Pub Date : 2025-12-13DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101800
Marianne Thomsen , Annette Bruhn , Jonne Kotta , Bela H. Buck , Jack R. Hall , Georg Martin , Antonio Agüera , Marie Maar , Manali Chakraborty , Maxime Ekoule , Ian Overton , Mausam Budhathoki
Seaweed aquaculture is rapidly expanding in Europe and the Americas providing engineered ecosystem services (EES) such as nutrient removal, pH buffering, and carbon uptake. Used as a nature-based emission capture-and-utilisation technology, seaweed transforms emissions into revenue streams while delivering non-profit value, making seaweed aquaculture a promising eco-industrial system that fits well to the global agenda of green economic transitions and ecosystem health restoration. However, aquaculture activities may, in some cases, cause unwanted engineered ecosystem disservices (EED) which should be avoided.
We argue that an adaptive and cross-sectoral policy framework is imperative to guide the sustainable development of a blue circular bioeconomy, or phyconomy, from primary production to final products, involving actors across multiple governance levels and sectors. We identify likely EES/EED and their potential impacts on natural ecosystem services using the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES), and we map stakeholder linkages and policy instruments through a snowball approach.
Finally, we adapt the Drivers-Pressures-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework to seaweed aquaculture, redefining Pressure as Progress to recognise restorative outcomes. The resulting model connects EES/EED with relevant policies, supporting integrated and regenerative development of the seaweed sector.
{"title":"Advancing a restorative blue Economy: A DPSIR–Ecosystem services framework for sustainable seaweed aquaculture","authors":"Marianne Thomsen , Annette Bruhn , Jonne Kotta , Bela H. Buck , Jack R. Hall , Georg Martin , Antonio Agüera , Marie Maar , Manali Chakraborty , Maxime Ekoule , Ian Overton , Mausam Budhathoki","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101800","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101800","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Seaweed aquaculture is rapidly expanding in Europe and the Americas providing engineered ecosystem services (EES) such as nutrient removal, pH buffering, and carbon uptake. Used as a nature-based emission capture-and-utilisation technology, seaweed transforms emissions into revenue streams while delivering non-profit value, making seaweed aquaculture a promising eco-industrial system that fits well to the global agenda of green economic transitions and ecosystem health restoration. However, aquaculture activities may, in some cases, cause unwanted engineered ecosystem disservices (EED) which should be avoided.</div><div>We argue that an adaptive and cross-sectoral policy framework is imperative to guide the sustainable development of a blue circular bioeconomy, or phyconomy, from primary production to final products, involving actors across multiple governance levels and sectors. We identify likely EES/EED and their potential impacts on natural ecosystem services using the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES), and we map stakeholder linkages and policy instruments through a snowball approach.</div><div>Finally, we adapt the Drivers-Pressures-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework to seaweed aquaculture, redefining Pressure as Progress to recognise restorative outcomes. The resulting model connects EES/EED with relevant policies, supporting integrated and regenerative development of the seaweed sector.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51312,"journal":{"name":"Ecosystem Services","volume":"77 ","pages":"Article 101800"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2025-12-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145738602","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-13DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101805
MariaElena Menconi, Marco Vizzari, David Grohmann
Urban areas are facing increasing environmental pressures, particularly in densely built-up neighborhoods with limited opportunities for incorporating greenery. This study proposes a spatially explicit methodology to optimize Local Regulating Ecosystem Services (LRES), particularly air pollution removal, through nature-based retrofitting scenarios. First, we evaluate the baseline, integrating municipal tree inventory data with high-resolution LiDAR and orthophotography to estimate the complete urban forest, including trees on private lands, in a Mediterranean city context. Then, we develop a Simulated Optimal Tree (SOT) model from high-performing real trees. We use it to assess the potential of five scenarios: densification of trees in public parks (SC1) and private gardens (SC2), implementation of green roofs on flat-roofed buildings (SC3), conversion of marginal agricultural land into urban forests (SC4), and densification of tree-lined streets (SC5). Results show that reforesting agricultural land (SC4) delivers the highest ecosystem service gains, with a 237.4% rise in PM2.5 removal compared to the baseline. However, spatial constraints and closeness to pollution sources suggest that interventions like street trees (SC5), despite lower overall gains, remain essential to ensure alignment between demand and service delivery. The approach demonstrates how integrating field-based and remote-sensing data can guide urban greening investments and support decision-making for sustainable and resilient cities. The method is replicable, cost-effective, and adaptable for public administrations aiming to enhance LRES provision while considering spatial and structural constraints typical of high-density urban environments.
