Pub Date : 2023-03-15DOI: 10.3897/oneeco.8.e101381
Elena Todorova, M. Zhiyanski
The present study deals with examining the condition of urban soils and their potential to deliver soil-related regulating ecosystem services concerning the level of anthropogenic pressure in different functional zones of Sofia, Bulgaria. Analyses of data for selected characteristics of superficial 0-10 cm soil layer of urban soils were performed. Soils were sampled from 30 experimental plots within a geo-referred network covering urban and peri-urban territories. The concentrations of heavy metals Cu, Zn, Pb and Fe were analysed to determine the level of pollution, while soil pH, cation-exchange capacity (CEC), total carbon and total nitrogen content were used as indicators for assessing the regulating ecosystem service “soil quality”. The results demonstrate the differences in the potential of four functional zones – green zones, industrial zones, residential zones and zones for urban agriculture, to regulate and maintain “soil quality”. The purpose of the assessment is to outline the zones with the potential for implicating mitigation measures in urban and peri-urban zones, based on maps of soil quality, which contributes to focusing more attention on the protection and restoration of urban soils, to reduce soil pollution and to increase the reuse of urban soils.
{"title":"Study on soil quality in different functional zones of Sofia region","authors":"Elena Todorova, M. Zhiyanski","doi":"10.3897/oneeco.8.e101381","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3897/oneeco.8.e101381","url":null,"abstract":"The present study deals with examining the condition of urban soils and their potential to deliver soil-related regulating ecosystem services concerning the level of anthropogenic pressure in different functional zones of Sofia, Bulgaria. Analyses of data for selected characteristics of superficial 0-10 cm soil layer of urban soils were performed. Soils were sampled from 30 experimental plots within a geo-referred network covering urban and peri-urban territories. The concentrations of heavy metals Cu, Zn, Pb and Fe were analysed to determine the level of pollution, while soil pH, cation-exchange capacity (CEC), total carbon and total nitrogen content were used as indicators for assessing the regulating ecosystem service “soil quality”. The results demonstrate the differences in the potential of four functional zones – green zones, industrial zones, residential zones and zones for urban agriculture, to regulate and maintain “soil quality”. The purpose of the assessment is to outline the zones with the potential for implicating mitigation measures in urban and peri-urban zones, based on maps of soil quality, which contributes to focusing more attention on the protection and restoration of urban soils, to reduce soil pollution and to increase the reuse of urban soils.","PeriodicalId":36908,"journal":{"name":"One Ecosystem","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47917894","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
L. de Nocker, I. Liekens, Carolien Beckx, S. Broekx
In recent years, a vast amount of scientific literature has highlighted the benefits of nearby green space for physical and mental health, but the large variation in scope, methods and indicators used in these studies hampers the assessment of these benefits in the context of natural capital accounting. To our knowledge, this paper is one of the first studies to quantify and value these benefits in the context of natural capital accounting. A method was developed and applied to the Flemish Region in Belgium for 2013 and 2016. The physical supply and use accounts for health are based on a set of selected dose-effect relationships that quantify the impact of the availability of greenspace on seven specific indicators for physical and mental health, including mortality, cardio-vascular diseases, diabetes and depression. The indicator for green-blue areas is the percentage of green-blue areas in total land use, calculated for 0.5, 1 and 3 km radius from the residence, based on detailed land-use maps (10 m x 10 m) for Flanders, Belgium. The base-line data for mortality and illness are average data for the Flemish Region. These health impacts are weighted using Daly's (disability-adjusted life years) and aggregated. The total health benefits due to the availability of green-blue areas for the total Flemish population was estimated at almost 85,000 DALYs. This is 27% of the estimated total burden of disease in Flanders in 2016 for the seven selected diseases. The monetary accounts are based on a detailed assessment for mortality and morbidity of three different cost components, i.e. avoided medical costs (e.g. hospitalisation) and avoided absenteeism and welfare loss due to suffering and reduced life expectancy. Productivity gains from avoided absenteeism is valued, based on statistics on absenteeism for specific diseases for and labour market data from Belgium and account for 52% of the total monetary value of green spaces. Cost of illness is valued, based on market data and illness specific studies for Belgium or Europe and account for 36% of total values. Welfare gains from increased life expectancy are valued on the basis of European studies for the VOLY (value of a life year lost), based on the simulated exchange value for the willingness-to-pay for increased life expectancy. This accounts for 12% of the total monetary value of green space. The total monetary benefits amount to 464 Euro per inhabitant per year or 3 billion Euro per year for Flanders. This corresponds to 1.3% of the GDP, which reflects the importance of these benefits. The methodology is incomplete as not all health indicators are covered, mainly due to a lack of dose-effect relationships. The research priority for potential users of the accounts is a better indicator for contact with green space that does differentiate between ecosystems, their quality, accessibility or their use. This requires more systematic health impact studies that take these elements into account, as well
