scholarly journals Enabling Green and Blue Infrastructure to Improve Contributions to Human Well-Being and Equity in Urban Systems

BioScience ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 69 (7) ◽  
pp. 566-574 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Andersson ◽  
Johannes Langemeyer ◽  
Sara Borgström ◽  
Timon McPhearson ◽  
Dagmar Haase ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Rapid Change ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Urban Systems ◽  
Dynamic Interactions ◽  
Technological Factors ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Variable Distribution

AbstractThe circumstances under which different ecosystem service benefits can be realized differ. The benefits tend to be coproduced and to be enabled by multiple interacting social, ecological, and technological factors, which is particularly evident in cities. As many cities are undergoing rapid change, these factors need to be better understood and accounted for, especially for those most in need of benefits. We propose a framework of three systemic filters that affect the flow of ecosystem service benefits: the interactions among green, blue, and built infrastructures; the regulatory power and governance of institutions; and people's individual and shared perceptions and values. We argue that more fully connecting green and blue infrastructure to its urban systems context and highlighting dynamic interactions among the three filters are key to understanding how and why ecosystem services have variable distribution, continuing inequities in who benefits, and the long-term resilience of the flows of benefits.

Ecosystem services

2011 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 575-594 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion B. Potschin ◽  
Roy H. Haines-Young
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Natural Capital ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Physical Geography ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Puzzle Solving ◽  
Emerging Issues ◽  
Stocks And Flows ◽  
Change Impact

The ‘ecosystem service’ debate has taken on many features of a classic Kuhnian paradigm. It challenges conventional wisdoms about conservation and the value of nature, and is driven as much by political agendas as scientific ones. In this paper we review some current and emerging issues arising in relation to the analysis and assessment of ecosystem services, and in particular emphasize the need for physical geographers to find new ways of characterizing the structure and dynamics of service providing units. If robust and relevant valuations are to be made of the contribution that natural capital makes to human well-being, then we need a deeper understanding of the way in which the drivers of change impact on the marginal outputs of ecosystem services. A better understanding of the trade-offs that need to be considered when dealing with multifunctional ecosystems is also required. Future developments must include methods for describing and tracking the stocks and flows that characterize natural capital. This will support valuation of the benefits estimation of the level of reinvestment that society must make in this natural capital base if it is to be sustained. We argue that if the ecosystem service concept is to be used seriously as a framework for policy and management then the biophysical sciences generally, and physical geography in particular, must go beyond the uncritical ‘puzzle solving’ that characterizes recent work. A geographical perspective can provide important new, critical insights into the place-based approaches to ecosystem assessment that are now emerging.

scholarly journals Delayed behavioural shifts undermine the sustainability of social–ecological systems

2017 ◽  
Vol 284 (1868) ◽  
pp. 20171192 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.-S. Lafuite ◽  
C. de Mazancourt ◽  
M. Loreau
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Sustainable Consumption ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Habitat Destruction ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Ecological Feedbacks ◽  
Mixed Equilibria

Natural habitat destruction and fragmentation generate a time-delayed loss of species and associated ecosystem services. As social–ecological systems (SESs) depend on a range of ecosystem services, lagged ecological dynamics may affect their long-term sustainability. Here, we investigate the role of consumption changes for sustainability, under a time-delayed ecological feedback on agricultural production. We use a stylized model that couples the dynamics of biodiversity, technology, human demography and compliance with a social norm prescribing sustainable consumption. Compliance with the sustainable norm reduces both the consumption footprint and the vulnerability of SESs to transient overshoot-and-collapse population crises. We show that the timing and interaction between social, demographic and ecological feedbacks govern the transient and long-term dynamics of the system. A sufficient level of social pressure (e.g. disapproval) applied on the unsustainable consumers leads to the stable coexistence of unsustainable and sustainable or mixed equilibria, where both defectors and conformers coexist. Under bistability conditions, increasing extinction debts reduces the resilience of the system, thus favouring abrupt regime shifts towards unsustainable pathways. Given recent evidence of large extinction debts, such results call for farsightedness and a better understanding of time delays when studying the sustainability of coupled SESs.

scholarly journals Understanding the relationships between ecosystem services and associated social-ecological drivers in a karst region: A case study of Guizhou Province, China

2020 ◽  
pp. 030913332093352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sijing Qiu ◽  
Jian Peng ◽  
Jianquan Dong ◽  
Xiaoyu Wang ◽  
Zihan Ding ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Socioeconomic Factors ◽  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Ecological Factors ◽  
Water Yield ◽  
Karst Region ◽  
Human Society ◽  
Grain Production ◽  
Karst Landscape ◽  
Social Ecological

