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Ecosystem Services

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ISSN (Print) 2212-0416
Published by Elsevier

[2556 journals]

Mapping provisioning ecosystem services at the local scale using data of varying spatial and temporal resolution
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 15 May 2013
  Source:Ecosystem Services
  Author(s): Marion Kandziora , Benjamin Burkhard , Felix Müller
  Spatial data on land use and land cover (LULC) are broadly available on different scales and are used widely for mapping ecosystem services as LULC and their changes impact on the provision of multiple ecosystem services. Here four spatial data sets were compared for their practicability as input data for the LULC based assessment method in the Bornhöved Lakes study area. The results for this 60km² study area are that more detailed land use information (ATKIS and a combined ATKIS/InVeKoS/Landsat data set) is preferred to CORINE land cover data due to the possibility of including spatial details (e.g. number of LULC classes and crop information) in the assessment of provisioning ecosystem services. The CORINE data set overestimated the supply of the two analyzed provisioning services crops and fodder in comparison to the combined data set which revealed information on the specific crops, making quantification with statistical information on yields easier. Spatial input data quality has an effect on the resulting provisioning service maps and quantifications of ecosystem services in the study area due to the identification/omission of ecosystem services, their extent and change. Consequently they also influence decision-making and the development of the ecosystem services concept in the future.
  
  PubDate: 2013-05-17T21:32:36Z
Trade-off analysis of ecosystem services in Eastern Europe
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 14 May 2013
  Source:Ecosystem Services
  Author(s): A. Ruijs , A. Wossink , M. Kortelainen , R. Alkemade , C.J.E. Schulp
  In this paper we assess trade-offs between ecosystem services in a spatially explicit manner. From a supply side perspective, we estimate opportunity costs, which reflect in monetary terms the trade-offs between ecosystem services due to a marginal land use change. These are based on estimation of the frontier function, which gives the feasible bundles of ecosystem services that can be generated. For this, a two-stage semi-parametric method is applied and spatial data are used on agricultural revenues, cultural services, carbon sequestration and biodiversity for 18 Central and Eastern European countries. Based on the estimates, we assess which regions are most suitable for expanding any of the ecosystem services. Where opportunity costs are low, a further expansion of any of the ecosystem services is cost-effective. If areas are targeted carefully, joint improvement of several ecosystem services can be reached. If carbon sequestration levels are to be increased, it is best to focus on areas already having high sequestration levels because opportunity costs of carbon sequestration decrease with increasing sequestration levels. For biodiversity and cultural services the pattern is less clear as low opportunity cost were found both in areas rich and poor with these services.
  
  PubDate: 2013-05-17T21:32:36Z
Mapping and modelling ecosystem services for science, policy and practice
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 11 May 2013
  Source:Ecosystem Services
  Author(s): Benjamin Burkhard , Neville Crossman , Stoyan Nedkov , Katalin Petz , Rob Alkemade
  
  PubDate: 2013-05-13T20:02:18Z
Institutional durability of payments for watershed ecosystem services: Lessons from two case studies from Colombia and Germany
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 12 May 2013
  Source:Ecosystem Services
  Author(s): Marcela Muñoz Escobar , Robert Hollaender , Camilo Pineda Weffer
  An institutional analysis of two PES cases (Colombia and Germany) is presented, applying the framework of the common institutional sustainability.
  
  PubDate: 2013-05-13T20:02:18Z
Payments for ecosystem services and rural development: Landowners' preferences and potential participation in western Mexico
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 8 May 2013
  Source:Ecosystem Services
  Author(s): Arturo Balderas Torres , Douglas C. MacMillan , Margaret Skutsch , Jon C. Lovett
  Incentive-based mechanisms can contribute to rural development and deliver environmental services, but need to be attractive to landowners and communities to ensure their participation. Here we study the views of landowners and agrarian communities (ejidos) from central Jalisco in Mexico to identify characteristics that payment for environmental services (PES) programs conserving/enhancing forest cover could include in their design. A choice experiment was applied to 161 landowners and ejido-landowners. Results show that importance and dependency on cash payments can decrease if interventions to promote local development through improved health and education services and generation of employment and productive projects are included. Responses indicate that communal forested areas in ejidos would be most likely to enroll into PES. In some cases grasslands could be afforested. Agroforestry practices providing other environmental services could also be implemented (e.g. windbreaks). Potential enrollment is lower in agricultural and peri-urban areas due to higher opportunity costs. Higher payments favor enrollment but may compromise the program's efficiency since aggregated cash-flow over long periods can exceed the present value of the land itself in some areas. Offering a mix of cash and non-cash benefits based on local developmental needs might be the best way to promote participation in PES.
  
  PubDate: 2013-05-09T20:11:17Z
Impact of multiple interacting financial incentives on land use change and the supply of ecosystem services
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 9 May 2013
  Source:Ecosystem Services
  Author(s): Brett Anthony Bryan , Neville David Crossman
  Multiple financial incentives are increasingly common for managing agro-ecosystems. We explored the impact of incentive interactions across multiple ecosystem services through their influence on land use change potential. Taking a spatial approach, we quantified the economic potential for land use change from agriculture to carbon monocultures and environmental plantings. We assessed 1875 scenarios—exhaustive combinations of five incentive price levels for four services (food and fiber, fresh water, carbon sequestration and habitat), and three cost settings. Incentive interactions had complex effects—characterized by synergies and tensions, non-linearity, dependencies, and thresholds. Tensions occurred between commodity price and carbon price in supplying food and fiber, carbon sequestration, fresh water, and indirectly, habitat services. Water price displayed synergies with commodity price, and tensions with carbon price in supplying fresh water services. For the supply of habitat services, a biodiversity price depended on either high carbon prices or low commodity prices. Interaction effects may reduce policy efficiency wherever multiple incentives encourage the supply of services from agro-ecosystems.
  
  PubDate: 2013-05-09T20:11:17Z
The five pillar EPPS framework for quantifying, mapping and managing ecosystem services
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 3 May 2013
  Source:Ecosystem Services
  Author(s): Olaf Bastian , Ralf-Uwe Syrbe , Matthias Rosenberg , Doreen Rahe , Karsten Grunewald
  This paper introduces an ecosystem services assessment framework with five pillars: ecosystem properties, potentials, services, benefits/values, and beneficiaries. In a case study in the district of Görlitz (Eastern Saxony, Germany), we present an exemplary application for two ecosystem services: crop food production and soil erosion regulation. The farmland of the district can produce a total of about 518,000t of crop food (rye) per year, depending on yield potential. Corrected for the mean price of the crop rye, this translates to a value of about 100 million € annually. At the same time, 606,000t of soil loss must be calculated per year, which corresponds to 36 million € in damages. If 7% of the farmland were to be transformed into grassland or forest, the provisioning service would sink by 37,000t of rye, for an income loss of approx. €7.4 million per year. On the other hand, soil erosion regulation would be enhanced and soil loss would be reduced by c. 20%, corresponding to on-site benefit of €7.1 million. Within a more intensively used partial study area (with dominating loess soils), the benefits of the erosion regulation service (€656,000) exceed the yield losses (€245,000) more than twice.
  