{"title":"Valuation of health benefits of green-blue areas for the purpose of ecosystem accounting: a pilot in Flanders, Belgium","authors":"L. de Nocker, I. Liekens, Carolien Beckx, S. Broekx","doi":"10.3897/oneeco.8.e87713","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3897/oneeco.8.e87713","url":null,"abstract":"In recent years, a vast amount of scientific literature has highlighted the benefits of nearby green space for physical and mental health, but the large variation in scope, methods and indicators used in these studies hampers the assessment of these benefits in the context of natural capital accounting. To our knowledge, this paper is one of the first studies to quantify and value these benefits in the context of natural capital accounting. A method was developed and applied to the Flemish Region in Belgium for 2013 and 2016.\u0000 The physical supply and use accounts for health are based on a set of selected dose-effect relationships that quantify the impact of the availability of greenspace on seven specific indicators for physical and mental health, including mortality, cardio-vascular diseases, diabetes and depression. The indicator for green-blue areas is the percentage of green-blue areas in total land use, calculated for 0.5, 1 and 3 km radius from the residence, based on detailed land-use maps (10 m x 10 m) for Flanders, Belgium. The base-line data for mortality and illness are average data for the Flemish Region. These health impacts are weighted using Daly's (disability-adjusted life years) and aggregated. The total health benefits due to the availability of green-blue areas for the total Flemish population was estimated at almost 85,000 DALYs. This is 27% of the estimated total burden of disease in Flanders in 2016 for the seven selected diseases.\u0000 The monetary accounts are based on a detailed assessment for mortality and morbidity of three different cost components, i.e. avoided medical costs (e.g. hospitalisation) and avoided absenteeism and welfare loss due to suffering and reduced life expectancy. Productivity gains from avoided absenteeism is valued, based on statistics on absenteeism for specific diseases for and labour market data from Belgium and account for 52% of the total monetary value of green spaces. Cost of illness is valued, based on market data and illness specific studies for Belgium or Europe and account for 36% of total values. Welfare gains from increased life expectancy are valued on the basis of European studies for the VOLY (value of a life year lost), based on the simulated exchange value for the willingness-to-pay for increased life expectancy. This accounts for 12% of the total monetary value of green space. The total monetary benefits amount to 464 Euro per inhabitant per year or 3 billion Euro per year for Flanders. This corresponds to 1.3% of the GDP, which reflects the importance of these benefits.\u0000 The methodology is incomplete as not all health indicators are covered, mainly due to a lack of dose-effect relationships. The research priority for potential users of the accounts is a better indicator for contact with green space that does differentiate between ecosystems, their quality, accessibility or their use. This requires more systematic health impact studies that take these elements into account, as well ","PeriodicalId":36908,"journal":{"name":"One Ecosystem","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43699690","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In this paper, we demonstrate value generalisation from a sample of ecosystem assets – municipally managed trees - to all tree assets within an urban ecosystem accounting area. A Bayesian network model is used to machine-learn non-parametric correlation patterns between biophysical site condition variables and output variables of an ecosystem service model – here iTree Eco for modelling the regulating services of urban forests. The paper also demonstrates the use of spatial Bayesian network modelling to quantify the reliability of value generalisation for accounting purposes. Value generalisation entails inferring ecosystem service values for all locations in an ecosystem accounting area, where the accounting practitioner has less information about the asset and its context, than in an available sample of managed sites within the accounting area. The modelling is carried out as a “proof-of-principle” of potential value generalisation and uncertainty analysis methods for ecosystem accounting. It does not cover all regulating ecosystem services of urban forests, nor cultural services. While noting that wide confidence intervals for generalised values pose challenges for using monetary accounts for the accounting purpose of change detection, we find that tree-specific asset valuation is possible in an urban accounting setting. Our findings serve the purpose of raising awareness about asset values of urban green infrastructure, to bring them more on a par with grey infrastructure in urban planning. We also argue that the reliability of the asset value of individual trees is also good enough to be used for non-accounting purposes, such as municipal tree damage assessments.