{"title":"Optimizing local regulating ecosystem services through nature-based urban retrofitting scenarios","authors":"MariaElena Menconi, Marco Vizzari, David Grohmann","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101805","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101805","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Urban areas are facing increasing environmental pressures, particularly in densely built-up neighborhoods with limited opportunities for incorporating greenery. This study proposes a spatially explicit methodology to optimize Local Regulating Ecosystem Services (LRES), particularly air pollution removal, through nature-based retrofitting scenarios. First, we evaluate the baseline, integrating municipal tree inventory data with high-resolution LiDAR and orthophotography to estimate the complete urban forest, including trees on private lands, in a Mediterranean city context. Then, we develop a Simulated Optimal Tree (SOT) model from high-performing real trees. We use it to assess the potential of five scenarios: densification of trees in public parks (SC1) and private gardens (SC2), implementation of green roofs on flat-roofed buildings (SC3), conversion of marginal agricultural land into urban forests (SC4), and densification of tree-lined streets (SC5). Results show that reforesting agricultural land (SC4) delivers the highest ecosystem service gains, with a 237.4% rise in PM2.5 removal compared to the baseline. However, spatial constraints and closeness to pollution sources suggest that interventions like street trees (SC5), despite lower overall gains, remain essential to ensure alignment between demand and service delivery. The approach demonstrates how integrating field-based and remote-sensing data can guide urban greening investments and support decision-making for sustainable and resilient cities. The method is replicable, cost-effective, and adaptable for public administrations aiming to enhance LRES provision while considering spatial and structural constraints typical of high-density urban environments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51312,"journal":{"name":"Ecosystem Services","volume":"77 ","pages":"Article 101805"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2025-12-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145738604","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-11DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101803
Lijuan Wang , Hua Zheng , Yongzhe Chen , Xiaofei Hu , Zhiyun Ouyang
The United Nations System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA-EA) aims to quantify the contributions of ecosystems to economies and incorporate the contribution of nature into economic decision-making. However, a key challenge for the SEEA-EA ecosystem service (ES) accounts is distinguishing the actual use from potential supply, especially for regulating services like river flood mitigation service, and connecting it to different beneficiaries in a consistent unit. To address this challenge, integrated models method for river flood mitigation service accounts within the SEEA-EA framework was proposed to incorporating beneficiaries. The method comprises four steps: 1) determining serviceshed, service providing areas and service benefiting areas, 2) assessing potential ecosystem flood mitigation service, 3) simulating spatial flow, connecting it with beneficiaries, and valuation, and 4) compiling Supply and Use table of actual use in alignment with SEEA-EA framework. We applied this framework to the flood-prone Wanquanhe Basin on Hainan Island, China, to assess flood mitigation service provided by forest ecosystems (e.g., natural forests, rubber, and gardens) and the Niululing Reservoir. The SWAT and Random Forest models estimated potential ES, land use maps identified beneficiaries, and the HEC-RAS model simulated the spatial flow of floodwater. Data from these models were then integrated to quantify the ES actual use, which were subsequently incorporated into the SEEA-EA accounts. The case study revealed that in 2020, the upstream forest ecosystems and the reservoir provided 15.52 and 2.9 billion Yuan worth of actual flood mitigation service, respectively, to downstream beneficiaries. This study demonstrates how our integrated models method for river flood mitigation service effectively distinguishes between potential and actual ES use, connects services to beneficiaries, and constructs comprehensive SEEA-EA accounts. This method can be replicated in other regions to compile SEEA-EA accounts for river flood mitigation service, which can inform nature-based decision-making for flood risk management.