  PubDate: 2013-05-05T21:29:21Z
Mapping forest ecosystem services: From providing units to beneficiaries
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 29 April 2013
  Source:Ecosystem Services
  Author(s): Ana P. García-Nieto , Marina García-Llorente , Irene Iniesta-Arandia , Berta Martín-López
  Some of the main research questions in the assessment ecosystem services include how to integrate ecological and social information into the analysis and how to make it spatially explicit. We mapped six ecosystem services delivered by forests in the Sierra Nevada Mountains (south-east Spain) from the supply- to the demand-sides, taking into account the influence of protected areas on the capacity of supply services. Semi-structured interviews and geographical information system sources were used to map the supply-side, whereas 205 face-to-face questionnaires were distributed to assess and map the demand-side. Our results show the existence of consistent ecosystem service bundles in terms of both the supply- and demand-sides, particularly between erosion control–recreational hunting and between mushroom harvesting–nature tourism. We found a spatial scale mismatch for the erosion control, with its supply at the local scale and its demand at the regional–national scales, with implications at the institutional scale at which it should be managed. Consequently, mapping both the supply- and demand-sides is essential for environmental decision making because it can indicate where management interventions should be focused, either by defining high-priority areas for protection or defining the institutional scale at which these services should be managed.
  Graphical abstract Highlights
  
  PubDate: 2013-05-01T21:33:13Z
Estimation of water requirements by livestock in Europe
- Abstract: Publication date: Available online 10 April 2013
  Source:Ecosystem Services
  
  Ecosystem-based thinking can be more easily incorporated into policy and decision making if natural resources are better accounted for. The Blueprint to Safeguard Europe's Water aims to positively contribute to the European Union's Water Policy through a series of studies to assess the quantity and quality of this precious resource. An important part of that water balance is the accounting of water removed from rivers or aquifers by different sectorial needs. The map series presented in this short note shows the water requirements for the livestock sector in particular. These maps are calculated based on livestock density maps for 2005, normalized by the best available field data at continental scale. Water requirements are calculated for cattle, pigs, poultry and sheep and goats. A relationship using air temperature is inferred for the daily water requirements per livestock category. Daily average temperature maps are used in conjunction with the livestock density maps in order to create a temporal series of water requirements for the livestock sector in Europe. This map series is then ingested by the hydrological model along with other water requirements maps for other sectors in order to contribute to the efforts to quantify total water use in the EU.
  
  PubDate: 2013-04-11T20:10:05Z
Valuing forest ecosystem services: Case study of a forest reserve in Japan
- Abstract: Available online 28 March 2013
  Publication year: 2013
  Source:Ecosystem Services
  
  Forests ecosystems provide several intangible benefits which policy makers ignore since these values do not register in conventional markets or are difficult to measure. Drawing on results of a case study of a forest reserve in Japan, this paper suggests that the annual value of the ecosystem services provided by forests is not only worth millions of dollars, but also in per hectare terms much more than hitherto known. This value for the Oku Aizu forest reserve ranged US$ 1.427–1.482 billion or about US$ 17,016–17,671 per ha. If these are accounted for, then governments and societies faced with the development versus conservation dilemma can make more informed decisions and policies that will help conserve forests and the ecosystem services they provide, and thereby promote human well-being and sustainable development.
  Highlights ► This study assesses the economic value of forest ecosystem services in Japan. ► The study indicates these economic values to be worth millions of dollars. ► In per hectare terms these values are much higher than hitherto known. ► If these values are accounted for it will lead to better conservation outcomes.
  
  PubDate: 2013-03-29T22:31:53Z
Mapping ecosystem services' values: Current practice and future prospects
- Abstract: Available online 27 March 2013
  Publication year: 2013
  Source:Ecosystem Services
  
  Mapping of ecosystem services' (ESS) values means valuing ESS in monetary terms across a relatively large geographical area and assessing how values vary across space. Thereby, mapping of ESS values reveals additional information as compared to traditional site-specific ESS valuation, which is beneficial for designing land use policies for maintaining ESS supply. Since the well-known article by Costanza et al. (1997), who mapped global ESS values, the number of publications mapping ESS values has grown exponentially, with almost 60% being published after 2007. Within this paper, we analyse and review articles that map ESS values. Our findings show that methodologies, in particular how spatial variations of ESS values are estimated, their spatial scope, rational and ESS focus differ widely. Still, most case studies rely on relatively simplistic approaches using land use/cover data as a proxy for ESS supply and its values. However, a tendency exists towards more sophisticated methodologies using the ESS models and value functions, which integrate a variety of spatial variables and which are validated against primary data. Based on our findings, we identify current practices and developments in the mapping of EES values and provide guidelines and recommendations for future applications and research.
  Highlights ► We analyse articles that map ecosystem services (ESS) values. ► Findings show that methodologies, in particular how spatial variations of ESS values are estimated, and also their spatial scope, rational and ESS focus differ widely. ► We identify current practices and developments in the mapping of EES values and provide guidelines and recommendations for future applications and research.
  
  PubDate: 2013-03-29T22:31:53Z
Safeguarding ecosystem services and livelihoods: Understanding the impact of conservation strategies on benefit flows to society
- Abstract: Available online 19 March 2013
  Publication year: 2013
  Source:Ecosystem Services
  
  Society has always benefited from ecosystems through the provision of ecosystem services. To ensure a continuous flow of these benefits, different strategies aimed at safeguarding ecosystem services are proposed. In this paper we explore how biodiversity conservation measures, particularly protected areas, influence the flow of ecosystem services to different members of society. We highlight the impact of these measures on the poorer members of society because of their strong dependence on ecosystem services to sustain their livelihood. For the Democratic Republic of Congo we mapped five ecosystem services (food production, tourism, carbon, timber and fuel wood production) using spatial landscape indicators, within and outside protected areas, and identified their direct beneficiaries. This illustration was used to feed a round-table discussion on the impact of different conservation strategies on society, held with ecosystem services professionals during the 4th Ecosystem Service Partnership Conference in the Netherlands. The discussion highlighted the need for spatial methods to assess ecosystem service trade-offs, as well as the main challenges for conservation measures to contribute to both livelihood improvement and conservation gains. We argue that, ecosystem services maps can play a crucial role in understanding and managing the trade-offs in ecosystem service flows resulting from conservation strategies.
  Highlights ► Conservation actions can alter the flow of ecosystem services (ES). ► To support land management insight is needed which part of society profits of ES. ► For the DR of Congo we map five ES and assess the impact of protected areas on people. ► Spatial methods can be used to assess trade-offs among ES and beneficiaries. ► We report ES expert thoughts on impacts of conservation actions for livelihood gains.
  
  PubDate: 2013-03-21T22:48:31Z
Assessing and mapping global climate regulation service loss induced by Terrestrial Transport Infrastructure construction
- Abstract: Available online 21 March 2013
  Publication year: 2013
  Source:Ecosystem Services
  
  The purpose of this paper is to broaden the Terrestrial Transport Infrastructure (TTI) assessment process into the field of Ecosystem Services (ES), i.e., the benefits people derive from ecosystems. Taking into account ES in an ex ante assessment of public infrastructure projects is of critical importance for the improvement of transportation decision-making tools, such as Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Cost–Benefit Analysis (CBA). For EIA, the integration of an ES based approach opens the possibility of measuring a loss in ES supply (and its economic value); this provides a means of selecting among different possible pathways for the infrastructure. For CBA, since the ES loss induced by the selected pathway is expressed in monetary terms, it can be integrated as a standard social cost in the analysis, permitting a more efficient control of natural capital loss. We illustrate these points by assessing the loss of a global climate regulation service due to the soil tillage and sealing caused by a TTI construction, using the example of a high-speed rail in Western France. We select three optional routes among the proposed routes and analyse which route has the least impact on the global climate regulation service and its economic value.
  Highlights ► Terrestrial Transport Infrastructure impacts on ecosystem services are not assessed. ► This assessment may allow for a more efficient control of the natural capital loss. ► We value habitat destruction impact on carbon sequestration and storage services. ► We weigh three optional routes of a public project in Western France. ► The less damageable route is identified: the South route.
  