{"title":"Value ‘generalisation’ in ecosystem accounting - using Bayesian networks to infer the asset value of regulating services for urban trees in Oslo","authors":"D. Barton","doi":"10.3897/oneeco.8.e85021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3897/oneeco.8.e85021","url":null,"abstract":"In this paper, we demonstrate value generalisation from a sample of ecosystem assets – municipally managed trees - to all tree assets within an urban ecosystem accounting area. A Bayesian network model is used to machine-learn non-parametric correlation patterns between biophysical site condition variables and output variables of an ecosystem service model – here iTree Eco for modelling the regulating services of urban forests. The paper also demonstrates the use of spatial Bayesian network modelling to quantify the reliability of value generalisation for accounting purposes. Value generalisation entails inferring ecosystem service values for all locations in an ecosystem accounting area, where the accounting practitioner has less information about the asset and its context, than in an available sample of managed sites within the accounting area. The modelling is carried out as a “proof-of-principle” of potential value generalisation and uncertainty analysis methods for ecosystem accounting. It does not cover all regulating ecosystem services of urban forests, nor cultural services. While noting that wide confidence intervals for generalised values pose challenges for using monetary accounts for the accounting purpose of change detection, we find that tree-specific asset valuation is possible in an urban accounting setting. Our findings serve the purpose of raising awareness about asset values of urban green infrastructure, to bring them more on a par with grey infrastructure in urban planning. We also argue that the reliability of the asset value of individual trees is also good enough to be used for non-accounting purposes, such as municipal tree damage assessments.","PeriodicalId":36908,"journal":{"name":"One Ecosystem","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44532849","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Experiences gained through in person (in-situ) interactions with ecosystems provide cultural ecosystem services. These services are difficult to assess because they are non-material, vary spatially and have strong perceptual characteristics. Data obtained from social media can provide spatially-explicit information regarding some in-situ cultural ecosystem services by serving as a proxy for visitation. These data can identify environmental characteristics (natural, human and built capital) correlated with visitation and, therefore, the types of places used for in-situ environmental interactions. A range of spatial models can be applied in this way that vary in complexity and can provide information for ecosystem service assessments. We deployed four models (global regression, local regression, maximum entropy and the InVEST recreation model) to the same case-study area, County Galway, Ireland, to compare spatial models. A total of 6,752 photo-user-days (PUD) (a visitation metric) were obtained from Flickr. Data describing natural, human and built capital were collected from national databases. Results showed a blend of capital types correlated with PUD suggesting that local context, including biophysical traits and accessibility, are relevant for in-situ cultural ecosystem service flows. Average trends included distance to the coast and elevation as negatively correlated with PUD, while the presence of major roads and recreational sites, population density and habitat diversity were positively correlated. Evidence of local relationships, especially town distance, were detected using geographic weighted regression. Predicted hotspots for visitation included urban areas in the east of the region and rural, coastal areas with major roads in the west. We conclude by presenting a guide for researchers and practitioners developing cultural ecosystem service spatial models using data from social media that considers data coverage, landscape heterogeneity, computational resources, statistical expertise and environmental context.
