An environmental justice perspective on ecosystem services

Mainstreaming of ecosystem service approaches has been proposed as one path toward sustainable development. Meanwhile, critics of ecosystem services question if the approach can account for the multiple values of ecosystems to diverse groups of people, or for aspects of inter- and intra-generational justice. In particular, an ecosystem service approach often overlooks power dimensions and capabilities that are core to environmental justice. This article addresses the need for greater guidance on incorporating justice into ecosystem services research and practice. We point to the importance of deep engagement with stakeholders and rights holders to disentangle contextual factors that moderate justice outcomes on ecosystem service attribution and appropriation in socio-political interventions. Such a holistic perspective enables the integration of values and knowledge plurality for enhancing justice in ecosystem services research. This broadened perspective paves a way for transformative ecosystem service assessments, management, and research, which can help inform and design governance structures that nourish human agency to sustainably identify, manage, and enjoy ecosystem services for human wellbeing

The value of hydrologic information for watershed management programs: The case of Camboriú, Brazil

Article explores the value of hydrologic modeling and monitoring with respect to two dimensions: scientific credibility and use of generated knowledge in the design, implementation, and evaluation of the watershed management program in the Camboriú watershed, Brazil

“Water Is Life”: Local Perceptions of Páramo Grasslands and Land Management Strategies Associated with Payment for Ecosystem Services

<p>Andean páramo grasslands have long supported human populations that depend on them as forage for livestock and, increasingly, have been recognized as critical water sources with large soil carbon stores and high levels of biodiversity. Recent conservation efforts have used payment for ecosystem services (PES) to incentivize land management that aims to enhance ecosystem services related to water, carbon, and biodiversity, as well as local livelihoods. Data to assess ecological and social outcomes of these programs are limited, however. In particular, a better understanding of how incentivized land management practices affect the local values and uses of páramos is needed. We conducted interviews with PES participants on their perceptions of the value of páramos and of management practices incentivized through PES—afforestation and removal of burning—and linked them with data on ecological outcomes of those practices. We found that local perceptions of páramo values include provisioning, regulating, and cultural ecosystem services, underpinning basic needs, security, health, and social relations. In some cases, local perceptions align with research on ecological outcomes of PES, whereas in others, expectations of PES participants are unlikely to be met. We also found examples of both synergies—where PES land management strengthens an existing páramo value—and trade-offs, in which existing benefits might be diminished. By improving understanding of how people perceive the benefits they obtain from páramos and how participation in PES is likely to affect those uses and values, our findings help connect local perceptions with ecological science to inform policy and management.</p

Divergent responses of native and invasive macroalgae to submarine groundwater discharge

Abstract Marine macroalgae are important indicators of healthy nearshore groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs), which are emergent global conservation priorities. Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) supports abundant native algal communities in GDEs via elevated but naturally derived nutrients. GDEs are threatened by anthropogenic nutrient inputs that pollute SGD above ambient levels, favoring invasive algae. Accordingly, this case study draws on the GDE conditions of Kona, Hawai‘i where we evaluated daily photosynthetic production and growth for two macroalgae; a culturally valued native (Ulva lactuca) and an invasive (Hypnea musciformis). Manipulative experiments—devised to address future land-use, climate change, and water-use scenarios for Kona—tested algal responses under a natural range of SGD nutrient and salinity levels. Our analyses demonstrate that photosynthesis and growth in U. lactuca are optimal in low-salinity, high-nutrient waters, whereas productivity for H. musciformis appears limited to higher salinities despite elevated nutrient subsidies. These findings suggest that reductions in SGD via climate change decreases in rainfall or increased water-use from the aquifer may relax physiological constraints on H. musciformis. Collectively, this study reveals divergent physiologies of a native and an invasive macroalga to SGD and highlights the importance of maintaining SGD quantity and quality to protect nearshore GDEs

Changes in carbon storage with land management promoted by payment for ecosystem services

