characteristics. The first aim of this article is to demonstrate how this statement is in fact a substantial one. If it is concluded that the "player's contract" is in fact a sui generis contract of employment, the most suitable remedy in case of breach of contract must be determined. The second aim of this article is to indicate why the remedy of specific performance, which is generally not granted in cases where the defaulting party has to provide services of a personal nature, is the most suitable remedy in case of breach of "player's contracts". To substantiate this statement, recent applicable case law is investigated and discussed, particularly the recent case of Vrystaat Cheetahs (Edms) Beperk v Mapoe. Suggestions are finally offered as to how breach of "player's contracts" should be approached by South African courts in future.

Ecosystem Services and Cultural Values as Building Blocks for ‘The Good life’. A Case Study in the Community of Røst, Lofoten Islands, Norway

We examined the contribution of natural capital and social capital through the notion of cultural ecosystem services to shaping human well-being in the fishing community of Røst in the Lofoten Islands in Northern Norway. Through ethnographic observations, in-depth interviews, and a participatory scenario workshop we develop four narratives centering on the links of nature and ecosystem services. Benefits derived from ecosystem services are fundamental building blocks in the local vision of ‘the good life’ and emerge from a combination of satisfied preferences and struggle, hardships, and capabilities inflicted by a demanding environment and challenging work conditions. Beyond a certain level of meeting basic needs and provisioning of essential public services, simplicity in life and local control over resources and surroundings was preferred over a multitude of other opportunities and services. Well-being was strongly linked to maintenance of identity through traditional practices for harvesting of natural resources, nurturing of skills, social cohesion, and acting meaningfully in one's local environment. In a relational perspective, cultural ecosystem services are constituted and given meaning through interaction with nature. The main policy implication is that contributions of natural and social capital to well-being proved to be hard to meaningfully separate.

Law, the Laws of Nature and Ecosystem Energy Services: A Case of wilful Blindness

Ecosystems services include the collection, concentration, and storage of solar energy as fossil fuels (e.g., coal, petroleum, and natural gas). These concentrated forms of energy were produced by ancient ecosystem services. However, our legal and economic systems fail to recognise the value of the ecosystem service subsidies embedded in fossil fuels. This ecosystem services price subsidy causes overuse and waste of fossil fuels in the free market: fossil fuels are consumed more quickly than they can be replaced by ecosystem services and in far larger quantities than they would be if the price of fossil fuels included the cost of solar energy collection, concentration and manufacturing of raw fossil fuels. Moreover, burning fossil fuels produces enormous environmental, human health and welfare costs and damage.
 Virtually no legal literature on ecosystem services, sustainable development, or sustainable energy, considers fossil fuels in this context. Without understanding stored energy as an ecosystem service, we cannot reasonably expect to manage our fossil fuel energy resources sustainably. International and domestic energy law and policy systems generally ignore this feature of fossil fuel energy, a blind spot that explains why reducing greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels is fundamentally a political challenge. This paper will use new understandings emerging from the field of complex systems to critique existing legal decision-making models that do not adequately account for energy ecosystem services in policy design, resource allocation and project approvals. The paper proposes a new "least-social-cost" decision-making legal structure that includes ecosystem energy services.

Sustainability of intensive groundwater development: experience in Spain

Intensive aquifer development is common in arid and semiarid countries. The associated economic and social benefits are great, but management is needed and sustainability has to be analysed in the framework of a sound hydrogeological background which includes recharge as a key term. Recharge under natural conditions may greatly differ from the actual value under groundwater exploitation conditions when the aquifer is connected to surface water bodies or evaporation conditions are modified. Actual recharge is not an aquifer property but is variable depending on groundwater abstraction and its pattern, and changes in surface water-groundwater relationships and other circumstances, such as return irrigation flows, leakages, and activities to artificially modify it. Groundwater plays an important role in nature as it sustains spring flow, river base flow, wetlands, and crypto-wetlands, and the related provision of ecological services to mankind. Therefore, developable groundwater resources and their sustainability have to take into account concurrence and the net benefits of capturing it in a given moment and not in other circumstances, and exchanging groundwater-related nature services for the human use of groundwater. The often large storage relative to annual flow of aquifers implies that aquifer development produces effects that may last decades and even affect upcoming human generations. This new dimension, which has economic and sustainability aspects, is not as important for other water resources. Critical flow thresholds have to be considered for groundwater-dependent ecosystems. This is considered from the point of view of water quantity, which is the dominant aspect under arid and semiarid conditions. However, water quality may be as or more important for humans and for nature services, but this needs a separate treatment. The hydrogeological and socio-economic aspects of aquifer behaviour are presented taking into account the experience drawn from some intensively exploited and economically and socially important aquifers, mostly those in La Mancha, in central Spain, but also other intensively exploited Spanish aquifers. Top-down–down administrative decisions to get a given sustainable have resulted in partial failures, but if action is agreed among stakeholders better outcomes could be achieved. Mixed solutions seem the best approach.