{"title":"Spatial analysis of cultural ecosystem services using data from social media: A guide to model selection for research and practice","authors":"Andrew Neill, C. O’Donoghue, J. Stout","doi":"10.3897/oneeco.8.e95685","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3897/oneeco.8.e95685","url":null,"abstract":"Experiences gained through in person (in-situ) interactions with ecosystems provide cultural ecosystem services. These services are difficult to assess because they are non-material, vary spatially and have strong perceptual characteristics. Data obtained from social media can provide spatially-explicit information regarding some in-situ cultural ecosystem services by serving as a proxy for visitation. These data can identify environmental characteristics (natural, human and built capital) correlated with visitation and, therefore, the types of places used for in-situ environmental interactions. A range of spatial models can be applied in this way that vary in complexity and can provide information for ecosystem service assessments. We deployed four models (global regression, local regression, maximum entropy and the InVEST recreation model) to the same case-study area, County Galway, Ireland, to compare spatial models. A total of 6,752 photo-user-days (PUD) (a visitation metric) were obtained from Flickr. Data describing natural, human and built capital were collected from national databases. Results showed a blend of capital types correlated with PUD suggesting that local context, including biophysical traits and accessibility, are relevant for in-situ cultural ecosystem service flows. Average trends included distance to the coast and elevation as negatively correlated with PUD, while the presence of major roads and recreational sites, population density and habitat diversity were positively correlated. Evidence of local relationships, especially town distance, were detected using geographic weighted regression. Predicted hotspots for visitation included urban areas in the east of the region and rural, coastal areas with major roads in the west. We conclude by presenting a guide for researchers and practitioners developing cultural ecosystem service spatial models using data from social media that considers data coverage, landscape heterogeneity, computational resources, statistical expertise and environmental context.","PeriodicalId":36908,"journal":{"name":"One Ecosystem","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46467671","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
River landscapes have an important function in the landscape in terms of coastal use and the opportunities they provide and they offer different cultural ecosystem services (CES). CES have a significant impact on human welfare in terms of the recreational, aesthetic and spiritual benefits these generate for people. However, the modelling and analysis of these services is more limited versus other ecosystem services due to their intangibility and subjectivity which creates unique challenges. Recently, social media data have provided an opportunity to generate spatial models of CES, offering significant cost and time advantages. Nevertheless, the usefulness of these novel data sources still requires more investigation versus more traditional survey techniques. This study aims to understand the variety of information provided by the images that users upload publicly on a daily basis to social media in a urban/rural setting. Specifically, CES provided by the open and green spaces around the Lower Rhine (Nederrijn) in Wageningen were studied using images uploaded to the social media platform Flickr. A photographic survey was then conducted to compare the utility and accuracy of these new data versus traditional techniques. In doing so, spatial data, ratings and survey evaluations related to the photographs were digitised, classified and integrated with land cover features. The results show that there is a good consistency between the two sources of data and that a wide range of CES measures can be established using these novel data sources. More work is now needed in developing spatial indicators of CES relevant to local assessments, such as the one carried out in this study. Focusing on the Lower Rhine region as a case study, we used the Flickr digital platform to address the following three key questions: (1) What is the spatial distribution of CES? (2) Do users who post on the Flickr platform fully represent the cultural identity of the community and visitors in the region? (3) Which land-cover types of the Lower Rhine region are most appreciated for CES and what are the aesthetic preferences of visitors and experts that correspond to this?
{"title":"Investigation of cultural ecosystem services supply in a river landscape: a case study in the Lower Rhine area using social media images","authors":"Betul Tulek","doi":"10.3897/oneeco.8.e97259","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3897/oneeco.8.e97259","url":null,"abstract":"River landscapes have an important function in the landscape in terms of coastal use and the opportunities they provide and they offer different cultural ecosystem services (CES). CES have a significant impact on human welfare in terms of the recreational, aesthetic and spiritual benefits these generate for people. However, the modelling and analysis of these services is more limited versus other ecosystem services due to their intangibility and subjectivity which creates unique challenges. Recently, social media data have provided an opportunity to generate spatial models of CES, offering significant cost and time advantages. Nevertheless, the usefulness of these novel data sources still requires more investigation versus more traditional survey techniques. This study aims to understand the variety of information provided by the images that users upload publicly on a daily basis to social media in a urban/rural setting. Specifically, CES provided by the open and green spaces around the Lower Rhine (Nederrijn) in Wageningen were studied using images uploaded to the social media platform Flickr. A photographic survey was then conducted to compare the utility and accuracy of these new data versus traditional techniques. In doing so, spatial data, ratings and survey evaluations related to the photographs were digitised, classified and integrated with land cover features. The results show that there is a good consistency between the two sources of data and that a wide range of CES measures can be established using these novel data sources. More work is now needed in developing spatial indicators of CES relevant to local assessments, such as the one carried out in this study.\u0000 Focusing on the Lower Rhine region as a case study, we used the Flickr digital platform to address the following three key questions:\u0000 (1) What is the spatial distribution of CES?\u0000 (2) Do users who post on the Flickr platform fully represent the cultural identity of the community and visitors in the region?\u0000 (3) Which land-cover types of the Lower Rhine region are most appreciated for CES and what are the aesthetic preferences of visitors and experts that correspond to this?","PeriodicalId":36908,"journal":{"name":"One Ecosystem","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46348774","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Beyhan Ekinci, K. Grunewald, Sophie Meier, Steffen Schwarz, Burkhard Schweppe-Kraft, R. Syrbe
Life Satisfaction Analyses in Germany reveal a significant positive correlation between the amount of green space within 1 km of residence and well-being. The comparison of the effects of green space and income on well-being allows the derivation of a monetary demand function for green spaces close to the place of home. This demand function was used together with land-use and population data to estimate the monetary value of green space close to home for every 2 km × 2 km grid cell in Germany. The results can be used in environmental economic accounting as a proxy for the (visual) amenity services of green spaces close to residences and provide urban planners with additional information on the strength and spatial distribution of demand for green spaces in residential areas. The study shows that, especially in densely populated areas where more than 30 per cent of the German population lives, the (simulated) exchange value of green spaces (price per additional hectare derived from the demand function) multiplied by the number of households that would pay this price, is higher than the price per ha that can be achieved on the real estate market. A comparison with the results of a Hedonic Price Analysis that estimates the effect of urban green space on property prices finds that the values of urban green spaces calculated with this method were 38 to 124 times smaller than the values calculated with the Life Satisfaction Analysis and far below building land prices. The reason for the relatively low impact of urban green on property prices can be explained by market imperfections in the housing market.
