scholarly journals Valuing Ecosystem Services at the Urban Level: A Critical Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1129
Author(s):  
Edoardo Croci ◽  
Benedetta Lucchitta ◽  
Tommaso Penati
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Contingent Valuation ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Economic Valuation ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
Art And Design ◽  
Climate Regulation ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Regulation Services ◽  
Urban Level

This paper critically analyses the methodologies that can be adopted to value ecosystem services (ESs) at the urban level through a literature review. While literature on ES valuation has grown in recent years, its application to urban contexts is still limited. Twenty-five papers, which include 29 different case studies, carry out an economic valuation and have undergone an in-depth analysis. The papers have been selected out of 80 papers detected through keywords. Six different valuation methodologies have been employed in the case studies. The most common ESs valued at the urban level are air quality regulation, local climate regulation, carbon sequestration and storage, and aesthetic appreciation and inspiration for culture, art, and design. The methodologies recur with different frequencies in the valuation of ESs at the urban level. Choice modeling and contingent valuation methodologies are used to value a variety of ESs, including regulating, cultural, and supporting services. Other methodologies are used to value only specific ESs. The replacement cost and damage cost avoided methodologies are used for the assessment of regulation services only; the travel cost method and contingent valuation are used for cultural services only. The results indicate that the considered valuation methodologies show different levels of appropriateness with respect to specific ES categories. Therefore, there is a need to expand the application of valuation methodologies to capture the value of all ESs provided by natural resources, in order to protect and enhance them.

scholarly journals Lake and wetland ecosystem services measuring water storage and local climate regulation

2017 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 3197-3223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina P. Wong ◽  
Bo Jiang ◽  
Theodore J. Bohn ◽  
Kai N. Lee ◽  
Dennis P. Lettenmaier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Water Storage ◽  
Wetland Ecosystem ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
Climate Regulation

scholarly journals Impacts of land use change due to biofuel crops on climate regulation services: Five case studies in Malawi, Mozambique and Swaziland

2018 ◽  
Vol 114 ◽  
pp. 30-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla Romeu-Dalmau ◽  
Alexandros Gasparatos ◽  
Graham von Maltitz ◽  
Alastair Graham ◽  
Jacob Almagro-Garcia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Use Change ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Climate Regulation ◽  
Biofuel Crops ◽  
Regulation Services

scholarly journals Assessment of the Selected Regulating Ecosystem Services Using Ecosystem Services Matrix in Two Model Areas: Special Nature Reserve Obedska Bara (Serbia) and Protected Landscape Area Dunajske Luhy (Slovakia)

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1401
Author(s):  
Ivan Laco
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Nature Reserve ◽  
Landscape Management ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Human Society ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
Climate Regulation ◽  
Quality Regulation

In this paper we are analyzing the potential of land cover features to provide three regulating ecosystem services (ESs), ES Local climate regulation, ES Water quality regulation and ES Biodiversity promotion, in two case study areas: Special nature reserve (SNR) Obedska bara (Serbia) and Protected landscape area (PLA) Dunajske luhy (Slovakia). Regulating ESs are not only important for proper functioning of ecosystems, but they are also crucial for the existence of human society. To assess the potential of land cover features to provide regulating ESs, we used biophysical methods. The maps of land cover potential to provide regulating ES are the result of the analyses. The results indicate that forests are the most important ecosystems that provide ES Local climate regulation and ES Water quality regulation. For ES Biodiversity promotion, the most important ecosystems were natural and seminatural meadows, wetlands, natural and seminatural rivers and water bodies as well as forests. Overall SNR Obedska bara has higher potential to provide all three regulating ESs than PLA Dunajske luhy. These findings point to the importance of natural areas in ensuring the provision of regulating ESs. Properly selected landscape management is the key for maintaining or improving the potential of land cover features to provide regulating ESs. The research can help local authorities in decision making and in creating conservation strategies for selected protected areas.

scholarly journals Economic valuation of the ecosystem services provided by a protected area in the Brazilian Cerrado: application of the contingent valuation method

2017 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
pp. 762-773 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. M. Resende ◽  
G. W. Fernandes ◽  
D. C. Andrade ◽  
H. D. Néder
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Willingness To Pay ◽  
Contingent Valuation ◽  
Protected Area ◽  
National Park ◽  
Contingent Valuation Method ◽  
Economic Valuation ◽  
Anthropogenic Pressure ◽  
Serra Do Cipó ◽  
Valuation Method

Abstract Considering that the economic valuation of ecosystem services is a useful approach to support the conservation of natural areas, we aimed to estimate the monetary value of the benefits provided by a protected area in southeast Brazil, the Serra do Cipó National Park. We calculated the visitor’s willingness to pay to conserve the ecosystems of the protected area using the contingent valuation method. Located in a region under intense anthropogenic pressure, the Serra do Cipó National Park is mostly composed of rupestrian grassland ecosystems, in addition to other Cerrado physiognomies. We conducted a survey consisting of 514 interviews with visitors of the region and found that the mean willingness to pay was R$ 7.16 year–1, which corresponds to a total of approximately R$ 716,000.00 year–1. We detected that per capita income, the household size, the level of interest in environmental issues and the place of origin influenced the likelihood that individuals are willing to contribute to the conservation of the park, as well as the value of the stated willingness to pay. This study conveys the importance of conserving rupestrian grassland and other Cerrado physiognomies to decision makers and society.

