Set Of Ecosystem Services Research Articles

Assessing multiple ecosystem services in 708 European urban areas

ABSTRACT Nature is increasingly recognized for its potential to address societal challenges in cities, through the delivery of ecosystem services (ES). However, large-scale assessments quantifying this potential are rare. In this study, we modelled five ES (local temperature regulation, flood control, global climate regulation, habitat maintenance, and human interaction with nature) across 708 European urban areas. Using a supply-demand approach, we assessed ES delivery: the extent to which ES supply was sufficient to meet the corresponding societal demands. We found that ES delivery varied both spatially and between ES. On average, nearly 50% of the demand was fulfilled, with the highest values for habitat maintenance (81 ± 15%; mean ± SD), flood control (65 ± 13%), and human interaction with nature (59 ± 15%) and much lower values for local temperature regulation (23 ± 28%) and global climate regulation (16 ± 28%). We further found positive pairwise correlations between all ES (Spearman’s ρ from 0.15 to 0.65), with the strongest correlation between habitat maintenance and global climate regulation. Variation in ES delivery across the urban areas was mainly related to differences in the share of green space and the size of the urban areas, whereby ES delivery was positively related to both. Our broad-scale comparative assessment can serve as a starting point for more sophisticated model-based assessments quantifying the full potential of urban nature to meet societal demands across large areas, for example by including a broader set of ES and accounting for city-specific demands.

The Contribution of Environmental and Cultural Aspects of Pastoralism in the Provision of Ecosystem Services: The Case of the Silesian Beskid Mts (Southern Poland)

Grazing has proven to be a successful management tool in terms of the maintenance and restoration of biodiversity. Sheep and pastoralism can provide a various set of ecosystem services, i.e., benefits for humans from the environment. The Silesian Beskids, the westernmost part of the Carpathian Mountains, is an area with a long tradition of pastoralism. Since the 13th century, sheep have grazed clearings located in forests and in large areas of grasslands in mountains. In this study, we tried to identify all possible aspects of provisional, regulating and cultural services provided by sheep and the pasturage tradition bearing in mind the specificity of this region. The biodiversity maintenance and habitat creation due to grazing and the cultural values of pastoralism was illustrated using a literature review of data concerning cultural heritage, tourism and education and using our own phytosociological field studies performed in nine vegetation types within grazing sites. In order to examine the impact of grazing, an observation of sheep’s daily grazing activity during the vegetation season using tractive GPS locators was conducted. The results showed that grazing has a positive impact on the maintenance of vegetation including EU-protected habitats. In addition, the pastoral activity introduced to the Beskids by the Vlachs contributed to the development of a specific highlander culture that continues to this day. Not all potential ecosystem services associated with the use of sheep are realized in the study area. Amongst the provisional services, sheep bones are not used while dairy is the most popular followed by meat. In turn, the cultural heritage of pastoralism is one of the most important drivers for the touristic attraction of Silesian Beskid.

Analyzing the interactions among multiple ecosystem services in a rural mining region in Central Appalachians

ABSTRACT This study analyzed the interactions among a set of ecosystem services (ES) and derived ES bundles in the Headwaters of Coal River West Virginia (WV), in the Central Appalachians, an area historically characterized by surface mining and coal extraction. ES were modeled using the InVEST system, while a custom model was used to link water quality to freshwater ES, deriving information at two different spatial scales based on hydrologic units. High-resolution remote sensing data (1–2 m resolution) were used to incorporate historical information from land-cover (LC) transitions since 1976 to differentiate reclamation processes and characterize the forest class. Consistent ES tradeoffs were confirmed in areas characterized by surface mining processes that reported significant losses of carbon sequestration, habitat quality , and freshwater ES. The interaction of complex anthropogenic processes within the specific landscape led to the definition of different ES bundles, characterized not only by coal mining processes but also by the distribution of settlements and developed areas. The utilization of relatively small hydrologic catchments (1–25 km2), the comparison with a more extensive set of spatial units, and the inclusion of high-resolution data with multiple LC classes that included historical information, allowed the authors to infer knowledge about the interactions between ES changes and their drivers in the study area. The results can be used to implement conservation, as well as development-restoration strategies, by including ES assessments to promote a more sustainable land management approach in the rural-mining region of Central Appalachians and support future alternatives to extractive economies.