  PubDate: 2013-03-21T22:48:31Z
The role of Cloud Affected Forests (CAFs) on water inputs to dams
- Abstract: Available online 17 March 2013
  Publication year: 2013
  Source:Ecosystem Services
  
  Cloud Affected Forest (CAF) environments are among the most threatened forest ecosystems of the planet. Yet, they are responsible for the supply of stable clean water, through dams, to many human communities across the tropics. Payment for Watershed Services (PWS) schemes can play a key role to mitigate CAF degradation in dam watersheds. However, a thorough scientific understanding of the hydrological role of CAFs in achieving dam performance goals is paramount to ensure the correct implementation of such financial mechanisms. By creating the most detailed dam census across the global extent of CAFs (The King’s College London Tropical Database of Dams—KCL TDD) we explored the potential contribution of CAFs to water inputs to dams in order to inform implementation of regional PWS strategies. Results indicate that whilst CAFs cover only 4.4% of the tropical extent of dam watersheds they receive and filter almost 50% of the rainfall inputs over the same area. This remarkable finding reveals both, the vital role of CAFs in stable clean water supply to tropical dams, and the considerable opportunities to optimize the performance of dams by targeting the often limited resources to improved protection of CAFs in dam watersheds.
  Highlights ► We present the most detailed geo-referenced database of dams (KCL TDD), across the global extent of CAFs, with around 18,770 dams and associated watersheds. ► About 32% of tropical, and sub-tropical land from 23.5N to 35.5S, flows into a dam. ► 41% of the current extent of CAFs is found in the watersheds of dams. ► CAFs represent only 4.4% of all tropical and sub-tropical areas (from 23.5N to 35.5S) that drain to dams but filter more than a fifth of the surface water available to downstream dams within these latitudes.
  
  PubDate: 2013-03-17T21:14:07Z
What are PES? A review of definitions and an extension
- Abstract: Available online 13 March 2013
  Publication year: 2013
  Source:Ecosystem Services
  
  The term PES is often used to denote market incentives for the provision of public goods within the field of environmental and resource issues. In this context, PES translates into either ‘payments for environmental services’ or ‘payments for ecosystem services’—the terms that are not consistently defined in the literature and sometimes used as synonyms. Given the lack of coherent definitions, this note reviews current definitions of payments for ecosystem services and payments for environmental services entertained in the literature, discusses alternative meanings of environmental and ecosystem services in the PES context, and finally proposes a consistent definition. We argue that current definitions of PES found in the literature are insufficient to adequately describe the man-made nature of many environmental goods and services: that nature is ’produced’ through human intervention. Building upon the FAO's definition of environmental services, we propose a definition that regards environmental services as services provided through countryside management in a broader sense whilst produced either unintentionally or intentionally.
  Highlights ► The terms ecosystem services and environmental services are used interchangeably. ► Recent definitions do not distinguish between natural and man-made services. ► We define ecosystem services as services provided by nature. ► We define environmental services as services provided by humans. ► We thus propose that PES be understood as ‘payments for environmental services’.
  
  PubDate: 2013-03-13T22:37:31Z
A blueprint for mapping and modelling ecosystem services
- Abstract: Available online 7 March 2013
  Publication year: 2013
  Source:Ecosystem Services
  
  The inconsistency in methods to quantify and map ecosystem services challenges the development of robust values of ecosystem services in national accounts and broader policy and natural resource management decision-making. In this paper we develop and test a blueprint to give guidance on modelling and mapping ecosystem services. The primary purpose of this blueprint is to provide a template and checklist of information needed for those beginning an ecosystem service modelling and mapping study. A secondary purpose is to provide, over time, a database of completed blueprints that becomes a valuable information resource of methods and information used in previous modelling and mapping studies. We base our blueprint on a literature review, expert opinions (as part of a related workshop organised during the 5th ESP conference 2 2 〈http://www.espconference.org/previous_editions/80045/5/0/60〉. ) and critical assessment of existing techniques used to model and map ecosystem services. While any study that models and maps ecosystem services will have its unique characteristics and will be largely driven by data and model availability, a tool such as the blueprint presented here will reduce the uncertainty associated with quantifying ecosystem services and thereby help to close the gap between theory and practice.
  Highlights ► The approaches to mapping and modelling ecosystem services are many and varied. ► A standard approach to mapping and modelling ecosystem services is needed. ► We present a blueprint that contains a set of standard attributes for recording ecosystem service mapping studies. ► Our blueprint provides a template of information needed for modelling and mapping ecosystem services. ► Our blueprint provides, over time, a database of completed blueprints.
  
  PubDate: 2013-03-09T21:09:44Z
Editorial Board
- Abstract: March 2013
  Publication year: 2013
  Source:Ecosystem Services, Volume 3
  
  PubDate: 2013-03-01T01:33:55Z
The Ecosystem Promise, Meindert Brouwer. Meindert Brouwer (Bunnik, the Netherlands, 2012). Pri € 29.90, 229 pp., ISBN: 978-90-811942-0-4.
- Abstract: Available online 13 February 2013
  Publication year: 2013
  Source:Ecosystem Services
  
  PubDate: 2013-02-16T21:14:16Z
Payments for ecosystem services: A review and comparison of developing and industrialized countries
- Abstract: Available online 14 February 2013
  Publication year: 2013
  Source:Ecosystem Services
  
  Payments for ecosystem services (PES) received a lot of academic attention in the past years. However, the concept remains loose and many different conservation approaches are published under the ‘PES label’. We reviewed 457 articles obtained in a structured literature search in order to present an overview of the PES literature. This paper (1) illustrates the different analytical perspectives on PES concepts and types, (2) shows the geographic focus of PES research and (3) identifies the major foci of the overall PES research. The paper finally (4) identifies differences and similarities in conservation programs and main research topics between developing and industrialized countries to (5) disclose potentials for research synergies, should research experiences in the two types of countries be exchanged more deliberately. We demonstrate that only few publications describe Coasean PES approaches. The majority of research refers to national governmental payment programs. The overall design of national PES programs in Latin America resembles the design of those in the US and EU considerably. Programs in the US and EU have been in place longer than most of the frequently published Latin American schemes. However the former are hardly considered in the international PES literature as research is usually published under different terminologies.
  Highlights ► Review on conservation efforts published under Payments for Ecosystem Services. ► Summarizes and compares Coasean, Pigouvian and other PES approaches. ► Shows differences and similarities of PES in developing and industrialized countries. ► Identifies research overlap between developing and industrialized countries.
  
