101 research outputs found
A mixed methods approach to urban ecosystem services: experienced environmental quality and its role in ecosystem assessment within an inner-city estate
This paper contributes to the notion of ecosystem services (ES) and dis-services (EDS) through an exploration of how they are experienced in an inner-city neighbourhood. We contrast the findings of a science-led assessment with qualitative interview and visual data from the residents of the Woodberry Down Estate (London, UK). We use the ontology of co-production and co-construction to understand how material and interpretative factors condition the translation of identified service-providing units (SPUs) into directly experienced ES and EDS. Findings demonstrate that aspects contributing to the perceived liveability of a neighbourhood also condition the experienced ES and EDS. In our case study, the history of the estate translates into subjective feelings of safety which influence whether individuals access parts of the regenerated estate. While the regeneration project provides a broad range of new and improved SPUs with significant ES potential, the access and recreational functions these offer are especially appreciated for the increased opportunities for social interaction and visitors they provide. However, new SPUs such as landscape vistas and formal gardens that attract people are also assigned further significance as markers of new divisions among social housing residents. We suggest that in order to realise the much-prophesised health and wellbeing benefits of urban ES in an equitable manner, a science-led approach to designing and assessing potential ES should be accompanied by a context-sensitive assessment of community needs and liveability aspects
Contributions of the private sector to global biodiversity protection: case study of the Fortune 500 companies
Ecosystem services of temporary streams differ between wet and dry phases in regions with contrasting climates and economies
1. Temporary streams are dynamic ecosystems in which mosaics of flowing, ponded and dry habitats support high biodiversity of both aquatic and terrestrial species. Species interact within habitats to perform or facilitate processes that vary in response to changing habitat availability. A natural capital approach recognizes that, through such processes, the ‘natural assets’ of all ecosystems deliver services that benefit people.
2. The ecosystem services of temporary streams remain largely unexplored, in particular those provided during ponded and dry phases. In addition, recent characterizations have focused on dryland systems, and it remains unclear how service provision varies among different climatic regions, or between developed and developing economies.
3. We use evidence from interdisciplinary literature to examine the ecosystem services delivered by temporary streams, including the regulating, provisioning and cultural services provided across the continuum from flowing to dry conditions. We focus on service provision during dry phases and wet–dry transitions, across regions with contrasting climates and economic development.
4. Provision of individual services in temporary streams may be reduced, enhanced or changed by surface water loss. Services enhanced by dry phases include provision of higher‐quality subsurface drinking water and unique opportunities for recreation. Shifts between dry and wet phases enable groundwater recharge that mitigates water scarcity, and grant dry‐phase access to sediments deposited during flowing phases. However, the accessibility and thus perceived value of these and other services varies considerably among regions. In addition, accessing provisioning services requires careful management to promote sustainable resource use and avoid ecological degradation.
5. We highlight the need for environmental managers to recognize temporary streams as aquatic–terrestrial ecosystems, and to take actions promoting their diversity within functional socio‐ecological systems that deliver unique service bundles characterized by variability and differing availability in space and time
Sustainable drainage system site assessment method using urban ecosystem services
The United Kingdom's recently updated approach to sustainable drainage enhanced biodiversity and amenity objectives by incorporating the ecosystem approach and the
ecosystem services concept. However, cost-effective and reliable methods to appraise the biodiversity and amenity values of potential sustainable drainage system (SuDS)sites and their surrounding areas are still lacking, as is a method to enable designers to distinguish and link the amenity and biodiversity benefits that SuDS schemes can offer. In this paper, therefore, the authors propose two ecosystem services- and disservices-based methods (i.e. vegetation structure cover-abundance examination and cultural ecosystem services and disservices variables appraisal) to aid SuDS designers to distinguish and link amenity and biodiversity benefits, and allow initial site
assessments to be performed in a cost-effective and reliable fashion. Forty-nine representative sites within Greater Manchester were selected to test the two methods.
Amenity and biodiversity were successfully assessed and habitat for species, carbon sequestration, recreation and education ecosystem services scores were produced,which will support SuDS retrofit design decision-making. Large vegetated SuDS sites with permanent aquatic features were found to be most capable of enhancing biodiversity- and amenity-related ecosystem services. Habitat for species and
recreation ecosystem services were also found to be positively linked to each other. Finally, waste bins on site were found to help reduce dog faeces and litter coverage. Overall, the findings presented here enable future SuDS retrofit designs to be more wildlife friendly and socially inclusive
Assessing the Potential of Regulating Ecosystem Services as Nature-Based Solutions in Urban Areas
Mounting research assesses the provision of regulating ecosystem services by green infrastructure in urban areas, but the extent to which these services can offer effective nature-based solutions for addressing urban climate change-related challenges is rarely considered. In this chapter, we synthesize knowledge from assessments of urban green infrastructure carried out in Europe and beyond to evaluate the potential contribution of regulating ecosystem services to offset carbon emissions, reduce heat stress and abate air pollution at the metropolitan, city and site scales. Results from this review indicate that the potential of regulating ecosystem services provided by urban green infrastructure to counteract these three climate change-related pressures is often limited and/or uncertain, especially at the city and metropolitan levels. However, their contribution can have a substantially higher impact at site scales such as in street canyons and around green spaces. We note that if regulating ecosystem services are to offer effective nature-based solutions in urban areas, it is critically important that green infrastructure policies target the relevant implementation scale. This calls for a coordination between authorities dealing with urban and environmental policy and for the harmonization of planning and management instruments in a multilevel governance approach. Regulating ecosystem services • Urban green infrastructure • Global climate regulation • Local climate regulation • Air quality regulation • Multi-scale assessmentpublishedVersio
Valuing ecosystem services of Sundarbans mangrove forest for improved conservation: approach of randomized conjoint experiment
Ecosystem Services in Agricultural and Urban Landscapes, edited by Steve Wratten, Harpinder Sandhu, Ross Cullen, and Robert Costanza. Published by Wiley-Blackwell, Queensland, Australia, 2013, pp. 200, ISBN: 978-1-4051-7008-6, AU9
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