scholarly journals Comparative quantification of local climate regulation by green and blue urban areas in cities across Europe

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Romain Goldenberg ◽  
Zahra Kalantari ◽  
Georgia Destouni
Keyword(s):  
Power Law ◽  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Urban Climate ◽  
Urban Ecosystem ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
European Cities ◽  
Climate Regulation ◽  
Regulation Services

AbstractUrban growth alters environmental conditions with major consequences for climate regulation and the exposure of population to heat. Nature-based solutions may be used to alleviate the increasing urban climate pressures, but the climate regulation services that these solutions can supply for and across different urban conditions remains understudied. We comparatively investigate the urban ecosystem service realization (considering the ecosystem service supply and demand spatial interactions) of local climate regulation by vegetated (green) and water-covered (blue) areas across 660 European cities. Results show relatively robust power-law relationships with city population density (average R2 of 0.34) of main indicators of ecosystem service realization. Country-wise fitting for city-average indicators strengthens these relationships, in particular for western European cities (average R2 of 0.66). Cross-city results also show strong power-law relationship of effectiveness in ecosystem service realization with socio-economic measures like Human Development Index and GPD per capita, in particular for the area fraction of city parts with high ecosystem service realization (R2 of 0.77). The quantified relationships are useful for comparative understanding of differences in ecosystem services realization between cities and city parts, and quantitative projection of possible change trends under different types of city growth so that relevant measures can be taken to counteract undesirable trends.

scholarly journals Design of a Database of Case Studies and Technologies to Increase the Diffusion of Low-Temperature Waste Heat Recovery in the Industrial Sector

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 5223
Author(s):  
Miriam Benedetti ◽  
Daniele Dadi ◽  
Lorena Giordano ◽  
Vito Introna ◽  
Pasquale Eduardo Lapenna ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Low Temperature ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Heat Recovery ◽  
Waste Heat Recovery ◽  
Waste Heat ◽  
Industrial Sector ◽  
Implementation Rate ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Technology Market

The recovery of waste heat is a fundamental means of achieving the ambitious medium- and long-term targets set by European and international directives. Despite the large availability of waste heat, especially at low temperatures (<250 °C), the implementation rate of heat recovery interventions is still low, mainly due to non-technical barriers. To overcome this limitation, this work aims to develop two distinct databases containing waste heat recovery case studies and technologies as a novel tool to enhance knowledge transfer in the industrial sector. Through an in-depth analysis of the scientific literature, the two databases’ structures were developed, defining fields and information to collect, and then a preliminary population was performed. Both databases were validated by interacting with companies which operate in the heat recovery technology market and which are possible users of the tools. Those proposed are the first example in the literature of databases completely focused on low-temperature waste heat recovery in the industrial sector and able to provide detailed information on heat exchange and the technologies used. The tools proposed are two key elements in supporting companies in all the phases of a heat recovery intervention: from identifying waste heat to choosing the best technology to be adopted.

scholarly journals Towards an enhanced indication of provisioning ecosystem services in agro-ecosystems

2021 ◽  
Vol 193 (S1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Bethwell ◽  
Benjamin Burkhard ◽  
Katrin Daedlow ◽  
Claudia Sattler ◽  
Moritz Reckling ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Strong Dependence ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Conceptual Base ◽  
Provisioning Ecosystem Services ◽  
Pros And Cons ◽  
Anthropogenic Contributions

AbstractProvisioning ecosystem services play a vital role in sustaining human well-being. Agro-ecosystems contribute a significant share of these services, besides food and fodder and also fuel and fibre as well as regulating and cultural ecosystem services. Until now, the indication of provisioning ecosystem services of agro-ecosystems has been based almost only on yield numbers of agricultural products. Such an indication is problematic due to several reasons which include a disregard of the role of significant anthropogenic contributions to ecosystem service co-generation, external environmental effects and strong dependence on site conditions. We argue for an enhanced indication of provisioning ecosystem services that considers multiple aspects of their delivery. The conceptual base for such an indication has been made by prior publications which have been reviewed. Relevant points were taken up in this article and condensed into a conceptual model in order to develop a more holistic and expanded set of indictors, which was then exemplarily applied and tested in three case studies in Germany. The case studies represent different natural conditions, and the indicator set application showed that ecosystem services (ES) flow—in terms of output alone—does not characterise agro-ecosystems sufficiently. The proposed aspects of provisioning ecosystem services can give a fuller picture, for example, by input-output relationships, as it is possible by just using single indicators. Uncertainties as well as pros and cons of such an approach are elaborated. Finally, recommendations for an enhanced indication of provisioning ecosystem services in agro-ecosystems that can help to integrate agricultural principles with ideas of sustainability and site-specific land use are derived.

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