Understanding the relationships among multiple ecosystem services could improve the landscape capacity to provide benefits to human society. However, the underlying mechanisms shaping ecosystem services relationships are still unclear although some studies have been conducted to explore how natural and socioeconomic factors influence the relationships among ecosystem services. In this study, the karst landscape in southwestern China, a vulnerable system with intensive human activities, was focused on, aiming to explore relationships between ecosystem services and associated social and ecological factors. The results showed that the distribution of eight individual ecosystem services were spatially heterogeneous and clustered based on the characteristics of the karst landscape. The relationships between provisioning services and regulating services, such as grain production and net primary productivity, as well as water yield and soil retention, were quite different in high karst coverage regions and low karst coverage regions. Among five ecosystem service bundles identified, ecosystem services in the urban development bundle were mainly determined by socioeconomic factors, while in the other four bundles of multifunction, grain production, habitat conservation, and carbon sequestration, ecosystem services were dominated by ecological factors. However, socioeconomic factors (i.e. population density and night-time light intensity) appeared to explain the overall ecosystem service delivery more than karst terrain. This study provided insights for sustainable ecosystem management in a vulnerable karst region through exploring social-ecological factors of the relationships among ecosystem services.

scholarly journals The Framework of Ecosystem Services for Economic Valuation Purposes: A Review

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 434-449
Author(s):  
Nguyen Minh Duc
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Resource Management ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Natural Resource Management ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Economic Valuation ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Past

Although humans need ecosystems and ecosystem services for their survival and well-being, most of the global ecosystems and the services that they provide have declined and/or degraded rapidly over the past few decades. In order to find the ways to sustainably use natural resources, substantial efforts have been made to measure and value the ecosystem services. The term ‘ecosystem service’ was interpreted in different ways in the literature. For making correct decisions in natural resource management, a consistent way of defining and classifying ecosystem services is needed for valuation purposes. This paper argued for the need to divide ecosystem services into intermediate and final services.

scholarly journals Urban expansion in the Atlantic Forest: applying the Nature Futures Framework to develop a conceptual model and future scenarios

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (suppl 1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafael Cavalcanti Lembi ◽  
Cecilia Cronemberger ◽  
Caroline Picharillo ◽  
Sheina Koffler ◽  
Pedro H. Albuquerque Sena ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Conceptual Model ◽  
Atlantic Forest ◽  
Urban Expansion ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Integrative Approach ◽  
Natural Ecosystems ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
The Impact

Abstract: The Atlantic Forest is an important hotspot of biodiversity and ecosystem services that contributes to the well-being of its 125 million human inhabitants, about three quarters of the Brazilian population. In the coming decades, forecasts show that urban areas in the Atlantic Forest will grow at the expense of natural ecosystems, leading to increasing pressure on biodiversity and ecosystem services. We used the Nature Futures Framework (NFF) for envisioning positive scenarios for cities in the Atlantic Forest. First, we developed a conceptual model based on the Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) approach to describe consequences of urban growth for the three NFF perspectives: Nature for Society, Nature for Nature and Nature as Culture. Second, we proposed scenario storylines that encompass multiple social-ecological values of nature and could be used by policy makers to plan desirable futures for the Atlantic Forest. Then, we discussed the impact of distinct policies on these values, identifying the different ways in which the management of urban green and blue spaces, natural ecosystems, and urban densities can lead to different social-ecological outcomes. We further detail the complexity, trade-offs, and synergies regarding city development, nature conservation, and human well-being in this tropical hotspot. Applying NFF can contribute to the ongoing debate regarding urban sustainability, by providing an interdisciplinary and integrative approach that explicitly incorporates multiple values of nature and the visualization of positive futures.

Creating Wild Capital from the Ecosystem Services Model

Wild Capital ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 12-37
Author(s):  
Barbara K. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Natural Capital ◽  
Endangered Species Act ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Opportunity Costs ◽  
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
A Value

By failing to assign nature value in our current Anthropocene, the opportunity costs of diminishing biodiversity are not recognized in the marketplace, leading to significant negative consequences for both nature and humanity. Polluting water, destroying habitats, or exterminating species should each lessen nature’s value, but if nature has never been assigned a value, that loss is not recognized and development becomes the default. The words “wild capital” remind us that nature should be viewed as an asset like any other, and that in doing so we are better equipped to appreciate its long-term worth. Since the ecosystem services model (ES) ties together the ecological, social, and economic needs of human well-being, it is well situated to assign nature value and from that make a case for nature as natural capital. To assist in policy decisions, ES has offered a path based on the language of economics, making it appealing to economists, while to conservationists, it has turned an argument about the negative effects of development on wildlife into a more fruitful dialogue about how beneficial conservation is for human well-being. ES is also compatible with efforts at sustainability and the goals of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.

scholarly journals Recreational and Nature-Based Tourism as a Cultural Ecosystem Service. Assessment and Mapping in a Rural-Urban Gradient of Central Spain

