Restoration of Ecosystem Services for Environmental Markets

Science ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 325 (5940) ◽  
pp. 575-576 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret A. Palmer ◽  
Solange Filoso
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Ecological Restoration ◽  
Direct Measurement ◽  
Environmental Degradation ◽  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Environmental Markets ◽  
New Science ◽  
Restoration Success ◽  
Future Success ◽  
Biophysical Processes

Ecological restoration is an activity that ideally results in the return of an ecosystem to an undisturbed state. Ecosystem services are the benefits humans derive from ecosystems. The two have been joined to support growing environmental markets with the goal of creating restoration-based credits that can be bought and sold. However, the allure of these markets may be overshadowing shortcomings in the science and practice of ecological restoration. Before making risky investments, we must understand why and when restoration efforts fall short of recovering the full suite of ecosystem services, what can be done to improve restoration success, and why direct measurement of the biophysical processes that support ecosystem services is the only way to guarantee the future success of these markets. Without new science and an oversight framework to protect the ecosystem service assets which people depend, markets could actually accelerate environmental degradation.

scholarly journals Impacts of Grain-for-Green and Grain-for-Blue Policies on Valued Ecosystem Services in Shandong Province, China

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Song ◽  
Xiangzheng Deng ◽  
Bing Liu ◽  
Zhaohua Li ◽  
Gui Jin
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Nutrient Cycling ◽  
Ecological Restoration ◽  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Net Primary Productivity ◽  
Shandong Province ◽  
Ecosystem Service Value ◽  
Grain For Green ◽  
Service Value

China launched a series of ecological restoration policies to mitigate its severe environmental challenges in the late 1990s. From the beginning, the effects and influences of the ecological restoration policies have been hotly debated. In the present study, we assessed the effects of two vital ecological restoration policies (Grain-for-Green and Grain-for-Blue) on valued ecosystem services in Shandong province. A new method based on the net primary productivity and soil erosion was developed to assess the ecosystem service value. In the areas implementing the Grain-for-Green and Grain-for-Blue policies, the ecosystem service value increased by 24.01% and 43.10% during 2000–2008, respectively. However, comparing to the average increase of ecosystem service value (46.00%) in the whole of Shandong province in the same period, Grain-for-Green and Grain-for-Blue did not significantly improve overall ecosystem services. The ecological restoration policy led to significant tradeoffs in ecosystem services. Grain-for-Green improved the ecosystem service function of nutrient cycling, organic material provision, and regulation of gases but decreased that of water conservation. Grain-for-Blue increased the water conservation function but led to a reduction in the function of soil conservation and nutrient cycling.

scholarly journals Stated Preferences for Intermediate versus Final Ecosystem Services: Disentangling Willingness to Pay for Omitted Outcomes

2013 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Johnston ◽  
Eric T. Schultz ◽  
Kathleen Segerson ◽  
Elena Y. Besedin ◽  
Mahesh Ramachandran
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Willingness To Pay ◽  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Structural Model ◽  
Stated Preference ◽  
Choice Experiments ◽  
Stated Preferences ◽  
Intermediate Outcomes ◽  
Biophysical Processes ◽  
Stated Preference Valuation

Stated preference scenarios often provide information on intermediate biophysical processes but omit information on the resulting final services that provide utility. This may cause respondents to speculate about the effects of intermediate outcomes on their welfare, leading to biased welfare estimates. This work clarifies distinctions between intermediate and final ecosystem services within stated preference valuation and develops a structural model by which to infer respondents’ speculations when a final ecosystem service is omitted. The model also derives implications for welfare estimates. Methods and results are illustrated using an application of choice experiments to fish restoration in Rhode Island's Pawtuxet watershed.

