scholarly journals Reviewing the interface of bioeconomy and ecosystem service research

AMBIO ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (12) ◽  
pp. 1878-1896 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dalia D’Amato ◽  
Bartosz Bartkowski ◽  
Nils Droste
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Sustainability Science ◽  
Economic Feasibility ◽  
Service Research ◽  
Scientific Publications ◽  
Research Areas ◽  
Services Delivery ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Societal Actors

Abstract The bioeconomy is currently being globally promoted as a sustainability avenue involving several societal actors. While the bioeconomy is broadly about the substitution of fossil resources with bio-based ones, three main (competing or complementary) bioeconomy visions are emerging in scientific literature: resource, biotechnology, and agroecology. The implementation of one or more of these visions into strategies implies changes to land use and thus ecosystem services delivery, with notable trade-offs. This review aims to explore the interdisciplinary space at the interface of these two concepts. We reviewed scientific publications explicitly referring to bioeconomy and ecosystem services in their title, abstract, or keywords, with 45 documents identified as relevant. The literature appeared to be emerging and fragmented but eight themes were discernible (in order of decreasing occurrence frequency in the literature): a. technical and economic feasibility of biomass extraction and use; b. potential and challenges of the bioeconomy; c. frameworks and tools; d. sustainability of bio-based processes, products, and services; e. environmental sustainability of the bioeconomy; f. governance of the bioeconomy; g. biosecurity; h. bioremediation. Approximately half of the documents aligned to a resource vision of the bioeconomy, with emphasis on biomass production. Agroecology and biotechnology visions were less frequently found, but multiple visions generally tended to occur in each document. The discussion highlights gaps in the current research on the topic and argues for communication between the ecosystem services and bioeconomy communities to forward both research areas in the context of sustainability science.

Trade-offs, synergies and economic relationships among ecosystem services

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jullian Sone ◽  
Gabriela Gesualdo ◽  
Lívia Rosalem ◽  
Paulo Oliveira ◽  
Edson Wendland
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Soil Conservation ◽  
Economic Models ◽  
Economic Feasibility ◽  
Parameters Estimation ◽  
Water Supply Systems ◽  
Conservation Practices ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Watershed Services

<p>All land uses provide ecosystem services (ES), which have been depleted due to the lack of soil conservation practices along with the intensive use of land for meeting the water-energy-food nexus demand. The economic incentive is a first step towards attracting farmers’ interest in protecting and conserving ES. Farmers, stakeholders, and decision-makers need to understand the value and importance of watershed services through a straightforward cost-effective analysis of conserving and/or protecting them. Economic feasibility affects the volunteer enrolment in payment for ecosystem services (PES) programmes for adopting soil conservation practices in rural areas; nonetheless, it is still poorly understood regarding investments in ES restoration and preservation. There is very little information on the restoration of water provisioning in rural basins that participated in PES programmes. Additionally, most studies focus on programmes for one specific type of landowner, putting aside the plurality of landowners in the basin. It undermines PES programmes implementation when assessing individual preferences and willingness to pay. Thus, we aim to compare costs and benefits from incentivising soil conservation practices and forest restoration in a rural basin through a cost-benefit analysis and quantitative improvements of water provision and soil erosion control; moreover, we will use hydrological and economic-decision models to asses the uncertainties from the relationship between soil conservation practices and watershed services under climate change. The Guariroba River Basin (36,200 ha), located on the rural side of Campo Grande city ‒ Brazil, currently provides 34% of the drinking water demand in the urban area — once provided about 50% — since converting native Cerrado vegetation of the basin for cattle farming has led to a decrease in water provisioning due to soil degradation and, consequently, reservoir siltation. In 2009, the city hall launched a PES Programme called ‘Manancial Vivo’ (MVP). In this context, it is fundamental to understand how uncertainties in the input data, economic models structure, and parameters estimation are consistently integrated into hydro-economic models. By this, we will assess different hydro-economic scenarios of water availability to understand uncertainties and hydrological trade-offs. We expect to respond to some questions: whether the Brazilian PES programme model is environmentally and economically adequate; how water-food-energy insecurity nexus affects PES policies; and what role PES plays in building resilience to water supply systems and helping people to adapt to climate change effects.</p>

scholarly journals Public Investment Policy as a Driver of Changes in the Ecosystem Services Delivery by an Urban Green Infrastructure

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-18
Author(s):  
Dawid Abramowicz ◽  
Małgorzata Stępniewska
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Land Development ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Financial Decisions ◽  
Services Delivery ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Urban Green Infrastructure ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe presented study considers the impact of public expenditure related to land development on the potential of an urban green infrastructure to provide ecosystem services (ES). The study site (Szachty) is located in Poznań, the fifth largest city in Poland. In the article, we recognised the type of expenditure (permanent infrastructure and ongoing maintenance), the costs and the influence on ES (stimulating, weakening or no relevant). The study shows that the financial policy concerning the study area is focused on creating an infrastructure that enhances cultural ecosystem services (CES). However, the creation of recreational facilities weakens the potential of the area for supplying regulating services concerning maintaining nursery populations and habitats. The results highlight the need for scientific support for policymakers in understanding the synergies and trade-offs between ES, resulting from financial decisions. This is particularly important in the decision-making process in the areas of high natural value, in which full, long-term effects of the decisions may be barely visible and incomprehensible for the society. Showing the impact of financial decisions on the structure and level of ES may provide arguments supporting a more complex and high-quality social dialogue, including balancing the interests of various stakeholders.