{"title":"Setting priorities for greening cities with monetary accounting values for amenity services of urban green","authors":"Beyhan Ekinci, K. Grunewald, Sophie Meier, Steffen Schwarz, Burkhard Schweppe-Kraft, R. Syrbe","doi":"10.3897/oneeco.7.e89705","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3897/oneeco.7.e89705","url":null,"abstract":"Life Satisfaction Analyses in Germany reveal a significant positive correlation between the amount of green space within 1 km of residence and well-being. The comparison of the effects of green space and income on well-being allows the derivation of a monetary demand function for green spaces close to the place of home. This demand function was used together with land-use and population data to estimate the monetary value of green space close to home for every 2 km × 2 km grid cell in Germany.\u0000 The results can be used in environmental economic accounting as a proxy for the (visual) amenity services of green spaces close to residences and provide urban planners with additional information on the strength and spatial distribution of demand for green spaces in residential areas.\u0000 The study shows that, especially in densely populated areas where more than 30 per cent of the German population lives, the (simulated) exchange value of green spaces (price per additional hectare derived from the demand function) multiplied by the number of households that would pay this price, is higher than the price per ha that can be achieved on the real estate market.\u0000 A comparison with the results of a Hedonic Price Analysis that estimates the effect of urban green space on property prices finds that the values of urban green spaces calculated with this method were 38 to 124 times smaller than the values calculated with the Life Satisfaction Analysis and far below building land prices. The reason for the relatively low impact of urban green on property prices can be explained by market imperfections in the housing market.","PeriodicalId":36908,"journal":{"name":"One Ecosystem","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48277163","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Beyhan Ekinci, K. Grunewald, Sophie Meier, Steffen Schwarz, Burkhard Schweppe-Kraft, R. Syrbe
Ecosystem services can be measured physically, but also valued in monetary terms. In public planning and decision-making in Germany, multi-criteria analysis is usually used to inform decision-makers about different impacts of projects, for example, for housing and the siting of industrial or infrastructure projects. Typically, these evaluations are based on various environmental, social and economic impacts using their own specific methods and then juxtapose the different results, without providing further support for weighing various concerns. Economic evaluations attempt to assess preferences of individuals and society in relation to the outcomes that are relevant for a decision, thereby providing further support to decision-makers. Although so-called welfare values are usually used for this purpose in cost-benefit analysis, it can be shown that, in certain cases, exchange values from environmental economic accounting also fulfil that objective. This is demonstrated for the case of site planning, using maps of economic values of biomass provisioning services and ecosystem services for nature conservation. The ecosystem service values used for this purpose were determined spatially explicitly nationwide for Germany. Services for nature conservation were calculated as average costs to develop one ´biotope value point´. This unit is used in German planning law to determine ecological compensation measures for impacts on nature. Cost data were calculated from nature conservation measures to fulfil the requirements of the EU Habitats Directive. As a proxy for the biomass provisioning service, hypothetical agricultural land-lease rates with different yield potential were estimated throughout Germany. Due to a lack of other spatially specific data, timber services were valued with the average net profit of forestry businesses. A comparison shows that, on average, services for nature conservation have higher values than biomass provisioning services. This is the case even for arable land.
