Capacity, pressure, demand, and flow: A conceptual framework for analyzing ecosystem service provision and delivery
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide a synthesis of common terminology and explain a rationale and framework for distinguishing among the components of ecosystem service delivery, including: an ecosystem's capacity to produce services; ecological pressures that interfere with the ecosystem's ability to provide the services; societal demand for the service; and flow of the service to people.
About: This article is published in Ecological Complexity.The article was published on 2013-09-01. It has received 481 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Ecosystem services & Ecosystem management.
Citations
More filters
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyzed outcomes in a wide range of case studies where ecosystem services had been used for human well-being, including provisioning, regulating and cultural services.
Abstract: Ecosystem services can provide a wide range of benefits for human well-being, including provisioning, regulating and cultural services and benefitting both private and public interests in different sectors of society. Biophysical, economic and social factors all make it unlikely that multiple needs will be met simultaneously without deliberate efforts, yet while there is still much interest in developing win-win outcomes there is little understanding of what is required for them to be achieved. We analysed outcomes in a wide range of case studies where ecosystem services had been used for human well-being. Using systematic mapping of the literature from 2000 to 2013, we identified 1324 potentially relevant reports, 92 of which were selected for the review, creating a database of 231 actual or potential recorded trade-offs and synergies. The analysis of these case studies highlighted significant gaps in the literature, including: a limited geographic distribution of case studies, a focus on provisioning as opposed to non-provisioning services and a lack of studies exploring the link between ecosystem service trade-offs or synergies and the ultimate impact on human well-being. Trade-offs are recorded almost three times as often as synergies and the analysis indicates that there are three significant indicators that a trade-off will occur: at least one of the stakeholders having a private interest in the natural resources available, the involvement of provisioning ecosystem services and at least one of the stakeholders acting at the local scale. There is not, however, a generalisable context for a win-win, indicating that these trade-off indicators, although highlighting where a trade-off may occur do not indicate that it is inevitable. Taking account of why trade-offs occur (e.g. from failures in management or a lack of accounting for all stakeholders) is more likely to create win-win situations than planning for a win-win from the outset. Consequently, taking a trade-offs as opposed to a win-win approach, by having an awareness of and accounting for factors that predict a trade-off (private interest, provisioning versus other ES, local stakeholder) and the reasons why trade-offs are often the outcome, it may be possible to create the synergies we seek to achieve.
579 citations
Cites background from "Capacity, pressure, demand, and flo..."
...Thus, more recent approaches consider both capacity (static) and flow (dynamic) of ES, such as Villamagna et al. (2013)....
[...]
TL;DR: The current state of the art of ecosystem service science regarding spatial localisation, indication and quantification of multiple ecosystem service supply and demand is reviewed and discussed.
Abstract: The high variety of ecosystem service categorisation systems, assessment frameworks, indicators, quantification methods and spatial localisation approaches allows scientists and decision makers to harness experience, data, methods and tools. On the other hand, this variety of concepts and disagreements among scientists hamper an integration of ecosystem services into contemporary environmental management and decision making. In this article, the current state of the art of ecosystem service science regarding spatial localisation, indication and quantification of multiple ecosystem service supply and demand is reviewed and discussed. Concepts and tables for regulating, provisioning and cultural ecosystem service definitions, distinguishing between ecosystem service potential supply (stocks), flows (real supply) and demands as well as related indicators for quantification are provided. Furthermore, spatial concepts of service providing units, benefitting areas, spatial relations, rivalry, spatial and temporal scales are elaborated. Finally, matrices linking CORINE land cover types to ecosystem service potentials, flows, demands and budget estimates are provided. The matrices show that ecosystem service potentials of landscapes differ from flows, especially for provisioning ecosystem services.
546 citations
Cites background from "Capacity, pressure, demand, and flo..."
...Demand can change over time and space, independent from actual ecosystem service supply (and vice versa; Villamagna et al. 2013)....
[...]
...Villamagna et al. (2013) suggest using ecological work performed instead of conventionally used environmental quality measures to indicate regulating ecosystem services....
[...]
...Demand for regulating ecosystem services has to be met locally or regionally (except global climate regulation), whereas provisioning and cultural services can show decoupled supplydemand relationships (Villamagna et al. 2013)....
[...]
...For many regulating ecosystem services the spatial localisation, as well as the clear definition of beneficiaries, are problematic, mainly due to the lack of a final good or end-product (Villamagna et al. 2013)....
[...]
...Focussing on the different ecosystem service delivery components, Villamagna et al. (2013) have recently discussed several highly relevant questions on how ecosystems produce services, how to consistently quantify ecosystem service flows, how services relate to each other and how landscape changes…...
[...]
TL;DR: In this article, the authors review the current conceptual understanding of ecosystem services demand, indicators to measure demand and the approaches used to quantify and map demand and identify four distinct "demand types" which relate to different ecosystem service categories.
413 citations
Cites background from "Capacity, pressure, demand, and flo..."
