A comprehensive approach for agroecosystem services and disservices valuation

©2021. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This document is the Accepted, version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Science of the Total Environment. To access the final edited and published work see https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144859The use of the ecosystem services approach for ecosystem management, including the valuation of ecosystem services, has grown in recent decades. Although a common framework is used, each ecosystem has its own characteristics. The agroecosystem, for example, is an anthropised ecosystem where ecosystem service flows are highly interrelated with the environment, positively or negatively. Therefore, agroecosystem services are usually accompanied by disservices. The valuation of agroecosystem services and disservices requires adaptation of existing ecosystem services paradigms to accommodate the innate agroecosystem idiosyncrasies. To this end, in this study, a comprehensive approach for valuation of agroecosystem services and disservices was proposed and validated in a semi-arid western Mediterranean agricultural area through stakeholder assessment, using a choice experiment. The results suggest that all categories of services (provisioning, regulating, and cultural) should be taken into account when valuing agroecosystem services and disservices. In particular, food provision (a provisioning service), water (a provisioning disservice), local climate regulation and biodiversity (regulating services), waste treatment and water purification (regulating disservices), and recreation and tourism (cultural services) are relevant for this purpose. Their relative importance in agroecosystems valuation reached 70% for agroecosystem services and 30% for disservices. Specifically, biodiversity (38%) emerged as the most relevant agroecosystem service to be valued, followed by recreation and tourism (20%), local climate regulation (7%), and food provision (5%). Among the agroecosystem disservices, water and waste treatment (15%), and water purification (15%) together contributed to 30% of the total importance. Agroecosystems should be valued considering their multifunctional character and the integration of agroecosystem services and disservices

Diseño de instrumentos económicos para la gestión sostenible de espacios naturales: un enfoque a través de la heterogeneidad social

Los instrumentos económicos ayudan al diseño de estrategias de gestión sostenible de espacios naturales. Para su aplicación, es crucial conocer el valor económico que la sociedad otorga a dichos espacios, así como los factores sociales que lo determinan. Este trabajo tuvo como objetivo diseñar instrumentos económicos para preservar un espacio incluido en la Red Natura 2000 a partir de la valoración y comprensión de los factores sociales que motivan la disposición a pagar por medidas de gestión sostenibles. Para ello se utilizó un ejercicio de valoración contingente, con la población local de los espacios protegidos del Cabezo de la Jara y Rambla de Nogalte (Región de Murcia, España). La heterogeneidad fue analizada a través de un modelo de clases latentes. Los resultados pusieron de relieve la heterogeneidad social existente, determinada por el nivel de ingresos familiares y las actitudes ambientales. Se proponen así dos instrumentos económicos, impuestos directos ambientales y tarifas de usuario, con el fin de asegurar el apoyo financiero a las medidas y una amplia aceptación social. Ello permitirá guiar a los gestores públicos en la formulación de políticas de conservación de la naturaleza en aras de maximizar su aceptabilidad.Este trabajo se ha realizado en el marco del proyecto 20912/PI/18 financiado por la “Fundación Séneca-Agencia de Ciencia y Tecnología de la Región de Murcia”. José A. Zabala y José A. Albaladejo-García agradecen la ayuda recibida del MEFP (FPU16/03473 | FPU 16/03562)

Integrated valuation of semiarid Mediterranean agroecosystem services and disservices

Agroecosystems are anthropised ecosystems where human activities, mainly agricultural practices, affect the innate functioning, leading to the provision of agroecosystem services (AES) and disservices (AEDS). This study presents a novel and integrated economic valuation of the AES and AEDS provided in a water-scarce Mediterranean area (south-eastern Spain), using a discrete choice experiment. The results reveal the social demand for AES and the disutility of AEDS, as well as the non-linearity in marginal utility for some of these AES and AEDS. Food provision, temperature regulation, leisure and recreation and biodiversity are socially perceived as AES. The water supply for irrigation switches between AES and AEDS depending on its provision level, while groundwater pollution is conceived as one of the AEDS. The integrated non-market value of AES and AEDS reaches 794 €/ha/year for the entire agroecosystem. This work provides guidelines for policy makers in the design of socially supported agricultural policies.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation [AGRISERVI: AGL2015-64411-R (MINECO/FEDER)] and the “Fundación Séneca – Region de Murcia” [20912/PI/18]. José A. Zabala acknowledges the financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Education and Personal Training [FPU 16/03473]

Impacto de los cultivos sobre los efectos de las inundaciones. Valoración económica del servicio de mitigación del riesgo

