How ecosystem services are changing: an accounting application at the EU level

Ecosystem services accounts are a useful tool that provides relevant information on the role of ecosystems in delivering services, and the society benefiting from them. This paper presents the accounting workflow for ecosystem services at the European Union level adopted by the Knowledge Innovation Project on an Integrated system for Natural Capital and ecosystem services Accounting (KIP INCA) - a European Commission initiative. The workflow includes: 1) biophysical assessment of ecosystem services; 2) monetary valuation; and 3) compilation of accounting tables. Supply and use tables are presented for six ecosystem services assessed so far. The supply table shows woodland and forest, followed by wetlands, as the ecosystem types with the highest monetary value per unit area. Analyses of changes between 2000 and 2012 show an overall increase of the monetary value of ecosystem services, mainly due to an increase in demand for them. We also discuss advantages and disadvantages of adopting a fast-track approach, based on official statistics, in comparison to an accounting strategy based on spatial models. We propose a novel workflow for ecosystem services accounts, focused on assessment of the actual flow of ecosystem services, making a significant contribution to further development of the technical recommendations for ecosystem service

Ecosystem services accounts: Valuing the actual flow of nature-based recreation from ecosystems to people

Natural capital accounting aims to measure changes in the stock of natural assets (i.e., soil, air, water and all living things) and to integrate the value of ecosystem services into accounting systems that will contribute to better ecosystems management. This study develops ecosystem services accounts at the European Union level, using nature-based recreation as a case study and following the current international accounting framework: System of Environmental-Economic Accounting – Experimental Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EEA). We adapt and integrate different biophysical and socio-economic models, illustrating the workflow necessary for ecosystem services accounts: from a biophysical assessment of nature-based recreation to an economic valuation and compilation of the accounting tables. The biophysical assessment of nature-based recreation is based on spatially explicit models for assessing different components of ecosystem services: potential, demand and actual flow. Deriving maps of ecosystem service potential and demand is a key step in quantifying the actual flow of the service used, which is determined by the spatial relationship (i.e., proximity in the case of nature-based recreation) between service potential and demand. The nature-based recreation accounts for 2012 show an actual flow of 40 million potential visits to ‘high-quality areas for daily recreation’, with a total value of EUR 50 billion. This constitutes an important contribution of ecosystems to people's lives that has increased by 26% since 2000. Practical examples of ecosystem services accounts, as shown in this study, are required to derive recommendations and further develop the conceptual and methodological framework proposed by the SEEA EEA. This paper highlights the importance of using spatially explicit models for ecosystem services accounts. Mapping the different components of ecosystem services allows proper identification of the drivers of changes in the actual service flow derived from ecosystems, socio-economic systems and/or their spatial relationship. This will contribute to achieving one of the main goals of ecosystem accounts, namely measuring changes in natural capital, but it will also support decision-making that targets the enhancement of ecosystems, their services and the benefits they provide

Ecosystem services accounting: Part I - Outdoor recreation and crop pollination

The Knowledge Innovation Project on an Integrated system of Natural Capital and ecosystem services Accounting (KIP INCA) aims to develop the first ecosystem accounts at EU level, following the UN System of Environmental-Economic Accounting- Experimental Ecosystem Accounts (SEEA-EEA). The application of the SEEA-EEA framework is useful to illustrate ecosystem accounts with clear examples and contribute to further develop to methodology and give guidance for Natural Capital Accounting. The aim of this study is to assess and account for two ecosystem services: outdoor recreation and crop pollination. Each service was assessed biophysically within the ESTIMAP toolbox, allowing us to quantify different service components: the service potential that the ecosystems can deliver; the demand for each service; and the actual flow of the service used based on the spatial relationship between the service potential and demand. The results of the biophysical assessment were then translated into monetary units using valuation methods consistent with the System of National Accounts. Valuation methods require the integration of the key variables of the biophysical model to quantify the actual flow. In this way, changes in the value of the service are strictly linked to changes in biophysical assessment, which includes potential, demand and their spatial relationship determining the actual flow. Accounting of outdoor recreation shows that at EU level, forest ecosystems have the highest value for outdoor recreation, although this varies among countries. Households are the users of the service, with Germany being the country with the largest share of population whose demand for daily recreation is covered. As demonstrated, countries with a larger share of population living within 4 km of recreational areas present higher level of life satisfaction. EU accounting shows an overall increase in the use of the service between 2000 and 2012 (26%), mainly due to the enhancement of the recreation potential, and, to a lesser extent, to an increase in the demand (population). These results are useful to support policy decisions related to land planning, aiming at guaranteeing the equitable accessibility to outdoor recreation opportunities (citizen rights): 38% of the population at the EU have limited accessibility to recreational areas (unmet demand). We estimated for 2012 an actual flow of 40 million potential visits to recreational areas per year (daily use), with a total value of 31 billion euro. At this stage, the full accounting cannot be given for crop pollination due to the lack of connection between the available valuation methods and the biophysical model assessing the service flow. In this sense, further research is needed to develop suitable methods to link the valuation technique with the biophysical model. In spite of these limitations, the crop pollination assessment provides useful results for the EU Pollinators Initiative. The work presented in this report highlights the importance of the spatial relationship between ecosystem service potential and demand. The changes in the use of the service quite often cannot be explained solely by changes in the potential and the demand, but also by their spatial relationship. When dealing with ecosystem services the spatial component is a key driver that needs to be integrated within the accounting framework for a consistent assessment. The spatial relationship between potential and demand is different for each service. Crop pollination requires the spatial overlap between potential and demand, whereas proximity is the key spatial feature for outdoor recreation. As shown by the two examples presented here, ecosystem service accounts significantly differ depending on the service being assessed, both conceptually and methodologically. Hence, further examples of ecosystem service accounting are needed to produce accounting tables for a representative number of service. Ultimately, the availability of this information represents a key input for the analysis of synergies and trade-offs between ecosystem services.JRC.D.3-Land Resource