Governing research through affects: The case of ecosystem services science

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (6) ◽  
pp. 866-875 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucas Brunet ◽  
Isabelle Arpin ◽  
Taru Peltola
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Environmental Degradation ◽  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Scientific Practice ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
Service Research ◽  
Research Practice ◽  
Science And Society ◽  
Interdisciplinary Field ◽  
Services Science

AbstractDespite the abundant literature on transformation of research and the affective dimension of research practice, affective governing of research has not been documented to the same extent. To address this gap, we examine how scientific research can be affectively governed by research institutions. We focus on the case of ecosystem services science, an interdisciplinary field of research expected to lead to decisions capable of halting environmental degradation. Drawing on theoretical discussions bridging the concept of affect and the Foucauldian concept of government, we argue that affects can be mobilised as a technology of government in governing scientific practice. We identify three affective techniques used to govern ecosystem service research and discuss the limits of governing research through affects. Our analysis deepens the understanding of how academic work is transformed in the context of redefined relations between science and society.

scholarly journals Equilibrium Relationship between Ecosystem Service Supply and Consumption Driven by Economic Development and Ecological Restoration

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1486
Author(s):  
Xianghua Zhang ◽  
Lingbo Dong ◽  
Yingli Huang ◽  
Yanli Xu ◽  
Huiyan Qin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Ecological Restoration ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Northeast China ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Equilibrium Relationship ◽  
Development Policies ◽  
The Relationship

Economic development and ecological restoration guided by policies has had a profound impact on the relationship between ecosystem service supply and consumption in the past few decades. Exploring the relationship in specific study areas is necessary to support regional planning for sustainability. In this study, we analyzed the equilibrium relationship between ecosystem service supply and consumption driven by economic development and ecological restoration from 1995 to 2018 in Northeast China. We quantified the supply and consumption of three critical ecosystem services, food production, water yield and atmospheric regulation, and identified the main areas for supply and consumption of ecosystem services. We measured the quantity and spatial equilibrium relationship between ecosystem service supply and consumption driven by economic development and ecological restoration at economic megaregion scale. We found the new industrial structure shaped by regional economic development policies formed the new ecosystem service consumer demand. The development of agricultural industry not only resulted in the increase of water consumption, but also the scope of water consumption was expanded in Northeast China. The development of tertiary industry causes the change of atmospheric regulation consumption in urban agglomeration. What’s more, economic development exacerbated imbalances in the supply and consumption of ecosystem services. The unbalanced areas where food supply was less than consumption were in the clusters of Harbin, Changchun, Shenyang, and coastal cities. Since food products can circulate freely through the market, this imbalance will not fundamentally affect regional food security, but will improve the level of agricultural industrialization and scale. The implementation of the grain economic policy caused the rapid expansion of unbalanced areas where water supply was less than consumption. The incredible space mismatch between the supply and consumption of ecosystem services still exists for a long time. However, the implementation of the ecological restoration didn’t effectively solve the problem of insatiable ecosystem service consumption. The ecosystem service consumption brought by economic development need to be given the utmost attention when formulating ecological restoration policies and economic development policies. The results can provide insights for enhancing economic sustainability in northeast china, as well other economic megaregion with similar characteristics throughout the world.

scholarly journals Quantifying the Impact of Grain for Green Program on Ecosystem Service Management: A Case Study of Exibei Region, China

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (13) ◽  
pp. 2311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qianru Yu ◽  
Chen-Chieh Feng ◽  
NuanYin Xu ◽  
Luo Guo ◽  
Dan Wang
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Ecological Restoration ◽  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Service Management ◽  
Annual Growth ◽  
Annual Growth Rate ◽  
Grain For Green ◽  
Grain For Green Program ◽  
The Impact

Evaluating the impact of an ecological restoration program on ecosystem services is crucial, given the role of such a program in boosting sustainable ecosystem management. This study examines the impact of one of the large-scale ecological restoration programs in China, the Grain for Green Program (GGP), on ecosystem service management in the Exibei region of China. This region is studied, as it is a key source water area with rich biodiversity and has been experiencing GGP for 20 years. To achieve the stated goal the changes of land use and ecosystem services value (ESV) and the ecosystem services scarcity value (ESSV) in the Exibei region were quantified and assessed based on remote sensing images from 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015 and field survey data. The results indicated that the expansion of construction land and the increase of water body were the dominant land use changes throughout the study period. Farmland, forestland and grassland decreased by 2.61%, 0.47% and 1.41% after the GGP, respectively. The ESV of the entire Exibei region increased slightly in response to land use change during 1990–2015, with an annual loss of 0.08% before the implementation of GGP and an annual growth of 0.03% after the implementation of GGP. Moreover, forestland was the dominant contributor to ESSV after the implementation of the GGP. Its annual growth rate was four times higher than before the commencement of GGP. The results of this study contribute to the protection of the Exibei region ecosystem, and more importantly, the future management of the ecosystem service in the hilly regions of southern China.

