Ecosystem Services最新文献

Land-use and land-cover patterns, including their spatial heterogeneity and configuration, are fundamental in shaping landscape-level ecological processes, functions, and services. Despite growing recognition of the importance of these patterns, gaps remain in our understanding of how they influence the functional connectivity of ecosystem services (ES)—a crucial aspect for ecosystem resilience and sustainability. This research aims to bridge this gap by investigating the functional connectivity among multiple ES, such as pollination, carbon storage, soil erosion control, wetland-based ES such as habitat provisioning and water storage capacity from marshes, swamps, and open water wetlands, and agricultural food production within a complex landscape. We define functional connectivity as the extent to which the landscape facilitates or impedes the interactions and interdependencies of ecological processes that combine to create distinct ecosystem services. This definition encompasses the dynamics within a spatially interconnected mosaic of land use and land cover, exemplified by connections such as those from pollination provisioning areas to croplands. The primary goal of this research is to develop an empirical framework that encapsulates ‘network topological’ interactions— essentially, the complex interplay among various components of the ecosystem — specific to agricultural landscapes and then to apply this framework to the Canadian prairies. Our methodology uses the spatial tools including InVEST, ARIES, and GIS to map diverse ES. An ecological network is then constructed for these ES at the landscape scale, designating network nodes based on high-value ES provisioning areas and defining links between pairs of ES according to their functional connections (overlapping and proximal in physical space). These functional connections effectively delineate areas of the landscape where the majority of ES flows occur. Mapping ES connectivity and network building revealed that around 29% of the studied landscape lies within functional connectivity zones for the selected ES, representing hotspots of significant ES interactions. Our findings reveal that although soil erosion-control spans just 1.36% of the total area, a substantial 72.59% of its spatial extent was identified as functionally connected. Land cover analysis in functional connectivity zones revealed that natural habitats such as shrublands, broadleaf forests, wetlands, and grasslands are vital mediators of ES. The variability in ES interconnectivity in the landscape was evident both in the intensity of interactions and observed connections. Our findings, informed by Ecological Network Analysis (ENA), emphasize the need for integrating connectivity and systems thinking in conservation sciences to achieve sustainability and ecosystem resilience. The insights offer a foundation to explore optimal ES provisioning scenarios at the landscape scale.

Quality valuation research should adhere to best practice or state-of-the-art guidelines for conducting the research. This study systematically reviewed existing valuation literature for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) on wetland ecosystem services. The objective of the study was to identify and assess this valuation literature for compliance with best practice in accordance with contemporary state-of-the-art guidelines. The results showed that the majority of studies were conducted in marine wetland or marine ecosystems, used stated preference methods, and adhered to the majority of the considered guidelines. Less adherence was found regarding temporal considerations, probability sampling and validity and reliability testing for the stated preference methods. For the revealed preference methods there were also a lack of validity and reliability testing. Thus, there is scope for improving valuation studies in SIDS to more effectively contribute to the valuation research agenda and thereby the policy relevance of valuation research in the future.

Cultural Ecosystem Services (CES) are highly context-specific and inherently linked to local identity, which challenges their assessment. Participatory methods have proven to capture the multiple values and aspects of CES for local communities. This paper presents an attempt to understand the different dimensions of CES in the Saint-Philippe municipality, Réunion Island, France. We applied a tiered, participatory approach that utilises knowledge co-creation processes over a period of 3 years. First, we co-created the aim of the research and brought together focus groups and participatory GIS mapping. In a second step, we used an expert-based matrix assessment to estimate CES supply capacities and added social big data using InVEST modelling of CES flows. Outputs of these processes are 1) the mapping of important landscape features, 2) ecosystem capacities for CES supply and 3) modelled use of CES. Results of the participatory GIS mapping show 110 features linked to CES supply in the municipal area, including historic sites, recreational areas, and non-timber forest products such as pandanus leaves and vanilla production. Based on land use classes, the capacities of the landscapes to supply emblematic or symbolic values, landscape aesthetics and recreational activities were assessed. Ten experts contributed to the assessment in workshop format in February 2023. Spatial information on recreation patterns show that visitation mostly took place alongside the coast and along hiking trails, mainly corresponding with landscape aesthetics. Accessibility of sites close to infrastructure was found to be an important governing factor. The coastline, with its rocky basaltic shores, was highly appreciated. The outcomes of this co-creation approach show the value of ES for tourism and regional economic activities. Bringing this information together allows identifying the contribution of ecosystems to regional economic activities and informing policy and decision-makers with recommendations for enhanced land use planning and economic development.

The agricultural strategy developed in Extremadura, southwest Spain, has successfully improved the region's socioeconomic conditions over the last 50 years. However, it has led to an increased dependence on natural ecosystem services, which are now more vulnerable due to biodiversity degradation and the impacts of climate change. Despite this, in the region, there is no comprehensive economic impact assessment of the provisioning of ecosystem services to the agricultural sector that could improve decision-making processes in these areas. In this context, the aim of this paper is to provide an economic estimate of three ecosystem services (water used for irrigation, pollination and natural pest control using birds and bats) under different adaptation scenarios for the agricultural production in Extremadura. The preliminary results show that this region has intensive ecosystem services in the agricultural production. Irrigation was found to be the most important service, contributing 49 % of agricultural gross production value, followed by pollinators (10 %) and natural pest control by birds and bats (4 %). A scenario analysis showed that the expansion of irrigation has led to greater dependence on other ecosystem services, such as pollination, increasing agricultural production vulnerability. This paper proposes a line of research to achieve methodological progress in policymaking for regional development. Analysis of the interrelationship between ecosystem services and environmental cost–benefit analysis should become a standard practice when expanding irrigation.

