Ecosystem services have received significant attention as more countries build sustainable economies. Valuing ecosystem services could greatly improve stewardship, which would yield a flow of vital goods and services when they were properly managed. This paper constructs a comprehensive framework to evaluate the terrestrial gross ecosystem products (GEP) at the global scale. By using remote sensing image with a spatial resolution of 1 km, the ecosystem provisioning services, regulating services and tourism services provided by 179 major countries are calculated from both biophysical and monetary perspectives. The results show that the range of global terrestrial GEP values was 108–187 trillion USD in 2017, with an average value of 147 trillion USD, and that the ratio of GEP to gross domestic product (GDP) was 1.86. The value of global ecosystem regulating services accounts for about 90%. There are obvious spatial differences in the distribution of the GEP. At the national level, the countries with the highest GEP values are Brazil, the United States, China, Canada and Russia. At the continental level, the GEP in America, Asia, Europe, Africa and Oceania account for 41%, 23%, 12%, 21% and 3% of the total global GEP, respectively. GEP of the top ten countries are mainly composed of the value of climate regulation service and water conservation service. Further analysis of the driving factors shows that these countries have sufficient evapotranspiration and precipitation to cool the region, increase humidity and conserve water. It is noted that African countries have higher GEP/GDP ratios, with value exceeding 100 in some countries, while developed countries such as Japan have higher GDP/GEP ratios.

Mapping global value of terrestrial ecosystem services by countries

• RUSLE implementation in a cloud-based (GEE) platform. • Remote sensing data were utilized to capture the burned area perimeter and loggings of damaged trees by the insect infestations. • Erosion response to abiotic and biotic disturbances. • Multi-temporal monitoring erosion in Peri-Urban Forest. During the last decades, the demographic trajectory and the associated urban development have increased the demand for urban and peri -urban green space. Peri-urban forests provide a wide range of goods and services to city dwellers critical to human well-being. However, these ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to biotic and abiotic stresses. This study aimed to assess the effects of forest disturbances on soil erosion dynamics in a peri -urban forest of Northern Greece, between 1995 and 2020. Monitoring of soil erosion dynamic was performed by coupling the Google Earth Engine (GEE) cloud-computing platform and the RUSLE erosion prediction model. The results highlighted the potential of Landsat imagery to efficiently delineate through time forest cover changes due to the influence of biotic and abiotic factors. After a major fire event, average soil erosion showed an increase of 7.7 t/ha/year whilst the emergency hillslope rehabilitation treatments led to a decrease equal to 8.9 t/ha/year. On the contrary, post-fire watershed stabilization measures and selective logging for the removal of the infested individual trees had a negligible effect on soil loss. The temporal changes in soil loss rate are not only justified by forest cover changes but also by the variability in rainfall, which is also considered a dynamic factor of RUSLE model. Monitoring of soil loss and erosion regulation services over peri -urban forests provide essential information for policy-making and management of these valuable natural resources. 

A cloud-based mapping approach for assessing spatiotemporal changes in erosion dynamics due to biotic and abiotic disturbances in a Mediterranean Peri-Urban forest

Peri-urban and urban green are considered among the basic priorities of the local government’s regional policy agenda, in line with the principles of spatial planning. This agenda is promoted at both the national and European levels through a variety of technical and institutional measures. Green spaces in urban and suburban areas are directly linked to the quality of life of urban residents and their environment. In this context, the purpose of this study is to investigate and identify the characteristics and factors that influence the residents of a small Greek city in terms of the value they attach to urban and suburban green spaces. These factors are identified through the residents’ willingness to pay (WTP) using the contingent valuation method (CVM). In general, the analysis aims to document the value of environmental economic methods as a tool in the management of natural heritage. According to the research, income and knowledge of environmental issues (global and local) as well as the benefits of green spaces (urban and suburban) are the key factors that drive residents to place a higher value on them. Future work may explore whether or how the COVID-19 pandemic affected city residents’ willingness to pay for green spaces.

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Willingness to Pay for Urban and Suburban Green

