scholarly journals The functional agrobiodiversity in the Douro demarcated region viticulture: utopia or reality? Arthropods as a case-study – A review

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 102-114
Author(s):  
Fátima Gonçalves ◽  
Cristina Carlos ◽  
António Crespi ◽  
Claire Villemant ◽  
Valeria Trivellone ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Ground Cover ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Provision Of Services ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Abundance And Diversity ◽  
Aichi Biodiversity Targets ◽  
Taxonomic Groups

Aiming to reduce the losses of biodiversity and the degradation of associated ecosystem services, the United Nations established the 2011-2020 period as the UN Decade on Biodiversity. During this period, the countries involved compromised on implementing the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity, including the Aichi Biodiversity Targets. The argument is that biological diversity underpins the functioning of ecosystems and the provision of services essential to human well-being, further contributing to economic development and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. The purpose of this review is to present results of research and academic works carried out over several years in the Douro Demarcated Region in the field of functional agrobiodiversity, understood as the part of ecosystem biodiversity that provides ecosystem services, which support sustainable agricultural production and can also bring benefits to the regional and global environment and to society as a whole. Such studies specifically aimed to contribute knowledge about the diversity of arthropods in the vineyard ecosystem and about practices that can increase their abundance, diversity and services provided. In this context, a general characterization of the arthropod community identified in the vineyard ecosystem is conducted, complemented by information on the role played, by the taxonomic groups identified. The importance of increasing arthropod populations, the vegetation of vineyard slopes, and the existence of shrubs, forests and hedgerows next to the vineyards is discussed. The fundamental role of soil management practices is also referred, namely that of ground cover and the application of compost from winery wastes in the abundance and diversity of these organisms populations. Finally, bearing in mind the importance of the use of this information by vine growers, the measures taken for its dissemination are also presented.

Challenges in the development of the geodiversity concept

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Brilha
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Natural Capital ◽  
Well Being ◽  
University Education ◽  
Conservation Areas ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessments ◽  
Conservation Actions ◽  
Nature Play ◽  
Development Goals

<p>The concept of geodiversity, despite being in use for almost 30 years, still has little impact on society. It is not easy to explain the reason for this dissociation, considering that the elements that constitute geodiversity are intrinsically part of nature, play an essential role in ecosystem services and, consequently, in human well-being.</p><p>During the last decade we have seen a great development in the interest of the geoscientific community in this subject, represented by the increase in the publication of papers and doctoral and master theses all over the world. One of the main challenges is now to transpose all this scientific knowledge into society. Obviously, theoretical and conceptual discussions about geodiversity are an integral part of science and must continue, but if we want that society recognizes the importance and value of geodiversity, we must be able to demonstrate clearly how geodiversity can help to solve some of the problems we face today.</p><p>Among other priorities, the geoscientific community has to be able to demonstrate in an structured way:</p><ul><li>The importance of geodiversity in implementing nature conservation actions and its direct relationship with biodiversity;</li> <li><span>The contribution of geodiversity for ecosystems restoration and its accounting as part of natural capital;</span></li> <li><span>The need to quantify the role of geodiversity in ecosystem services;</span></li> <li><span>The urgency of make environmental impact assessments including all possible effects that may affect geodiversity elements and processes;</span></li> <li><span>The importance of integrate the concept of geodiversity in pre-university education curricula;</span></li> <li><span>That the information and environmental interpretation provided to visitors of protected areas and other conservation areas should always include geodiversity.</span></li> </ul><p>Once the importance of geodiversity is fully recognized by policy-makers, managers, and the society in general, the fulfilment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals will be for sure closer than it is today.</p>

scholarly journals Contribution of Ecosystem Services to Achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals

Proceedings ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veidemane
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Water Ecosystems

The sustainable development goals (SDGs) for 2030 are established to address global challenges including environment and human well-being. The SDGs are interconnected and achievement of them requires consideration of the planet’s ecosystems and resources - land, water and air. Ecosystem services (ES) approach has a high potential for better planning, policy and decision making. Understanding how different ecosystems (e.g., forests, rivers, wetlands, grasslands) contribute to the social and economic benefits is critical to ensure the long-term biodiversity protection and sustainable use of ecosystems. A conceptual framework linking biodiversity and ecosystem condition (its structure and functions), and ES to human well-being has been well-established in EU by so called MAES process (Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystem Services) lead by the European Commission. The framework is applied in recent research studies and projects, as well as national MAES processes. Various methods are applied for MAES in terms to determine biophysical, economic and social values and to deliver integrated ecosystem assessment. Assessment of ES and trade off analysis shall provide a new perspective for land use planning and decision making at different administrative and spatial levels and in different sectoral policies. EU and national policies for instance on agriculture, fishery, forestry, climate should account the benefits provided by relevant ecosystems and to ensure that the values are not diminished but rather enhanced during the implementation of the policies. Terrestrial and water ecosystems are interconnected as land-based human activities creates pressure that impacts the conditions in water ecosystems and thus delivery of ES by rivers and lakes. For example, intensive agricultural land use produces food for people and income; however, the activity also most frequently causes problems with water quality and quantity in the catchment area and a loss of biodiversity. A risk of such trade-off shall be handled in policy development. Ecosystems also contributes to the resilience of communities by reducing the risk of natural hazards and mitigate adverse impacts. Regulating services such as flood control are substituting investments in flood protection ensured by forests, wetlands and grasslands instead of human built infrastructure. Appropriate land cover and land use shall serve as a basic flood protection measure. Natural processes are increasingly recognised to create new-type solutions that use and deploy the properties of natural ecosystems and their services in an “engineered” way. A wide range of measures called also as nature-based solutions provide another opportunity to work with nature towards global sustainability.

