scholarly journals Herramientas científicas para la adaptación al cambio climático: Estimo y optimización de la eficiencia de provisión de los servicios de ecosistemas

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ferdinando Villa ◽  
Ken Bagstad ◽  
Gary Johnson ◽  
Brian Voigt

<div data-canvas-width="378.77664773160035">Adaptation to the consequences of climate change can depend on efficient use of ecosys tem services (ES), i.e. a better use of natural services through management of the way in which they are delivered to society. While much discussion focuses on reducing consumption and increasing production of services, a lack of scientific instruments has so far prevented other mechanisms to improve ecosystem services efficiency from being addressed systematically as an adaptation strategy. This paper describes new methodologies for assessing ecosystem services and quantifying their values to humans, highlighting the role of ecosystem service flow analysis in optimizing the efficiency of ES provision.</div>

World ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 374-378
Author(s):  
Farshad Amiraslani

Despite the paramount role of drylands in supporting people’s livelihoods and rendering ecosystem services, legislation on Environmental Impact Assessment has been introduced belatedly after several decades. By exemplifying Iran, the author proposes two main reasons for such a delayed action. First, drylands are misleadingly considered as barren lands where biodiversity is relatively low. In one classification, deserts are even categorized along with rocks. Second, the author emphasizes that drylands have been subjected to unprecedented changes due to the expansion of infrastructure and urbanization that started in the 1970s. These growing pressures have been beyond the ecological resilience of drylands and have not been monitored, assessed, and modified correctly. Further scrutiny regarding EIA undertakings in drylands and the way they can be improved is now needed.


2011 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 613-628 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Gómez-Baggethun ◽  
Manuel Ruiz-Pérez

In the last decade a growing number of environmental scientists have advocated economic valuation of ecosystem services as a pragmatic short-term strategy to communicate the value of biodiversity in a language that reflects dominant political and economic views. This paper revisits the controversy on economic valuation of ecosystem services in the light of two aspects that are often neglected in ongoing debates. First, the role of the particular institutional setup in which environmental policy and governance is currently embedded in shaping valuation outcomes. Second, the broader economic and sociopolitical processes that have governed the expansion of pricing into previously non-marketed areas of the environment. Our analysis suggests that within the institutional setup and broader sociopolitical processes that have become prominent since the late 1980s economic valuation is likely to pave the way for the commodification of ecosystem services with potentially counterproductive effects in the long term for biodiversity conservation and equity of access to ecosystem services benefits.


Author(s):  
Tuemay Tassew ◽  
Gebru Eyasu

The overall objective of the study was to assess and compare the role of gender in identifying and prioritizing the ecosystem services of trees in croplands. The research was carried out in croplands and species inventory in each cropland was conducted during field observations of every tree species by interviewing the local farmers and/or villagers. A questionnaire containing both close-ended and open-ended questions were designed to collect information about the role of gender in identifying and prioritizing the ecosystem services supplied by each tree species in croplands based on local communities. A total of 15 ecosystem services were identified from trees in croplands by both men and women. The number and type of ecosystem services identified by men and women were different. The differences could be due to different access and benefits from ecosystem services. As a result, their perception and knowledge of ecosystem services could also vary. After identification of each ecosystem service, a paired two-tail t-test was conducted whether the list of individual score values given to each local ecosystem services identified by both men and women were the same or not. The statistical result of the paired t-test showed that the score values of all the ecosystem services that are only identified by both men and women were not statistically significant. This can imply that the commonly identified ecosystem services have more or less similar importance to men and women. The findings in this research demonstrate that ecosystem services identification might cause gender biases on women due to neglected control and access to the ecosystem services of trees in croplands which in turn could have an impact on tree resource management, conservation, and development interventions. Therefore, integrating women in ecosystem service access and control can help build various experiences of gender and balanced institutions which can aid collective and effective tree and forest resource management and to maximize the benefits for all beneficiaries of the ecosystem services.