Linking accounts for ecosystem services and benefits to the economy through bridging (LISBETH)

The acronym LISBETH stands for LInking accounts for ecosystem Services and Benefits to the Economy THrough bridging. LISBETH is based on INCA (Integrated system for Natural Capital Accounting) and is meant to facilitate the use of INCA accounts in traditional economic analytical tools. Three practical examples are described and commented on. The first application shows how to combine crop provision accounts with the conventional accounts related to agricultural products and their trade. Combined account presentations are useful for policymakers, not only for technical analytical purposes but also for communicating with a wider non-technical audience. The second application shows how to build consumption-based accounts using multiregional input–output tables; in our example we assess the water purification service embedded in traded crops. Consumption remains in fact the ultimate driver behind production processes. The third application shows how to link ecosystem services accounts to general equilibrium models to assess the economic impacts generated by changes in ecosystem services; in our example we address the impact of invasive alien species on pollination and in turn on pollination-dependent crops and their trade. The three applications provide several insights in terms of their usefulness at different steps of the policy cycle, their feasibility, their technical complexity (and thus the level of skill required) and also in terms of the primary users (from specialised analysts to a non-specialised audience).JRC.D.3-Land Resource

Relevamiento de Quesos Entrerrianos. Características Físico-Químicas-Bacteriológicas y Sensoriales con vistas a su tipificación

La caracterización y clasificación de los alimentos se encuentra definida y regida por la Ley Nacional 18 284, Código Alimentario Argentino, por lo que la definición de quesos, su calificación de inocuidad y clasificación, se encuentran dados en la mencionada normativa. Para el caso, de la producción de los tambos queserías entrerrianos, entendiendo como tal a los pequeños y medianos establecimientos tamberos que elaboran solo su propia producción; a la fecha, son escasos los estudios disponibles tendientes a conocer sus características, y si los mismos se encuadran a lo dispuesto por la norma. El problema que se intenta abordar, es conocer con datos obtenidos en un muestreo estadístico, las características físico-químicas, bacteriológicas y sensoriales de este tipo de quesos, conocidos popularmente como «tipo sardo». El relevamiento incluyó encuestas a productores y consumidores, análisis y evaluación de las muestras obtenidas para la calificación y clasificación de la producción de los tambos-queserías entrerrianos. Finalmente se propone realizar de un protocolo de elaboración que homogenice el tipo de queso, destacando sus características típicas, para darle mayor valor agregado

Evaluación de una vacuna subcelular contra la brucelosis ovina constituida por la quimera BLSOmp31 formulada en un cristal líquido (Coagel) adicionado con secuencias CpG-ODN en el modelo murino

