Are stakeholders’ social representations of nature and landscape compatible with the ecosystem service concept?

There is a rapidly growing body of literature on the theory about the ecosystem service concept and the practical assessment of ecosystem services in different contexts ranging from natural to urban environments. Yet, where does the concept reach its limits? This paper critically reflects the application of the ecosystem service concept in urban environments illustrating the handling of urban structures (incl. built-up areas) and the risk that the normative principle of the concept could be missed. It is shown that in theory urban structures refer to a variety of ecosystem concepts. As a starting point for ecosystem service assessments, these could be classified into natural, managed, constructed and overbuilt systems. Since ecosystem service concepts do not directly refer to a specific ecosystem definition, but to biophysical structures and processes, all of these classes could be included. However, the dependency on context and scale makes a differentiation in practical ecosystem services assessment challenging. We conclude that the ecosystem service concept does not reach its limits in urban environments, but urban environments represent an extreme case characterized by multifunctionality and a high degree of modification that enables to uncover research challenges applying in any environment. There is a need for a more transparent reporting of theoretical and methodological assumptions to facilitate the comparability between ecosystem service assessments. Comprehensive approaches that consider multiple ecosystem services and include human input, human modification, the ecosystem status as well as their interactions are required to understand the spatial relations between ecosystem services delivered by different ecosystems.

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Assumptions in ecosystem service assessments: Increasing transparency for conservation

AMBIO ◽

10.1007/s13280-020-01379-9 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 50 (2) ◽

pp. 289-300

Author(s):

Matthias Schröter ◽

Emilie Crouzat ◽

Lisanne Hölting ◽

Julian Massenberg ◽

Julian Rode ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Data Collection ◽

Science Policy ◽

Ecosystem Service ◽

Economic Valuation ◽

Service Science ◽

Conservation Science ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Service Concept ◽

Assessment Results

AbstractConservation efforts are increasingly supported by ecosystem service assessments. These assessments depend on complex multi-disciplinary methods, and rely on a number of assumptions which reduce complexity. If assumptions are ambiguous or inadequate, misconceptions and misinterpretations may arise when interpreting results of assessments. An interdisciplinary understanding of assumptions in ecosystem service science is needed to provide consistent conservation recommendations. Here, we synthesise and elaborate on 12 prevalent types of assumptions in ecosystem service assessments. These comprise conceptual and ethical foundations of the ecosystem service concept, assumptions on data collection, indication, mapping, and modelling, on socio-economic valuation and value aggregation, as well as about using assessment results for decision-making. We recommend future assessments to increase transparency about assumptions, and to test and validate them and their potential consequences on assessment reliability. This will support the taking up of assessment results in conservation science, policy and practice.

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Applying the ecosystem service concept to air quality management in the UK: a case study for ammonia

Environmetrics ◽

10.1002/env.1094 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 22 (5) ◽

pp. 649-661 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

James C. R. Smart ◽

Kevin Hicks ◽

Tim Morrissey ◽

Andreas Heinemeyer ◽

Mark A. Sutton ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Quality ◽

Quality Management ◽

Ecosystem Service ◽

Air Quality Management ◽

Service Concept ◽

The Uk

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Can urban metabolism models advance green infrastructure planning? Insights from ecosystem services research

Environment and Planning B Urban Analytics and City Science ◽

10.1177/2399808318797131 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 47 (4) ◽

pp. 678-694 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Daniela Perrotti ◽

Sven Stremke

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Green Infrastructure ◽

Ecosystem Service ◽

Material Flow ◽

Flow Analysis ◽

Material Flow Analysis ◽

Urban Metabolism ◽

Infrastructure Planning ◽

Service Concept ◽

Planning And Design

Urban metabolism studies have gained momentum in recent years as a means to assess the environmental performance of cities and to point to more resource-efficient strategies for urban development. Recent literature reviews report a growing number of applications of the industrial ecology model for material flow analysis in the design of the built environment. However, applications of material flow analysis in green infrastructure development are scarce. In this article, we argue that: (i) the use of material flow analysis in green infrastructure practice can inform decision-making towards more resource-efficient urban planning; (ii) the ecosystem service concept is critical to operationalize material flow analysis for green infrastructure planning and design, and, through this, can enhance the impact of urban metabolism research on policy making and planning practice. The article draws from a systematic review of literature on urban ecosystem services and benefits provided by green infrastructure in urban regions. The review focuses on ecosystem services that can contribute to a more energy-efficient and less carbon-intensive urban metabolism. Using the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services as a baseline, we then discuss opportunities for integrating energy provision and climate regulation ecosystem services in material flow analysis. Our discussion demonstrates that the accounting of ecosystem services in material flow analysis enables expressing impacts of green infrastructure on the urban energy mix (renewable energy provision), the magnitude of energy use (mitigation of building energy demand) and the dynamics of biogeochemical processes in cities (carbon sequestration). We finally propose an expanded model for material flow analysis that illustrates a way forward to integrate the ecosystem service concept in urban metabolism models and to enable their application in green infrastructure planning and design.

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