  PubDate: 2013-02-16T21:14:16Z
Editorial to the third volume of ecosystemservices
- Abstract: Available online 12 February 2013
  Publication year: 2013
  Source:Ecosystem Services
  
  PubDate: 2013-02-12T23:30:33Z
Transdisciplinary conceptual modeling of a social-ecological system—A case study application in Terceira Island, Azores
- Abstract: Available online 4 February 2013
  Publication year: 2013
  Source:Ecosystem Services
  
  Science and policy integration towards natural resource management is not novel; however it has not always been successful. Partially, this failure is explained by the lack of consideration of different forms of knowledge. In order to incorporate the diversity of knowledge, transdisciplinary has been proposed and, this paper tests conceptual modeling as a tool to promote it. Qualitative modeling is an intermediate step of Systems Approach Framework (SAF) that is a methodology towards the sustainability of social-ecological systems. SAF has been applied in Praia da Vitoria Bay, in the Azores to analyze the future use of wetlands. We promoted a workshop bringing together 18 stakeholders: scientists, managers, private sectors and Non-Governmental Organizations. This paper presents the procedures and discusses the observed interaction between participants, their views and, how the wetlands services were described. Results show that non-scientists found the exercise particularly challenging but with high value due to: the systemic view and, opportunity of sharing viewpoints. The wetlands were mostly described by the direct benefits. The results show that transdisciplinarity can be operationalized and that conceptual modeling is an adequate exercise to achieve it. However, interdisciplinary work and stakeholders' analysis are also necessary because the knowledge gathered is different.
  Highlights ► We applied a conceptual modeling procedure in a transdisciplinary setting towards sustainable management of wetlands. ► We examined the capacity for scientist and non-scientist to work together in defining a consensual vision of the social-ecological system in analysis. ► We found that the procedure is appropriate for the setting and highly valued by participants due to the inherent systems thinking and possibility to share visions. ► Wetlands have been described mainly by their direct recreational value. ► A transdisciplinary setting implies distinct challenges than in an interdisciplinary setting; hence, both interactions are relevant towards sustainability.
  
  PubDate: 2013-02-08T22:35:51Z
Conservation salvage of Cordyceps sinensis collection in the Himalayan mountains is neglected
- Abstract: Available online 5 February 2013
  Publication year: 2013
  Source:Ecosystem Services
  
  Traditional agriculture and animal rearing are central in the rural livelihood of Himalayan Mountains. Economically these activities are inadequate for fulfilling the better livelihood expectation. Therefore rural people depend on diverse short seasonal activities like collection of medicinal plants, timber trading and animals poaching etc. for obtaining economic benefits. In past few years, collection of Cordyceps sinensis in the Himalayan Mountains has been emerged as main short seasonal activity. This practice is more profitable as compared to the cultivation of key cash crops and some other activities. Because of attractive economic benefits, nearly 52.08 to 97.98% households of this region are involved in the short seasonal collection of C. sinensis. Development of C. sinensis in the Himalayan Mountains and economic benefit earned from its collection is valuable ecosystem service. Uncontrolled collection of C. sinensis will be critical for its sustainability. Hence rotational pattern for collecting C. sinensis will be useful for its long-term availability. Because of the shift in short seasonal activities of poor communities, collection of C. sinensis may be helping in conservation of globally significant medicinal plants (GSMPs), timber yielding trees and wild animals. However, impacts of this short seasonal activity on the population recovery of GSMPs, timber trees and wild animals need to be studied at habitat level. Economic benefits earned from short seasonal collection of C. sinensis and cultivation of key cash crops, suggestion for sustainable collection of C. sinensis, possible impacts after deviation from this practice and indirect salvage of this short seasonal activity for the conservation of other resources is discussed in this communication.
  Highlights ► Collection of Cordyceps sinensis in the Himalayan Mountains has been emerged as main short seasonal activity for obtaining economic benefits. ► Development of C. sinensis in the Himalayan Mountains and economic benefit earned from its collection is valuable ecosystem service. ► Rotational approach for collection of C. sinensis will be useful for its sustainability. ► This practice may be helping in the conservation of globally significant medicinal plants (GSMPs), timber yielding trees and wild animals.
  
  PubDate: 2013-02-08T22:35:51Z
Marine Economics and Policy related to Ecosystem Services: Lessons from the Mediterranean, Black and Caribbean Regional Seas
- Abstract: Available online 1 February 2013
  Publication year: 2013
  Source:Ecosystem Services
  
  PubDate: 2013-02-04T22:34:31Z
Nature’s nocturnal services: Light pollution as a non-recognised challenge for ecosystem services research and management
- Abstract: Available online 11 January 2013
  Publication year: 2013
  Source:Ecosystem Services
  
  Research focusing on ecosystem services has tackled several of the major drivers of environmental degradation, but it suffers from a blind spot related to light pollution. Light pollution caused by artificial night-time lighting is a global environmental change affecting terrestrial, coastal and marine ecosystems. The long-term effects of the disruption of the natural cycles of light and dark on ecosystem functioning and ecosystem services are largely unknown. Even though additional research is clearly needed, identifying, developing and implementing stringent management actions aimed at reducing inadequately installed, unnecessary or excessive lighting are well justified. This essay argues that management is hampered, because ecosystem services from nocturnal nature are increasingly underappreciated by the public due to shifting baseline syndrome, making most people accustomed to constantly illuminated and light-polluted night environments. Increased attention from scientists, managers and the public is needed in order to explicate the best options for preserving the benefits from natural darkness.
  Highlights ► Light pollution is a global environmental change that is increasingly interrupting ecosystems. ► The importance of nocturnal nature for ecosystem services has been neglected. ► The shifting baseline syndrome alienates people from natural darkness. ► Management of nocturnal ecosystem services is both necessary and complicated. ► A novel concept of scotoecology is proposed.
  
  PubDate: 2013-01-31T08:13:29Z
What have economists learned about valuing nature' A review essay
- Abstract: Available online 27 December 2012
  Publication year: 2012
  Source:Ecosystem Services
  
  The question of value has occupied the human mind for millennia. With the ascent of neoclassical welfare economics in the twentieth century, “value” was constrained to chrematistics, or exchange value in a market economy. This narrowing of meaning allowed economists to use a precise mathematical framework to highlight the contributions of nature both to local economic activity as well as to economic growth in general. Nevertheless, current controversies in valuing the cost and benefits of long-lived environmental changes like climate change and biodiversity loss have exposed serious flaws in standard welfare economics. Many of these arise from the assumption that social value can be calculated using the revealed or stated preferences of self-regarding, narrowly rational individuals. New findings in behavioral psychology, neuroscience, and social anthropology have shown that human decision-making is also a social, not only an individual, process. This review essay examines the contributions of standard welfare theory, its shortcomings, and the necessity for more realistic valuation models based on truly social preferences.
  Highlights ► The concept of value has been severely restricted to “chromatics” or value in exchange. ► Current debates about valuing biodiversity and climate change have uncovered flaws in the standard economic approach. ► Many shortcomings of the standard model arise from the assumption that human preferences are self-regarding. ► Science of ecosystem survey moved sketch on insight from behavioral economics, evolutionary psychology and social anthropology.
  