scholarly journals Introduction to Topic "towards the Legal Recognition and Governance of Ecosystem Services"

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 6
Author(s):  
Alejandro Iza
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Research Committee ◽  
Legal Recognition ◽  
Climate Regulation ◽  
Provision Of Services ◽  
Joint Workshop ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Legal Frameworks ◽  
Successful Event

On behalf of the IUCN Environmental Law Centre, the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law and the IUCN Commission on Environmental Law, I would like to introduce you to the topic of this Journal "Towards the legal recognition and governance of ecosystem services." First of all, I would like to thank the Co-Chairs of the Academy´s Research Committee and the Deputy Chair of the IUCN Commission on Environmental Law for this initiative and I am most happy to see that, throughout its organisation, collaboration between the three organisations has continued to grow. We organised our first joint-workshop in 2011 in Ghent, Belgium, just before the IUCN Academy´s 8th annual colloquium. The feeling that we all had as the successful event came to an end, was that this collaboration should be repeated on an annual basis. The 2011 Mpekweni Workshop revolved around legal frameworks for the recognition and governance of ecosystem services. Maintaining healthy ecosystems and the continuing provision of services such as water supply or climate regulation is key to ensuring present and future human livelihoods, the fulfillment of the Millennium Development Goals and for any form of poverty alleviation strategy.

scholarly journals Ecological dynamics of the almond floral microbiome in relation to crop management and pollination

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert N. Schaeffer ◽  
David W. Crowder ◽  
Javier Gutiérrez Illán ◽  
John J. Beck ◽  
Tadashi Fukami ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
List Type ◽  
Floral Tissue ◽  
Fungal Abundance ◽  
Orchard Management ◽  
Abundance And Diversity

AbstractCrop tissues harbor microbiomes that can affect host health and yield. However, processes driving microbiome assembly, and resulting effects on ecosystem services, remain poorly understood. This is particularly true of flowering crops that rely on pollinators for yield.We assessed effects of orchard management tactics and landscape context on the flower microbiome in almond, Prunus dulcis. Fourteen orchards (5 conventional, 4 organic, 5 habitat augmentation) were sampled at two bloom stages to characterize bacterial and fungal communities associated with floral tissues. The surveys were complemented by in vitro experiments to assess effects of arrival order and fungicides on nectar microbial communities, and effects of fungicides and microbes on honey bee foraging. Finally, a field trial was conducted to test effects of fungicides and microbes on pollination.As bloom progressed, bacterial and fungal abundance and diversity increased, across all floral tissue types and management strategies. The magnitude by which microbial abundance and diversity were affected varied, with host proximity to apiaries and orchard management having notable effects on bacteria and fungi, respectively.Experiments showed immigration history and fungicides affected the composition of nectar microbial communities, but only fungicides affected pollinator foraging through reduced nectar removal. Neither treatment affected pollination services.Synthesis and applications. Our results shed light on routes through which management practices can shape microbiota associated with flowers of a pollinator-dependent crop. With growing appreciation for the role of floral-associated microbes in affecting biotic interactions at the floral interface, understanding such drivers can potentially inform microbial-derived ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes, including pollination and biocontrol.

scholarly journals Global Importance of Indigenous and Local Communities’ Managed Lands: Building a Case for Stewardship Schemes

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (19) ◽  
pp. 7839
Author(s):  
Kamaljit K. Sangha
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Water Regulation ◽  
Coastal Marine ◽  
Mainstream Society

The role of Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) in sustainably using and managing natural resources is becoming broadly recognised within some international platforms (e.g., the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services). However, the support for IPLCs to continue managing their land is either completely absent or scanty. This paper presents the value of only four ecosystem services, estimated at USD 1.16 trillion per year, that are delivered from IPLCs managed lands alone (excluding coastal, marine, and other resources). These four ecosystem services (ES), i.e., carbon sequestration, biocontrol, air, and water regulation offer offsite benefits to the wider regional and global populations yet without returns to the IPLCs themselves except for facing more climate and natural disaster-related challenges mainly caused by the actions of mainstream society. It further outlines key challenges and advocates for establishing stewardship mechanisms to promote and support IPLCs land management practices that will effectively help in protecting and preserving biodiversity, water, and other natural resources on Earth to sustain and enhance human well-being.