{"title":"An integrated method to account for river flood mitigation service in the SEEA-EA framework","authors":"Lijuan Wang , Hua Zheng , Yongzhe Chen , Xiaofei Hu , Zhiyun Ouyang","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101803","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101803","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The United Nations System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA-EA) aims to quantify the contributions of ecosystems to economies and incorporate the contribution of nature into economic decision-making. However, a key challenge for the SEEA-EA ecosystem service (ES) accounts is distinguishing the actual use from potential supply, especially for regulating services like river flood mitigation service, and connecting it to different beneficiaries in a consistent unit. To address this challenge, integrated models method for river flood mitigation service accounts within the SEEA-EA framework was proposed to incorporating beneficiaries. The method comprises four steps: 1) determining serviceshed, service providing areas and service benefiting areas, 2) assessing potential ecosystem flood mitigation service, 3) simulating spatial flow, connecting it with beneficiaries, and valuation, and 4) compiling Supply and Use table of actual use in alignment with SEEA-EA framework. We applied this framework to the flood-prone Wanquanhe Basin on Hainan Island, China, to assess flood mitigation service provided by forest ecosystems (e.g., natural forests, rubber, and gardens) and the Niululing Reservoir. The SWAT and Random Forest models estimated potential ES, land use maps identified beneficiaries, and the HEC-RAS model simulated the spatial flow of floodwater. Data from these models were then integrated to quantify the ES actual use, which were subsequently incorporated into the SEEA-EA accounts. The case study revealed that in 2020, the upstream forest ecosystems and the reservoir provided 15.52 and 2.9 billion Yuan worth of actual flood mitigation service, respectively, to downstream beneficiaries. This study demonstrates how our integrated models method for river flood mitigation service effectively distinguishes between potential and actual ES use, connects services to beneficiaries, and constructs comprehensive SEEA-EA accounts. This method can be replicated in other regions to compile SEEA-EA accounts for river flood mitigation service, which can inform nature-based decision-making for flood risk management.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51312,"journal":{"name":"Ecosystem Services","volume":"77 ","pages":"Article 101803"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2025-12-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145738601","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-08DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101799
Crystal Bradley , Sarah Clement , Michael Vardon , Ben Milligan , Kazuki Kagohashi
Human dependency and use of ecosystem services have led to the depletion and degradation of natural capital, putting human wellbeing and economic prosperity at risk. The concept of critical natural capital offers a pathway to better understand and manage dependencies and inform government policy by supplementing existing management of environmental impacts. This paper reviews the existing definitions and frameworks for determining critical natural capital and proposes a new approach, informed by global accounting standards, that can be operationalised in Australia and other country contexts. We propose that the primary concern for identifying critical natural capital is determining what is most important, for whom and for what purpose, at a given point in time. A hierarchical importance framework is suggested to identify critical natural capital and ecosystem services that are essential to human wellbeing. Historically, key vulnerability factors such as substitutability, scarcity and threats were also proposed to identify critical natural capital. We argue that these factors should be omitted from the identification process and instead be included in subsequent risk assessments and associated policy processes. This means that the initial identification of critical natural capital should not automatically lead to conservation or protection. Rather, practical operationalisation necessitates that a range of policy options be considered. The proposed framework enables explicit and proactive management of nature-related dependency risks of interest to governments, complementing evolving efforts in the private sector.