While terrestrial ecosystems are easily monitored, marine systems suffer from a scarcity of spatial data due to their high dynamism nature and tri-dimensional environment. In this context, mapping is recognized as a critical instrument to bring ecosystem services (ES) into practical applications, and modelling could represent an essential resource for assessing marine ecosystem services. The scope of this study is to analyse the status quo of the spatially-explicit data of marine ecosystem services in European seas, (i) providing an overview of the mapping and assessment of marine ecosystem services in Europe; and (ii) highlighting the challenges and importance of including spatial analyses in the socio-economic valuation of marine ecosystem services. These results show that the mapping and assessment of ES in European marine and coastal areas are still limited and not harmonized in the evaluation approach. Most studies have provided a general assessment of marine and coastal ESs, and only few have performed detailed habitat-specific ES analyses, e.g. coastal lagoons, seagrass and meadows, neglecting the rest of marine and coastal ecosystems. Such disequilibrium was not only limited to habitat type, but it was also extended to the ES categories. Finally, the monetary and non-monetary valuation of marine ecosystems services is extremely relevant and fundamental in the process of boosting the conservation of marine habitats and resources, and of overseeing a more sustainable development for the maritime activities. Nevertheless, the methodology for the socio-economic valuation of marine assets is still under discussion due mainly to the hindrances intrinsic to marine environment. An outlook of future steps and recommendations is provided.

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment report was a milestone that placed the concepts of Ecosystem Services (ES) and Disservices (EDS) on the research and policy agenda. Since then, several gaps in these frameworks have limited their effectivity, including a conceptual ambiguity and the questioning of aspects reflected in the co-production, provision, and maintenance of ES/EDS, making it difficult to generate greater interaction and understanding of scientific work. We jointly address ES/EDS from a conceptual approach, providing an analysis of the definitions and typologies available in the literature between 2000 and 2024 that included the terms “ecosystem services” AND “ecosystem disservices.” We analyzed 297 studies based on 15 evaluation criteria. Our findings underscore the importance of delimiting the ecological processes that give rise to ES/EDS and the social phenomena that influence how they are perceived and appropriated. Both concepts were recognized as multifaceted, with diverse meanings that in some cases hinder the clarity with which different messages are communicated. These concepts hold the potential for bringing a more pluralistic view of the human-nature relationship into decision-making. We warn of the risks associated with minimizing the need for academic consensus in the identification of ES/EDS, especially as it may lead to risky management practices that affect ecosystems.

The Ecozoic is defined as an era characterized by the mutual flourishing of humans and the rest of Nature. The field of Ecosystem Services should be dedicated to achieving this goal. However, ecosystem services (ES) are commonly defined as Nature’s benefits to people, an anthropocentric concept. Many schemes proposed to assess and value ES are market oriented, thus focused on the satisfaction of subjective individual preferences, an egocentric approach. Yet modern science accepts that all complex species, including humans, are an inseparable part of Nature, incapable of surviving without the ecosystem services Nature generates. Nature is the whole, the economy is the part; we must internalize the economy into nature, not vice versa. This article builds on evolutionary theory, anthropology and ecological economics to explain the necessity of an ecocentric approach to ecosystem services embodied in economic institutions prioritizing Nature. We must create new economic institutions focused on the health of the whole system to complement existing institutions focused on the individual (e.g. markets) and on society (e.g. the public sector and other collective institutions), with the recognition that system health also depends on the health of system components. We therefore propose redefining ecosystem services as Nature’s benefits to the biotic community of which humans are a part. The relationship of humanity to nature should be the same as that of a cell to the human body: prioritize the health of whole and take only the minimum necessary for secure sufficiency.

Increased pressure on land resources to provide multiple benefits calls for landscape strategies that optimize the supply of multiple ecosystem services (ES). Previous research into the drivers of landscape multifunctionality have focused on land use composition changes, but the spatial configuration of different land use types also drives ES supply. While the impact of landscape configuration on individual ES is well understood, the net outcome of these influences when considering many ES is not. Here we present the net-balance spatial interactions hypothesis, which posits that the strength and direction of local and surrounding landscape influences on the local supply of an individual ES will drive its optimal landscape configuration. Accordingly, the net balance of these influences across multiple prioritized ES will determine the optimal configuration for landscape multifunctionality. Further, ES that share the same optimal configuration strategy form a bundle that can be managed together. Using data from German grasslands we demonstrate that the net-balance spatial interactions hypothesis is applicable to land-use planning scenarios that aim to maximize multiple ES. It allows general rules to be applied when local, detailed ES data is not available, and can help identify the best option to minimize trade-offs in the face of multiple competing land-use objectives.

While quantified environmental benefits from biosecurity protection programmes are available, they remain scarce, patchy, and context-specific. This contributes to the oversight of non-market economic values such as recreation and conservation in practical decision-making. To better understand this situation, we conducted a systematic review focused on studies that estimated non-market values. Our systematic literature review identified and described the body of knowledge on non-market values of current and future biosecurity protection initiatives worldwide. We identified 75 studies completed between 2000 and 2020 that examined biosecurity protection values across different ecosystems, including forests, freshwater, and marine environments. The results indicated that the three main quantified ecosystem service values were biodiversity conservation and enhancement, recreation, and bundled forest ecosystem services. Among the economic valuation methods, the survey-based stated preference method called choice experiment was the most widely used. This method provides a detailed approach to estimating multiple environmental values derived from biosecurity protection. We identified some significant advancements within the subfield of biosecurity protection, particularly in the valuation methods employed. These advancements include the integration of multiple approaches, such as combining economic valuation with spatial and psychological methods. We envision that our findings will inform the design of future NMV research. This, in turn, will better equip decision-makers to develop more effective, collaborative, and inclusive policies addressing biosecurity issues. These policies will account for the multiple values associated with biosecurity programmes.