Los agroecosistemas, además del servicio de provisión de alimentos, proporcionan otros Servicios Ecosistémicos (SE), entre los cuales se encuentra el de Mitigación del Riesgo de Inundación (SEMRI) en la población. Este servicio de regulación ha sido escasamente estudiado en la literatura científica, que ha atendido principalmente a factores clave como los patrones de usos del suelo e indicadores intermedios, ignorando aspectos biofísicos clave que condicionan el desarrollo de una inundación y su impacto sobre la sociedad. En este contexto, el objetivo de este trabajo es valorar económicamente el SEMRI que pueden proveer los agroecosistemas. Para ello, se propone emplear el método de daños evitados, realizando una modelización hidrológica e hidráulica bidimensional que traslade en el espacio y tiempo las escorrentías generadas, a partir de la cual se puede estimar el valor del daño en las viviendas mediante una función de pérdidas. El modelo así construido permite a su vez cuantificar la reducción de daños asociados a episodios de inundación en distintos escenarios de ocupación de cultivos maximizadores del SEMRI. El área de estudio elegida es el municipio de Los Alcázares, localizado en el Campo de Cartagena (Murcia), población afectada de forma recurrente por inundaciones tras episodios de lluvias torrenciales.Este trabajo se ha realizado en el marco del proyecto 20912/PI/18 financiado por la “Fundación Séneca-Agencia de Ciencia y Tecnología de la Región de Murcia”. Víctor Martínez agradece la ayuda recibida del MEFP (FPU19/05143)

Perception welfare assessment of water reuse in competitive categories

The supply of reclaimed water to ecosystems increases their ecosystem service flows, which is directly translated into terms of social welfare. This study explores the factors that determine the different perceptions of the welfare impact of supplying reclaimed water to different, and competitive, ecosystems in the Segura river basin (southern Spain): specifically, an agroecosystem (agricultural irrigation) and a river (higher river flow). the results of a contingent valuation exercise with the population of the Murcia region show four different groups of respondents, depending on their willingness to pay (WTP) preferences. the factors that identify differences among welfare impacts are the age, the gender, the education level, the monthly income, the nearness of the household to the river, and, above all, the degree of satisfaction with funding of water reclamation. this study broadens our knowledge of individuals’ heterogeneous preferences in water reuse options, which is crucial for policy makers in the development of socially accepted and sustainable water resource management strategies.This research was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities [AGRISERVI: AGL2015-64411-R (MINECO/FEDER)], the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport (FPU 16/03473), and the ‘Fundación Seneca – Region de Murcia’ (19342/PI/14)

Análisis de la heterogeneidad de la demanda social por políticas de mitigación de la contaminación difusa en agricultura

Este trabajo tiene como objetivo valorar la demanda social por medidas de gestión agrícola tendentes a mitigar la contaminación difusa, así como analizar la heterogeneidad entre la población de las preferencias. Se utiliza como caso de estudio las medidas propuestas por la Ley 1/2018, de 7 de febrero, para garantizar la sostenibilidad ambiental en el entorno del Mar Menor, destinadas a mitigar la contaminación por nitratos en la zona del Campo de Cartagena (Región de Murcia, España). El método empleado ha sido un experimento de elección, que ha permitido evaluar la disposición al pago por un total de cuatro medidas agrícolas. La heterogeneidad se ha analizado en base a los resultados del modelo logit mixto de clases latentes estimado. Los resultados revelan la existencia de heterogeneidad en la demanda de medidas, identificando dos clases latentes en base a su compromiso ambiental y su opinión sobre los factores causantes de la degradación del Mar Menor. Los beneficios socioeconómicos derivados de la aplicación de las medidas superan los costes que deben asumir los agricultores para su implementación, que alcanzan los 1.600 €/ha/año. Los resultados proporcionan información a los gestores públicos para el establecimiento de estrategias de mitigación de la contaminación por nitratos agrícolas basadas en los beneficios de las medidas.Este trabajo se ha realizado en el marco del proyecto 20912/PI/18 financiado por la “Fundación Séneca-Agencia de Ciencia y Tecnología de la Región de Murcia”. José A. Zabala agradece la ayuda recibida del MEFP (FPU16/03473)

Cost benefit analysis of diversified farming systems across Europe: incorporating non-market benefits of ecosystem services

© 2023 The Authors. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. This document is the Submitted version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Science of the Total Environment. To access the final edited and published work see https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.169272Crop diversification can enhance farm economic sustainability while reducing the negative impact on the environment and ecosystem services related. Despite the market and non-market benefits of crop diversification, monocropping is a widely used dominant practice in Europe. In this context, this works aims to assess the overall economic impact of several crop diversification systems across Europe and compared it to the monocropping system. For this purpose, an economic valuation by integrating market and non-market values for eight case studies distributed across three different European pedoclimatic regions (Southern Mediterranean, Northern Mediterranean and Boreal) is proposed. The economic valuation was conducted both in the short and medium-long term. For the short-term we conducted a social gross margin analysis, while for the medium-long term a cost-benefit analysis is developed. The results show an improvement in social gross margins for most of the diversification scenarios assessed when environmental and socio-cultural benefits are considered in the short-term. In the medium and long-term the transformation of cropping towards a more diversified agriculture is encouraged by greater economic benefits. These results provide a first insight in global economic performance of diversified cropping systems, whose main contribution relies on the integration of market and non-market values of ecosystem services from crop diversification. They are expected to be useful for guiding policy makers to promote crop diversification practices as a key instrument for building resilience in farming systems for an adaptive management to climate change