Evaluación de una vacuna subcelular contra la brucelosis ovina constituida por la quimera BLSOmp31 formulada en un cristal líquido (Coagel) adicionado con secuencias CpG-ODN en el modelo murinoMaría Celeste Morán* (1), Alejandra Graciela Díaz* (1), María Fernanda Sánchez Vallecillo (2), Vanesa Zylberman (3), Fernando Goldbaum (3), Belkys Maletto (2), Santiago Palma (4), Silvia Marcela Estein (1)(1) Laboratorio de Inmunología, Depto. SAMP. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil (CIVETAN)-CONICET-CIC, F.C.V, U.N.C.P.B.A. Tandil, Argentina(2) Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. CONICET, Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología (CIBICI), Córdoba, Argentina(3) INMUNOVA S.A., Buenos Aires, Argentina(4) Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. CONICET, Unidad de Tecnología Farmacéutica (UNITEFA), Córdoba, Argentina*igual contribuciónBrucella ovis es el agente causal de la epididimitis contagiosa del carnero (ECC), enfermedad que ocasiona pérdidas económicas significativas en la producción ovina. La ECC se controla a través de la eliminación de los animales serológica o bacteriológicamente positivos. No hay vacuna específica para prevenir la ECC. La inmunización con una quimera constituida por la Brucella Lumazina Sintetasa y un péptido de la proteína de membrana Omp31 (BLSOmp31) formulado en adyuvante de Freund Incompleto (AFI) ha demostrado ser una vacuna subcelular inmunogénica y eficaz contra B. ovis en ratón y en ovino. BLSOmp31 formulada en un sistema nanoestructurado de cristal líquido vehiculizando secuencias CpG-ODN (Coagel+CpG-ODN) indujo la producción de anticuerpos en ovejas preñadas que fueron transferidos a sus crías. El objetivo de este trabajo fue evaluar la respuesta inmunitaria humoral y la protección conferida por BLSOmp31 formulada con Coagel+CpG-ODN. Veinticinco ratones Balb/c hembras de 8 semanas se distribuyeron en 5 grupos (G) (n=5/G): G1) BLSOmp31 en solución, G2) BLSOmp31+CpG-ODN, G3) BLSOmp31+CpG-ODN+Coagel, G4) BLSOmp31+AFI y G5) PBS. Se inmunizaron por la vía subcutánea el día 0 y el día 30 con BLSOmp31 (30g/dosis) de y CpG-ODN (30g/dosis. Los días 0, 21 y 50 se extrajo sangre para suero para análisis de IgG por ELISA y el día 65 se inoculó vía intraperitoneal con 2,9 x 105 unidades formadoras de colonia (UFC) de B. ovis PA76250. El día 95 fueron sacrificados y los bazos fueron procesados bacteriológicamente para recuento de UFC. La protección se evaluó como la reducción en unidades logarítmicas de las UFC con respecto al grupo control PBS. Los títulos de anticuerpos IgG en los animales inmunizados alcanzaron niveles significativos en todos los grupos tras la primera inmunización y máximos al momento del desafío con un perfil mixto IgG2a/IgG1 en los grupos inmunizados con CpG-ODN. BLSOmp31 en solución o formulada con CpG-ODN confirió protección significativa contra B. ovis (1,12 y 1,2 log de protección, respectivamente) (p<0,01). Sin embargo, los mayores niveles de protección se obtuvieron con BLSOmp31+CpG-ODN+Coagel que protegió de modo similar a BLSOmp31+AFI (2,13 y 2,21 log de protección, respectivamente) (p<0,001). Nuestros resultados preliminares indican que BLSOmp31 formulada con Coagel+CpG-ODN y administrada por la vía parenteral es una vacuna segura y eficaz contra B. ovis en el modelo murino.Fil: Moran, María Celeste. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comision de Investigaciones Científicas. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil; ArgentinaFil: Díaz, Alejandra Graciela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comision de Investigaciones Científicas. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil; ArgentinaFil: Sánchez Vallecillo, María Fernanda. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología; ArgentinaFil: Zylberman, Vanesa. Inmunova; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Goldbaum, Fernando Alberto. Inmunova; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Maletto, Belkys Angélica. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología; ArgentinaFil: Palma, Santiago Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Unidad de Investigación y Desarrollo en Tecnología Farmacéutica. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Unidad de Investigación y Desarrollo en Tecnología Farmacéutica; ArgentinaFil: Estein, Silvia Marcela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comision de Investigaciones Científicas. Centro de Investigación Veterinaria de Tandil; ArgentinaIV Congreso Argentino de Microbiología Agrícola y Ambiental y I Jornada de Microbiología GeneralMar del PlataArgentinaAsociación Argentina de Microbiologí

Puntos de encuentro. Investigaciones de posgrado en proceso (II)

