M.M. Cruickshank

Bio: M.M. Cruickshank is an academic researcher from Queen's University Belfast. The author has contributed to research in topics: Land cover & Peat. The author has an hindex of 2, co-authored 4 publications receiving 86 citations.

Bringing ecosystem services into economic decision-making: land use in the United Kingdom.

Abstract: Landscapes generate a wide range of valuable ecosystem services, yet land-use decisions often ignore the value of these services. Using the example of the United Kingdom, we show the significance of land-use change not only for agricultural production but also for emissions and sequestration of greenhouse gases, open-access recreational visits, urban green space, and wild-species diversity. We use spatially explicit models in conjunction with valuation methods to estimate comparable economic values for these services, taking account of climate change impacts. We show that, although decisions that focus solely on agriculture reduce overall ecosystem service values, highly significant value increases can be obtained from targeted planning by incorporating all potential services and their values and that this approach also conserves wild-species diversity.

Linking land-atmosphere-stream carbon fluxes in a lowland peatland system

Abstract: Any change in the ability of northern peatlands to act as a sink for atmospheric CO2 will play a crucial part in the response of the Earth system to global warming. We argue that a true assessment of the sink-source relationships of peatland ecosystems requires that losses of C in drainage waters be included when determining annual net C uptake, thus connecting measurements of stream C fluxes with those made at the land surface-atmosphere interface. This was done by combining estimates of net ecosystem exchange (NEE) with stream water measurements of TOC, DIC, and gaseous C loss, in a 335-ha lowland temperate peatland catchment (55°48.80′N, 03°14.40′W) in central Scotland over a 2-year period (1996–1998). Mean annual downstream C flux was 304 (±62) kg C ha−1 yr−1, of which total organic carbon (TOC) contributed 93%, the remainder being dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and free CO2. At the catchment outlet evasion loss of CO2 from the stream surface was estimated to be an additional 46 kg C ha−1 yr−1. Over the study period, NEE of CO2-C resulted in a flux from the atmosphere to the land surface of 278 (±25) kg C ha−1 yr−1. Net C loss in drainage water, including both the downstream flux and CO2 evasion from the stream surface to the atmosphere, was therefore greater or equal to the net annual C uptake as a result of photosynthesis/respiration at the land surface. By combining these and other flux terms, the overall C mass balance suggests that this system was either acting as a terrestrial C source or was C neutral.