{"title":"Operationalising the concept of critical natural capital to understand and manage nature dependency risk","authors":"Crystal Bradley , Sarah Clement , Michael Vardon , Ben Milligan , Kazuki Kagohashi","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101799","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101799","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Human dependency and use of ecosystem services have led to the depletion and degradation of natural capital, putting human wellbeing and economic prosperity at risk. The concept of critical natural capital offers a pathway to better understand and manage dependencies and inform government policy by supplementing existing management of environmental impacts. This paper reviews the existing definitions and frameworks for determining critical natural capital and proposes a new approach, informed by global accounting standards, that can be operationalised in Australia and other country contexts. We propose that the primary concern for identifying critical natural capital is determining what is most important, for whom and for what purpose, at a given point in time. A hierarchical importance framework is suggested to identify critical natural capital and ecosystem services that are essential to human wellbeing. Historically, key vulnerability factors such as substitutability, scarcity and threats were also proposed to identify critical natural capital. We argue that these factors should be omitted from the identification process and instead be included in subsequent risk assessments and associated policy processes. This means that the initial identification of critical natural capital should not automatically lead to conservation or protection. Rather, practical operationalisation necessitates that a range of policy options be considered. The proposed framework enables explicit and proactive management of nature-related dependency risks of interest to governments, complementing evolving efforts in the private sector.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51312,"journal":{"name":"Ecosystem Services","volume":"77 ","pages":"Article 101799"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2025-12-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145738603","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-06DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101802
Flávio José Simioni , Tais Toldo Moreira , Lucas Meneguim Pereira , Sabrina Antunes Vieira , Philipe Ricardo Casemiro Soares , Viviane Aparecida Spinelli Shein , Everton Skoronski
Protected areas play a crucial role in preserving natural resources and providing essential ecosystem services. Therefore, the present study aimed to estimate the economic value of the contribution of the protected area denominated the Farofa Mountain Range Complex to the preservation of springs in the mountainous region of the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil. The area preserves 4987.16 ha with native forests and has springs that form the Caveiras River, which supplies water for human consumption in the city of Lages. The novelty of this paper resides in the determination of valuation using two methods combined with physicochemical water quality variables. The contingent valuation method considered a sample of 374 interviewees who expressed their “willingness to pay” for preserving and conserving the area. The reduction in water treatment costs for the human supply in the city of Lages was also estimated using the “avoided costs“ method, considering the reduction in chemical products resulting from the improvement in the physicochemical variables of the water from the protected area. The results showed that 37.4 % of respondents were willing to contribute an average pay amount of $1.27 per family/month, corresponding to a total economic value of 6.46 to 28.21 million dollars, depending on the opportunity cost of capital adopted in Brazil. The reduction in water treatment costs due to the better quality produced by the protected area corresponded to a potential average avoided cost of 11.0% and 3.6% in the polynomial and logarithmic models, respectively, compared to expenses with conventional treatment. The results demonstrate the importance and relevance of the protected area as an important provider of ecosystem services and water resources. The combination of two valuation methods and water quality data proved to be complementary in this study, expanding the scope of the assessment.
{"title":"Economic valuation of the contribution of a protected area to water quality in the mountainous region of Santa Catarina, Brazil","authors":"Flávio José Simioni , Tais Toldo Moreira , Lucas Meneguim Pereira , Sabrina Antunes Vieira , Philipe Ricardo Casemiro Soares , Viviane Aparecida Spinelli Shein , Everton Skoronski","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101802","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101802","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Protected areas play a crucial role in preserving natural resources and providing essential ecosystem services. Therefore, the present study aimed to estimate the economic value of the contribution of the protected area denominated the Farofa Mountain Range Complex to the preservation of springs in the mountainous region of the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil. The area preserves 4987.16 ha with native forests and has springs that form the Caveiras River, which supplies water for human consumption in the city of Lages. The novelty of this paper resides in the determination of valuation using two methods combined with physicochemical water quality variables. The contingent valuation method considered a sample of 374 interviewees who expressed their “willingness to pay” for preserving and conserving the area. The reduction in water treatment costs for the human supply in the city of Lages was also estimated using the “avoided costs“ method, considering the reduction in chemical products resulting from the improvement in the physicochemical variables of the water from the protected area. The results showed that 37.4 % of respondents were willing to contribute an average pay amount of $1.27 per family/month, corresponding to a total economic value of 6.46 to 28.21 million dollars, depending on the opportunity cost of capital adopted in Brazil. The reduction in water treatment costs due to the better quality produced by the protected area corresponded to a potential average avoided cost of 11.0% and 3.6% in the polynomial and logarithmic models, respectively, compared to expenses with conventional treatment. The results demonstrate the importance and relevance of the protected area as an important provider of ecosystem services and water resources. The combination of two valuation methods and water quality data proved to be complementary in this study, expanding the scope of the assessment.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51312,"journal":{"name":"Ecosystem Services","volume":"77 ","pages":"Article 101802"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2025-12-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145685838","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101798