The social wellbeing of irrigation water. A demand-side integrated valuation in a Mediterranean agroecosystem

Irrigation water is a vital input for agricultural production. The supply of irrigation water to crops enhances land productivity and affects the agroecosystem functioning. Agroecosystems co-provide a wide range of agroecosystem services and disservices, which contribute positively and negatively, respectively, to human wellbeing. Therefore, irrigated agroecosystems produce several positive and negative outcomes in relation to society, and agricultural water management is key to the provision of adequate incentives for the enhancement of social wellbeing. In such a context, the aim of this work was to value the contribution of water to the provision of agroecosystem services and disservices, as a way to summarise the contribution of irrigation to social wellbeing. To this end, a demand-side integrated valuation of agroecosystem services and disservices was carried out for both rain-fed and irrigated agriculture in two different agroecosystems of the Region of Murcia (south-eastern Spain), a semi-arid western Mediterranean region characterised by water scarcity. In addition, the intensity of the agricultural water use was considered by distinguishing traditional and highly-intensive irrigated agroecosystems. Almond and lemon, two woody crops, were employed to develop the economic valuation in rain-fed and irrigated agroecosystems, respectively. The assessment of biophysical indicators to quantify the provision of services and disservices and their economic valuation, using market and non-market methods, were used. The results show that the contribution of water to social wellbeing is valued at 9000–12,300 €/ha/year, being greater when the intensive use of agricultural water is promoted. The net economic value of all categories of agroecosystem services and disservices increases when irrigation water is supplied. Notwithstanding, the greatest contribution is due to the increase in provisioning services, mainly food provision in the case of the highly-intensive agroecosystem. Traditional irrigated agroecosystems make a greater contribution to regulating and cultural agroecosystem services. Hence, agricultural water management should focus on increasing the contribution of irrigated agroecosystems to human wellbeing.This work was supported by the AgriCambio project (Grant PID2020-114576RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033). José A. Zabala, Víctor Martínez-García and José A. Albaladejo-García acknowledge the financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Education and Personal Training (FPU 16/03473; FPU19/05143; FPU 16/03562)

Observation of a charge delocalization from Se vacancies in Bi2Se3: A positron annihilation study of native defects

[EN] By means of positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy, we have investigated the native defects present in Bi2Se3, which belongs to the family of topological insulators. We experimentally demonstrate that selenium vacancy defects (VSe1) are present in Bi2Se3 as-grown samples, and that their charge is delocalized as temperature increases. At least from 100 K up to room temperature both V0Se1and V+Se1 charge states coexist. The observed charge delocalization determines the contribution of VSe1defects to the n-type conductivity of Bi2Se3. These findings are supported by theoretical calculations, which show that vacancies of nonequivalent Se1 and Se2 selenium atoms are clearly differentiated by positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy, enabling us to directly detect and quantify the most favorable type of selenium vacancy. In addition to open-volume defects, experimental data indicate the presence of defects that act as shallow traps, suggesting that more than one type of native defects coexist in Bi2Se3. As will be discussed, the presence of a dislocation density around 1010cm−2 could be the source of the detected shallow traps. Understanding the one-dimensional defects and the origin of the charge delocalization that leads Bi2Se3 to be an n-type semiconductor will help in the development of high-quality topological insulators based on this material.This work is supported for the Basque Government Grant IT-443-10 and partially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) under the project TEC2014-60173 and by the Generalitat Valenciana under the projects Prometeo II 2015/004 and ISIC/2012/008. I. Unzueta also wants to acknowledge financial support from the Basque Government Grant PRE-2014-214. V. Marín-Borrás thanks the University of Valencia for its pre-doctoral fellowships. Finally we would also like to thank BCMaterials for its economic support

Selection of incentives for a business strategy based on crop diversification

© 2024 CSIC. This document is the Submitted version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Spanish Journal of Agricultural Research. To access the final edited and published work see https://doi.org/doi.org/10.5424/sjar/2024223-20967Aim of study: This study proposes a crop diversification innovative business model based on stakeholder preferences towards different incentive alternatives. Area of study: South-East Spain. Material and methods: Citrus intercropping practices in South-East Spain has been used as case study. Stakeholders’ preferences for crop diversification incentives were investigated by using a multicriteria approach, and those results were integrated into the development of a business model canvas. Main results: Including crop diversification practices as environmental practices within the operational programmes of producer organizations is seen the most preferred incentive over which the business model canvas is developed. Research highlights: The establishment of business opportunities for crop diversification practices would facilitate the overcoming of adoption barriers along the agrifood value chain and would promote health and sustainable food systems