1 / 13

R. Seppelt, C.F. Dormann, B. Gruber, F. Eppink, S. Lautenbach, M. Volk

On the value of the ecosystem services concept: An idiosyncratic synthesis of regional studies their methods, results and promises. Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. R. Seppelt, C.F. Dormann, B. Gruber, F. Eppink, S. Lautenbach, M. Volk .

deion
Download Presentation

R. Seppelt, C.F. Dormann, B. Gruber, F. Eppink, S. Lautenbach, M. Volk

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. On the value of the ecosystem services concept: An idiosyncratic synthesis of regional studies their methods, results and promises Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg R. Seppelt, C.F. Dormann, B. Gruber, F. Eppink, S. Lautenbach, M. Volk ACES Conference, Naples Florida, 9th Dec. 2008

  2. ESS raise awareness of Nature’s silent work. Acts as a framework for inter- and transdisciplinary work. It gives us specific ecosystem properties to focus on. Through monetarisation of ESS we can employ the full economic weaponry to tackle environmental problems. It’s a new buzzword, a selling point. Why are we interested in Ecosystem Services? political technical practical economical cynical

  3. Background of this study • German Ministry of Research and Technology (BMBF) • State of the art review of international research on regional land use management and impacts to ecosystem services and green house gas emissions • Resulted in a call for research projects (published October 2008, Review 2009, Funding 2010-15)

  4. Approach • Scientific Review, Web of Science • Doubling time of 2 year • ~250 paper analyzed in detail • Results • Meta-analysis • Synthesis • Research recommendations

  5. General conclusion from 250 papers • models and field experiments often fail to consider interactions between ecological processes • majority of studies consider one or two ecosystem services • disregard the link between policy measures and ecological dynamics. • the relation between ecological processes and human welfare is often limited to monetarisation • many studies involve stakeholders only to evaluate parameters and outcomes of models. • McCauley, 2006 • Balmford et al., 2007; Ghazoul, 2007 • Armsworth et al., 2007; Boyd and Banzhaf, 2007; Turner and Daily, 2008; Costanza, 2008

  6. 4 facets of Ecosystem Service Assessments ensure biophysical realism of ecosystem indicators and models; provide information on trade-offs consider off-site effects ensure implementation of management options by comprehensive stakeholder involvement

  7. Biophysical realism • measurement, modelling and monitoring of ecosystem services is the foundation • studies make use of simple (proxy) indicators for variables • degree of aggregation is beneficial without losing too much of the complexity of ecological systems • consistent insights into the ecosystem impacts of human actions • Sandhu et al. (2008) • Kremen et al. (2002) • Schröter et al. (2005) • Boumans et al. (2002) • Jakeman et al. (2006)

  8. Trade-offs • Ecosystem services are not independent of one another • many ecosystem studies focus on a small number of selected services • Ecosystem service could play an important role in helping policy makers understand local welfare impacts that they may not have considered otherwise • Foley et al. (2005) • Carpenter et al. (2006) • Chan et al. (2006) • Naidoo et al. (2008) • Steffen-Deventer (2006)

  9. Off site effects • Ecosystem processes are coupled at small as well as large scales, both temporally and spatially • consequences of local decisions on far-away ecosystem (‘off-site effects’) are not considered • So far the consideration of off-site effects has been virtually absent in the ecosystem services literature. • Ecological Footprint (EF) • Water Footprint (WF) • CBD §3 • Scharlemann & Laurance (2008) • Wackernagel & Rees (1996) • Hoekstra & Chapagain (2006)

  10. Stakeholder Involvements • ecosystem functions become ecosystem services when they benefit humans • The contribution of stakeholders can be broadly allocated to three stages of ecosystem services research: • identification of relevant ecosystem services and indicators, • prioritizing of services according • ownership of suggested policy options • Research into the role of stakeholders and the success • Cowling et al. (2008) • Goosen et al. (2007)

  11. Summary • Consolidate the progress made • Develop consistent frameworks for designing and assessing policy options for the sustainable use of natural resources. • Including all four characteristics in one research study implies a major effort, with respect to finance, time and interdisciplinary cooperation. • Nevertheless, lets try it….

  12. Project Proposal: BESSER BESSER: Blueprint for EcoSystem SErvices Research • Objective: Develop Blueprint with • Concept for Ecosystem Services studies • Protocol for Ecosystem Services Assessment • Toolbox for Ecosystem Services models • Series of international in situ workshops at ESS project sites • Review / discuss Study according to Concept, Protocol and Models • Funding of Workshops, PH.d. Students, Sabbaticals, International Networking • Homework: • Case Studies? • Participation? • E-mail: Ralf

  13. Many thanks for patiently listening and of course to Co-authors and others for discussion, BMBF for funding Remarks, Questions to <ralf.seppelt@ufz.de>

More Related