  PubDate: 2013-01-31T08:13:29Z
Framing local outcomes of biodiversity conservation through ecosystem services: A case study from Ranomafana, Madagascar
- Abstract: Available online 19 January 2013
  Publication year: 2013
  Source:Ecosystem Services
  
  Conservation can have both positive and negative effects on human well-being by causing changes in ecosystem service flows and reallocation of the distribution of benefits. This can lead to different, sometimes contradictory, outcomes of conservation. We studied local perceptions of ecosystem service flows in the Ranomafana National Park area of Madagascar to examine the local outcomes of conservation. The Ranomafana forest area provides a variety of benefits that contribute considerably to local inhabitants' livelihoods and well-being. Changes in ecosystem service flows alter the provision of many important ecosystem services at the local level, which is likely to affect local livelihoods negatively and increase local vulnerability and inequality. The findings indicate the presence of trade-offs between types of ecosystem services and between different societal goals, namely conservation and development. Benefit trade-offs also occur within and between beneficiary groups and across spatial and temporal scales. Although conservation might prove beneficial for local people in the long run, its immediate local costs are high. The findings reveal the importance of integrating local perceptions of ecosystem services into conservation planning. In addition, there is a need for further negotiations of the trade-offs between ecosystem services, conservation and development in Ranomafana.
  Highlights ► We study biodiversity conservation outcomes through local views of ecosystem services. ► Conservation changes the ecosystem service flows that are vital for human well-being. ► Trade-offs between different ecosystem services and societal goals are apparent. ► Trade-offs occur within and between beneficiary groups and across spatial and temporal scales.
  
  PubDate: 2013-01-31T08:13:29Z
An initial estimate of the value of ecosystem services in Bhutan
- Abstract: Available online 25 December 2012
  Publication year: 2012
  Source:Ecosystem Services
  
  We estimated the value of ecosystem services in Bhutan using benefit transfer methodology in order to determine an initial assessment of their overall contribution to human well-being . The total estimated value was approximately $15.5billion/yr (NU760 billion/yr), significantly greater than the gross domestic product (GDP) of $3.5billion/yr. We also estimated who benefits from Bhutan's ecosystem services. 53% of the total benefits accrue to people outside Bhutan. 47% of the benefits accrue to people inside the country—15 % at the national level, and 32% at the local level. Based on this and a population of 700,000 we estimated Bhutan’s combined per capita annual benefits at $15,400/capita/yr. Of this $5000 is from goods and services captured in GDP and $10,400 is from ecosystem services. This is only a partial estimate that leaves out other sources of benefits to people, including social and cultural values. This study is the first phase of a larger, multiyear project and ongoing effort in Bhutan. Subsequent phases will apply more sophisticated methods to further elaborate the value of Bhutan's ecosystem services, who benefits from them, how they can best be integrated into national well-being accounting, and how best to manage them.
  Highlights ► The total estimated value of ecosystem services in Bhutan is approximately $15.5 billion/year (NU 760 billion/yr). Most of this value is derived from forested land, covering over 74.5% of the land surface and contributes 93.8% of the total estimated value. Cropland is second in value with 3.7% of total value, from only 8.0% of land area. ► Fifty three percent (53%) of the total benefits accrue to people outside Bhutan, largely due to climate regulation ($3.5 billion/yr) and tourism/recreation ($2.5 billion/yr). Forty seven percent (47%) of the benefits accrue to people inside the country—15 % at the national level, and 32% at the local level. ► Based on the benefits accrued and a population of 700,000, we estimated the benefits from ecosystem services to Bhutan residents at $10,400/capita/yr (NU 511,000/capita/yr).
  
  PubDate: 2013-01-31T08:13:29Z
Designing conservation tenders to support landholder participation: A framework and case study assessment
- Abstract: Available online 21 December 2012
  Publication year: 2012
  Source:Ecosystem Services
  
  Conservation tenders are emerging as a critical mechanism for supporting payments for ecosystem services in Australia and have been applied at the national, state and regional level. These tenders are designer markets or policy mechanisms in which the proactive participation of landholders is required for success. In this paper we develop a five step framework to identify barriers to participation and to support the design of conservation tenders. We consider participation in six case study tenders covering a variety of land management objectives using our framework. These case studies also provide further pragmatic lessons in managing participation in tenders. Participation supporting factors include alignment of management priorities, opportunity for payment/compensation, effective engagement via information workshops and site visits, and clear and uncomplicated bidding and contracting experiences. Post-contract support may require further attention. Attention to these design elements is likely to support adequate participation and achieve the competitive allocation of funds from which conservation tenders derive their economic efficiency outcomes.
  Highlights ► A framework for the design of conservation tenders is presented. ► We identify what influences landholder decisions to participate in a tender. ► Design and participation for six case study tenders are examined against the framework. ► Landholder decisions to participate are explained by the framework. ► Policy makers should consider participation and efficiency consequences of design decisions.
  
  PubDate: 2013-01-31T08:13:29Z
“Maps have an air of authority”: Potential benefits and challenges of ecosystem service maps at different levels of decision making
- Abstract: Available online 21 December 2012
  Publication year: 2012
  Source:Ecosystem Services
  
  Maps of ecosystem services are repeatedly mentioned in the “EU biodiversity strategy to 2020” as being necessary to achieve the goals of this strategy. On regional and landscape levels too, maps are more and more often suggested to be essential for proper management of ecosystems and their services. This paper presents results drawn from interviews on a regional level and from a focus group discussion on national and EU levels. Both dealt with the question of how exactly spatially explicit information can be used in decision-making concerning biodiversity and ecosystem services. Amongst others the use of maps as a means of fulfilling reporting duties of the Members States to the European Commission; also mentioned was the use of maps as a communication tool; and to improve the targeting of policy measures. However, a number of challenges in relation to the credibility, salience and legitimacy of maps also came up during interviews and discussion. The challenges identified lead us to the conclusion that while maps can be tremendously helpful, they should be used carefully. From the information gathered we derive a number of recommendations on how to deal with the salience and legitimacy of maps.
  Highlights ► Broad spectrum for application of maps for reporting, communicating, policy design. ► Problems regarding credibility, salience, and legitimacy of ecosystem services maps. ► Maps are powerful and should be used carefully. ► Lessons learned from participatory mapping approaches.
  
  PubDate: 2013-01-31T08:13:29Z
Editorial Board
- Abstract: December 2012
  Publication year: 2012
  Source:Ecosystem Services, Volume 2
  
  PubDate: 2013-01-31T08:13:29Z
Editorial of Volume 2
- Abstract: December 2012
  Publication year: 2012
  Source:Ecosystem Services, Volume 2
  
  PubDate: 2013-01-31T08:13:29Z
Services from the deep: Steps towards valuation of deep sea goods and services
- Abstract: December 2012
  Publication year: 2012
  Source:Ecosystem Services, Volume 2
  
  Very little work has been done to identify and characterise the goods and services of the sea, and even less for the deep sea. We present a first categorisation and synthesis of deep-sea ecosystem goods and services, and review the current state of human knowledge about these services, the possible methods of their valuation, and possible steps forward in its implementation. Our conclusions highlight the nature and extent of research that is needed to overcome the gaps in knowledge that have been identified, and which have so far prevented the valuation of most deep-sea ecosystem goods and services.
  Highlights ► Catalogue the goods and services of the deep sea as they are known today. ► Reviews the current state of human knowledge regarding these services. ► Outlines methods of deep sea ecosystem goods and services valuation. ► Highlights the extent of research that is needed to overcome the gaps in knowledge.
  