Author(s):  
Richard J.M. Katondo ◽  
Agnes M.S. Nyomora

Abstract This study examined the role of ecosystem services in enhancing climate change resilience of local communities in Ngarambe-Tapika Wildlife Management Area (WMA). The study aimed to identify forms of ecosystem services that can be gained from conservation of a WMA in relation to climate change adaptation. The design for this study adopted both a quantitative and a qualitative research approach. The study was undertaken in Ngarambe-Tapika WMA located between latitude 39° S and 39°30' S and between longitude 12°30' E and 13° E. It is located alongside the north-eastern border of the Selous Game Reserve. The area is also the home of local people whose lifestyles and livelihoods are intricately tied to the biological diversity and the functioning of this natural system. Purposive sampling was employed in selecting respondents for the household questionnaire, focus group discussions and key informant interviews. This study found that income obtained from Ngarambe-Tapika ecosystems by the communities were invested in material welfare and livelihoods that enhance resilience to climate change, primarily social services (54.9%) such as construction of houses, dispensaries and rehabilitation of the primary schools, and some of the money was spent on electricity provision for the community and energy for light and water pumps. Other benefits included employment (16.5%), protection from dangerous and problematic wildlife (14.3%) and petty business (14.3%). Generally, in Ngarambe-Tapika WMA there is a need to emphasize conservation awareness and extension programmes which advocate sustainable utilization of wildlife resources, and adopt an integrated approach of climate-smart agriculture to address the challenges related to food insecurity and climate change and variability. The latter would enable increased agricultural productivity to support equitable increases in farm incomes, improve food security and build resilience of agricultural and food security systems to adapt to climate change and variability.


2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 678-694 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela Perrotti ◽  
Sven Stremke

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.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Reiss ◽  
Barbara Bernard ◽  
Eckhard Jedicke

&lt;p&gt;The Rheingau is one of the 13 designated German wine-growing regions and produces the highest proportion of Riesling in Germany. The effects of climate change on air temperature and precipitation can already be seen in phenological observations. The result is an earlier beginning of the budding, flowering and maturing dates. If the date of the beginning of the wine harvest for Riesling in the period 1961-1990 was on October 17 on average, the time in the period 1981-2010 shifted five days to the beginning of the month to October 12. In 2019, the harvest yield was significantly lower than the average of the past ten wine harvests. A consequence of increasing drought and heat in summer, more sunburn damage, but also increasingly late frosts and hailstorms. An evaluation of climatic variables for the near future (2050) relevant to viticulture performed for the individual phenological phases indicated critical changes. An increasing probability of the occurrence of tropical nights (minimum air temperature &amp;#8805; 20&amp;#176;C) which would potentially endanger the character of the Riesling and an increased probability of humid conditions during maturation, with the danger of higher pest load is to be expected. Higher, increasing evaporation rates will further reduce the availability of soil water in the growing and especially in the maturing phase. A systematic and regional-specific adaptation strategy for the Rheingau is still lacking. In addition, viticulture produces monoculture agro-ecosystem and causes specific environmentally problems, like soil erosion, loss of biodiversity and nitrate leaching relating to surface and groundwater eutrophication. The KliA-Net project launched in the middle of 2019 to address these problems together with the effects of climate change and to find sustainable, nature-based and landscape-integrative solutions. The aim of the project is to establish local and, above all, inter-communal cooperation and to develop it into joint action for adaptation to climate change. The resulting impulses lead to measures to reduce climate damage under the premise of climate protection, sustainable management and the best possible provision of ecosystem services. We will present the overall theoretical framework and the integrated approach to demonstrate that the concept of Terroir reflects the interactions between people and nature. Here, the concept of Vinecology was adapted, as the integration of ecological and viticultural principles and practices; it contextualizes sustainable land management within the specific agricultural sector and serves as an entry point to biodiversity conservation in an economically and biologically important biome integrated in its adjacent landscape. Concrete measures for climate adaptation in viticulture compiled in a catalogue, which is divided into 5 areas of action: viticulture, soil protection, water, biodiversity and landscape. These represent the different vinecological scales (landscape, vineyard, plant). This catalogue forms the basis for the transfer of knowledge between science, winegrowers, communal politics, administration and NGOs. Furthermore, we also contextualize related ecosystem services to indicate benefits resulting from a concrete measure. We hypothesize, that this is a way to harmonize objectives in nature conservation, soil and water protection and sustainable economic development.&lt;/p&gt;


2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 557-578 ◽  
Author(s):  
MATTEO ROGGERO ◽  
ANDREAS THIEL

AbstractLocal administrations play a key role in delivering adaptation to climate change. To do so, they need to address collective action. Based on transaction costs economics, this paper explores the role of so-called integrative and segregative institutions in the way local administrations adapt – whether their different functional branches respond to climate change collectively rather than independently. Through a comparative analysis of 19 climate-sensitive local administrations in Germany, the paper shows that variation in the way local administrations structure their internal coordination determines the way they approach climate adaptation. Under integrative institutions, local administrations adjust prior coordination structures to accommodate adaptation. Under segregative institutions, administrations move towards integrative institutions in order to adapt, provided they already ‘feel’ climate change.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. e0259045
Author(s):  
Laura L. Figueroa ◽  
Audrey Maran ◽  
Shannon L. Pelini