scholarly journals Blind spots in ecosystem services research and implementation

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sven Lautenbach ◽  
Anne-Christine Mupepele ◽  
Carsten F Dormann ◽  
Heera Lee ◽  
Stefan Schmidt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Individual Case ◽  
Service Research ◽  
Services Research ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Study Results

Ecosystem service research has gained attraction, and the topic is also high on the policy agenda. Projects such as TEEB have generalized results of individual case studies to provide guidelines for policy makers and stakeholders. Seppelt et al. (2011) raised critical questions about four facets that characterize the holistic ideal of ecosystem services research: (i) biophysical realism of ecosystem data and models; (ii) consideration of trade-offs between ecosystem services; (iii) recognition of off-site effects; and (iv) comprehensive but shrewd involvement of stakeholders within assessment studies. An extended and updated analysis of ecosystem service case studies showed that the majority of these facets were still not addressed by the majority of case studies. Whilst most indicators did not improve within the span analyzed (1996-2013), we found a tendency for an increasing geographical spread of the case studies. Moreover, we incorporated an additional facet, namely the relevance and usability of case study results for the operationalization of the ecosystem service concept. Only a minority of studies addressed this facet sufficiently with no significant trend for improvement over time.

scholarly journals Integrating Ecosystem Services and Human Demand for a New Ecosystem Management Approach: A Case Study from the Giant Panda World Heritage Site

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bin Fu ◽  
Pei Xu ◽  
Yukuan Wang ◽  
Yingman Guo
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Ecosystem Management ◽  
Giant Panda ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
World Heritage ◽  
World Heritage Site ◽  
Management Approach ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Heritage Site ◽  
Trade Offs

Ecological management based on the ecosystem approach promotes ecological protection and the sustainable use of natural resources. We developed a quantitative approach to identify the ecological function zones at the country-scale, through integrating supply and demand of ecosystem services. We selected the biologically diverse hotspot of Baoxing County, which forms a part of the Sichuan Giant Panda World Heritage Site, to explore the integration of ecosystem services supply and demand for ecosystem management. Specifically, we assessed the various support, provision, regulating, and cultural services as classified by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. We applied the InVEST (Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs) model to spatially map habitat quality, water retention, and carbon sinks, and used statistical data to evaluate food products, animal husbandry, and product supply services. We then quantified the demands for these services in terms of population, protected species, hydropower, water, and land use. The relationship between areas of supply and areas of demand was discussed for each township, and the spatial variability in the supply–demand relationship was also considered. As a result, we spatially divided the county into six ecological functional areas, and the linkages between each region were comprehensively discussed. This study thus provides a detailed methodology for the successful implementation of an ecosystem management framework on a county-scale based on the spatial partitioning of supply and demand.

A systematic review of scientific publications on the effects of payments for ecosystem services in Latin America, 2000–2020

2021 ◽  
Vol 49 ◽  
pp. 101270
Author(s):  
Maria Perevochtchikova ◽  
Ricardo Castro-Díaz ◽  
Alfonso Langle-Flores ◽  
Juan José Von Thaden Ugalde
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Payments For Ecosystem Services ◽  
Scientific Publications

scholarly journals Modeling Energy Communities with Collective Photovoltaic Self-Consumption: Synergies between a Small City and a Winery in Portugal

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 323
Author(s):  
Guilherme Pontes Luz ◽  
Rodrigo Amaro e Silva
Keyword(s):  
Economic Feasibility ◽  
Small City ◽  
Total System ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Southern Portugal ◽  
Energy Community ◽  
Individual Self ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The City ◽  
Modest Reduction

The recently approved regulation on Energy Communities in Europe is paving the way for new collective forms of energy consumption and production, mainly based on photovoltaics. However, energy modeling approaches that can adequately evaluate the impact of these new regulations on energy community configurations are still lacking, particularly with regards to the grid tariffs imposed on collective systems. Thus, the present work models three different energy community configurations sustained on collective photovoltaics self-consumption for a small city in southern Portugal. This energy community, which integrates the city consumers and a local winery, was modeled using the Python-based Calliope framework. Using real electricity demand data from power transformers and an actual winery, the techno-economic feasibility of each configuration was assessed. Results show that all collective arrangements can promote a higher penetration of photovoltaic capacity (up to 23%) and a modest reduction in the overall cost of electricity (up to 8%). However, there are clear trade-offs between the different pathways: more centralized configurations have 53% lower installation costs but are more sensitive to grid use costs (which can represent up to 74% of the total system costs). Moreover, key actor’s individual self-consumption rate may decrease by 10% in order to benefit the energy community as a whole.

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