{"title":"Supporting site planning through monetary values for biomass and nature conservation services from ecosystem accounts","authors":"Beyhan Ekinci, K. Grunewald, Sophie Meier, Steffen Schwarz, Burkhard Schweppe-Kraft, R. Syrbe","doi":"10.3897/oneeco.7.e89706","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3897/oneeco.7.e89706","url":null,"abstract":"Ecosystem services can be measured physically, but also valued in monetary terms. In public planning and decision-making in Germany, multi-criteria analysis is usually used to inform decision-makers about different impacts of projects, for example, for housing and the siting of industrial or infrastructure projects. Typically, these evaluations are based on various environmental, social and economic impacts using their own specific methods and then juxtapose the different results, without providing further support for weighing various concerns.\u0000 Economic evaluations attempt to assess preferences of individuals and society in relation to the outcomes that are relevant for a decision, thereby providing further support to decision-makers. Although so-called welfare values are usually used for this purpose in cost-benefit analysis, it can be shown that, in certain cases, exchange values from environmental economic accounting also fulfil that objective. This is demonstrated for the case of site planning, using maps of economic values of biomass provisioning services and ecosystem services for nature conservation. \u0000 The ecosystem service values used for this purpose were determined spatially explicitly nationwide for Germany. Services for nature conservation were calculated as average costs to develop one ´biotope value point´. This unit is used in German planning law to determine ecological compensation measures for impacts on nature. Cost data were calculated from nature conservation measures to fulfil the requirements of the EU Habitats Directive. As a proxy for the biomass provisioning service, hypothetical agricultural land-lease rates with different yield potential were estimated throughout Germany. Due to a lack of other spatially specific data, timber services were valued with the average net profit of forestry businesses.\u0000 A comparison shows that, on average, services for nature conservation have higher values than biomass provisioning services. This is the case even for arable land.","PeriodicalId":36908,"journal":{"name":"One Ecosystem","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49563040","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pilot monetary ecosystem accounts were compiled for KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa, in order to highlight any data, methodological or process issues in their compilation and to contribute towards charting a strategy for ecosystem accounting. The Province is highly diverse, with eight biomes, large proportions under communal, private and state tenure, globally important biodiversity, variable landscape condition and encompassing catchment areas of nine river systems. We accounted for the supply and use of wild biomass, reared animal production, cultivation (including silviculture), nature-based tourism, property value, carbon storage and sequestration, pollination, flow regulation (maintenance of base flows), sediment retention, water quality amelioration and flood attenuation. For each ecosystem service, we devised conceptually valid methods that were suitable for the existing data to produce values consistent with the System of National Accounts. These were then summed to estimate total annual flows from each 100 x 100 m spatial unit and its asset value. Challenges encountered included lack of data on small-scale and subsistence production, mismatches in the classification of landcover and government production statistics, unreliable measures of ecosystem condition, the large scale of hydrological modelling and lack of centralised data organisation relating to hydrological services. There was heavy reliance on past empirical research and on global datasets. The combined value of the annual flow of the ecosystem services valued was R52.5 billion in 2011, equivalent to 12% of the provincial GDP. However, the values of many of the services have decreased over the accounting period, due to a combination of changes in demand and ecosystem condition. Asset value was undermined to some extent by unsustainable use of provisioning services. Some areas will require careful messaging, particularly in regard to the contentious issue of valuing carbon retention and the use of exchange values rather than welfare values that are used in economic analysis.