SUMMARYAndean grasslands (páramos) are highly valued for their role in regional water supply as well as for their biodiversity and large soil carbon stocks. Several Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) programmes promote either afforestation or alteration of traditional burning regimes under the assumption that these land management strategies will maximize páramo ecosystem services, including carbon storage. However, knowledge of the effects of incentivized land uses is limited. In an evaluation of how afforestation and elimination of burning affect carbon storage at a site in southern Ecuador, we found the highest above-ground biomass carbon levels at afforested sites (99.3–122.0 t C ha−1), while grassland sites reached 23.9 t C ha−1after 45 years of burn exclusion. Soil carbon storage from 0–20 cm was high across all sites (172.8–201.9 t C ha−1), but was significantly lower with afforestation than with burn exclusion. These findings suggest that, although afforestation is generally favoured when carbon is the primary ecosystem service of interest, grasslands with infrequent burning have important potential as a land management strategy when both above-ground biomass and soil carbon are considered. These results are relevant to the development and adaptation of PES programmes focused on carbon as well as those focused on multiple ecosystem services

Risk to native marine macroalgae from land‐use and climate change‐related modifications to groundwater discharge in Hawaiʻi

Abstract Coastal groundwater‐dependent ecosystems benefit from lowered salinity, nutrient‐rich submarine groundwater discharge (SGD). Across Pacific islands marine macroalgae appear to have been challenged by and adapted to the stress of lowered salinity with a trade‐off of nutrient subsidies delivered by SGD. Human alterations of groundwater resources and climate change‐driven shifts brought modifications to the magnitude and composition of SGD. This paper discusses how native macroalgae have adapted to SGD nutrient and salinity gradients, but that invasive algae are outcompeting the natives near SGD with nutrient pollution. It is important to re‐evaluate land and water use practices by modifying groundwater sustainable yields and improving wastewater infrastructure to keep SGD reductions minimal and nitrogen inputs in optimal ranges. This task may be particularly challenging amidst global sea level rise and reductions in groundwater recharge, which threaten coastal groundwater systems and ecosystems dependent on them

Changes in carbon storage with land management promoted by payment for ecosystem services

SUMMARYAndean grasslands (páramos) are highly valued for their role in regional water supply as well as for their biodiversity and large soil carbon stocks. Several Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) programmes promote either afforestation or alteration of traditional burning regimes under the assumption that these land management strategies will maximize páramo ecosystem services, including carbon storage. However, knowledge of the effects of incentivized land uses is limited. In an evaluation of how afforestation and elimination of burning affect carbon storage at a site in southern Ecuador, we found the highest above-ground biomass carbon levels at afforested sites (99.3–122.0 t C ha−1), while grassland sites reached 23.9 t C ha−1after 45 years of burn exclusion. Soil carbon storage from 0–20 cm was high across all sites (172.8–201.9 t C ha−1), but was significantly lower with afforestation than with burn exclusion. These findings suggest that, although afforestation is generally favoured when carbon is the primary ecosystem service of interest, grasslands with infrequent burning have important potential as a land management strategy when both above-ground biomass and soil carbon are considered. These results are relevant to the development and adaptation of PES programmes focused on carbon as well as those focused on multiple ecosystem services

Fuzzy models to inform social and environmental indicator selection for conservation impact monitoring

Conservation projects increasingly aim to deliver both environmental and social benefits. To monitor the success of these projects, it is important to pick indicators for which there is a reasonable expectation of change as a result of the project, and which resonate with project stakeholders. Results chains are widely used in conservation to describe the hypothesized pathways of causal linkages between conservation interventions and desired outcomes. We illustrate how, with limited additional information, results chains can be turned into fuzzy models of social-ecological systems, and how these models can be used to explore the predicted social and environmental impacts of conservation actions. These predictions can then be compared with the interests of stakeholders in order to identify good indicators of project success. We illustrate this approach by using it to select indicators for a water fund, an increasingly popular and multiobjective conservation strategy