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 343
Author(s):  
Cecilia Arnaiz-Schmitz ◽  
Cristina Herrero-Jáuregui ◽  
María F. Schmitz
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Outdoor Recreation ◽  
Local Development ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Landscape Conservation ◽  
Urban Gradient ◽  
Social Ecological

Land management focused from the social-ecological perspective of ecosystem services should consider cultural services in decision-making processes. Nature-based tourism offers a great potential for landscape conservation, local development and the well-being of human populations. However, the subjectivity of recreational ecosystem services has meant a clear impediment to assessing and mapping them. In this study, an integrated numerical spatial method is developed, which quantifies the supply and demand of recreational ecosystem services and allows mapping their spatial correspondence along a rural-urban gradient. The procedure also allows quantifying the influence of the landscape structure and the presence of protected areas on the degree of coupling between supply of recreational ecosystem services and demand for outdoor recreation and nature-based tourism and reveals that protected areas are hotspots of recreational ecosystem services. The results obtained highlight the usefulness of the methodological procedure developed as a tool for sustainable land planning and management from an integrative social-ecological approach.

scholarly journals Examining Linkages among Livelihood Strategies, Ecosystem Services, and Social Well-Being to Improve National Park Management

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 823
Author(s):  
Siyuan He ◽  
Louise Gallagher ◽  
Qingwen Min
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
National Park ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Livelihood Strategies ◽  
Ecological System ◽  
Sustainable Livelihood ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
The Impact

This research examines perceptions of ecosystem services (ES) and social well-being in the Wuyishan National Park, China. This study analyses the importance of and linkages between them based on the impact of new designation of protected areas on this social-ecological system. Realisation of rural well-being is critical to park-people relations in populated protected areas, and effective resolution is needed to achieve positive conservation outcomes. We conducted 372 structured interviews with community members with different livelihood strategies. Key findings from the research include: (1) the importance of provisioning (e.g., tea, rice, timber) and cultural ES (e.g., local culture, eco-tourism) is related to both current livelihood necessity and future development pursuit. (2) The perceived material well-being is higher than spiritual well-being, and high social well-being is closely related to high-income groups and those that think highly of cultural services, i.e., those engaged in non-agricultural activities (e.g., tourism) and tea cultivation. (3) Cultural values are better preserved in tea and rice cultivation and tourism, but in general, they are not incorporated to improve social well-being. The results suggest that Protected area (PA) management of local communities must seek cultural valorisation for differentiated livelihood strategies for rural people’s sustainable livelihood and stability of the social-ecological system.

scholarly journals Land productivity dynamics in and around protected areas globally from 1999 to 2013

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Begoña de la Fuente ◽  
Mélanie Weynants ◽  
Bastian Bertzky ◽  
Giacomo Delli ◽  
Andrea Mandrici ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Land Degradation ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Active Management ◽  
Total Biomass ◽  
Productive Capacity ◽  
Land Productivity ◽  
Productivity Dynamics

AbstractTracking changes in total biomass production or land productivity is an essential part of monitoring land transformations and long-term alterations of the health and productive capacity of land that are typically associated with land degradation. Persistent declines in land productivity impact many terrestrial ecosystem services that form the basis for sustainable livelihoods of human communities. Protected areas (PAs) are a key strategy in global efforts to conserve biodiversity and ecosystem services that are critical for human well-being, and cover about 15% of the land worldwide. Here we globally assess the trends in land productivity in PAs of at least 10 km2 and in their unprotected surroundings (10 km buffers) from 1999 to 2013. We quantify the percentage of the protected and unprotected land that shows stable, increasing or decreasing trends in land productivity, quantified as long-term (15 year) changes in above-ground biomass derived from satellite-based observations with a spatial resolution of 1 km. We find that 44% of the land in PAs globally has retained the productivity at stable levels from 1999 to 2013, compared to 42% of stable productivity in the unprotected land around PAs. Persistent increases in productivity are more common in the unprotected lands around PAs (32%) than within PAs (18%) globally, which may be related to more active management and vegetation cover changes in some of these unprotected lands. About 14% of the protected land and 12% of the unprotected land around PAs has experienced declines in land productivity from 1999 to 2013 globally. Oceania has the highest percentage of land with stable productivity in PAs (57%) followed by Asia (52%). Europe is the continent with the lowest percentage of land with stable productivity levels in PAs (38%) and with the largest share of protected land with increasing land productivity (32%), which may be related to the high population density and share of agricultural land within PAs as well as to rural land abandonment processes in many regions of Europe. In conclusion, we provide a relevant indicator and assessment of land productivity dynamics that contributes to characterise the state, pressures and changes in and around protected areas globally. Further research may focus on more detailed analyses to disentangle the relative contribution of specific drivers (from climate change to land use change) and their interaction with land productivity dynamics and potential land degradation in different regions of the world.

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