Understanding the relationships between ecosystem services and poverty alleviation: A conceptual framework

Abstract: Coral reefs and mangroves support rich biodiversity and provide ecosystem services that range from food, recreational benefits and coastal protection services, among others. They are one of the most threatened ecosystems by urbanization processes. In this context, we developed a conceptual framework for the management of biodiversity and ecosystem services for these coastal environments. We based our workflow on two sections: “Information base” and “Governance” and use the Puerto Morelos Coastal region as a case study for coastal protection. Puerto Morelos is between two of the most touristic destinations of Mexico (Playa del Carmen and Cancun) that has experienced an increase of population in the past four decades resulting in an intensification of multiple threats to its ecosystems. We characterized the two ecosystems with a “Management Units” strategy. An expert-based ecosystem services matrix was also described in order to connect mangroves and coral reef ecosystems with the multiple beneficiaries. Then an ecosystem model (conceptual model and Global Biodiversity model) was developed. The conceptual model was useful in understanding the interplay processes between systems regarding the ecosystem service of “Coastal Protection”. The Global Biodiversity model evidenced the human-induced shifts in the biodiversity for mangrove and coral reefs ecosystems. Also, a projection for 2035 of “best” and “worst” scenarios was applied using GLOBIO3. A DPSIR conceptual framework was used to analyze environmental problems regarding ecosystem services maintenance. Finally, we evaluated a set of policies associated with these ecosystems that favor coastal protection integrity. This framework facilitates the identification of the most relevant processes and controls about the provision of coastal protection service. It can also be useful to better target management actions and as a tool to identify future management needs to tackle the challenges preventing more effective conservation of coastal environments.

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Resilience trinity: safeguarding ecosystem services across three different time horizons and decision contexts

10.1101/549873 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

H Weise ◽

H Auge ◽

C Baessler ◽

I Bärlund ◽

E.M. Bennett ◽

...

Keyword(s):

High Pressure ◽

Ecosystem Services ◽

Conceptual Framework ◽

Network Architectures ◽

Management Actions ◽

Time Horizons ◽

Resilience Thinking ◽

Imminent Threat ◽

Resilience Mechanisms ◽

Term Management

AbstractEnsuring ecosystem resilience is an intuitive approach to safeguard future provisioning of ecosystem services (ES). However, resilience is an ambiguous concept and difficult to operationalize. Focusing on resilience mechanisms, such as diversity, network architectures or adaptive capacity, has recently been suggested as means to operationalize resilience. Still, the focus on mechanisms is not specific enough because the usefulness of a mechanism is context-dependent. We suggest a conceptual framework, resilience trinity, to facilitate management of resilience mechanisms in three distinctive decision contexts and time-horizons. i) reactive, when there is an imminent threat to ES resilience and a high pressure to act, ii) adjustive, when the threat is known in general but there is still time to adapt management, and iii) provident when time horizons are very long and the nature of the threats is uncertain, leading to a low willingness to act. This emphasizes that resilience has different interpretations and implications at different time horizons which however need to be reconciled. The inclusion of time into resilience thinking ensures that longer-term management actions are not missed while urgent threats to ES are given priority.

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Elucidating the pathways between climate change, ecosystem services and poverty alleviation

Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability ◽

10.1016/j.cosust.2013.02.004 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 102-107 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Caroline Howe ◽

Helen Suich ◽

Paul van Gardingen ◽

Atiq Rahman ◽

Georgina M Mace

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Ecosystem Services ◽

Poverty Alleviation

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A Conceptual Framework to Design Green Infrastructure: Ecosystem Services as an Opportunity for Creating Shared Value in Ground Photovoltaic Systems

Land ◽

10.3390/land9080238 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (8) ◽

pp. 238 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Teodoro Semeraro ◽

Roberta Aretano ◽

Amilcare Barca ◽

Alessandro Pomes ◽

Cecilia Del Giudice ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Conceptual Framework ◽

