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Understanding ecosystems

Monitoring and Managing Ecosystem Services: An Integrated Approach Professor Mark Bailey Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Science Director of Biodiversity. Understanding ecosystems. What natural capital do we have and how is it changing? What is causing the change and why?

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Understanding ecosystems

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  1. Monitoring and Managing Ecosystem Services: An Integrated ApproachProfessor Mark BaileyCentre for Ecology & HydrologyScience Director of Biodiversity

  2. Understanding ecosystems What natural capital do we have and how is it changing? What is causing the change and why? How confident are we in predicting future change and risk? What innovative management solutions do we need? We need to adapt and enhance services and functions, to understand the impact of trade-offs and provide decision support tools Biodiversity Water Biogeochemistry

  3. What natural capital do we have and how is it changing?

  4. How do we measure natural capital and the services they provide? Countryside Survey - a long term integrated monitoring programme of the UK’s rural landscape since 1978 Uniquely we can map and identify associations www.countrysidesurvey.org.uk

  5. National stock and change in ecosystem services Biodiversity: Plant species richness Climate regulation: Topsoil carbon Bog Soils All Soils Arable Soils

  6. New data from Countryside Survey:Associations between services Preliminary analysis of Countryside Survey data If we protect or enhance soil carbon will water quality also be protected? Water quality in 2007 Topsoil carbon stock in 2007

  7. Predicting future riskand developing management solutions

  8. Hay production (t/ha) Difference in plant species number Win : Win Production and biodiversity in grasslands Adding wildflowers to species-poor grasslands increases hay yield by up to 40%

  9. Proving habitat for pollinators in arable systems Year of sowing

  10. Trade-off Food production and pollination • Crops and conservation headland areas (where crop is unsprayed) are not good for pollinators • We need to plant specific areas for bees • Pollinators are worth 150 billion euros to agriculture worldwide

  11. Win : Win Wetland habitat management reduces flood risk Flood flow to Oxford April 1998 (data) Flood flow without wetlands upstream (model) more time to act lower flood risk Date in April 2008

  12. Trade-off Flooding versus biodiversity within wetlands Raising water levels in wetlands improves biodiversity but removes flood storage

  13. Future challenges How do we quantify trade-offs and develop decision support tools? What are the metrics for different services and can they be combined? How can we respond to win-win and trade-offs when they operate at different scales in the landscape? How do place monetary value on these ecosystem services? How can we overcome barriers and conflicts between different stakeholders?

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