Can ecosystem properties be fully translated into service values? an economic valuation of aquatic plant services

Ecological Applications 21. 5 (2011): 3083-3103 copyright by the Ecological Society of AmericaWe carried out an integrated analysis of ecosystem services in the Doñana social-ecological system (southwestern Spain), from the providers (different aquatic plant functional groups) to the beneficiaries (different stakeholders living in or visiting the area). We explored the ecosystem services supplied by aquatic plants by linking these services to different plant functional traits, identifying relevant ecosystem services and then working our way backward to ecosystem properties and the functional traits underpinning them. We started from 15 ecosystem services associated with aquatic systems (freshwater marshes, salt marshes, ponds on aeolian sheets, temporal coastal ponds, and estuaries) and related them to plant traits (directly or indirectly through intermediate ecosystem properties). We gathered information from the literature on the functional traits of 144 plants occurring in the aquatic ecosystems of Doñana. We analyzed the species×trait matrix with multivariate classification and ordination techniques and obtained seven functional groups with different potentials for delivering ecosystem services. A survey was then administered to 477 stakeholders to analyze, through the use of a contingent valuation exercise, how the ecosystem services provided by the different functional groups were valued. We identified connections between individual plant traits, ecosystem processes, and ecosystem services, but a mismatch appeared between the functional groups and the economic values placed on them by the beneficiaries. We found that contingent valuation applied to ecosystem services tended to ignore the ecosystem properties and biodiversity underpinning them. Our results cast doubts over the suitability of the economic valuation framework of ecosystem services to capture the full value of biodiversity and ecosystems to peopleThis research was partially supported by a grant from the Madrid Regional Government of Education, which was co-funded by the Social European Fund (F.S.E.), the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (Project CGL2006- 14121/BOS), and the Spanish Ministry of the Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs through project 018/2009. S. Díaz acknowledges support from FONCyT and CONICET (Argentina) and IAI (CRN 2015, supported by US NSF GEO- 0452325

Improving collaboration between ecosystem service communities and the IPBES science-policy platform

The end of the first working program of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) provided an opportunity to draw lessons from its work. This perspective paper captures insights from ecosystem services (ES) researchers and practitioners, largely drawing from the Europeancontext (referred to herein as ‘ES community’), on this key science–policy interface. We synthesize reflections from a workshop on how (i) IPBES can engage the ES community; (ii) the ES community can engage with IPBES; and (iii) individual scientists can contribute. We note that IPBES constitutes a great advancement towards multidisciplinarity and inclusivity in ES research and practice. Key reflections for IPBES are that funding and visibility at ES research events could be improved, the contribution and selection processes could be more transparent, and communication with experts improved. Key reflections for the ES community include a need to improvepolicy-relevance by integrating more social scientists, researchers from developing countries, early-career scientists and policy-makers. Key reflections directed towards individual scientists include contributing (pro)actively to science–policy inter-face initiatives such as IPBES and increasing transdisciplinary research. These reflections intend to contribute to the awareness of challenges and opportunities for institutions, groups and individuals working on E

Enfoque cooperativo y custodia del territorio: dos factores impulsores de la transición agroecológica de los sistemas agroalimentarios locales

The changes experienced since the mid-20th century because of the industrialization of agriculture, have favored the disconnection between food production, nature and society. This places us in front of a series of socio-ecological challenges that need to be solved in order to stop the crisis of small-scale agriculture and the deterioration of agro-ecosystems. In contrast to the logics that delocalize production from consumption, breaking the link with the territory, various initiatives are integrating increasingly agro-ecological practices and adapting their forms of commercialization towards more sustainable and territorialized models. With the need to identify the transformative strategies in which farmers are advancing to create sustainable food systems, two case studies in Spain (Extremadura and Asturias) are analyzed. The results show how cooperative approaches, collaborative networks rooted in the territory and voluntary agreements established between different agents in the agri-food system, are key factors in enabling small producers to improve their participation and empowerment in the agri-food system while promoting systemic strategies to change hegemonic production and consumption modes.Los cambios experimentados desde mediados del siglo XX, como consecuencia de la industrialización de la agricultura, han favorecido la desconexión entre la producción de alimentos, la naturaleza y la sociedad. Esto nos sitúa frente a una serie de retos socio-ecológicos que necesitan ser resueltos para frenar la crisis de la agricultura de pequeña escala y el deterioro de los agroecosistemas. En contraposición a las lógicas que deslocalizan la producción del consumo y que rompen el vínculo con el territorio, diversas iniciativas están integrando prácticas crecientemente agroecológicas y adaptando sus formas de comercialización hacia modelos más sostenibles y territorializados. Con la necesidad de identificar las estrategias transformadoras en que los agricultores avanzan para crear sistemas alimentarios sostenibles, se analizan dos estudios de caso exploratorios en España (Extremadura y Asturias). Los resultados muestran cómo los enfoques cooperativos, las redes colaborativas enraizadas en el territorio y los acuerdos voluntarios de colaboración que se establecen entre diferentes agentes del sistema agroalimentario son factores clave para permitir a los pequeños productores mejorar su participación y empoderamiento en el sistema agroalimentario, a la vez que se fomentan estrategias sistémicas para cambiar los modos de producción y consumo hegemónicos

