Range Of Environmental Services Research Articles

The Current State of Knowledge of Shea Butter Tree (Vitellaria paradoxa C.F.Gaertner.) for Nutritional Value and Tree Improvement in West and Central Africa

Vitellaria paradoxa (C.F.Gaertn.) is a multi-purpose tree species distributed in a narrow band across sub-Saharan Africa. The species is integrated into cropping and agroforestry systems as a nutritional and economic resource, which provides a range of environmental services. Integration of the species into land-use systems provides an essential source of livelihoods and income for local populations. The economic potential of the shea butter tree derives from its edible products, which also serve cosmetic and pharmaceutical applications. To understand the current state of knowledge about V. paradoxa, this paper summarizes information about the ecology, population structure, and genetic diversity of the species, also considering compositional variation in the pulp and kernels, management practices, and efforts towards its domestication. Despite the great potential of the shea butter tree, there are some gaps in the understanding of the genetics of the species. This review presents up-to-date information related to the species for further domestication and breeding purposes.

THE ROLE OF FOREST ECOSYSTEMS IN THE PROCESS OF MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION TO THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE

Forest ecosystems provide a wide range of environmental services with an important role in the Earth’s life-support system. Climate change in Southeastern Europe (SEE) and forecasts for the period until 2070 have a huge impact on the present and future planning in forestry and watershed management, due to the observed trends: the increment of mean annual air temperature from 2,5–5,0 °C until the end of the XXI century; redistribution of annual precipitation, with much more precipitation in the spring-summer period, during short, intensive rain events; a decrease of annual precipitation and soil moisture of 10–20 %, with extreme consequences: dieback and disappearance of forests in huge areas of hilly-mountainous regions. Degradation and loss of forests leads to spread and intensification of soil erosion, with frequent torrential floods, mudflows, landslides, and avalanches. Stable forest ecosystems are pillars of sustainable development, repopulation and could provide means and resources to battle and overcome poverty in moun-tainous regions of southeast Europe.

Factors influencing smallholder commercial tree planting in Isabel Province, the Solomon Islands

Small-scale forestry systems provide subsistence products and income generation for smallholders, and a range of environmental services. However, smallholders often face constraints to the adoption of small-scale forestry. In the Solomon Islands, family-based plantations of commercial timber species, in particular teak, have been promoted over the last 10 years. After initially high uptake, rates of new plantings have slowed, and management of existing plantations is perceived to limit timber quality. This study assesses the factors that influence household adoption of small-scale forestry through a case study of Isabel Province, the Solomon Islands. These factors were investigated in five tree-planting villages using a mixed methods approach, in which a household survey of tree planters and non-tree planters was complemented with qualitative methods. Descriptive statistics, probit and multiple regression models, and qualitative analysis were used to generate results. The study finds that a market for existing planted timber resources, improved extension services and, in the longer-term, more livelihood-appropriate small-scale (agro)forestry systems are critical to facilitate the ongoing adoption and maintenance of small-scale plantations in Isabel Province of the Solomon Islands.

Green infrastructure practices – strategies how to sustain life in metropolitan areas

Green Infrastructure is ‘an interconnected network of green space that conserves natural ecosystem values and functions and provides associated benefits to human populations’ [1, p. 12]. It contributes to long term strategic development goals for data and information management. The research paper was introduced with the aim to protect green areas in urban environment by improving biodiversity, leisure and recreation, tidal and fluvial flood risk management, grey water treatment and quality of life. Planning and design of green system should provide appropriate responses to the distinctive local circumstances. Green spaces encourage social interactions, form new places to practise sport and contribute to public health and fitness, as well as have indirect benefits for a range of environmental services. The research hypothesis is that Green Infrastructure is a framework for conservation and development and we need to design Green Infrastructure systems strategically to connect across urban, suburban, rural and wilderness landscapes and incorporate green space elements and functions at the state, regional, community, neighbourhood and site scales [2]. Analysis and design of emerging Green Infrastructure system take a holistic view which links related physical, environmental, economic, social and cultural aspects of local communities.

Using climate-FVS to project landscape-level forest carbon stores for 100 years from field and LiDAR measures of initial conditions

BackgroundForest resources supply a wide range of environmental services like mitigation of increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). As climate is changing, forest managers have added pressure to obtain forest resources by following stand management alternatives that are biologically sustainable and economically profitable. The goal of this study is to project the effect of typical forest management actions on forest C levels, given a changing climate, in the Moscow Mountain area of north-central Idaho, USA. Harvest and prescribed fire management treatments followed by plantings of one of four regionally important commercial tree species were simulated, using the climate-sensitive version of the Forest Vegetation Simulator, to estimate the biomass of four different planted species and their C sequestration response to three climate change scenarios.ResultsResults show that anticipated climate change induces a substantial decrease in C sequestration potential regardless of which of the four tree species tested are planted. It was also found that Pinus monticola has the highest capacity to sequester C by 2110, followed by Pinus ponderosa, then Pseudotsuga menziesii, and lastly Larix occidentalis.ConclusionsVariability in the growth responses to climate change exhibited by the four planted species considered in this study points to the importance to forest managers of considering how well adapted seedlings may be to predicted climate change, before the seedlings are planted, and particularly if maximizing C sequestration is the management goal.