  PubDate: 2013-01-31T08:13:29Z
Cultural ecosystem services provided by landscapes: Assessment of heritage values and identity
- Abstract: December 2012
  Publication year: 2012
  Source:Ecosystem Services, Volume 2
  
  This paper aims to provide a conceptual analysis of cultural ecosystem services and how they are linked to the concepts of landscape, heritage and identity. It discusses how these cultural ecosystem services can be assessed and integrated into spatial and physical planning. The paper presents two case studies to shed light on the assessment process. A case study from Sweden combines an analysis of ecosystem services with methods for documenting cultural heritage values in landscapes. A second case study from the Arafura–Timor Seas combines an analysis of cultural ecosystem services with methods for assessment of priority environmental concerns at the seascape scale. We demonstrate that the methods from cultural heritage conservation provide tools for the analysis of historical values as well as historical drivers of change in landscapes that can add time-depth to more spatially focused ecosystem assessments. We propose that methods for valuation of cultural heritage and identity in landscapes are integrated into assessments of ecosystem services to inform policy making and physical and spatial planning for sustainable management of ecosystems and landscapes. This could also provide an approach for bringing about integrated implementation of conventions and instruments from the environmental and cultural heritage fields, respectively.
  Highlights ► Cultural Ecosystem Services (CES) can be combined with cultural landscape research. ► Heritage values of landscapes can be used to assess cultural ecosystem services. ► Qualitative assessments of CES can be made using existing methods from the field of conservation. ► Temporal and spatial drivers of change need to be integrated into the analysis of CES.
  
  PubDate: 2013-01-31T08:13:29Z
Facilitating implementation of landscape-scale water management: The integrated constructed wetland concept
- Abstract: December 2012
  Publication year: 2012
  Source:Ecosystem Services, Volume 2
  
  This research addressed measures necessary to overcome barriers to the implementation of integrated resource management solutions delivering multiple ecosystem services, using the case of the Anne Valley integrated constructed wetlands (ICWs) in County Waterford, Ireland. The benefits of ICWs are reviewed, and feedback from interviews with a range of people from farming, national government and policy, business, County Council and other perspectives, is analysed using the STEEP framework. Whilst we acknowledge bias in interviewee selection, there is considerable local support for ICWs reflecting multiple social, environmental and economic benefits. Indeed, the Irish government has published design guidance for ICWs. However, there remain disconnects between some regulatory and other bodies, which appear to be related to their tradition of looking at issues from a more narrow, discipline-specific perspective. These barriers are not unique to Ireland, but representative of the areas of cultural change necessary to enable more connected ways of thinking, technological development and implementation and its subsequent licensing and regulation. The experience therefore has generic relevance not merely for the broader pervasion of the benefits of ICWs across Ireland and the wider world, but also in evaluating and implementing the efficacy of similar multi-benefit solutions.
  Highlights Discipline-specific institutional frameworks create barriers to systemic solutions. ► ICW systems in the Anne Valley are an example of installed multi-benefit solutions. ► We explore how barriers were overcome and remaining obstacles to wider implementation. ► The STEEP framework supported exploration of perceptions of different facets of ICWs.
  
  PubDate: 2013-01-31T08:13:29Z
Including the economic value of well-functioning urban ecosystems in financial decisions: Evidence from a process in Cape Town
- Abstract: December 2012
  Publication year: 2012
  Source:Ecosystem Services, Volume 2
  
  Investing in urban natural assets can leverage relatively high economic value in city economies. It is not only the case for highly developed cities, but could also be the case for rapidly developing cities. This is the key message from a case study for the City of Cape Town in South Africa as presented in this paper. It was calculated that the leverage of municipal expenditure on maintaining and enhancing ecosystems is 1.2–2 times higher than the leverage of all municipal expenditure on the City economy. Investing and maintaining a City's natural assets or ecological infrastructure yields economically valuable services that could prove to be an important driver of value addition in a city's economy. It is conservatively estimated that for the City of Cape Town, natural assets yield a flow of ecosystem services valued in the order of R4 billion per annum, within a range between R2 billion and R6 billion per annum. Most of this value for the City of Cape Town is created through the tourism industry, but recreation in parks, open spaces and beaches, as well as specific industries such as film-making, also benefit substantially from the services provided by well-functioning ecosystems. Buffering services to better cope with natural hazards such as coastal surges, flooding and fires in urban contexts are important services from an insurance perspective. As entities focused on service provision and as enablers of economic growth and development, municipalities in rapidly developing urban centrums have the mandate and must create the opportunity to invest adequately in natural assets to maintain a healthy flow of ecosystem services to the benefit of people living in and visiting their cities.
  Highlights ► Investing in urban natural assets leverage high economic value in urban economies. ► In Cape Town, natural assets yield a flow of services valued at R4 billion/pa. ► Most values are created through tourism and recreation in open spaces and beaches.
  
  PubDate: 2013-01-31T08:13:29Z
Managing natural wealth: Research and implementation of ecosystem services in the United States and Canada
- Abstract: December 2012
  Publication year: 2012
  Source:Ecosystem Services, Volume 2
  
  The United States and Canada have vast stores of ecological wealth that provide often unseen but critical benefits to the people and economy of each country. The close ties between ecology and the economy make it urgent that action is taken to address the risks of ecosystem degradation, but these close ties also present opportunities to develop new incentives for ecosystem conservation. To highlight the diversity of approaches being implemented in the US and Canada, we describe examples of programs seeking to maintain ecosystem services from wetlands, agricultural lands, forests, and water quality. Corporations are also beginning to account for ecosystem service values. Innovative solutions are being developed mostly within existing government and corporate policies that allow for ecosystem service accounting. To further mainstream ecosystem service values into broader economic decisions, new policies are necessary that not only allow but mandate their inclusion in decisions and reporting.
  Highlights ► United States and Canada’s ecological wealth is closely tied to their economies. ► Evidence of these connections can inform decision-making to stem ecosystem decline. ► Programs protect services in wetlands, agriculture lands, forests, water quality. ► Need government and corporate policies that drive ecosystem service mainstreaming.
  
  PubDate: 2013-01-31T08:13:29Z
Ecosystem services research in Latin America: The state of the art
- Abstract: December 2012
  Publication year: 2012
  Source:Ecosystem Services, Volume 2
  
  Ecosystem services science has developed at a fast rate in Latin America, a region characterized by a high biological and cultural diversity, strong emphasis in foreign investment, and high socioeconomic inequities. Here we conducted the following analyses at the regional and national scales: (1) how and when did the study of ecosystem services arise in each country', (2) what is our present understanding of ecosystem service supply, delivery to societies, and social and economic values', (3) what is the state of the art in integrating tradeoffs among services and in using interdisciplinary perspectives', and (4) how has ecosystem service research been connected to policy design or management for sustainability' A large literature review (>1000 references) showed that in Latin America ES supply and links to policy have been the most frequently assessed. Overall, emphasis has been placed on a few services, namely carbon and water. Payments for ecosystem services have received considerable attention in the region, though with strong differences across nations and with important limitations in their application. The future of the ecosystem service paradigm in Latin America will largely depend on its capacity to demonstrate effectiveness in meeting both conservation and development goals.
  Highlights ► Ecosystem service research has developed rapidly in Latin America. ► Ecosystem service supply and policy have been most frequently addressed. ► Emphasis has been given to carbon and water. ► Payments for ecosystem services are increasingly being implemented in the region, though with strong differences among countries and facing important challenges. ► Meeting both conservation and development goals is most needed.
  