为南非夸祖鲁-纳塔尔省编制了试点货币生态系统核算，以便突出其编制过程中的任何数据、方法或过程问题，并有助于制定生态系统核算战略。该省具有高度多样性，有8个生物群落，大部分属于公共、私人和国家所有，具有全球重要的生物多样性，多变的景观条件，包括9个河流系统的集水区。我们考虑了野生生物量的供应和利用、饲养动物生产、耕作(包括造林)、基于自然的旅游、财产价值、碳储存和固存、授粉、流量调节(维持基流)、沉积物保留、水质改善和洪水衰减。对于每一种生态系统服务，我们设计了概念上有效的方法，适用于现有数据，以产生与国民核算体系一致的价值。然后将这些数据相加，以估计每个100 x 100米空间单元的年总流量及其资产价值。面临的挑战包括缺乏小规模和自给生产的数据，土地覆盖分类和政府生产统计数据的不匹配，生态系统状况的不可靠测量，大规模水文建模以及缺乏与水文服务相关的集中数据组织。严重依赖过去的实证研究和全球数据集。2011年生态系统服务价值年总流量为525亿兰特，相当于全省GDP的12%。然而，由于需求和生态系统条件的变化，许多服务的价值在会计期间有所下降。由于不可持续地使用供应服务，资产价值在一定程度上受到损害。有些领域需要谨慎地传递信息，特别是在有争议的评估碳保留和使用交换价值而不是经济分析中使用的福利价值的问题上。
{"title":"Accounting for ecosystem services and asset value: pilot accounts for KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa","authors":"J. Turpie, G. Letley, J. Weiss, K. Schmidt","doi":"10.3897/oneeco.7.e86392","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3897/oneeco.7.e86392","url":null,"abstract":"Pilot monetary ecosystem accounts were compiled for KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa, in order to highlight any data, methodological or process issues in their compilation and to contribute towards charting a strategy for ecosystem accounting. The Province is highly diverse, with eight biomes, large proportions under communal, private and state tenure, globally important biodiversity, variable landscape condition and encompassing catchment areas of nine river systems. We accounted for the supply and use of wild biomass, reared animal production, cultivation (including silviculture), nature-based tourism, property value, carbon storage and sequestration, pollination, flow regulation (maintenance of base flows), sediment retention, water quality amelioration and flood attenuation. For each ecosystem service, we devised conceptually valid methods that were suitable for the existing data to produce values consistent with the System of National Accounts. These were then summed to estimate total annual flows from each 100 x 100 m spatial unit and its asset value. Challenges encountered included lack of data on small-scale and subsistence production, mismatches in the classification of landcover and government production statistics, unreliable measures of ecosystem condition, the large scale of hydrological modelling and lack of centralised data organisation relating to hydrological services. There was heavy reliance on past empirical research and on global datasets. The combined value of the annual flow of the ecosystem services valued was R52.5 billion in 2011, equivalent to 12% of the provincial GDP. However, the values of many of the services have decreased over the accounting period, due to a combination of changes in demand and ecosystem condition. Asset value was undermined to some extent by unsustainable use of provisioning services. Some areas will require careful messaging, particularly in regard to the contentious issue of valuing carbon retention and the use of exchange values rather than welfare values that are used in economic analysis.","PeriodicalId":36908,"journal":{"name":"One Ecosystem","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47388973","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Elena Mengo, Gaetano Grilli, T. Luisetti, Heather Conejo Watt, Cherry Harper Jones, P. Posen
In recent decades, a concerted effort has been made to define methodologies and frameworks to account for the contribution of the natural environment to national wealth and its role in fulfilling societal and economic needs. The linkages between natural capital and human well-being are even stronger in low-income and vulnerable countries, such as Small Island Developing States (SIDS). This is particularly true for coastal and marine ecosystems and for SIDS, considering that a large portion of their population live along the coast. Therefore, SIDS would greatly benefit from systematically assessing and recording the condition and services provided by marine and coastal habitats in ecosystem accounts. Applications of accounting frameworks to marine and coastal habitats, however, are still under development. Through a case study in the Caribbean Island of Grenada, we explore SIDS readiness to develop marine and coastal natural capital accounts, in particular framed within the guidelines of the United Nations System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA-EA). We find that, while data to compile accounts of ecosystems extent exist and may be suitable for accounting, data related to ecosystem condition are very limited. Data gaps significantly constrained the potential approaches to estimate the ecosystem services supply provided by the coastal and marine environment in our natural capital accounts for Grenada. Our case study investigation brings us to suggest initial steps for the development of ecosystem accounts in SIDS, including potential methodologies and approaches and discuss how developing a set of coherent accounts can play a key role in incorporating nature into decision-making.