Effect of land use on the structure and diversity of riparian vegetation in the Duero river watershed in Michoacán, Mexico

Riparian vegetation performs important ecosystem functions, since it maintains regional biodiversity and provides a range of environmental services. However, anthropogenic activity, land use type, and edge effects are factors that modify the riparian species assemblage and properties. The present study analyzes the influence of adjacent land use on the structure and diversity of riparian vegetation in four hydrographic regions that form the watershed of the river Duero, in the state of Michoacan, Mexico. Using a survey of woody plants of dbh ≥ 2.5 cm in ten different 0.1 ha sites, we found that the average number of stems and individuals was lower under agricultural (AGR) and urban (URB) land use, compared to forested areas (FOR). The proportion of multistemmed plants differs among land uses: this value was greater in AGR than in the FOR and URB categories. This proportion also differed among the four hydrographic regions. The land use type FOR presented the highest alpha and beta diversity, with a high number of native species occurring only in areas defined by this land use. The results indicate that the category FOR plays an important role in the conservation of regional flora and is a possible source of germplasm for restoration programs in sites degraded by human disturbance. This study shows how anthropogenic activities affect riparian vegetation and highlights the importance of further study of this ecosystem to apply sustainable management strategies that are compatible with its conservation.

Using local knowledge to model asymmetric preference formation in willingness to pay for environmental services

This paper describes an approach to account for asymmetric preference formation in discrete choice models used for environmental valuation. The paper draws on data from a case study on preferences for environmental change resulting from a hypothetical rural development and conservation programme in Indonesia. Local knowledge on the current state of the environment was used to define an individual-specific status quo that consistently frames changes in a range of environmental services as gains or losses matching the perceptions of the local population living in the vicinity of a National Park. I estimated choice models that included separate parameters for increases and decreases in attribute levels for the environmental services and derived the indicators of local willingness to pay (WTP) corresponding to the bidirectional changes relative to the individual-specific status quo option.I found clear evidence of an asymmetric response to increase and decrease in attribute levels relative to the status quo. Ignoring asymmetric preference formation can therefore result in biased estimates of WTP indicators and welfare measures of change in cases where the outcomes of environmental programmes can plausibly result in both an increase and a decrease relative to a reference option. Compared to a symmetrical modelling approach, the combination of simultaneously accounting for asymmetric preference formation and preference heterogeneity in the choice model yielded additional insights that may be used to inform the development of local strategies towards biodiversity conservation.

Thinking outside the lease – towards a strategic view of regional water management by the mining industry

In the last 30 years, human appropriation of global renewable resources has accelerated to the point where 35 per cent of the earth's land surface is now in managed agro-ecosystems, consumptive water use consumes between 50 per cent and 85 per cent of freshwater supply and 60 per cent of ecosystem services are utilised in an unsustainable manner. There are virtually no landscapes in which renewable resources are not already fully allocated among different economic and environmental uses. Furthermore, it is increasingly recognised that water availability issues do not exist in isolation but are linked with the related environmental issues of biodiversity preservation, the carbon cycle, soil degradation, and energy use and supply. It is against this background that the sustainable management of water in mining is increasingly developing a strategic viewpoint where water is viewed as a resource within an interconnected landscape, having economic, environmental and social value and providing a range of environmental services in the provision of public and private goods. This paper explores the issues associated with sustainable management of water in mining from a strategic viewpoint. The cumulative impacts of multiple water users, both within and outside the mining sector, is increasingly threatening the security of supply for all users. To quantitatively assess the 'true' value of water it is necessary to:• Better understand the science of ecosystem functioning and how human actions impact on environmental processes.• Develop appropriate policy, finance and governance structures to support innovative programs that preserve ecosystem function and services (including market based instruments).• Apply knowledge as interventions across landscapes in ways that maximise benefits and minimise unintended consequences taking into account differences in the value of water among sectors.A strategic viewpoint of water management relies on knowledge to guide decision making that has been acquired at a range of scales from mine site to mining region. This knowledge must be based on rigorous science, sound data and syntheses of different types of information. Strategic management of water resources will better position the industry in terms of understanding the risks posed by complex, interlinked environmental issues that are increasingly impacting on future access to land and renewable resources, including water, thereby ensuring mining's future social licence to operate.

The innovation of policy making in rural areas: the Milan case study

In the last years, rural policies definition has been evolving for the acknowledgment that agriculture could offer a wide range of environmental services. The paper aims at discussing the planning implications of such evolution, by arguing that innovation in policy making is necessary to get more environmental friendly land use practices. In particular, it discusses the role farmers could play in delivering environmental services, their attitudes towards such programmes and the factors that could ease or hinder this participation through a qualitative policy analysis. The Milan rural suburb is considered as case study. The paper's main conclusion is that the main problem to be tackled is the introduction of incentives to boost stakeholders' participation. In the last part of the paper, we will describe the difficulties encountered by policy makers in the considered case, to give some policy insights.

Willingness to pay for improved watershed management: Evidence from metro manila, Philippines

This paper discusses the results of a contingent valuation (CV) survey that estimated the value that Metro Manila residents placed on the water supply improvements that will result from better management of the Angat, Ipo, Umiray and La Mesa watersheds. The CV survey was conducted among 2,232 respondents. These people were drawn from 13 municipalities and cities in Metro Manila that draw water from the four watersheds. There are two water distributors in the area: Maynilad Water Services, Inc. and the Manila Water Company, Inc. About two thirds of the respondents were connected to either of these two water distributors. The study found that Metro Manila residents have a low awareness level about watersheds, but possess a good grasp of the role forests play in sustaining water supply. About 60 percent of the respondents revealed a willingness to pay (WTP) for improved watershed management. The mean WTP, estimated through a logit model, was found to be P29/month/ household. Factors such as bidamount, the water distributor serving the household, additional water expenses, age, income, and house ownership affected the respondents’ WTP. They were willing to pay mainly for a reliable water supply for both present and future generations, and also because they wanted the watersheds to continue providing a range of environmental services. Some respondents were not willing to pay because of income constraints and because they thought that watershed management should be the government's responsibility. The respondents who were willing to pay said that they would prefer a water user fee to be added to their monthly water bills, with the proviso that this should be used solely for the management of the four watersheds supplying water to Metro Manila.