C. Viani , N. Colombo , M. Rogora , M. Giardino , M. Freppaz , I.M. Bollati
Glacial lakes, which are especially abundant in mountain regions, are fundamental natural features that provide a range of services to society. In the current context of climate change, these lakes are becoming a common feature in the progressively deglaciating high-mountain regions, providing essential direct and indirect services for human well-being and socio-economic development. So far, most of the attention has been paid primarily to hazards and secondly to biotic ecosystem services provided by glacial lakes, among which maintaining populations and habitats. Recently, there has been emerging interest also in abiotic ecosystem services. The present study synthesizes current knowledge on abiotic ecosystem services associated with glacial lakes into an integrated and detailed classification of 16 services, including hydrological buffering, hydropower production, and recreation. It highlights emerging services driven by rapid environmental change: glacial lakes act as sentinels of global change, recording environmental shifts and reflecting the state of the surrounding landscape, making them valuable for monitoring and research. Moreover, the formation of new lakes partially compensates for the loss of glaciers, helping maintain landscape diversity and aesthetic value as glaciers vanish. This study emphasizes the benefits, alongside disservices such as Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) risk, provided by glacial lakes through a comprehensive interdisciplinary framework that links the physical dynamics of glacial lakes with their socio-economic implications. This framework offers a foundation for further quantitative assessment and for the effective integration of abiotic ecosystem services of high-mountain lakes into sustainable development strategies and environmental protection policies.
{"title":"Perspectives on abiotic ecosystem services provided by glacial lakes in high-mountain areas","authors":"C. Viani , N. Colombo , M. Rogora , M. Giardino , M. Freppaz , I.M. Bollati","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101798","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101798","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Glacial lakes, which are especially abundant in mountain regions, are fundamental natural features that provide a range of services to society. In the current context of climate change, these lakes are becoming a common feature in the progressively deglaciating high-mountain regions, providing essential direct and indirect services for human well-being and socio-economic development. So far, most of the attention has been paid primarily to hazards and secondly to biotic ecosystem services provided by glacial lakes, among which maintaining populations and habitats. Recently, there has been emerging interest also in abiotic ecosystem services. The present study synthesizes current knowledge on abiotic ecosystem services associated with glacial lakes into an integrated and detailed classification of 16 services, including hydrological buffering, hydropower production, and recreation. It highlights emerging services driven by rapid environmental change: glacial lakes act as sentinels of global change, recording environmental shifts and reflecting the state of the surrounding landscape, making them valuable for monitoring and research. Moreover, the formation of new lakes partially compensates for the loss of glaciers, helping maintain landscape diversity and aesthetic value as glaciers vanish. This study emphasizes the benefits, alongside disservices such as Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) risk, provided by glacial lakes through a comprehensive interdisciplinary framework that links the physical dynamics of glacial lakes with their socio-economic implications. This framework offers a foundation for further quantitative assessment and for the effective integration of abiotic ecosystem services of high-mountain lakes into sustainable development strategies and environmental protection policies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51312,"journal":{"name":"Ecosystem Services","volume":"76 ","pages":"Article 101798"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145623841","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-21DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101796
Haojie Chen
Ecosystem services (ESs) are the benefits that humans receive from ecosystem functions, processes, or characteristics. In practice, many assessments do not distinguish between realized ESs—actually used or received by humans—and ecosystems’ capacities to provide services. These capacities can be referred to as potential ESs. The realization of ESs requires not only these ecological capacities but also human perception, use, or the fulfillment of human demand. Therefore, assessing realized ESs is more complex than assessing potential ESs. This study synthesizes 66 indicators for assessing 34 types of realized ESs and highlights a subset of indicators potentially applicable to environmental-economic accounting. It also explores the challenges in determining people’s actual use of ESs, such as identifying which areas benefit from ESs, determining whether ESs are actually used, and deciding who should assess the fulfillment of human demand for ESs. These challenges arise from (1) the intangible and public nature of certain ESs, (2) the distance decay that ESs may exhibit, (3) the long-term and broad societal need for ESs, (4) the fact that some ESs may be received remotely from multiple directions without active or direct human intervention, and (5) the potential human-induced pressures that the realization of ESs may place on ecosystems. The management and assessment of realized ESs should be guided by experts, while also incorporating public perspectives and disclosing the limitations and assumptions of the assessment methods. Furthermore, the realization of ESs must remain within the ecosystems’ capacities to provide them sustainably, and these capacities should be protected. There should also be mechanisms through which the potential supply of ESs can be delivered to humans. This study aims to support ES researchers, managers, and decision-makers in evaluating realized ESs, thereby tracking and managing the actual contributions of ESs to socio-economic development and human well-being.
