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Ecosystem Services Analysis in Relation to Water Accounting

Ecosystem Services Analysis in Relation to Water Accounting. Lars Hein. Contents presentation. Topic: How do ecosystem dynamics influence the value of water

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Ecosystem Services Analysis in Relation to Water Accounting

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  1. Ecosystem Services Analysis in Relation to Water Accounting Lars Hein

  2. Contents presentation • Topic: How do ecosystem dynamics influence the value of water • relevant for the third step of water accounting: ‘recording the productivity resulting from water consumption in river basins’ (http://www.wateraccounting.com/) • Ecosystem dynamics and values • Case studies Ecosystem scale • Water Management in De Wieden • Water in the Ferlo, Senegal, a semi-arid ecosystem • Case study Landscape Scale: Ecosystem Services in the Gelderse Valley • Implications for Water Accounting

  3. Step 1. Specification of the boundaries Ecosystem of the system to be valued Step 2. Assessment of ecosystem services in bio-physical terms Provisioning services Regulating services Cultural services Step 3. Valuation using monetary, or other, indicators Direct use values Indirect use values Option values Non-use values Step 4. Aggregation or comparison of the different values Total value Ecosystem dynamics and values: ecosystem services • Ecosystem services = the benefits provided by ecosystems (MA, 2003)

  4. Ecosystem dynamics

  5. Production Consumption Dispersion, transformation Ecosystem Services in a dynamic context Management Aquatic ecosystem Ecosystem services Pressures Ecosystem dynamics Waste treatment

  6. Case 1. Ecosystem services in De Wieden • The De Wieden wetland (NLs) is one of the largest lowland peatland mashes in Western Europe, in total around 6000 ha. • It is a Ramsar wetland, a Natura 2000 site, and of principal importance for nature conservation in the Netherlands • What are the key ecosystem services supplied by the Weiden, what is their economic value, and how are they influenced by water quality management ?

  7. Location and map of De Wieden

  8. Ecosystem services in De Wieden

  9. Economic value of the ecosystem services in De Wieden

  10. Model to analyse impacts of nutrient pollution control

  11. Lake dynamics in De Wieden

  12. Constructing the abatement curve (2)

  13. Functional relations in the model – an example • Relation between nutrient concentrations and algae growth

  14. Impacts of reduced nutrient loading on ecosystem services supply

  15. Results (1)

  16. Results (2)

  17. Case study 2: The Ferlo (Senegal) • In the Ferlo, livestock grazing is the main source of income; but sustained, heavy grazing pressures have an impact on the vegetation. This impact depends to a large extent on the annual rainfall. • Question: how does rainwater availability influence livestock production ?

  18. The Ferlo - the model Source: Weikard and Hein, in press, Hein and Weikard, 2008, Hein, 2006

  19. Rainfall and grazing as drivers for productivity

  20. Case 3: Ecosystem Services Supply at the Scale of the Landscape the Gelderse Valley, the Netherlands • 7 Ecosystem services: arable agriculture, intensive livestock holding, tourism, leisure cycling, residential areas, plant habitat, water extraction. • Main aim: how can ecosystem services be identified in the landscape :

  21. Allocating values to ecosystem services in the landscape • 1. Delineation: Landscape functions are directly observable from the land cover or are defined by policy regulations. • Arable land, intensive livestock holdings, residential, drinking water extraction zones • 2. No or partial delineation: Non-directly observable landscape functions without strict delineations. • Tourism, leisure cycling, plant habitat

  22. Maps depicting the value of ecosystem service supply Source: Willemen et al., 2008, Willemen et al., 2010

  23. Implications for water accounting (1) • Ecosystem service approach has the advantage of allowing comprehensive analysis of benefits provided by land / water • But ecosystem service supply is dynamic, and current benefits does not necessarily represent the maximum or sustainable benefits that can be supplied. • Current supply • Maximum sustainable biological harvest • Efficient harvest • Sustainable harvest vis-à-vis natural reference situation

  24. Implications for water accounting (2) • Different approaches needed to quantify ecosystem services at different scales, in particular for regulation services.

  25. Implications for water accounting (3) • Large scale conversion of ecosystems would lead to price effects of ecosystem services. How are total values accounted for in Accounting ? • At the global scales, total values for essential life support services (water supply, oxygen) may approach infinity

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