Erick O. Osewe, Bogdan Popa, Harald Vacik, Ibrahim Osewe, Ioan Vasile Abrudan
{"title":"Review of forest ecosystem services evaluation studies in East Africa","authors":"Erick O. Osewe, Bogdan Popa, Harald Vacik, Ibrahim Osewe, Ioan Vasile Abrudan","doi":"10.3389/fevo.2024.1385351","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"The East African region hosts diverse forest ecosystems, such as woodlands, highland forests, and coastal mangrove forests. These ecosystems are crucial for biodiversity and support various plant and animal species. They provide essential resources, benefiting livelihoods directly and indirectly. Examining regional and global variations in forest ecosystem valuation, especially regarding livelihood benefits, is crucial for sustainable resource management aligned with forest-based climate solutions. The aim of this review is to assess how regional contextual factors and global trends impact the valuation of ecosystem services (ES) in East Africa, with two main objectives (1) to identify the most evaluated ES in East Africa and (2) to identify the preferred ES valuation methods and approaches applied in East Africa. Data from the Web of Science/Clarivate platform was used in the systematic review process using the Reporting standard for Systematic Evidence Syntheses to retrieve and analyse 222 articles. The ES were categorized using the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment framework and the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services in order to create a review database. Provisioning services i.e., wood biomass and food production were the most assessed at 55%, followed by 30% regulating services i.e., carbon storage, 8.6% support services i.e., habitat and 6.4% cultural services i.e., ecotourism which reflected communities’ direct reliance on forest resources. The preferred direct ES valuation techniques included market price at 14.9% for assessing provisioning services and travel cost methods at 10.4% for cultural services. Amongst the indirect ES valuation techniques, remote sensing at 14.7% were preferred as they proved efficient for large and remote tropical forest areas. Participatory methods such as interviews at 11.8% were also preferred because they offer holistic perspectives on community priorities. This review provides spatial context on the regional priorities of ES valuation which is vital for safeguarding natural resources for future generations.","PeriodicalId":12367,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution","volume":"6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2024.1385351","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ECOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The East African region hosts diverse forest ecosystems, such as woodlands, highland forests, and coastal mangrove forests. These ecosystems are crucial for biodiversity and support various plant and animal species. They provide essential resources, benefiting livelihoods directly and indirectly. Examining regional and global variations in forest ecosystem valuation, especially regarding livelihood benefits, is crucial for sustainable resource management aligned with forest-based climate solutions. The aim of this review is to assess how regional contextual factors and global trends impact the valuation of ecosystem services (ES) in East Africa, with two main objectives (1) to identify the most evaluated ES in East Africa and (2) to identify the preferred ES valuation methods and approaches applied in East Africa. Data from the Web of Science/Clarivate platform was used in the systematic review process using the Reporting standard for Systematic Evidence Syntheses to retrieve and analyse 222 articles. The ES were categorized using the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment framework and the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services in order to create a review database. Provisioning services i.e., wood biomass and food production were the most assessed at 55%, followed by 30% regulating services i.e., carbon storage, 8.6% support services i.e., habitat and 6.4% cultural services i.e., ecotourism which reflected communities’ direct reliance on forest resources. The preferred direct ES valuation techniques included market price at 14.9% for assessing provisioning services and travel cost methods at 10.4% for cultural services. Amongst the indirect ES valuation techniques, remote sensing at 14.7% were preferred as they proved efficient for large and remote tropical forest areas. Participatory methods such as interviews at 11.8% were also preferred because they offer holistic perspectives on community priorities. This review provides spatial context on the regional priorities of ES valuation which is vital for safeguarding natural resources for future generations.
期刊介绍:
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution publishes rigorously peer-reviewed research across fundamental and applied sciences, to provide ecological and evolutionary insights into our natural and anthropogenic world, and how it should best be managed. Field Chief Editor Mark A. Elgar at the University of Melbourne is supported by an outstanding Editorial Board of international researchers. This multidisciplinary open-access journal is at the forefront of disseminating and communicating scientific knowledge and impactful discoveries to researchers, academics and the public worldwide.
Eminent biologist and theist Theodosius Dobzhansky’s astute observation that “Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution” has arguably even broader relevance now than when it was first penned in The American Biology Teacher in 1973. One could similarly argue that not much in evolution makes sense without recourse to ecological concepts: understanding diversity — from microbial adaptations to species assemblages — requires insights from both ecological and evolutionary disciplines. Nowadays, technological developments from other fields allow us to address unprecedented ecological and evolutionary questions of astonishing detail, impressive breadth and compelling inference.
The specialty sections of Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution will publish, under a single platform, contemporary, rigorous research, reviews, opinions, and commentaries that cover the spectrum of ecological and evolutionary inquiry, both fundamental and applied. Articles are peer-reviewed according to the Frontiers review guidelines, which evaluate manuscripts on objective editorial criteria. Through this unique, Frontiers platform for open-access publishing and research networking, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution aims to provide colleagues and the broader community with ecological and evolutionary insights into our natural and anthropogenic world, and how it might best be managed.