{"title":"How to assess realized ecosystem services: Indicators, challenges in determining actual use, and suggestions","authors":"Haojie Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101796","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101796","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Ecosystem services (ESs) are the benefits that humans receive from ecosystem functions, processes, or characteristics. In practice, many assessments do not distinguish between realized ESs—actually used or received by humans—and ecosystems’ capacities to provide services. These capacities can be referred to as potential ESs. The realization of ESs requires not only these ecological capacities but also human perception, use, or the fulfillment of human demand. Therefore, assessing realized ESs is more complex than assessing potential ESs. This study synthesizes 66 indicators for assessing 34 types of realized ESs and highlights a subset of indicators potentially applicable to environmental-economic accounting. It also explores the challenges in determining people’s actual use of ESs, such as identifying which areas benefit from ESs, determining whether ESs are actually used, and deciding who should assess the fulfillment of human demand for ESs. These challenges arise from (1) the intangible and public nature of certain ESs, (2) the distance decay that ESs may exhibit, (3) the long-term and broad societal need for ESs, (4) the fact that some ESs may be received remotely from multiple directions without active or direct human intervention, and (5) the potential human-induced pressures that the realization of ESs may place on ecosystems. The management and assessment of realized ESs should be guided by experts, while also incorporating public perspectives and disclosing the limitations and assumptions of the assessment methods. Furthermore, the realization of ESs must remain within the ecosystems’ capacities to provide them sustainably, and these capacities should be protected. There should also be mechanisms through which the potential supply of ESs can be delivered to humans. This study aims to support ES researchers, managers, and decision-makers in evaluating realized ESs, thereby tracking and managing the actual contributions of ESs to socio-economic development and human well-being.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51312,"journal":{"name":"Ecosystem Services","volume":"76 ","pages":"Article 101796"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2025-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145579083","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-20DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101795
Stefan Schmidt, Christian Albert
While rivers and floodplains provide critical ecosystem services such as water purification, flood regulation, and recreational opportunities, they face increasing pressures from anthropogenic activities and climate change. Traditional river management has predominantly relied on technical interventions, which have frequently been associated with reductions in the ability of ecosystems to deliver these critical services.
This study aims to provide a robust basis for assessing the potential impacts of technical and nature-based river management measures on ecosystem services in rivers and floodplains. Using a synthesis-of-reviews approach based on PRISMA guidelines findings from nine review publications – including 25 nature-based and 26 technical river management measures – were summarized.
Results demonstrate that nature-based river management measures exhibit significantly more positive and fewer negative effects on ecosystem services compared to technical measures. Over 84 % (21 out of 25) of nature-based interventions positively influence 6 to 17 ecosystem services, whereas technical measures, on average, positively affect only one service (±1.4 standard deviation, SD) and negatively impact approximately 15 (±5.3 SD). Nature-based measures also enhance ecological integrity, biodiversity, and climate resilience, making them critical for achieving multifunctional river landscapes.
These findings offer valuable insights for policymakers and practitioners, emphasizing the need to prioritize nature-based measures in river management to enhance ecological conditions and sustain multiple ecosystem services. By integrating nature-based approaches, decision-makers can achieve more sustainable, multifunctional river systems that balance ecological, social, and economic objectives.