Puntos de encuentro. Investigaciones de posgrado en proceso (II) es la continuación del proyecto de innovación docente “Puntos de encuentro. Investigaciones de posgrado en proceso” desarrollado durante el curso 2017-18. Dicho proyecto trataba de generar una comunidad de aprendizaje a través de encuentros periódicos, seminarios y actividades comunes entre directores de tesis, profesores y doctorandos. El desarrollo del mismo ha puesto de manifiesto la necesidad de continuar las dinámicas instauradas, así como la articulación de otros posibles modos de ensayar metodologías colaborativas, que son la base de la propuesta. Teniendo en cuenta los resultados obtenidos durante el curso 2017-18 el desarrollo de este proyecto ha estado condicionado por el interés de mantener y propiciar la comunidad de aprendizaje generada. Por otra parte, ha sido fundamental la experimentación en procesos de tutorización entre pares y colectivos, en un periodo formativo definido, en el campo de estudio propuesto por procesos de investigación de carácter individual. El desarrollo de las actividades desarrolladas ha puesto en práctica metodologías colaborativas capaces de ensayar otras aproximaciones a procesos de aprendizaje para las nuevas generaciones de estudiantes. El equipo de trabajo ha estado compuesto por los miembros que ya habían participado en el anterior proyecto (22 doctorandos y 10 docentes) y por nuevas incorporaciones que demostraron interés en formar parte del grupo (28 doctorandos y 14 docentes). En este sentido, cabe destacar que la comunidad no únicamente se ha mantenido sino que se ha visto incrementada. Al igual que el curso anterior el desarrollo de las investigaciones en curso se inscriben en distintos campos de conocimiento afines lo que ha permitido seguir articulando espacios transdisciplinares de encuentro que dieran lugar al debate y al diálogo, así como la creación de redes propiciadas por las afinidades entre distintos miembros del grupo. Esta memoria recoge la valoración de los resultados obtenidos haciendo mención a los objetivos alcanzados, a la metodología empleada, al grupo de trabajo adscrito al proyecto y a las actividades desarrolladas a lo largo del curso 2018-19. Presenta a modo de anexo una serie de imágenes de los encuentros realizados y los documentos de difusión del seminario de investigación

A sustainability scoreboard for crop provision in Europe

The System of Environmental-Economic Accounting for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (SEEA AFF) offers the possibility to assess and report detailed accounts for primary industries while establishing important linkages with relevant ecosystem services, in line with the SEEA Experimental Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EEA). In this paper, crop products and crop provision as ecosystem service are coherently merged to build a sustainability scoreboard for selected crops in European countries. The sustainability scoreboard uses the SEEA AFF accounts for crop products with data inputs from FAOSTAT and the Integrated system of Natural Capital Accounts (INCA) of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) for ecosystem services. The combined FAO-JRC accounting table described in this paper provides a common ground and measurement tool towards a sustainability scoreboard, useful to analyse how relevant economic, social and environmental components behave by country. This newly derived sustainability scoreboard presents significant differences with respect to analyses based on standard agricultural statistics. Lack of sufficiently accurate data remains the major limitation to current fuller implementation of the sustainability scoreboard. However reasonable assumption can be made that on-going international data collection processes (including FAO questionnaires) integrated with Geographic Information System (GIS) analysis will supply in the near future additional relevant and applicable information.JRC.D.3-Land Resource

A comparative study of drug delivery methods targeted to the mouse inner ear: bullostomy versus transtympanic injection

Video Article: https://www.jove.com/video/54951We present two minimally invasive microsurgical techniques in rodents for specific drug delivery into the middle ear so that it may reach the inner ear. The first procedure consists of perforation of the tympanic bulla, termed bullostomy; the second one is a transtympanic injection. Both emulate human clinical intratympanic procedures. Chitosan-glycerophosphate (CGP) and Ringer´s Lactate buffer (RL) were used as biocompatible vehicles for local drug delivery. CGP is a nontoxic biodegradable polymer widely used in pharmaceutical applications. It is a viscous liquid at RT but it congeals to a semi solid phase at body temperature. RL is an isotonic solution used for intravenous administrations in humans. A small volume of this vehicle is precisely placed on the Round Window (RW) niche by means of a bullostomy. A transtympanic injection fills the middle ear and allows less control but broader access to the inner ear. The safety profiles of both techniques were studied and compared by using functional and morphological tests. Hearing was evaluated by registering the Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) before and several times after microsurgery. The cytoarchitecture and preservation level of cochlear structures were studied by conventional histological techniques in paraformaldehyde-fixed and decalcified cochlear samples. In parallel, unfixed cochlear samples were taken and immediately frozen to analyze gene expression profiles of inflammatory markers by quantitative Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR). Both procedures are suitable as drug delivery methods into the mouse middle ear, although transtympanic injection proved to be less invasive compared to bullostomy.This work was supported by grants of the Spanish "Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad" (FEDER-SAF2014-53979-R) and the European Union (FP7-AFHELO and FP7-PEOPLE-TARGEAR) to IVN.Peer reviewe