  PubDate: 2013-01-31T08:13:29Z
An African account of ecosystem service provision: Use, threats and policy options for sustainable livelihoods
- Abstract: December 2012
  Publication year: 2012
  Source:Ecosystem Services, Volume 2
  
  Scientific work on ecosystem services has been growing globally as well as in Africa. Human dependence on provisioning ecosystem services in particular is mostly acknowledged in developing countries like those in Africa, where many people are poor and reliant on natural resources. The reliance of communities on natural resources in Africa varies from place to place as aridity, vegetation and socio-economic conditions change. In the humid and forested areas in the west and central parts of Africa, food and raw materials coupled with agriculture are important ecosystem services while in the dryer arid and semi-arid countries in southern and northern Africa, tourism, water and grazing are priorities. Overexploitation of resources coupled with large scale agriculture threatens both ecosystem services and livelihoods. The need to safeguard ecosystem services is urgent. There are some efforts to safeguard ecosystem services in Africa. However, realizing benefits to livelihoods still faces serious challenges due to climate change, recent land grabbing and urbanization. These challenges are compounded by the land tenure situation in Africa. Whilst policy goals have been established at both the international and national levels the implementation of such policies and likelihood of them leading to sustainable land management for delivery of ecosystem services remains a key challenge.
  Highlights ► Africa is diverse in terms of vegetation and aridity as well as ecosystem services. ► Unsustainable resource use and large scale agriculture threatens ecosystem services. ► There are efforts to safeguard ecosystem services through conservation policies. ► Scientific work on ecosystem services has grown and South Africa is leading the way. ► Future challenges include urbanization, climate change and land grabbing.
  
  PubDate: 2013-01-31T08:13:29Z
What's the Economy For, Anyway' Why It's Time to Stop Chasing Growth and Start Pursuing Happiness, John de Graaf, David K. Batker. Bloomsbury Press, New York (2011). $18.00, 293 pp., ISBN-13:978-1-60819-510-7.
- Abstract: December 2012
  Publication year: 2012
  Source:Ecosystem Services, Volume 2
  
  PubDate: 2013-01-31T08:13:29Z
The Ecosystem Services Partnership (ESP) 5th Annual Conference
- Abstract: December 2012
  Publication year: 2012
  Source:Ecosystem Services, Volume 2
  
  PubDate: 2013-01-31T08:13:29Z
National Parks, buffer zones and surrounding lands: Mapping ecosystem service flows
- Abstract: Available online 6 October 2012
  Publication year: 2012
  Source:Ecosystem Services
  
  The use of ecosystem service maps for conservation planning is increasing. However, their potential for measuring the benefits derived from protected areas has rarely been studied. To overcome this, information gap, we organized two expert workshops based on participatory mapping techniques for Doñana and Sierra Nevada protected areas. Protected area managers and scientists mapped service provision hotspots, (SPHs), degraded SPHs and service benefiting areas (SBAs). In Doñana, SPHs were located inside the protected area and its surroundings, whereas, degraded SPHs were located primarily within the protected areas. In Sierra Nevada, most SPHs and most degraded SPHs were located inside the protected area. SBAs were located in the surrounding territory for both protected areas, especially in the neighboring cities. We also identified the major issues that faced both protected areas and their drivers of change. We found that most problems originated outside the limits of the protected areas and were produced by drivers associated with economic factors and land use changes. We discuss the implications of using ecosystem services maps for protected area management and the effects of the surrounding territory on areas within the protected zone. The results of our study demonstrate the need for a broader territorial planning strategy.
  Graphical abstract Highlights ► The Doñana and Sierra Nevada protected areas are service provision hotspots (SPHs). ► Large cities and their surroundings are the main service benefiting areas (SBAs). ► Maps show the connections of SPHs and SBAs. ► Supply-demand flow matters for protected areas management.
  
  PubDate: 2013-01-31T08:13:29Z
Spatial dynamics of ecosystem service flows: A comprehensive approach to quantifying actual services
- Abstract: Available online 30 July 2012
  Publication year: 2012
  Source:Ecosystem Services
  
  Recent ecosystem services research has highlighted the importance of spatial connectivity between ecosystems and their beneficiaries. Despite this need, a systematic approach to ecosystem service flow quantification has not yet emerged. In this article, we present such an approach, which we formalize as a class of agent-based models termed “Service Path Attribution Networks” (SPANs). These models, developed as part of the Artificial Intelligence for Ecosystem Services (ARIES) project, expand on ecosystem services classification terminology introduced by other authors. Conceptual elements needed to support flow modeling include a service's rivalness, its flow routing type (e.g., through hydrologic or transportation networks, lines of sight, or other approaches), and whether the benefit is supplied by an ecosystem's provision of a beneficial flow to people or by absorption of a detrimental flow before it reaches them. We describe our implementation of the SPAN framework for five ecosystem services and discuss how to generalize the approach to additional services. SPAN model outputs include maps of ecosystem service provision, use, depletion, and flows under theoretical, possible, actual, inaccessible, and blocked conditions. We highlight how these different ecosystem service flow maps could be used to support various types of decision making for conservation and resource management planning.
  Highlights ► Past classification of ecosystem services (ES) has lacked consensus. ► Newer classification systems identify concrete benefits and beneficiaries of ES. ► Spatially explicit ES flows are poorly represented in ES modeling approaches. ► We describe an algorithm, the Service Path Attribution Network (SPAN), for quantifying ES flows. ► ES flow model outputs can provide policy-relevant information.
  
  PubDate: 2013-01-31T08:13:29Z
Editorial Board
- Abstract: July 2012
  Publication year: 2012
  Source:Ecosystem Services, Volume 1, Issue 1
  
  PubDate: 2013-01-31T08:13:29Z
Ecosystem services—science, policy and practi Introduction to the journal and the inaugural issue
- Abstract: July 2012
  Publication year: 2012
  Source:Ecosystem Services, Volume 1, Issue 1
  
  PubDate: 2013-01-31T08:13:29Z
The ecosystem services agenda:bridging the worlds of natural science and economics, conservation and development, and public and private policy
- Abstract: July 2012
  Publication year: 2012
  Source:Ecosystem Services, Volume 1, Issue 1
  
  The Ecosystem Services Journal starts in 2012 with a formidable basis in the reports and books from the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and TEEB projects. Following a half-century history of growing awareness and associated scientific based policy development a bridging concept with natural and social science notions was developed and coined “ecosystem services”. The agenda for the journal Ecosystem Services, presented in this introductory paper to the Journal Ecosystem Services is aimed at scientists and policy analysts who consider contributing to better knowledge and better use of that knowledge about ecosystem services. This should include knowledge of the ecological systems that provide the services, the economic systems that benefit from them, and the institutions that need to develop effective codes for a sustainable use. The agenda is derived from the experience of the authors in science and policy analysis and extended with some of the recommendations from the TEEB book for national and international policy making emphasising the science—policy—practice linkage, which is the philosophy of the Journal.
  Highlights ► A short overview of key concepts in ecosystem services. ► A short review of the history of the concept in ecological and economic publications. ► An extensive research agenda.
  
