Soil natural capital quantification by the stock adequacy method

AbstractA method is presented for assessing soil natural capital based on the principles of land evaluation. Policymakers are adopting concepts of flows of ecosystem services, and the natural capital stocks that support them, to provide more integrated analyses of the trade-offs between environmental, economic, social and cultural outcomes from land use. Soil is frequently overlooked in these analyses. Techniques are needed to quantify and map soil natural capital and their potential to provide ecosystem services to enable the soil science community to more effectively engage with decision-makers. To support this engagement, these techniques need to use available soil survey maps and databases to provide extensive geographic coverage of soil natural capital estimates. The method presented estimates the adequacy of soil natural capital stocks to support the soil processes behind the provision of ecosystem services under a specific land use. A stock adequacy index estimates the degree to which the provision of services is limited by soil natural capital stocks or advantaged by a stock surplus under a given land use. Reference values are derived from a curve of the response of the provision of the service to key soil stocks for a specified land use. These curves are determined from land evaluation and soil quality literature, or by modelling. The method is essentially an extension of land evaluation in which the evaluations are calibrated using an ecosystem approach. The output indices provide information about potential ecosystem services provision, land-use suitability, soil resource use efficiency, and environmental performance. Outputs from the method are demonstrated for a range of soils under pastoral dairy land use in Wairarapa, New Zealand

Farmer perspectives of the on-farm and off-farm pros and cons of planted multifunctional riparian margins

The planting of riparian margins is a policy option for pastoral farmers in response to land use induced environmental issues such as declining water quality, stream bank erosion, and loss of aquatic and terrestrial habitat. We elicited the views and experiences as to pros and cons of planting riparian margins from two sets of dairy farmers from Taranaki, New Zealand: those who are or have planted riparian margins, and those who have not yet done so. Those farmers who have planted riparian margins identified 21 positive aspects of riparian margin plantings and 11 negative aspects of riparian margin plantings. Perceived benefits identified by this group include water quality, increased biodiversity, the provision of cultural ecosystem services, immediate direct benefits to farm management and the farm system, and in some instances increased productivity on-farm. In contrast, those farmers that had fenced but not planted their riparian margins did not consider that riparian margin plantings could add further benefits to that which could be achieved by excluding stock from waterways, and associated only negative perceptions with riparian margin plantings. Planting riparian margins is not cost neutral and will not deliver anticipated environmental benefits in every situation. However, we argue that riparian margin plantings are an important ecological infrastructure investment that needs to be captured within a wider policy framework, the benefits of which extend beyond the mitigation of a single negative externality generated by land use practices, such as nutrient loss, and contribute to a multifunctional landscape

Quantifying and valuing the ecosystem services of pastoral soils under a dairy use : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Ecological Economics at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

The full range of ecosystem services provided by soils are rarely recognised or understood, nor is the link between soil natural capital and these services. Understanding these concepts is more important than ever to meet the food and fibre demands of a growing global population, while ensuring the sustainability of the finite resource that is soil. The objective of the thesis was to develop a framework to describe the natural capital and ecosystem services of pastoral soils, and to apply it to quantify and value soil ecosystem services under a dairy use in New Zealand. A new conceptual framework was developed from current scientific understanding of land classification, soil formation, soil processes and ecosystem services concepts. The framework links soil formation, maintenance and degradation processes to soil natural capital stocks, and provides a basis for exploring the influence of drivers like climate and land use on soil natural capital stocks and the flow of ecosystem services. The soil services identified included provision of food, support to human infrastructure and animals, flood mitigation, filtering of nutrients and contaminants, detoxification and recycling of wastes, carbon storage and greenhouse gases regulation, and pest and disease populations regulation. Based on the conceptual framework, new methodology was developed to quantify and model each provisioning and regulating service from soils. Proxies based on soil properties and a process-based model were used to explore the impacts of soil type (Horotiu silt loam and Te Kowhai silt loam) and dairy management practices on soil properties and processes behind each service at the farm scale. Neoclassical economic valuation techniques were then used to value soil ecosystem services for the case study examples. Under a dairy operation, the total value of soil ecosystem services was $15,777/ha/yr for a Horotiu silt loam. Regulating services ($11,445/ha/yr) had a greater value than provisioning services ($4,322/ha/yr). The ecosystem services from a Te Kowhai silt loam were less valuable,$11,687/ha/yr. The difference in value between soils reflects differences in their physical structure and associated hydraulic properties, the natural capital stocks behind many services. Valuing some services (e.g. filtering of P) was challenging since some services cannot be substituted by artificial inputs or manufactured capital. This new approach provides for the first time land managers and policy makers with the ability to compare the total utility of soils, not just their productivity and versatility for different land uses. It also provides a powerful practical tool for evaluating the environmental impact of farm management practices, resource management options and policy alternatives at the regional and national levels, by enabling direct linkages between the economy and the environment. This study allows the value of soil to be benchmarked against commonly used indicators of economic performance such as GDP at the national level and net profits at the farm scale. The case study examples showed that the value of 'un-priced' soil ecosystem services to be significantly higher than net profit of dairy farms