{"title":"Marine and coastal accounts for Small Island Developing States: A case study and application in Grenada","authors":"Elena Mengo, Gaetano Grilli, T. Luisetti, Heather Conejo Watt, Cherry Harper Jones, P. Posen","doi":"10.3897/oneeco.7.e84865","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3897/oneeco.7.e84865","url":null,"abstract":"In recent decades, a concerted effort has been made to define methodologies and frameworks to account for the contribution of the natural environment to national wealth and its role in fulfilling societal and economic needs. The linkages between natural capital and human well-being are even stronger in low-income and vulnerable countries, such as Small Island Developing States (SIDS). This is particularly true for coastal and marine ecosystems and for SIDS, considering that a large portion of their population live along the coast. Therefore, SIDS would greatly benefit from systematically assessing and recording the condition and services provided by marine and coastal habitats in ecosystem accounts. Applications of accounting frameworks to marine and coastal habitats, however, are still under development. Through a case study in the Caribbean Island of Grenada, we explore SIDS readiness to develop marine and coastal natural capital accounts, in particular framed within the guidelines of the United Nations System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA-EA). We find that, while data to compile accounts of ecosystems extent exist and may be suitable for accounting, data related to ecosystem condition are very limited. Data gaps significantly constrained the potential approaches to estimate the ecosystem services supply provided by the coastal and marine environment in our natural capital accounts for Grenada. Our case study investigation brings us to suggest initial steps for the development of ecosystem accounts in SIDS, including potential methodologies and approaches and discuss how developing a set of coherent accounts can play a key role in incorporating nature into decision-making.","PeriodicalId":36908,"journal":{"name":"One Ecosystem","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43076912","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Natural heritage (NH) possesses an outstanding universal value that can be described as “natural significance” at a national level. The ecosystems can be considered as the spatial units which represent the NH of the particular area in terms of their value to people. Recreation and tourism are amongst the important values which are strongly dependent on the NH and they have a certain impact on the ecosystems' condition and the quality of the services they provide. The efforts through the Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and thier Services (MAES) process led to the development of a multi-tiered approach that considers different methods at different levels of detail and complexity and can be applied according to specific needs, data and resource availability. In this paper, we propose the development of this methodology for the specific need for mapping and assessment of the NH as a source of ecosystem services (ES) for recreation and tourism. The conceptual scheme of the study demonstrates how the MAES framework can be adapted to the specific needs of the work and arrange the methods into three tiers according to the data availability and resources. The mapping and assessment procedure is based on an algorithm for spatial data analyses which enables the evaluation of the NH potential to provide 15 ecosystem services. The results show that the NH of Bulgaria is a valuable source of ES which are well presented in most parts of the country. The areas with very high potential form several clusters that correspond to the country's tourist regions. The proposed approach is applicable on the national scale and solves the problem of data availability limitations for various ES. The algorithm ensures the optimal quality of the results using the available data and resources. Instead of an expert-based assessment for all services which is easier, but less accurate, the proposed approach provides the means how to define more precise indicators, based on statistical data or models where possible. The study provides appropriate data for analyses of the methods’ performance at different tiers.
{"title":"A multi-tiered approach to map and assess the natural heritage potential to provide ecosystem services at a national level","authors":"S. Nedkov, Mariyana Nikolova, Hristina Prodanova, Vanya Stoycheva, Desislava Hristova, Eugenia Sarafova","doi":"10.3897/oneeco.7.e91580","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3897/oneeco.7.e91580","url":null,"abstract":"Natural heritage (NH) possesses an outstanding universal value that can be described as “natural significance” at a national level. The ecosystems can be considered as the spatial units which represent the NH of the particular area in terms of their value to people. Recreation and tourism are amongst the important values which are strongly dependent on the NH and they have a certain impact on the ecosystems' condition and the quality of the services they provide. The efforts through the Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and thier Services (MAES) process led to the development of a multi-tiered approach that considers different methods at different levels of detail and complexity and can be applied according to specific needs, data and resource availability. In this paper, we propose the development of this methodology for the specific need for mapping and assessment of the NH as a source of ecosystem services (ES) for recreation and tourism. The conceptual scheme of the study demonstrates how the MAES framework can be adapted to the specific needs of the work and arrange the methods into three tiers according to the data availability and resources. The mapping and assessment procedure is based on an algorithm for spatial data analyses which enables the evaluation of the NH potential to provide 15 ecosystem services. The results show that the NH of Bulgaria is a valuable source of ES which are well presented in most parts of the country. The areas with very high potential form several clusters that correspond to the country's tourist regions. The proposed approach is applicable on the national scale and solves the problem of data availability limitations for various ES. The algorithm ensures the optimal quality of the results using the available data and resources. Instead of an expert-based assessment for all services which is easier, but less accurate, the proposed approach provides the means how to define more precise indicators, based on statistical data or models where possible. The study provides appropriate data for analyses of the methods’ performance at different tiers.","PeriodicalId":36908,"journal":{"name":"One Ecosystem","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41931670","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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