Using information on ecosystem services in Nepal to inform biodiversity conservation and local to national decision-making

Oryx ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ishana Thapa ◽  
Stuart H. M. Butchart ◽  
Hum Gurung ◽  
Alison J. Stattersfield ◽  
David H. L. Thomas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
National Level ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Trade Offs

AbstractPolicy-makers are paying increasing attention to ecosystem services, given improved understanding that they underpin human well-being, and following their integration within the Aichi Targets of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Decision-makers need information on trends in biodiversity and ecosystem services but tools for assessing the latter are often expensive, technically demanding and ignore the local context. In this study we used a simple, replicable participatory assessment approach to gather information on ecosystem services at important sites for biodiversity conservation in Nepal, to feed into local and national decision-making. Through engaging knowledgeable stakeholders we assessed the services delivered by Nepal's 27 Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas, the pressures affecting services through impacts on land cover and land use, and the consequences of these for people. We found that these sites provide ecosystem services to beneficiaries at a range of scales but under current pressures the balance of services will change, with local communities incurring the greatest costs. The approach provided valuable information on the trade-offs between ecosystem services and between different people, developed the capacity of civil society to engage in decision-making at the local and national level, and provided digestible information for Nepal's government. We recommend this approach in other countries where there is a lack of information on the likely impacts of land-use change on ecosystem services and people.

scholarly journals Economic Value of Cultural Ecosystem Services in India: A Review

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muniyandi Balasubramanian
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Future Generation ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Cultural Ecosystem Services ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Cultural Ecosystem Service

Cultural ecosystem service (CES) is one of the important components in the ecosystem services framework which was designed by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Cultural ecosystems services are the non-material benefits provides by various ecosystem services such as forest, wetland etc. CES is the vital contribution in the human well-being such as good physical and mental health. Further, CES is the major role in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for health and well-being. CES is still less primary investigation the economic literature especially in the Indian context link with the sustainable ecosystem management. Therefore, economic value of cultural ecosystem services is needed to study in the local level aspects. In the above mentioned context, this chapter is present the economic value of cultural ecosystem services in India. The main policy implication of the study is to design entry fee for many protected areas such as wildlife sanctuary, national park as well as sustainable environmental management for the present and future generation.

scholarly journals Current overview and potential applications of the soil ecosystem services approach in Brazil

2016 ◽  
Vol 51 (9) ◽  
pp. 1021-1038 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Bardy Prado ◽  
Elaine Cristina Cardoso Fidalgo ◽  
Joyce Maria Guimarães Monteiro ◽  
Azeneth Eufrausino Schuler ◽  
Fabiane Machado Vezzani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Public Policies ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Soil Ecosystem ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approaches ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Soil Ecosystem Services ◽  
Land Use And Management

Abstract Human pressure on ecosystems has undesirable impacts on human well-being. After the Millennium Project, much interdisciplinary research has been developed worldwide aiming to understand these impacts on ecosystem flows and processes, and to learn about the costs and the benefits of ecosystem services for production. Soil provides many ecosystem services, since its multi-functionality is the basis for food production, water filtration, nutrient cycling, and other goods essential to life. This article presents the main concepts and classifications of soil ecosystem services and of its functions; the indicators and the methods for assessment, modeling, and valuation of ecosystem services; some recent applications to assess and evaluate impacts of agricultural management practices on soil ecosystem services; as well as challenges and opportunities for research and for development of public policies related to agro-environmental sustainability in Brazil. Although the role of soil in supplying ecosystem services is yet undervalued, scientists are gradually recognizing soil processes and functions as fundamental to assess ecosystem services and the effects of land use and management on them. Interdisciplinary approaches to integrate science and public policies are necessary to build governance based on ecosystem services.

Sustainable Development, Ocean Governance and Marine Protected Areas

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-141
Author(s):  
David Freestone
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Ocean Governance ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Aichi Biodiversity Targets

By 2020, at least ten percent of the global oceans should be subject to area-based protection according to the target agreed by the parties to the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity in 2010 (Aichi Biodiversity Targets) and reiterated in 2015 Sustainable Development Goal 14.5. This paper looks at the Sustainable Development Goals and the evolution of the concept of Sustainable Development, distinguishing it from international environmental law. Then it looks at the way in which the goals relate to ocean governance and the current lacunae in the system established by the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention and the negotiations within the UN to address the issue of the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in area beyond national jurisdiction. In particular, it looks at the sectoral approaches to area-based protection in areas beyond national jurisdiction, where currently iucn reports that only 1.18% is protected.

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