Natural capital and New Zealand’s Resource Management Act (1991)

Quantifying natural resources as natural capital and the valuation of the ecosystem services that flow from natural capital stocks are emerging areas of science. Are these developing concepts compatible with current resource management legislation? Can these ideas be used in judicial proceedings to protect natural capital and maintain the portfolio value of nature‟s ecosystem services? We describe two recent cases in New Zealand where natural capital concepts were used in the Environment Court to protect land from peri-urban creep and to protect receiving water quality through the allocation of a nutrient discharge allowance to land. Results have been mixed, with prospects appearing good

Response to Robinson and Lebron -- Learning from complementary approaches to soil natural capital and ecosystem services

We respond to the recent commentary of Robinson and Lebron (in press) on our framework to quantify and value soil natural capital and ecosystem services (Dominati et al., 2010). We argue that the framework proposed by Robinson et al. (2009) and our framework (Dominati et al., 2010) should be seen as complementary, as well as having some areas of overlap.

A framework for classifying and quantifying the natural capital and ecosystem services of soils

The ecosystem services and natural capital of soils are often not recognised and generally not well understood. This paper addresses this issue by drawing on scientific understanding of soil formation, functioning and classification systems and building on current thinking on ecosystem services to develop a framework to classify and quantify soil natural capital and ecosystem services. The framework consists of five main interconnected components: (1) soil natural capital, characterised by standard soil properties well known to soil scientists; (2) the processes behind soil natural capital formation, maintenance and degradation; (3) drivers (anthropogenic and natural) of soil processes; (4) provisioning, regulating and cultural ecosystem services; and (5) human needs fulfilled by soil ecosystem services.Soil ecosystem services Soil properties Processes Capital formation Degradation Human needs

Editorial: Assessment and Modeling of Soil Functions or Soil-Based Ecosystem Services: Theory and Applications to Practical Problems

ISSN:2296-665

Change in ecosystem service provision within a lowland dairy landscape under different riparian margin scenarios

<p>Riparian margins can provide a range of environmental, social, and production benefits both on-farm and off-farm. However, our understanding of the relative advantage between various riparian-margin management options is limited. We aim to advance this knowledge by modelling change in food provision, water quality regulation, contact recreation, and amenity ecosystem services in response to riparian-margin management. Estimations in performance were made under grazed; fenced 1 m-wide grass-strips; and fenced 5 m-wide multi-tier planted riparian margin scenarios within a lowland dairy farming landscape as typical in the North Island, New Zealand. Our study allows for simultaneous analysis across the range of ecosystem services (provisioning, regulating, and cultural) and across spatial scales (farm, river network, catchment) as relevant to current policy focus for riparian management. We show both grass-strips and multi-tier planted margins can maintain or increase production values, while also making important contributions to environmental stewardship and community values. Under a multi-tier planted margin scenario, provision of amenity values also increases. Importantly, we also show that riparian management alone is not adequate to address detrimental outcomes of land use on receiving environments, and should be part of wider farm management practices used to maximise opportunities for sustained ecosystem service provision. This is an important consideration for land management policies.</p

Integrating ecosystem services with geodesign to create multifunctional agricultural landscapes: A case study of a New Zealand hill country farm

An ecosystem-based management approach (EBM) is suggested as one solution to help to tackle environmental challenges facing worldwide farming systems whilst ensuring socio-economic demands are met. Despite its usefulness, the application of this approach at the farm-scale presents several implementation problems, including the difficulty of (a) incorporating the concept of ecosystem services (ES) into agricultural land use decision-making and (b) involving the farmer in the planning process. This study aims to propose a solution to overcome these challenges by utilising a geodesign framework and EBM approach to plan and design a sustainable multifunctional agricultural landscape at the farm scale. We demonstrate how the proposed approach can be applied to plan and design multifunctional agricultural landscapes that offer improved sustainability, using a New Zealand hill country farm as a case study. A geodesign framework is employed to generate future land use and management scenarios for the study area, visualize changes, and assess the impacts of future land use on landscape multifunctionality and the provision of associated ES and economic outcomes. In this framework, collaboration with the farmer was carried out to obtain farm information and co-design the farmed landscapes. The results from our study demonstrate that farmed landscapes where multiple land use/ land cover types co-exist can provide a wide range of ES and therefore, meet both economic and environmental demands. The assessment of impacts for different land use change scenarios demonstrates that land use change towards increasing landscape diversity and complexity is a key to achieving more sustainable multifunctional farmed landscapes. The integration of EBM and geodesign, is a transdisciplinary approach that can help farmers target land use and management decisions by considering the major ES that are, and could be, provided by the landscapes in which these farm systems are situated, therefore maximising the potential for beneficial outcomes