Blind spots in ecosystem services research and implementation

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.

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Spatiotemporal pattern of the trade-offs and synergies of ecosystem services after Grain for Green Program: a case study of the Loess Plateau, China

Environmental Science and Pollution Research ◽

10.1007/s11356-020-09060-0 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 27 (24) ◽

pp. 30020-30033

Author(s):

Juan He ◽

Xueyi Shi ◽

Yangjun Fu ◽

Ye Yuan

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Loess Plateau ◽

Spatiotemporal Pattern ◽

The Loess Plateau ◽

Grain For Green ◽

Grain For Green Program ◽

Trade Offs

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Exploring the Use of Ecosystem Services Conceptual Models to Account for the Benefits of Public Lands: An Example from National Forest Planning in the United States

Forests ◽

10.3390/f12030267 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (3) ◽

pp. 267

Author(s):

Lydia Olander ◽

Katie Warnell ◽

Travis Warziniack ◽

Zoe Ghali ◽

Chris Miller ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Ecosystem Service ◽

Management Strategies ◽

Public Lands ◽

The United States ◽

Forest Planning ◽

National Forest ◽

Planning Team ◽

National Forest Planning

A shared understanding of the benefits and tradeoffs to people from alternative land management strategies is critical to successful decision-making for managing public lands and fostering shared stewardship. This study describes an approach for identifying and monitoring the types of resource benefits and tradeoffs considered in National Forest planning in the United States under the 2012 Planning Rule and demonstrates the use of tools for conceptualizing the production of ecosystem services and benefits from alternative land management strategies. Efforts to apply these tools through workshops and engagement exercises provide opportunities to explore and highlight measures, indicators, and data sources for characterizing benefits and tradeoffs in collaborative environments involving interdisciplinary planning teams. Conceptual modeling tools are applied to a case study examining the social and economic benefits of recreation on the Ashley National Forest. The case study illustrates how these types of tools facilitate dialog for planning teams to discuss alternatives and key ecosystem service outcomes, create easy to interpret visuals that map details in plans, and provide a basis for selecting ecosystem service (socio-economic) metrics. These metrics can be used to enhance environmental impact analysis, and help satisfy the goals of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the 2012 Planning Rule, and shared stewardship initiatives. The systematic consideration of ecosystem services outcomes and metrics supported by this approach enhanced dialog between members of the Forest planning team, allowed for a more transparent process in identification of key linkages and outcomes, and identified impacts and outcomes that may not have been apparent to the sociologist who is lacking the resource specific expertise of these participants. As a result, the use of the Ecosystem Service Conceptual Model (ESCM) process may result in reduced time for internal reviews and greater comprehension of anticipated outcomes and impacts of proposed management in the plan revision Environmental Impact Statement amongst the planning team.

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Decision Support for the (Inter-)Basin Management of Water Resources Using Integrated Hydro-Economic Modeling

Hydrology ◽

10.3390/hydrology8010042 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 42

Author(s):

Gerald Norbert Souza da Silva ◽

Márcia Maria Guedes Alcoforado de Moraes

Keyword(s):

Decision Support ◽

Water Resources ◽

Water Allocation ◽

Hydrological Modeling ◽

Well Being ◽

Water Transfer ◽

Economic Modeling ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Study Results

The development of adequate modeling at the basin level to establish public policies has an important role in managing water resources. Hydro-economic models can measure the economic effects of structural and non-structural measures, land and water management, ecosystem services and development needs. Motivated by the need of improving water allocation using economic criteria, in this study, a Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) with a hydro-economic optimization model (HEAL system) was developed and used for the identification and analysis of an optimal economic allocation of water resources in a case study: the sub-middle basin of the São Francisco River in Brazil. The developed SDSS (HEAL system) made the economically optimum allocation available to analyze water allocation conflicts and trade-offs. With the aim of providing a tool for integrated economic-hydrological modeling, not only for researchers but also for decision-makers and stakeholders, the HEAL system can support decision-making on the design of regulatory and economic management instruments in practice. The case study results showed, for example, that the marginal benefit function obtained for inter-basin water transfer, can contribute for supporting the design of water pricing and water transfer decisions, during periods of water scarcity, for the well-being in both basins.

