Ecosystems and People – an inclusive, interdisciplinary journal

Environmental Biolog

Land science contributions to ecosystem services

We provide an overview of the contribution of land science to improving ecosystem service quantification, valuation and management. We briefly review the impacts of land use and land management change on ecosystem services, the complexity of relationships between the land system and the supply and use of ecosystem services, and the latest developments in the science and policy of quantifying and valuing ecosystem services provided by land. We suggest a number of areas where land science can contribute to improving the quantification and valuation of ecosystem services. First and foremost are better assessments of the changes that occur to ecosystem service supply from changes to land use and management and subsequent biophysical processes. Also needed are new high spatial and temporal resolution integrated assessment models developed at global to local scales that include the biophysical and socio-economic drivers of land use change and ecosystem service supply and demand impacts. Finally, tools and models that follow standards and use consistent approaches are needed to provide certainty to end users and decision makers. A way forward is to strengthen international cross-disciplinary collaborations; the land science and ecosystem service communities are well placed to do this

Land science contributions to ecosystem services

We provide an overview of the contribution of land science to improving ecosystem service quantification, valuation and management. We briefly review the impacts of land use and land management change on ecosystem services, the complexity of relationships between the land system and the supply and use of ecosystem services, and the latest developments in the science and policy of quantifying and valuing ecosystem services provided by land. We suggest a number of areas where land science can contribute to improving the quantification and valuation of ecosystem services. First and foremost are better assessments of the changes that occur to ecosystem service supply from changes to land use and management and subsequent biophysical processes. Also needed are new high spatial and temporal resolution integrated assessment models developed at global to local scales that include the biophysical and socio-economic drivers of land use change and ecosystem service supply and demand impacts. Finally, tools and models that follow standards and use consistent approaches are needed to provide certainty to end users and decision makers. A way forward is to strengthen international cross-disciplinary collaborations; the land science and ecosystem service communities are well placed to do this

A visualization and data-sharing tool for ecosystem service maps: Lessons learnt, challenges and the way forward

A plurality in methods, models, terminologies is used to assess, quantify, map and communicate ecosystem services (ES). The Thematic Working Groups on Mapping (TWG4) and Modeling ES (TWG5) of the Ecosystem Service Partnership (ESP), recent literature and expert workshops, have highlighted the need for developing a platform that systematically organizes, visualizes and shares ES maps and related information. This led to the development of the Ecosystem Services Partnership Visualization Tool (ESP-VT), an open-access interactive platform that hosts a catalogue of ES maps with information on indicators, models and used data. Users can upload or download ES maps and associated information. ESP-VT aims at increasing transparency in ES mapping approaches to facilitate the flow of information within the ES community from academics to policy-makers and practitioners. Populating the ESP-VT with ES maps from different geographic locations, across different spatial scales, using different models and with various purposes, leads to a diverse and heterogeneous ES map library. The scientific community has not yet agreed on standards for ES terminology, methodologies and maps. However we do believe that populating and using the ESP-VT can set a basis for developing such standards and serve towards achieving interoperability among the varying ES related tools

Enhancing drought monitoring and early warning by linking indicators to impacts

Monitoring and Early-Warning (M&EW) systems are crucial for reducing societal vulnerability to drought. While there are a range of extant M&EW systems globally, such systems are typically based on physical (hydro-climatic) indicators, and they have rarely been linked to societal or environmental impacts. This is the starting point for the international, transdisciplinary project DrIVER (Drought Impacts and Vulnerability thresholds in monitoring and Early warning research). This paper introduces the DrIVER project and presents early research highlights including a review of current M&EW capacities and knowledge gaps on the three continents, preliminary results of indicator-to-impact analyses and an overview of the novel social learning framework being developed by the project

The Ecosystem Services Partnership Visualisation Tool

International audienceMapping ecosystem services delivers essential insights into the spatial characteristics of various goods' and services' flows from nature to human society. It has become a central topic of science, policy, business and society - all belonging on functioning ecosystems. This textbook summarises the current state-of-the-art of ecosystem services mapping, related theory and methods, different ecosystem service quantification and modelling approaches as well as practical applications. The book is produced by various international experts in the field, in a professional but understandable format to be used by stakeholders, students, teachers, practitioners and scientists involved or interested in ecosystem services mapping