Assessing the potential delivery of ecosystem services by farmlands under contrasting management intensities

Farming systems under contrasting management practices can contribute differently to the delivery of bundles of ecosystem services (ES) in agricultural landscapes. Low intensity farming systems, such as High Nature Value farmlands, are expected to deliver a wider range of ES, whereas landscapes under more intensive management are expected to deliver mainly provisioning services. Understanding the management practices associated with desirable outcomes in terms of biodiversity and ES in agricultural landscapes is needed. Our research aimed to understand the links between the delivery of ES bundles associated with agricultural landscapes, and their socio-ecological drivers, using a region in northern Portugal as a case study. Based on publicly available data on ecosystems services and drivers, we analyzed ES associations, delineated ES bundles, and investigated their relationship with socio-ecological drivers. Overall, our results suggested spatial trade-offs between landscapes delivering provisioning services of high economic value, and landscapes delivering a more balanced set of multiple ES. Bundle analysis highlighted an association between higher landscape multifunctionality and higher values of landscape complexity, higher number of farmers, and farm sizes. Our results reflected the complexity of social and ecological factors operating at the landscape level, pinpointed landscapes with higher multifunctionality and disclosed the conditions underlying their occurrence. The results also highlighted the importance of low-intensity farming systems, namely those supporting High Nature Value farmlands, for the delivery of a wider range of ES at the landscape scale.

ASSESSMENT OF ECOSYSTEM SERVICES FOR PLANNING OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE AT THE REGIONAL LEVEL

Ecosystem services (ES) are defined as the benefits that human beings derive from ecosystem functions. Assessment and mapping of these benefits are crucial for sustainable environmental planning and future natural capital. Green infrastructure (GI) is natural or semi-natural territories that provide wide range of ES. Human affected ecosystems tend to fail to provide certain sets of ES due to the trade-offs among those services, which could be mitigated through implementation of GI. Mapping of ES, as well as assessing the interactions among various ES and analysing their supply potential’s cold/hot spots considerably enhances and substantiates the planning process of GI, particularly at the regional scale and for the territories with diverse landscape potential. The aim of this paper is to discuss the assessment of ES supply potential and analyse its spatial distribution to reveal cold/hot spots of ecosystem capacity to provide wide range services and functions for GI. The study presents GIS based assessment of ES in a case study of Zemgale Planning Region. ES supply potential was assessed for 27 Corine land use classes (CLC2018) together with 10 regulatory, 12 provisioning and 6 cultural ES. An expert-based ranking approach using a two-dimensional ES matrix and a geospatial analysis was applied to determine total ES supply potential, spatial patterns and relations among multiple ES. Additional statistical analysis (Getis-Ord Gi*) was performed on spatial distribution of regulatory ES to disclose statistically significant capacity of ecosystems to function as GI in given surroundings. Preliminary results show uneven distribution of ES, trade-offs between regulatory and provisioning ES and landscape dependent spatial clustering of these trade-offs supported by result of Getis-Ord Gi* analysis, thus laying a foundation for further planning of GI at the regional scale.

A novel telecoupling framework to assess social relations across spatial scales for ecosystem services research

Access to ecosystem services and influence on their management are structured by social relations among actors, which often occur across spatial scales. Such cross-scale social relations can be analysed through a telecoupling framework as decisions taken at local scales are often shaped by actors at larger scales. Analyzing these cross-scale relations is critical to create effective and equitable strategies to manage ecosystem services. Here, we develop an analytical framework –i.e. the ‘cross-scale influence-dependence framework’- to facilitate the analysis of power asymmetries and the distribution of ecosystem services among the beneficiaries. We illustrate the suitability of this framework through its retrospective application across four case studies, in which we characterize the level of dependence of multiple actors on a particular set of ecosystem services, and their influence on decision-making regarding these services across three spatial scales. The ‘cross-scale influence-dependence framework’ can improve our understanding of distributional and procedural equity and thus support the development of policies for sustainable management of ecosystem services.

Temporal Changes in Multiple Ecosystem Services and Their Bundles Responding to Urbanization and Ecological Restoration in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Metropolitan Area