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How Do Trade-Offs and Synergies between Ecosystem Services Change in the Long Period? The Case Study of Uxin, Inner Mongolia, China

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11216041 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (21) ◽

pp. 6041 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Zhang ◽

Li ◽

Buyantuev ◽

Bao ◽

Zhang

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Inner Mongolia ◽

Stepwise Regression ◽

Driving Forces ◽

Extended Period ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Development And Utilization ◽

Long Term Trends

Ecosystem services management should often expect to deal with non-linearities due to trade-offs and synergies between ecosystem services (ES). Therefore, it is important to analyze long-term trends in ES development and utilization to understand their responses to climate change and intensification of human activities. In this paper, the region of Uxin in Inner Mongolia, China, was chosen as a case study area to describe the spatial distribution and trends of 5 ES indicators. Changes in relationships between ES and driving forces of dynamics of ES relationships were analyzed for the period 1979–2016 using a stepwise regression. We found that: the magnitude and directions in ES relationships changed during this extended period; those changes are influenced by climate factors, land use change, technological progress, and population growth.

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Is ecosystem service research used by decision-makers? A case study of the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia

Landscape Ecology ◽

10.1007/s10980-014-0021-3 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 29 (8) ◽

pp. 1447-1460 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Darla Hatton MacDonald ◽

Rosalind H. Bark ◽

Anthea Coggan

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Service ◽

Decision Makers ◽

Service Research ◽

Murray Darling Basin

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Response and multiscenario simulation of trade-offs/synergies among ecosystem services to the Grain to Green Program: a case study of the Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomeration, China

Environmental Science and Pollution Research ◽

10.1007/s11356-021-18336-y ◽

2022 ◽

Author(s):

Tiantian Chen ◽

Li Peng ◽

Qiang Wang

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Urban Agglomeration ◽

Trade Offs

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Anthropogenic Modifications and River Ecosystem Services: A Landscape Perspective

Water ◽

10.3390/w12102706 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (10) ◽

pp. 2706 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Anjana Ekka ◽

Saket Pande ◽

Yong Jiang ◽

Pieter van der Zaag

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Ecosystem Services ◽

Ecosystem Service ◽

Surface Modifications ◽

Water Transfer ◽

Service Research ◽

Sand Mining ◽

Land Use Pattern ◽

Basin Water ◽

Anthropogenic Modifications

The process of development has led to the modification of river landscapes. This has created imbalances between ecological, economic, and socio-cultural uses of ecosystem services (ESs), threatening the biotic and social integrity of rivers. Anthropogenic modifications influence river landscapes on multiple scales, which impact river-flow regimes and thus the production of river ESs. Despite progress in developing approaches for the valuation ecosystem goods and services, the ecosystem service research fails to acknowledge the biophysical structure of river landscape where ecosystem services are generated. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to synthesize the literature to develop the understanding of the biocomplexity of river landscapes and its importance in ecosystem service research. The review is limited to anthropogenic modifications from catchment to reach scale which includes inter-basin water transfer, change in land-use pattern, sub-surface modifications, groundwater abstractions, stream channelization, dams, and sand mining. Using 86 studies, the paper demonstrates that river ESs largely depend on the effective functioning of biophysical processes, which are linked with the geomorphological, ecological, and hydrological characteristics of river landscapes. Further, the ESs are linked with the economic, ecological, and socio-cultural aspect. The papers show that almost all anthropogenic modifications have positive impact on economic value of ESs. The ecological and socio-cultural values are negatively impacted by anthropogenic modifications such as dams, inter-basin water transfer, change in land-use pattern, and sand mining. The socio-cultural impact of ground-water abstraction and sub-surface modifications are not found in the literature examined here. Further, the ecological and socio-cultural aspects of ecosystem services from stakeholders’ perspective are discussed. We advocate for linking ecosystem service assessment with landscape signatures considering the socio-ecological interactions.

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Reviewing the interface of bioeconomy and ecosystem service research

AMBIO ◽

10.1007/s13280-020-01374-0 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 49 (12) ◽

pp. 1878-1896 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

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.

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Ecosystem services

Progress in Physical Geography Earth and Environment ◽

10.1177/0309133311423172 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 35 (5) ◽

pp. 575-594 ◽

Cited By ~ 241

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.

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