{"title":"Enhancing multiple ecosystem services: Nature-based measures outperform technical interventions in river management","authors":"Stefan Schmidt, Christian Albert","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101795","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101795","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>While rivers and floodplains provide critical ecosystem services such as water purification, flood regulation, and recreational opportunities, they face increasing pressures from anthropogenic activities and climate change. Traditional river management has predominantly relied on technical interventions, which have frequently been associated with reductions in the ability of ecosystems to deliver these critical services.</div><div>This study aims to provide a robust basis for assessing the potential impacts of technical and nature-based river management measures on ecosystem services in rivers and floodplains. Using a synthesis-of-reviews approach based on PRISMA guidelines findings from nine review publications – including 25 nature-based and 26 technical river management measures – were summarized.</div><div>Results demonstrate that nature-based river management measures exhibit significantly more positive and fewer negative effects on ecosystem services compared to technical measures. Over 84 % (21 out of 25) of nature-based interventions positively influence 6 to 17 ecosystem services, whereas technical measures, on average, positively affect only one service (±1.4 standard deviation, SD) and negatively impact approximately 15 (±5.3 SD). Nature-based measures also enhance ecological integrity, biodiversity, and climate resilience, making them critical for achieving multifunctional river landscapes.</div><div>These findings offer valuable insights for policymakers and practitioners, emphasizing the need to prioritize nature-based measures in river management to enhance ecological conditions and sustain multiple ecosystem services. By integrating nature-based approaches, decision-makers can achieve more sustainable, multifunctional river systems that balance ecological, social, and economic objectives.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51312,"journal":{"name":"Ecosystem Services","volume":"76 ","pages":"Article 101795"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2025-11-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145579084","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-19DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101794
Rodrigo Zilleruelo , John Rolfe , Jeremy De Valck , Gordon Dwane
Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are increasingly promoted as human actions that harness nature’s properties and functions to deliver multiple benefits to people and nature. In this way, they are championed as an approach to help achieve sustainable development. This framing has garnered broad attention and support. However, the specific values that underpin public support for NbS remain underexplored, even though understanding them is essential for assessing the policy legitimacy of NbS, clarifying their conceptual foundations, and evaluating their transformative potential. We use environmental valuation to understand public support for funding four types of NbS—two land-based: 1. Living seawall and 2. Constructed wetland, and two water-based: 3. Coral gardening and 4. Seaweed biofilter—projects in Queensland, Australia, and to examine the underlying values that shape this support. Mixed Logit models indicate that households are willing to pay approximately AU$75–150 per year for implementing these solutions, with no substantial differences in preferences across the four types. Crucially, model interactions with attitudinal variables reveal that relational values are stronger predictors of support than instrumental or intrinsic values. This strong association between NbS and relational values may offer an opportunity to increase public acceptance of NbS and, more broadly, to support societal transformation in a nature-positive direction through longer-term initiatives that seek to reframe the relationship between people and nature.
{"title":"Relational values in nature-based solutions and their role in transformative change: evidence from choice modelling","authors":"Rodrigo Zilleruelo , John Rolfe , Jeremy De Valck , Gordon Dwane","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101794","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101794","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are increasingly promoted as human actions that harness nature’s properties and functions to deliver multiple benefits to people and nature. In this way, they are championed as an approach to help achieve sustainable development. This framing has garnered broad attention and support. However, the specific values that underpin public support for NbS remain underexplored, even though understanding them is essential for assessing the policy legitimacy of NbS, clarifying their conceptual foundations, and evaluating their transformative potential. We use environmental valuation to understand public support for funding four types of NbS—two land-based: 1. Living seawall and 2. Constructed wetland, and two water-based: 3. Coral gardening and 4. Seaweed biofilter—projects in Queensland, Australia, and to examine the underlying values that shape this support. Mixed Logit models indicate that households are willing to pay approximately AU$75–150 per year for implementing these solutions, with no substantial differences in preferences across the four types. Crucially, model interactions with attitudinal variables reveal that relational values are stronger predictors of support than instrumental or intrinsic values. This strong association between NbS and relational values may offer an opportunity to increase public acceptance of NbS and, more broadly, to support societal transformation in a nature-positive direction through longer-term initiatives that seek to reframe the relationship between people and nature.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51312,"journal":{"name":"Ecosystem Services","volume":"76 ","pages":"Article 101794"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2025-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145579085","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-17DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101793