By 2050, 70% of the human population is likely to be living in cities, making urbanization an increasing global trend. Detecting changes in ecosystem services (ES) and their bundles in response to urbanization is critical for evaluating land-use policies. We examined changes in the provision of grains, vegetables, fruits, carbon sequestration, soil retention, sandstorm prevention, and water retention from 2000 to 2010 in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei metropolitan area, China; then, using a k-means cluster analysis, we classified 202 counties of this area into groups (bundles) based on their similar sets of ES. We found that (1) urban area, forestland, and grassland increased by 22%, 3.6%, and 1.7%, respectively, while cropland decreased by 4.6%; (2) the provision of grains, vegetables, and fruits increased by 24–90%, despite an overall loss in cropland; carbon storage and sand retention increased by 40% and 7%, respectively, while soil and water retention increased slightly by approx. 1% each; (3) 72 counties changed their ES bundles; and the “agriculture bundle” dominated the landscape in 2000 while it decreased by 50% in 2010 and was mainly transformed to “sub-developed urban bundle”, indicating loss of cropland during that decade. The transformation of ES bundles can be used to understand the effects of urbanization. The study indicated that improved technologies and ecological restoration in rural areas can help sustain multiple ES in our rapidly urbanizing world.

Assessment of the Spatial Dynamics and Interactions among Multiple Ecosystem Services to Promote Effective Policy Making across Mediterranean Island Landscapes

To manage multiple ecosystem services (ES) effectively, it is essential to understand how the dynamics of ES maintain healthy ecosystems to avoid potential negative impacts on human well-being in the context of sustainable development. In particular, the Ionian Islands in the central Mediterranean are characterized by high natural, ecological, and recreational value; however, the intensification of human activities over time has resulted in the loss of natural ecosystems, which might have negatively impacted ES. Here, we aimed to assess and understand the spatiotemporal dynamics of ES supply and how these components interact across the Ionian Islands to optimize future ES provision and mitigate current trade-offs. We quantified multiple ecosystem services and analyzed their interactions at a temporal scale across the four prefectures of the Ionian Islands. Seven ES were quantified covering all three ES sections (provisioning, regulating and maintenance, and cultural) of the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES). ES interactions were investigated by analyzing ES relationships, identifying ES bundles (sets of ES that repeatedly occur together across space and time), and specifying ES occurrence within bundles. The three ES groups exhibited similar patterns on some islands, but differed on islands with areas of high recreation in parallel to low provisioning and regulating ES. Temporal variations showed both stability and changes to the supply of ES, as well as in the interactions among them. Different patterns among the islands were caused by the degree of mixing between natural vegetation and olive orchards. This study identified seven ES bundles that had distinct compositions and magnitudes, with both unique and common bundles being found among the islands. The olive grove bundle delivered the most ES, while the non-vegetated bundle delivered negligible amounts of ES. Spatial and temporal variation in ES appear to be determined by agriculture, land abandonment, and increasing tourism, as well as the occurrence of fires. Knowledge about the spatial dynamics and interactions among ES could provide information for stakeholders and decision-making processes to develop appropriate sustainable management of the ecosystems on the Ionian Islands to secure ecological, social, and economic resilience.

On the importance of a broad stakeholder network for developing a credible, salient and legitimate tiered approach for assessing ecosystem services

As the concept of ecosystem services is being operationalised and implemented in policies, a better guidance on the selection of suitable methods for ecosystem services mapping and assessment is needed to allow more sound, transparent and comparable processes. A vast range of assessments focusing on different sets of ecosystem services at various scales is existing and the applied methods cover different disciplines from ecology to economy and social sciences. This complicates the assessment of single or bundles of ecosystem services across spatio-temporal scales and requires a broad expertise. A tiered approach for ecosystem services assessment allows selecting the appropriate application of a certain method for tackling a specific question at a given scale. In this publication, we illustrate how the EU H2020 project ESMERALDA supported the development of such a tiered approach for assessing ecosystem services. The iterative exchanges between experienced researchers and practitioners in mapping and assessing ecosystem services in various contexts allowed the co-production of an approach to guide the choice of methods. Ultimately, the proposed tiered approach will not only support communication of the ecosystem services concept, but will also reduce the tendency for selecting an unsuitable approach for solving complex problems linked to ecosystem services-based resource management.

Simulating future land use and ecosystem services in Northern Thailand

ABSTRACTEnhancing ecosystem services is important as it provides foundation for the wellbeing of people. This paper presents the future land use simulation for enhancing ecosystem services using CLUMondo dynamic spatial model. The land use change was assessed from 1989 to 2013 in Wang Thong watershed of Northern Thailand using GIS and a set of ecosystem services was assessed using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model. Future land uses until 2030 were projected for three policy scenarios, namely business-as-usual, integrated land use development, and enhancing environmental services with different levels of emphasis on ecosystem services. In business-as-usual scenario, it was observed that ecosystem services will decline by 2030 from the base year of 2013, whereas in integrated land use development scenario, the ecosystem services will increase by 5% compared to base year due to anticipated effective protection of remaining forests in all existing and proposed protected areas of the study area. In enhancing environmental services scenario, the ecosystem services will increase by 15%. Such results can serve as useful information in policy formulation in developing land use options, which help enhance ecosystem services in future.