scholarly journals Exploring the Use of Ecosystem Services Conceptual Models to Account for the Benefits of Public Lands: An Example from National Forest Planning in the United States

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 267
Author(s):  
Lydia Olander ◽  
Katie Warnell ◽  
Travis Warziniack ◽  
Zoe Ghali ◽  
Chris Miller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Public Lands ◽  
The United States ◽  
Forest Planning ◽  
National Forest ◽  
Planning Team ◽  
National Forest Planning

A shared understanding of the benefits and tradeoffs to people from alternative land management strategies is critical to successful decision-making for managing public lands and fostering shared stewardship. This study describes an approach for identifying and monitoring the types of resource benefits and tradeoffs considered in National Forest planning in the United States under the 2012 Planning Rule and demonstrates the use of tools for conceptualizing the production of ecosystem services and benefits from alternative land management strategies. Efforts to apply these tools through workshops and engagement exercises provide opportunities to explore and highlight measures, indicators, and data sources for characterizing benefits and tradeoffs in collaborative environments involving interdisciplinary planning teams. Conceptual modeling tools are applied to a case study examining the social and economic benefits of recreation on the Ashley National Forest. The case study illustrates how these types of tools facilitate dialog for planning teams to discuss alternatives and key ecosystem service outcomes, create easy to interpret visuals that map details in plans, and provide a basis for selecting ecosystem service (socio-economic) metrics. These metrics can be used to enhance environmental impact analysis, and help satisfy the goals of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the 2012 Planning Rule, and shared stewardship initiatives. The systematic consideration of ecosystem services outcomes and metrics supported by this approach enhanced dialog between members of the Forest planning team, allowed for a more transparent process in identification of key linkages and outcomes, and identified impacts and outcomes that may not have been apparent to the sociologist who is lacking the resource specific expertise of these participants. As a result, the use of the Ecosystem Service Conceptual Model (ESCM) process may result in reduced time for internal reviews and greater comprehension of anticipated outcomes and impacts of proposed management in the plan revision Environmental Impact Statement amongst the planning team.

scholarly journals Analysis of the Internal Relationship between Ecological Value and Economic Value Based on the Forest Resources in China

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6795
Author(s):  
Jianxin Geng ◽  
Chengzhi Liang
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Market Value ◽  
Forest Resources ◽  
Atmospheric Environment ◽  
Shanxi Province ◽  
Ecosystem Service Value ◽  
Service Value ◽  
Asset Value

In this study, we applied gross ecosystem product (GEP) theory in a case study to analyze and explain the natural resource asset value and ecosystem service value of forest resources in Jiaokou County, Shanxi Province, Northern China, in 2018. GEP refers to the total value of various final material products and services provided by ecosystems. In this paper, six service functions of a forest system, including water conservation, soil conservation, carbon fixation and oxygen release, forest nutrients, purification of atmospheric environment, and biodiversity, are valued by three calculation methods: the alternative cost method, market value method, and control cost method. The study revealed the following: (1) There is a parallel relationship between the value of natural resource assets and the value of ecosystem services. GEP includes the market value of natural resource assets, but it is mostly the value of ecosystem services. (2) The measurement of the physical quantity of forest ecosystem services depends on parameter data, and the monetary calculation often has no mature pricing basis, which leads to the large scale and uncertainty surrounding the evaluation results of ecosystem services. (3) The ecosystem service value and natural resource asset value have different practical significance, as well as alternate theoretical bases. The value of natural resource assets can be used as the asset valuation basis of economic transactions, which plays a role in macroeconomic management. The value of ecosystem services can be used as the basis of ecological compensation, providing information for the preparation of the balance sheet of natural resources.

Ecological restoration success from community and agency perspectives – exploring the differences

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mel Galbraith ◽  
David R. Towns ◽  
Barbara Bollard‐Breen ◽  
Edith A. MacDonald
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Restoration ◽  
Restoration Success
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