Unai Ortega-Barrueta , Unai Sertutxa , Ibone Ametzaga-Arregi , Jorge Curiel Yuste , Raquel Esteban , Lorena Ruiz de Larrinaga , Francisco San Miguel-Oti , Lorena Peña
Forest ecosystems provide a wide range of ecosystem services (ES) that are essential for human well-being. Nevertheless, conventional forest management practices that prioritise timber production often reduce the capacity of forests to provide a balanced set of other ES, thereby diminishing their overall multifunctionality. The aim of this study is to develop a field-based multi-indicator methodological approach to assess how different forest management types influence the multifunctionality value based on the supply of thirteen ES (two provisioning, nine regulating and two cultural), and to identify the forest attributes (location, structure and maturity, and soil properties) that influence the provision of each ES. The research was conducted in the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve, a relevant protected area of the Basque Country (Spain). The forest management types selected for the study were as follows: i) No managed native forests, ii) Abandoned pine plantations, iii) Pine managed plantations, and iv) Eucalyptus managed plantations, with 10 stands sampled for each management type. The findings indicated that No managed and Abandoned exhibited higher multifunctionality value and greater values in regulating and cultural ES in comparison to managed plantations, which supplied higher timber provision, yet exhibited suboptimal performance in other ES. The application of generalised linear mixed models has revealed a positive correlation between forest attributes, including soil pH and vertical heterogeneity, and the provision of multiple ES. However, it has also been observed that slope has a negative effect on certain regulating ES. These findings underscore the significance of forest management practices that preserve both the structural complexity of the forest and landscape, whilst simultaneously enhancing soil conditions to ensure multifunctionality. Furthermore, abandoned pine plantations have the potential to demonstrate ecological restoration, thereby supporting natural regeneration and improving the delivery of regulating and cultural ES.
{"title":"Effect of forest management on the ecosystem services supply and multifunctionality in the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve","authors":"Unai Ortega-Barrueta , Unai Sertutxa , Ibone Ametzaga-Arregi , Jorge Curiel Yuste , Raquel Esteban , Lorena Ruiz de Larrinaga , Francisco San Miguel-Oti , Lorena Peña","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101793","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101793","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Forest ecosystems provide a wide range of ecosystem services (ES) that are essential for human well-being. Nevertheless, conventional forest management practices that prioritise timber production often reduce the capacity of forests to provide a balanced set of other ES, thereby diminishing their overall multifunctionality. The aim of this study is to develop a field-based multi-indicator methodological approach to assess how different forest management types influence the multifunctionality value based on the supply of thirteen ES (two provisioning, nine regulating and two cultural), and to identify the forest attributes (location, structure and maturity, and soil properties) that influence the provision of each ES. The research was conducted in the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve, a relevant protected area of the Basque Country (Spain). The forest management types selected for the study were as follows: i) <em>No managed</em> native forests, ii) <em>Abandoned</em> pine plantations, iii) <em>Pine managed</em> plantations, and iv) <em>Eucalyptus managed</em> plantations, with 10 stands sampled for each management type. The findings indicated that <em>No managed</em> and <em>Abandoned</em> exhibited higher multifunctionality value and greater values in regulating and cultural ES in comparison to managed plantations, which supplied higher timber provision, yet exhibited suboptimal performance in other ES. The application of generalised linear mixed models has revealed a positive correlation between forest attributes, including soil pH and vertical heterogeneity, and the provision of multiple ES. However, it has also been observed that slope has a negative effect on certain regulating ES. These findings underscore the significance of forest management practices that preserve both the structural complexity of the forest and landscape, whilst simultaneously enhancing soil conditions to ensure multifunctionality. Furthermore, abandoned pine plantations have the potential to demonstrate ecological restoration, thereby supporting natural regeneration and improving the delivery of regulating and cultural ES.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51312,"journal":{"name":"Ecosystem Services","volume":"76 ","pages":"Article 101793"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2025-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145579087","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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