scholarly journals Ecosystem services: a means to diffuse political land use decisions in peri-urban regions

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Williams ◽  
P. V. Martin
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Urban Regions ◽  
Land Use Decisions

scholarly journals Facilitating informed land-use decisions through the modelling of ecosystem service trade-offs

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Nicola Scott
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Diffusion Theory ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Land Utilization ◽  
Management Interventions ◽  
Land Use Decisions ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
The Impact

<p>Increasing global populations are placing increasing pressure on our natural systems, reducing their capacity to produce the ecosystem services that we rely upon for human wellbeing (World Bank, 2004).   Clarifying the implications of land-use decisions across the range of ecosystem services is fundamental to understanding the trade-offs inherent in land-use options. LUCI (the Land Utilization and Capability Indicator) is an emergent Geographic Information Systems (GIS) based framework developed to enable the mapping of several ecosystem services in a spatially explicit manner. This process enables a clearer understanding of the inter-dependencies between ecosystems and potential implications and trade-offs of management interventions across a range of services.   There is however, limited understanding of the impact, utility and credibility of such tools for land-use decision-makers, or of how they perceive the information conveyed. This Thesis considered the impact that presenting information on land-use trade-offs through LUCI had on land-owners at the farm scale.   This research supports previous findings that information alone does not drive behaviour (or decision-making) (Kollmuss, 2002, Fisk, 2011; Kennedy, 2010; Mackenzie-Mohr, 2000; Stern, 2000). Similarly, perceived credibility was not the main driver of decision-making nor is it necessarily rationally based. However without it, voluntary adoption of a new technology or tool is unlikely. Therefore, in seeking to diffuse tools, such as LUCI within a community, process design should take into account the social structures and the characteristics of targeted individuals within that community. The influence of temporal and context specific factors on decision-making provides both barriers and opportunities for technology diffusion.  The research findings propose that when integrating new tools and technologies within communities, consideration is given to using a suite of tools, mechanisms and theories in concert such as Community-Based Social Marketing (Mackenzie-Mohr, 2011) and Diffusion Theory (Rogers, 2003) to facilitate improved diffusion and uptake by communities.</p>

scholarly journals Assessing ecosystem services for informing land-use decisions: a problem-oriented approach

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Förster ◽  
Jan Barkmann ◽  
Roman Fricke ◽  
Stefan Hotes ◽  
Michael Kleyer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Land Use Decisions ◽  
Oriented Approach

scholarly journals Bringing Ecosystem Services into Economic Decision-Making: Land Use in the United Kingdom

Science ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 341 (6141) ◽  
pp. 45-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian J. Bateman ◽  
Amii R. Harwood ◽  
Georgina M. Mace ◽  
Robert T. Watson ◽  
David J. Abson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Species Diversity ◽  
Wild Species ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Land Use Decisions ◽  
Economic Decision Making ◽  
Wide Range

Landscapes generate a wide range of valuable ecosystem services, yet land-use decisions often ignore the value of these services. Using the example of the United Kingdom, we show the significance of land-use change not only for agricultural production but also for emissions and sequestration of greenhouse gases, open-access recreational visits, urban green space, and wild-species diversity. We use spatially explicit models in conjunction with valuation methods to estimate comparable economic values for these services, taking account of climate change impacts. We show that, although decisions that focus solely on agriculture reduce overall ecosystem service values, highly significant value increases can be obtained from targeted planning by incorporating all potential services and their values and that this approach also conserves wild-species diversity.

scholarly journals Impacts of land-use management on ecosystem services and biodiversity: an agent-based modelling approach

PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e2814 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Habib ◽  
Scott Heckbert ◽  
Jeffrey J. Wilson ◽  
Andrew J. K. Vandenbroeck ◽  
Jerome Cranston ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Timber Harvest ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Management Decisions ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Agent Based Modelling ◽  
Land Use Decisions ◽  
Modelling System

The science of ecosystem service (ES) mapping has become increasingly sophisticated over the past 20 years, and examples of successfully integrating ES into management decisions at national and sub-national scales have begun to emerge. However, increasing model sophistication and accuracy—and therefore complexity—may trade-off with ease of use and applicability to real-world decision-making contexts, so it is vital to incorporate the lessons learned from implementation efforts into new model development. Using successful implementation efforts for guidance, we developed an integrated ES modelling system to quantify several ecosystem services: forest timber production and carbon storage, water purification, pollination, and biodiversity. The system is designed to facilitate uptake of ES information into land-use decisions through three principal considerations: (1) using relatively straightforward models that can be readily deployed and interpreted without specialized expertise; (2) using an agent-based modelling framework to enable the incorporation of human decision-making directly within the model; and (3) integration among all ES models to simultaneously demonstrate the effects of a single land-use decision on multiple ES. We present an implementation of the model for a major watershed in Alberta, Canada, and highlight the system’s capabilities to assess a suite of ES under future management decisions, including forestry activities under two alternative timber harvest strategies, and through a scenario modelling analysis exploring different intensities of hypothetical agricultural expansion. By using a modular approach, the modelling system can be readily expanded to evaluate additional ecosystem services or management questions of interest in order to guide land-use decisions to achieve socioeconomic and environmental objectives.

scholarly journals Uncovering Ecosystem Services of Expropriated Land: The Case of Urban Expansion in Bahir Dar, Northwest Ethiopia

Land ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 395
Author(s):  
Wubante Fetene Admasu ◽  
Annelies Boerema ◽  
Jan Nyssen ◽  
Amare Sewnet Minale ◽  
Enyew Adgo Tsegaye ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Urban Expansion ◽  
Land Development ◽  
Northwest Ethiopia ◽  
Bahir Dar ◽  
Community Perception ◽  
Land Expropriation ◽  
Land Use Decisions ◽  
Land Use Types

In Ethiopia, urban expansion happens at high rates and results in land expropriations often at the cost of agriculture and forests. The process of urban expansion does not include assessment of ecosystem services (ES). This has been causing unintended environmental problems. This study aims to uncover ES of three most important land use types (cropland, agroforestry, and grassland) that are threatened by land expropriation for urban expansion in Bahir Dar City. The study applied a participatory approach using community perception and expert judgments (N = 108). Respondents were asked to locate their perceptions on the use of 35 different ES, and then to evaluate the potential of the land use. Respondents were shown to have the ability to differentiate between ES and land use in terms of their potential to deliver ES. The results show that agroforestry is expected to have a high relevant potential to deliver 31% of all ES, but cropland 20% and grassland 14%. Food, fodder, timber, firewood, fresh water, energy, compost, climate regulation, erosion prevention, and water purification and treatment were identified as the ten most important services. It is not only the provisioning services that are being supplied by the land use types which are expropriated for urbanization, but also regulating, supporting and cultural services. To ensure sustainable urban land development, we suggest the consideration of the use of ES and the potential of the land use to supply ES when making land use decisions, including land expropriation for urban expansion.

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