Relationships between multiple biodiversity components and ecosystem services along a landscape complexity gradient

The assessment of effects of anthropogenic disturbance on biodiversity (BD) and ecosystem services (ES) and their relationships are key priorities of the Intergovernmental Panel for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Agricultural landscapes and their associated BD provide multiple ES and it is crucial to understand how relationships between ES and BD components change along gradients of landscape complexity. In this study, we related eight ES potentials to the species richness of five invertebrate, vertebrate and plant taxonomic groups in cereal farming systems. The landscape complexity gradient ranged from areas dominated by annually tilled arable land to areas with high proportions of unfertilized, non-rotational pastures and uncultivated field borders. We show that after accounting for landscape complexity relationships between yield and bird richness or biological control became more positive, but relationships between bird richness and biological control became less positive. The relationship between bird and plant richness turned from positive to negative. Multidiversity (overall biodiversity), was positively related to landscape complexity, whereas multifunctionality (overall ES provision), was not significantly related to either one of these. Our results suggest that multidiversity can be promoted by increasing landscape complexity; however; we found no support for a simultaneous increase of several individual ES, BD components or multifunctionality. These results challenge the assumption that biodiversity-friendly landscape management will always simultaneously promote multiple ES in agricultural landscapes. Future studies need to verify this pattern by using multi-year data, larger sets of ES and BD components and a study design that is appropriate to address larger spatial scales and relationships in several regions.

Ecosystem services in urban plans: What is there, and what is still needed for better decisions

In cities, land-use decisions made during planning processes determine the availability of ecosystem services fundamental to the wellbeing of urban population. Hence, the inclusion of ecosystem services in planning is essential to promote sustainable urban development. This article investigates to what extent ecosystem services are currently included in urban plans. The ultimate objective is to understand what ecosystem service information is already used, and what is still needed to improve planning decisions. We developed a methodology to review the content of planning documents irrespective of the terminology adopted to refer to ecosystem services, and examined the inclusion of nine urban ecosystem services across three plan components. In our sample of 22 urban plans of Italian cities, we found a high number of actions to address urban ecosystem services and a variety of tools for implementation. However, a two-speed integration emerges: a set of ecosystem services (i.e. recreation and some regulating services linked to typical urban environmental problems) are widely addressed, while others are hardly considered. Shortcomings can be partly ascribed to gaps in the scientific literature. Usable methods to assess urban ecosystem services at the right scale and resolution while also accounting for the multi-functionality of urban green infrastructures are still needed. On the other hand, future urban plans would benefit from a further appropriation of the ecosystem service approach by practitioners and decision-makers. Acknowledging the whole range of urban ecosystem services, defining strategic objectives related to their provision, and explicitly identifying demand and beneficiaries could increase awareness of the values at stake, ensure long-term commitment in the implementation phase, and strengthen planning arguments against conflicting interests.

Unpacking ecosystem service bundles: Towards predictive mapping of synergies and trade-offs between ecosystem services

Multiple ecosystem services (ES) can respond similarly to social and ecological factors to form bundles. Identifying key social-ecological variables and understanding how they co-vary to produce these consistent sets of ES may ultimately allow the prediction and modelling of ES bundles, and thus, help us understand critical synergies and trade-offs across landscapes. Such an understanding is essential for informing better management of multi-functional landscapes and minimising costly trade-offs. However, the relative importance of different social and biophysical drivers of ES bundles in different types of social-ecological systems remains unclear. As such, a bottom-up understanding of the determinants of ES bundles is a critical research gap in ES and sustainability science. Here, we evaluate the current methods used in ES bundle science and synthesize these into four steps that capture the plurality of methods used to examine predictors of ES bundles. We then apply these four steps to a cross-study comparison (North and South French Alps) of relationships between social-ecological variables and ES bundles, as it is widely advocated that cross-study comparisons are necessary for achieving a general understanding of predictors of ES associations. We use the results of this case study to assess the strengths and limitations of current approaches for understanding distributions of ES bundles. We conclude that inconsistency of spatial scale remains the primary barrier for understanding and predicting ES bundles. We suggest a hypothesis-driven approach is required to predict relationships between ES, and we outline the research required for such an understanding to emerge.