...Within the eviewed studies, this is commonly elaborated into three defnitions of ES demand (Table 1), that can be related to two ifferent perspectives (Burkhard et al., 2012; Schröter et al., 2014; illamagna et al., 2013)....
[...]
...Recreational fishing Fishing licenses Villamagna et al. (2014)...
[...]
TL;DR: In this paper, an approach for assessing and valuing ecosystem services in the context of water management is proposed, which can be used for assessing the benefits of conservation and restoration of aquatic ecosystems.
354 citations
Cites background from "Capacity, pressure, demand, and flo..."
...Benefits are associated with human well-being and the value system (for studies discussing the concepts of capacity and flow and cascade model of ecosystem services see Haines-Young and Potschin, 2010; Layke et al., 2012; Villamagna et al., 2013; Maes et al., 2014; Schröter et al., 2014)....
[...]
TL;DR: It is argued that fragmentation's effects on ecosystem service flow can be positive or negative, and this framework is used to construct testable hypotheses about the effects of fragmentation on final ecosystem service provision.
Abstract: Landscape structure and fragmentation have important effects on ecosystem services, with a common assumption being that fragmentation reduces service provision. This is based on fragmentation's expected effects on ecosystem service supply, but ignores how fragmentation influences the flow of services to people. Here we develop a new conceptual framework that explicitly considers the links between landscape fragmentation, the supply of services, and the flow of services to people. We argue that fragmentation's effects on ecosystem service flow can be positive or negative, and use our framework to construct testable hypotheses about the effects of fragmentation on final ecosystem service provision. Empirical efforts to apply and test this framework are critical to improving landscape management for multiple ecosystem services.
340 citations
References
More filters
TL;DR: In this paper, a conceptual framework and typology for describing, classifying and valuing ecosystem functions, goods and services in a clear and consistent manner is presented. And a classification is given for the fullest possible range of 23 ecosystem functions.
4,081 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide an overview of the challenges involved in applying ecosystem service assessment and valuation to environmental management and discuss some solutions to come to a comprehensive and practical framework.
2,840 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors review emerging ways to link theory to observation, and conclude that although, field observations can provide hints of alternative stable states, experiments and models are essential for a good diagnosis.
Abstract: Occasionally, surprisingly large shifts occur in ecosystems. Theory suggests that such shifts can be attributed to alternative stable states. Verifying this diagnosis is important because it implies a radically different view on management options, and on the potential effects of global change on such ecosystems. For instance, it implies that gradual changes in temperature or other factors might have little effect until a threshold is reached at which a large shift occurs that might be difficult to reverse. Strategies to assess whether alternative stable states are present are now converging in fields as disparate as desertification, limnology, oceanography and climatology. Here, we review emerging ways to link theory to observation, and conclude that although, field observations can provide hints of alternative stable states, experiments and models are essential for a good diagnosis.
2,464 citations
University of Wisconsin-Madison1, Stanford University2, University of the West Indies3, University of the Philippines4, Columbia University5, National University of Cordoba6, Michigan State University7, United Nations8, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research9, University of Lisbon10, David and Lucile Packard Foundation11, National Autonomous University of Mexico12
TL;DR: New research is needed that considers the full ensemble of processes and feedbacks, for a range of biophysical and social systems, to better understand and manage the dynamics of the relationship between humans and the ecosystems on which they rely.
Abstract: The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) introduced a new framework for analyzing social-ecological systems that has had wide influence in the policy and scientific communities. Studies after the MA are taking up new challenges in the basic science needed to assess, project, and manage flows of ecosystem services and effects on human well-being. Yet, our ability to draw general conclusions remains limited by focus on discipline-bound sectors of the full social-ecological system. At the same time, some polices and practices intended to improve ecosystem services and human well-being are based on untested assumptions and sparse information. The people who are affected and those who provide resources are increasingly asking for evidence that interventions improve ecosystem services and human well-being. New research is needed that considers the full ensemble of processes and feedbacks, for a range of biophysical and social systems, to better understand and manage the dynamics of the relationship between humans and the ecosystems on which they rely. Such research will expand the capacity to address fundamental questions about complex social-ecological systems while evaluating assumptions of policies and practices intended to advance human well-being through improved ecosystem services.
1,939 citations
TL;DR: A typology of relationships between ecosystem services based on the role of drivers and the interactions between services is proposed to help drive ecological science towards a better understanding of the relationships among multiple ecosystem services.
Abstract: Ecosystem management that attempts to maximize the production of one ecosystem service often results in substantial declines in the provision of other ecosystem services. For this reason, recent studies have called for increased attention to development of a theoretical understanding behind the relationships among ecosystem services. Here, we review the literature on ecosystem services and propose a typology of relationships between ecosystem services based on the role of drivers and the interactions between services. We use this typology to develop three propositions to help drive ecological science towards a better understanding of the relationships among multiple ecosystem services. Research which aims to understand the relationships among multiple ecosystem services and the mechanisms behind these relationships will improve our ability to sustainably manage landscapes to provide multiple ecosystem services.
1,836 citations