The Yellow River Basin and the Yangtze River Basin are the two most important watersheds in China, which consist of several key ecological function areas and are crucial in terms of economic contributions. The evaluation of the ecosystem service value and the quantitative acquisition of the regional ecological quality status are necessary for supporting the ecological protection and high-quality development of the two basins. By considering basic data and adopting different ecological function models, this study was carried out to evaluate the value of ecosystem services in the Yellow River Basin and the Yangtze River Basin from 2015 to 2018 in terms of provisioning services, regulating services, and cultural services. Additionally, analysis was conducted in combination with economic indicators. The results showed that there were great differences in the ecosystem patterns between the Yellow River Basin, where grassland accounted for 45% of land use, and the Yangtze River Basin, where forest accounted for 39% of land use. The values of the ecosystem services of the two basins had similar spatial distributions, with higher values upstream (west) followed by downstream (east) and lower values in the middle (central China). The total annual ecosystem value of the Yangtze River Basin was more than three times that of the Yellow River Basin. In addition, the ecosystem services value of most counties in both basins was higher than their GDP, and there was a positive trend of transforming ecological benefits into economic benefits in the Yangtze River Basin. This research provides a methodology for evaluating ecosystem valuation. The results are helpful for formulating and implementing eco-compensation and payments for ecosystem service policies among different regions in the basins, and the results lay a foundation for the spatial planning and high-quality development paths of key basin areas in China.

Assessment of Ecosystem Service Value and Its Differences in the Yellow River Basin and Yangtze River Basin

Digitalization has the potential to hasten the economic transition towards a more resource-efficient as well as robust circular production system. However, there is a paucity of empirical research on the influence that digitalization has on the ability of a circular economy to function effectively. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect that digitalization has on the performance of the circular economy. The research was based on an empirical analysis of quantitative data obtained from a sample size of 200 investors and entrepreneurs in the financial sector of Kozani, Greece. Regression results showed that there is a positive relationship between digital practices and performance of a circular economy, and that digital business innovations have a positive effect on performance of a circular economy. Even while a sizeable proportion of Greek companies apply new business innovations to support the strategy of resource efficiency, it is abundantly obvious that this percentage is far higher among industrial organizations that place a heavy focus on digitalization. According to the findings of the research, there is a favorable correlation between the adoption of digital business practices and innovations and the success of circular economies. This demonstrates very clearly that digitalization has the potential to function as a driving force behind the development of circular business models.

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The Impact of Digitalization in Supporting the Performance of Circular Economy: A Case Study of Greece

Over the last decades, managing urbanization poses a great challenge for many developed countries. To overcome, the negative impacts of urbanization and preserve sustainability in urban areas, gove...

Estimating value of the ecosystem services in the urban and peri-urban green of a town Florina-Greece, using the CVM

The link between climate change and growing poverty levels makes communities more vulnerable to catastrophes, reducing community resilience to disaster consequences. Development practitioners, planners, and researchers must find novel techniques to build community resilience in the face of an ever-growing hazard in such a circumstance with a spectrum of risk and catastrophe. As a result, the focus of this study was on how school systems, as significant social institutions, might effectively minimize disaster risk in communities. People’s standards, beliefs, and behaviors are greatly influenced by societal institutions. After the family, the school is the second most significant socializing institution, in charge of shaping people’s attitudes, knowledge, behaviors, specialized skills, and values in order to ensure social conformity. The prospect of using school systems to increase catastrophe risk reduction in poor areas of Greece was specifically addressed in this study. The study confirmed that the school curriculum has a positive and significant relationship with disaster risk management. Many advantages are realized, according to the research, if catastrophe risk mitigation is made a priority in Greece’s educational systems. Learning about ideas such as civil protection and incorporating disaster risk management into school curricula are both viewed as vital in enhancing disaster risk management.

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Using School Systems as a Hub for Risk and Disaster Management: A Case Study of Greece

After the Second World War, technological advancements helped to develop agriculture and meet urgent food needs. The green revolution was based on the cultivation of new high-yielding varieties, the adoption of plant protection measures, and synthetic fertilizer use. Today, agriculture is called upon to recover its productivity in environmentally friendly terms and to face challenges such as climate change and international political–military events that threaten global sufficiency in agricultural products. The objective of the study is to evaluate the function that crop-protection technologies play in ensuring the continuity of agricultural output. The research was conducted by the use of a questionnaire in a sample of 250 farmers in Northern Greece. Specifically, through descriptive and regression analysis, the roles of biological crop protection, chemical crop-protection techniques, and mechanical crop-protection techniques were explored, and it was found that they either have a positive effect or a significant relationship with sustainable agricultural productivity. In order to meet the current environmental, economic, and political challenges, the agriculture sector at the global and local level should improve and further adopt existing technologies, consolidate the use of integrated pest-management strategies, and fully introduce innovations, combined with digital transformation, into agricultural management and production.

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D. G. Kalfas

Papers

Estimating value of the ecosystem services in the urban and peri-urban green of a town Florina-Greece, using the CVM

Willingness to Pay for Urban and Suburban Green

The Impact of Digitalization in Supporting the Performance of Circular Economy: A Case Study of Greece

Using School Systems as a Hub for Risk and Disaster Management: A Case Study of Greece

Role of Crop-Protection Technologies in Sustainable Agricultural Productivity and Management