Local tree knowledge can fast-track agroforestry recommendations for coffee smallholders along a climate gradient in Mount Elgon, Uganda

Arabica coffee (Coffea arabica) is economically important for many smallholder farmers in the Mount Elgon region of East Uganda, but its production is increasingly threatened by climate change. However, ecosystem services (ES) provided by companion trees in coffee agroforestry systems (AFS) can help farmers adapt to climate change. The objectives of this research were to develop agroforestry species recommendations and tailor these to the farmers’ needs and local context, taking into consideration gender. Local knowledge of agroforestry species and ES preferences was collected through farmer interviews and rankings. Using the Bradley-Terry approach, analysis was done along an altitudinal gradient in order to study different climate change scenarios for coffee suitability. Farmers had different needs in terms of ES and tree species at different altitudes, e.g. at low altitude they need a relatively larger set of ES to sustain their coffee production and livelihood. Local knowledge is found to be gender blind as no differences were observed in the rankings of species and ES by men and women. Ranking species by ES and ranking ES by preference is a useful method to help scientists and extension agents to use local knowledge for the development of recommendations on companion trees in AFS for smallholder farmers.

Assessing the impacts of water abstractions on river ecosystem services: an eco-hydraulic modelling approach

The provision of important river ecosystem services (ES) is dependent on the flow regime. This requires methods to assess the impacts on ES caused by interventions on rivers that affect flow regime, such as water abstractions. This study proposes a method to i) quantify the provision of a set of river ES, ii) simulate the effects of water abstraction alternatives that differ in location and abstracted flow, and iii) assess the impact of water abstraction alternatives on the selected ES. The method is based on river modelling science, and integrates spatially distributed hydrological, hydraulic and habitat models at different spatial and temporal scales. The method is applied to the hydropeaked upper Noce River (Northern Italy), which is regulated by hydropower operations. We selected locally relevant river ES: habitat suitability for the adult marble trout, white-water rafting suitability, hydroelectricity production from run-of-river (RoR) plants. Our results quantify the seasonality of river ES response variables and their intrinsic non-linearity, which explains why the same abstracted flow can produce different effects on trout habitat and rafting suitability depending on the morphology of the abstracted reach. An economic valuation of the examined river ES suggests that incomes from RoR hydropower plants are of comparable magnitude to touristic revenue losses related to the decrease in rafting suitability.

Ecosystem services and plant physiological status during endophyte-assisted phytoremediation of metal contaminated soil.

Mining sites shelter a characteristic biodiversity with large potential for the phytoremediation of metal contaminated soils. Endophytic plant growth-promoting bacteria were isolated from two metal-(hyper)accumulator plant species growing in a metal contaminated mine soil. After characterizing their plant growth-promoting traits, consortia of putative endophytes were used to carry out an endophyte-assisted phytoextraction experiment using Noccaea caerulescens and Rumex acetosa (singly and in combination) under controlled conditions. We evaluated the influence of endophyte-inoculated plants on soil physicochemical and microbial properties, as well as plant physiological parameters and metal concentrations. Data interpretation through the grouping of soil properties within a set of ecosystem services was also carried out. When grown together, we observed a 41 and 16% increase in the growth of N. caerulescens and R. acetosa plants, respectively, as well as higher values of Zn phytoextraction and soil microbial biomass and functional diversity. Inoculation of the consortia of putative endophytes did not lead to higher values of plant metal uptake, but it improved the plants' physiological status, by increasing the content of chlorophylls and carotenoids by up to 28 and 36%, respectively, indicating a reduction in the stress level of plants. Endophyte-inoculation also stimulated soil microbial communities: higher values of acid phosphatase activity (related to the phosphate solubilising traits of the endophytes), bacterial and fungal abundance, and structural diversity. The positive effects of plant growth and endophyte inoculation on soil properties were reflected in an enhancement of some ecosystem services (biodiversity, nutrient cycling, water flow regulation, water purification and contamination control).