Decomposition is an essential ecosystem service driven by interacting biotic and abiotic factors. Increasing temperatures due to climate change can affect soil moisture, soil fauna, and subsequently, decomposition. Understanding how projected climate change scenarios will affect decomposition is of vital importance for predicting nutrient cycling and ecosystem health. In this study, we experimentally addressed the question of how the early stages of decomposition would vary along a gradient of projected climate change scenarios. Given the importance of biodiversity for ecosystem service provisioning, we measured the effect of invertebrate exclusion on red maple (Acer rubrum) leaf litter breakdown along a temperature gradient using litterbags in warming chambers over a period of five weeks. Leaf litter decomposed more slowly in the warmer chambers and in the litterbag treatment that minimized invertebrate access. Moreover, increasing air temperature reduced invertebrate abundance and richness, and altered the community composition, independent of exclusion treatment. Using structural equation models, we were able to disentangle the effects of average air temperature on leaf litter loss, finding a direct negative effect of warming on the early stages of decomposition, independent of invertebrate abundance. This result indicates that not only can climate change affect the invertebrate community, but may also directly influence how the remaining organisms interact with their environment and their effectiveness at provisioning ecosystem services. Overall, our study highlights the role of biodiversity in maintaining ecosystem services and contributes to our understanding of how climate change could disrupt nutrient cycling.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofia Biffi ◽  
Pippa j Chapman ◽  
Richard P Grayson ◽  
Guy Ziv

&lt;p&gt;Hedgerows can provide a wide range of regulatory ecosystem services within improved grassland landscapes, such as soil function improvement, soil erosion reduction, biodiversity, water quality, and flood prevention and mitigation. Because of their beneficial effects, farmers are incentivised to retain their hedgerows and the planting of hedges has been encouraged in agri-environment schemes in Europe. Today, hedgerow planting it is one of the most popular practices adopted in the Countryside and Environmental Stewardships in England. The role of hedgerows in climate change mitigation has been increasingly recognized over the past decade, however, while other services have been more widely studies, less is known about hedges soil organic carbon (SOC) storage capacity. The Resilient Dairy Landscapes project aims at identifying strategies to reconcile dairy systems productivity and environment in the face of climate change, and with the Committee on Climate Change calling for a 30% - 40% increase in hedgerow length by 2050 in the UK, it is important to determine the role of hedgerows in meeting Net Zero targets. In this study, we estimate the extent of SOC stock beneath hedges and how it may vary with depth, hedge management and age, as well as how it&amp;#160;may compare&amp;#160;to SOC stock in adjacent agricultural fields. Thus, we measured SOC under 2-4 years old, 10 years old, 37 years old, and 40+ years old hedgerows at 10 cm intervals up to 50 cm of depth under 32 hedges located on dairy farms in Cumbria, UK. We found that the time since planting and the depth of samples play a crucial role in the amount of SOC stock stored underneath hedgerows when accounting for differences in soil type. Our results contribute measurable outcomes towards the estimate of targets for Net Zero 2050 and the extent of ecosystem services provision by hedgerow planting in agricultural landscapes. &amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giuliano Di Baldassarre ◽  
Elena Mondino ◽  
Elena Raffetti

&lt;p&gt;Epidemics, climate change and natural hazards are increasingly affecting humankind and are plausibly re-shaping the way in which people perceive multiple risks. Here we integrate epidemiological, policy, climate and natural hazard data with the results of two waves of nationwide surveys in Italy and Sweden. These were conducted in two different phases of the COVID-19 pandemic corresponding to low (August 2020) and high (November 2020) levels of infection rates. We investigate the interplay between negative impacts and public perceptions of multiple hazards including epidemics, floods, droughts, wildfires, earthquakes, and climate change. Similarities and differences between Italy and Sweden allow us to investigate the role of policy, media coverage, and direct experience in explaining public perceptions of multiple hazards. The way in which people think about epidemics, for example, is expected to have been substantially influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic that has severely affected both countries, but to which the Italian and Swedish authorities responded differently. Indeed, we found that epidemics are perceived as less likely and more impactful in Italy compared to Sweden. In addition, when multiple hazards are considered, people are more worried about risks related to recently occurred events. This is in line with the cognitive process known as availability heuristic: individuals assess the risk associated with a given hazard based on how easily it comes to their mind. Furthermore, for the majority of hazards, we found that in both countries women and younger people are generally more concerned. These new insights about the interplay between multiple hazards and public perceptions can inform the development of sustainable policies to reduce disaster risk while promoting public health.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;


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