Green Infrastructure ◽

Social Needs ◽

Raw Material ◽

Business Success ◽

Photovoltaic Systems ◽

Multifunctional Land Use ◽

Creating Shared Value ◽

New Vision

This paper presents a conceptual framework that looks at photovoltaic systems in synergy with ecosystem services. The focus is to connect business success with social and ecological progress based on the operative concept of multifunctional land use. Such an approach attempts to harmonise the needs of the industrial processes of photovoltaic systems and the ecological and social needs of the landscape context. Different from the usual design of ground photovoltaic systems in farmlands or brownfields, a new framework is proposed, combining photovoltaic panels and vegetation. A case study is considered, applying the framework to existing photovoltaic systems in the Apulia region (southern Italy). The analysis shows how the framework has, among others, the major functions of increasing solar energy production, recycling wastewater, creating raw material for biofuel, as well as providing animal habitat and mitigating air temperature. The latter is preliminarily evaluated by means of modelling simulations performed with a computational fluid dynamics and microclimate model, ENVI-met. This approach opens up a new vision of the infrastructure design of photovoltaic systems which can produce new social and economic income.

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A conceptual framework for the governance of multiple ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes

Landscape Ecology ◽

10.1007/s10980-019-00829-4 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 34 (7) ◽

pp. 1653-1673 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Aude Vialatte ◽

Cecile Barnaud ◽

Julien Blanco ◽

Annie Ouin ◽

Jean-Philippe Choisis ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Conceptual Framework ◽

Agricultural Landscapes

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A conceptual framework for ex ante valuation of ecosystem services of brownfield greening from a systematic perspective

Ecosystem Health and Sustainability ◽

10.1080/20964129.2020.1743206 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 1743206

Author(s):

Qicheng Zhong ◽

Lang Zhang ◽

Yi Zhu ◽

Cecil Konijnendijk van den Bosch ◽

Jigang Han ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Conceptual Framework ◽

Ex Ante ◽

Valuation Of Ecosystem Services

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Ecosystem services and poverty alleviation: A review of the empirical links

Ecosystem Services ◽

10.1016/j.ecoser.2015.02.005 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

pp. 137-147 ◽

Cited By ~ 96

Author(s):

Helen Suich ◽

Caroline Howe ◽

Georgina Mace

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Poverty Alleviation

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From a conceptual framework to an operational approach for managing grassland functional diversity to obtain targeted ecosystem services: Case studies from French mountains

Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems ◽

10.1017/s1742170513000306 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 29 (3) ◽

pp. 239-254 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

M. Duru ◽

C. Jouany ◽

X. Le Roux ◽

M.L. Navas ◽

P. Cruz

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Conceptual Framework ◽

Community Composition ◽

Functional Traits ◽

Management Practices ◽

Abiotic Factors ◽

Microbial Community Composition ◽

Operational Approach ◽

Functional Perspective ◽

Functional Types

AbstractResearch to understand and manage ecosystems to supply services has recently spurred a functional view of their biodiversity. In particular, approaches based on functional traits rather than species diversity are increasingly used to reflect interactions between organisms and their environment. These approaches bring a functional perspective to the study of community structure responses to disturbances and resources, and of their effects on ecosystem functioning and services. From an academic perspective, we propose a conceptual framework based on species functional traits to better infer how grassland management practices (fertilization, defoliation regime) along with abiotic factors influence plant, animal and microbial community composition and a range of services in grassland ecosystems. The core of the framework relies on combinations of plant functional traits and associated microbial features that specifically respond to environmental and management factors and influence ecosystem services. To overcome stakeholders’ difficulty in applying the concept of functional traits, we propose an operational approach implying the mapping of plant communities distributed into five plant functional types (PFTs). The approach was used for fields in grassland-based livestock farms from two French grassland networks. We evaluated its ability to predict a range of services including forage provision and non-market services according to environmental and management drivers. PFT-based plant community composition predicted forage services reasonably well but responded weakly to environmental gradients. To cope with the observed limitations of current predictive approaches, we suggest including soil microbial functional types and adaptive management rather than using a prescriptive scheme.

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