Landscape structure affects the provision of multiple ecosystem services

Understanding how landscape structure, the composition and configuration of land use/land cover (LULC) types, affects the relative supply of ecosystem services (ES), is critical to improving landscape management. While there is a long history of studies on landscape composition, the importance of landscape configuration has only recently become apparent. To understand the role of landscape structure in the provision of multiple ES, we must understand how ES respond to different measures of both composition and configuration of LULC. We used a multivariate framework to quantify the role of landscape configuration and composition in the provision of ten ES in 130 municipalities in an agricultural region in Southern Québec. We identified the relative influence of composition and configuration in the provision of these ES using multiple regression, and on bundles of ES using canonical redundancy analysis. We found that both configuration and composition play a role in explaining variation in the supply of ES, but the relative contribution of composition and configuration varies significantly among ES. We also identified three distinct ES bundles (sets of ES that regularly appear together on the landscape) and found that each bundle was associated with a unique area in the landscape, that mapped to a gradient in the composition and configuration of forest and agricultural LULC. These results show that the distribution of ES on the landscape depends upon both the overall composition of LULC types and their configuration on the landscape. As ES become more widely used to steer land use decision-making, quantifying the roles of configuration and composition in the provision of ES bundles can improve landscape management by helping us understand when and where the spatial pattern of land cover is important for multiple services.

Are Urban Stream Restoration Plans Worth Implementing?

To manage and conserve ecosystems in a more sustainable way, it is important to identify the importance of the ecosystem services they provide and understand the connection between natural and socio-economic systems. Historically, streams have been an underrated part of the urban environment. Many of them have been straightened and often channelized under pressure of urbanization. However, little knowledge exists concerning the economic value of stream restoration or the value of the improved ecosystem services. We used the contingent valuation method to assess the social acceptability of a policy-level water management plan in the city of Helsinki, Finland, and the values placed on improvements in a set of ecosystem services, accounting for preference uncertainty. According to our study, the action plan would provide high returns on restoration investments, since the benefit-cost ratio was 15-37. Moreover, seventy-two percent of the respondents willing to pay for stream restoration chose "I want to conserve streams as a part of urban nature for future generations" as the most motivating reason. Our study indicates that the water management plan for urban streams in Helsinki has strong public support. If better marketed to the population within the watershed, the future projects could be partly funded by the local residents, making the projects easier to accomplish. The results of this study can be used in planning, management and decision making related to small urban watercourses.

Enhancement of ecosystem services during endophyte-assisted aided phytostabilization of metal contaminated mine soil

Endophytic plant growth-promoting bacteria (endophytes) were isolated from a variety of (pseudo)metallophytes growing in an abandoned Zn/Pb mine and then characterized according to their plant growth-promoting traits (i.e. ACC deaminase activity, IAA production, siderophore production, phosphate solubilising capacity, metal and salt tolerance and phenotypic characterization). Initially, under growth chamber conditions, an endophyte-assisted aided phytostabilization study was carried out with Festuca rubra plants (native vs. commercial variety) inoculated with a Pseudomonas sp. isolate and cow slurry as organic amendment. The effect of treatments on soil physicochemical and microbial indicators of soil quality, as well as plant physiological parameters and metal concentrations, was assessed. We performed a complementary interpretation of our data through their grouping within a set of ecosystem services. Although the application of cow slurry had the most pronounced effects on soil quality indicators and ecosystem services, the growth of native F. rubra plants reduced soil bioavailability of Cd and Zn by 19 and 22%, respectively, and enhanced several soil microbial parameters. On the other hand, endophyte (Pseudomonas sp.) inoculation improved the physiological status of F. rubra plants by increasing the content of carotenoids, chlorophylls and Fv/Fm by 69, 65 and 37%, respectively, while also increasing the values of several soil microbial parameters. Finally, a consortium of five endophyte isolates was used for an endophyte-assisted aided phytostabilization field experiment, where lower metal concentrations in native excluder plants were found. Nonetheless, the field inoculation of the endophyte consortium had no effect on the biomass of native plants.

Participatory selection of ecosystem services for spatial planning: Insights from the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, Portugal

Ecosystem services (ES) assessments have been undergoing rapid developments. Despite considerable advancements it is still difficult to comprehensively assess a large suite of ES, often requiring a selection of the most relevant ones. However, documented and tested procedures to select ES, particularly through participatory processes, are scarce. The aim of this research is to explore the participatory selection of ES, illustrated with the case of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area in Portugal, southwestern Europe. Drawing from a spatial planning context, different types of stakeholders were involved through a combination of participatory techniques. It was possible to identify differences in stakeholders' ES selection, while at the same time arriving at a set of priority ES and linking them with spatial planning goals that entail potential effects on ES. The strengths of the approach include the use of different participatory techniques, of drivers that help translating plans and of an existing ES classification system to support it. On the other hand, the exploratory nature of the research meant that a limited range of types of stakeholders was covered. The participatory approach developed in this research has the potential to be adapted for ES selection in other planning contexts or in strategic environmental assessments.