  PubDate: 2013-01-31T08:13:29Z
The authorship structure of “ecosystem services” as a transdisciplinary field of scholarship
- Abstract: July 2012
  Publication year: 2012
  Source:Ecosystem Services, Volume 1, Issue 1
  
  “Ecosystem Services” is now a well-defined and active enough field of scholarship to warrant its own academic journal (this paper is published in the inaugural issue). In this paper we describe the authorship structure of this rapidly emerging transdisciplinary field, which has so far generated over 2400 papers (as of January 2011) listed in ISI Web of Science journals, written by over 2000 authors since the 1990s. We describe the number of publications, the number and interconnection of co-authors, clusters of co-authors, and other variables for the top 172 authors who have authored or co-authored more than 5 papers each. These 172 authors together have written over half the total papers. This allows a coherent picture of current participants in the field and their collaborative interconnections. These methods can be applied to any topic area and represent one way to better understand and support emerging scholarship that goes beyond disciplinary boundaries.
  Highlights ► Ecosystem services is a rapidly emerging field of transdisciplinary scholarship. ► We describe the co-authorship structure of the field for the top 172 authors. ► Clusters of co-authorship reveal aspects of the social capital in the field. ► Ecosystem services is highly productive compared to other fields.
  
  PubDate: 2013-01-17T15:19:49Z
The indicator side of ecosystem services
- Abstract: July 2012
  Publication year: 2012
  Source:Ecosystem Services, Volume 1, Issue 1
  
  In this short welcome note for the new journal “Ecosystem Services”, the main interrelations between the ecosystem service concept and the approach of ecological indicators are briefly discussed with respect to three key issues: at first, some definitions are analyzed to answer the question if ecosystem services can be understood as ecological indicators. Due to a positive answer, the position of ecosystem services in the DPSIR indicator framework is determined as the central impact component. It is stated that different viewpoints are possible to interrelate the services; an environmental starting point focusing on the linkage to ecological processes and functions on the one side, and the relations with human well-being criteria and management obligations on the other. Finally, the actual needs for further research and application are outlined from an indicator-based aspect and the broad field of potential contributions for the new journal is summarized.
  Highlights ► Ecosystem services are comprehended as ecological indicators. ► Ecosystem services can be understood as impacts within the DPSIR framework. ► There are several qualitative demands for ecosystem service indicators referring to science as well as application. ► Several research questions can be taken as guidelines for future ecosystem service indication.
  
  PubDate: 2013-01-17T15:19:49Z
Mapping ecosystem services for policy support and decision making in the European Union
- Abstract: July 2012
  Publication year: 2012
  Source:Ecosystem Services, Volume 1, Issue 1
  
  Mainstreaming ecosystem services into policy and decision making is dependent on the availability of spatially explicit information on the state and trends of ecosystems and their services. In particular, the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 addresses the need to account for ecosystem services through biophysical mapping and valuation. This paper reviews current mapping methods, identifies current knowledge gaps and provides the elements for a methodological framework for mapping and assessing ecosystems and their services at European scale. Current mapping methodologies go beyond purely land cover based assessments and include the use of primary data of ecosystem services, the use of functional traits to map ecosystem services and the development of models and ecological production functions. Additional research is needed to cover marine ecosystems and to include the resilience of ecosystems to environmental change in spatially explicit assessments. The ecosystem services cascade which connects ecosystems to human wellbeing is argued to provide a suitable, stepwise framework for mapping ecosystem services in order to support EU policies in a more effective way. We demonstrate the use of this framework for mapping using the water purification service as case.
  Highlights ► Mainstreaming of ecosystem services into EU policy is dependent spatial information. ► We summarize current methods of mapping ecosystem services. ► We identify knowledge gaps in mapping ecosystem services. ► We propose a stepwise framework for mapping ecosystem services. ► We demonstrate the use of the framework for mapping using water purification.
  
  PubDate: 2013-01-17T15:19:49Z
Ecosystem services: The economics debate
- Abstract: July 2012
  Publication year: 2012
  Source:Ecosystem Services, Volume 1, Issue 1
  
  The goal of this paper is to illuminate the debate concerning the economics of ecosystem services. The sustainability debate focuses on whether or not ecosystem services are essential for human welfare and the existence of ecological thresholds. If ecosystem services are essential, then marginal analysis and monetary valuation are inappropriate tools in the vicinity of thresholds. The justice debate focuses on who is entitled to ecosystem services and the ecosystem structure that generates them. Answers to these questions have profound implications for the choice of suitable economic institutions. The efficiency debate concerns both the goals of economic activity and the mechanisms best suited to achieve those goals. Conventional economists pursue Pareto efficiency and the maximization of monetary value, achieved by integrating ecosystem services into the market framework. Ecological economists and many others pursue the less rigorously defined goal of achieving the highest possible quality of life compatible with the conservation of resilient, healthy ecosystems, achieved by adapting economic institutions to the physical characteristics of ecosystem services. The concept of ecosystem services is a valuable tool for economic analysis, and should not be discarded because of disagreements with particular economists' assumptions regarding sustainability, justice and efficiency.
  Highlights ► Ecosystem services (ES) have generated several important debates in economics. ► These debates concern sustainability, justice and efficiency (SJ&E). ► Desirability of market allocation depends on how SJ&E are defined. ► Conventional and ecological economists have different definitions of SJ&E. ► Economic assessments of ES should explicitly state their assumption concerning SJ&E.
  
  PubDate: 2013-01-17T15:19:49Z
Global estimates of the value of ecosystems and their services in monetary units
- Abstract: July 2012
  Publication year: 2012
  Source:Ecosystem Services, Volume 1, Issue 1
  
  This paper gives an overview of the value of ecosystem services of 10 main biomes expressed in monetary units. In total, over 320 publications were screened covering over 300 case study locations. Approximately 1350 value estimates were coded and stored in a searchable Ecosystem Service Value Database (ESVD). A selection of 665 value estimates was used for the analysis. Acknowledging the uncertainties and contextual nature of any valuation, the analysis shows that the total value of ecosystem services is considerable and ranges between 490 int$/year for the total bundle of ecosystem services that can potentially be provided by an ‘average’ hectare of open oceans to almost 350,000 int$/year for the potential services of an ‘average’ hectare of coral reefs. More importantly, our results show that most of this value is outside the market and best considered as non-tradable public benefits. The continued over-exploitation of ecosystems thus comes at the expense of the livelihood of the poor and future generations. Given that many of the positive externalities of ecosystems are lost or strongly reduced after land use conversion better accounting for the public goods and services provided by ecosystems is crucial to improve decision making and institutions for biodiversity conservation and sustainable ecosystem management.
  Highlights ► We screened over 300 case studies on the monetary value of ecosystem services. ► The average value (market and non-market) of 10 main ecosystem types was calculated. ► The total value ranged between 490 (Open Ocean) and 350,000 (Coral Reefs) Int$/ha/yr. ► Most of the monetary value of ecosystem services is not captured in markets.
  
  PubDate: 2013-01-17T15:19:49Z