Social Farming in the Promotion of Social-Ecological Sustainability in Rural and Periurban Areas

Abstract: Rural areas are facing a spectrum of landscape changes and vulnerability as a consequence of financial and environmental crises. Innovative approaches are required to maintain the provision of social services and manage ecosystem services in these areas. We explore the capacity of social farming to create viable and sustainable rural and periurban areas according to a social-ecological perspective. We use the key elements of social-ecological systems under social farming practices to analyse (1) the role of local communities and non-formal institutions; (2) the involvement of target stakeholders; and (3) the explicit connection between agroecosystems and human wellbeing. To do so, we selected and described four cases of local social farming initiatives in terms of the key elements of social-ecological systems and conducted a literature review to provide an overview of the explicit impact of social farming on the quality of life. We found that social farming illustrates hybrid governance solutions beyond market instruments that could be applied for the governance of agroecosystems. It can also provide a range of other wellbeing and cultural ecosystem services to rural and urban inhabitants. Greater cooperation between social farming and ecosystem service science could rebound in rural landscape sustainability

Identifying past social-ecological thresholds to understand long-term temporal dynamics in Spain

A thorough understanding of long-term temporal social-ecological dynamics at the national scale helps to explain the current condition of a country’s ecosystems and to support environmental policies to tackle future sustainability challenges. We aimed to develop a methodological approach to understand past long-term (1960-2010) social-ecological dynamics in Spain. First, we developed a methodical framework that allowed us to explore complex social-ecological dynamics among biodiversity, ecosystem services, human well-being, drivers of change, and institutional responses. Second, we compiled 21 long-term, national-scale indicators and analyzed their temporal relationships through a redundancy analysis. Third, we used a Bayesian change point analysis to detect evidence of past social-ecological thresholds and historical time periods. Our results revealed that Spain has passed through four socialecological thresholds that define five different time periods of nature and society relationships. Finally, we discussed how the proposed methodological approach helps to reinterpret national-level ecosystem indicators through a new conceptual lens to develop a more systems-based way of understanding long-term social-ecological patterns and dynamicsThis work was supported by the Biodiversity Foundation (http://www.fundacion-biodiversidad.es/) of the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment. Partial financial support was also provided by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain (project CGL2014-53782-P: ECOGRADIENTES). The Spanish National Institute for Agriculture and Food Research and Technology (INIA) funded Marina García-Llorente as part of the European Social Fund. Blanca González García-Mon participated in this article as a “la Caixa” Banking Foundation scholar. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, preparation of the report, or the decision to submit the study for publicatio

Social Perception and Supply of Ecosystem Services — A Watershed Approach for Carbon Related Ecosystem Services

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter 1

Participatory collective farming as a leverage point for fostering human-nature connectedness

Human-nature connectedness is key to foster environmental and socio-cultural sustainability in agricultural landscapes since it promotes the establishment of belonging, stewardship, and connections to nature. Cooperation, collective action, and the role of women at sustainable agroecological practices could be leverage points in which small interventions may hold great potential for system transformation. We analyse the different types of human-nature connectedness mediated by the Agrolab participatory collective farming initiative running in Madrid (Spain). Our results described and quantified a participatory collective farming initiative using the leverage point perspective, and identified factors explaining nature relatedness of participants (i.e. social importance of agricultural landscapes, linkages with farming activities, time spent outdoors, gender and a negative relationship with the rural residence). We found that women showed a stronger and broader worldview on the philosophical arguments about their connection with nature, while men identified themselves and nature through more cognitive responses. Our results give indication of participatory collecting farming as a leverage point to foster human-nature connectedness. Finally, we discussed how participatory collective farming activities are suitable for introducing nature into people’s daily lives and may help to identify pathways towards a stronger human-nature connectedness.This study received funding from: (1) Environmental and social services provided by agroecological farming systems (FP20-SERVIAGROECO), (2) from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N◦ 81819, by the project entitled: Co-design of novel contract models for innovative agri-environmental-climate measures and for valorisation of environmental public goods, and from (3) the Madrid Government (Comunidad de Madrid-Spain) under the Multiannual Agreement with Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in the line of action encouraging youth research doctors, in the context of the V PRICIT (Regional Programme of Research and Technological Innovation) (SI1/PJI/2019-00444), through SAVIA-Sowing Alternatives for Agroecological Innovation project