Assessing the value of ecosystem services delivered by prescribed fire management in Australian tropical savannas

Sangha, Kamaljit K.; Evans, Jay; Edwards, Andrew C.; Russell‐Smith, Jeremy; Fisher, Rohan; Yates, Cameron; Costanza, Robert

doi:10.1016/j.ecoser.2021.101343

Cited by 23 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 65 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Indigenous management is improving the health of savanna ecosystems in Australia, which has lead not only to significantly increase climate regulation services by mitigated more than 5million tonnes of GHG emissions to date (Sangha, Evans, et al, 2021), but has had a direct positive impact on local communities who have benefited economically for the sale of carbon credits as well as through new green jobs (Table 3).…”

Section: A S E S Tud Ie S On Ecosys Tem He Alth Chang E and Well-b Eingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Dominant vegetation types (following the Australian National Vegetation Information System dataset) across tropical savannas in northern Australia with greenhouse gas emissions abatement “carbon”/Savanna Burning projects (outlined in black) above the 600mm rainfall isohyet (blue line) using data from the carbon project register by the Emissions Reduction Fund, Australian Government (Source: Sangha, Evans, et al, 2021). [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]…”

Section: Case Studies On Ecosystem Health Change and Well‐beingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Traditionally managed by Indigenous peoples over millennia through implementation of fine‐scale mosaic burning, this landscape is relatively little modified by the modern practices. Consequently, Australia's savanna ecosystems support an array of services delivered to local, regional, and global populations, worth more than USD 1.6 billion year −1 (Russell‐Smith et al, 2019; Sangha, Evans, et al, 2021).…”

Section: Case Studies On Ecosystem Health Change and Well‐beingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These ecosystems are highly fire‐prone, that require active management of fuel‐loads to prevent wildfires. Wildfires in Australian savannas emit about 16Mt of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per year, comprising about 4% of the annual GHG emissions inventory (Sangha, Evans, et al, 2021). The eucalypts which now dominate the savannas are well adapted to fire, radiating from ~15 million years BP as the climate dried (Woinarski et al, 2007).…”

Section: Case Studies On Ecosystem Health Change and Well‐beingmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Ecosystem health, ecosystem services, and the well‐being of humans and the rest of nature

Hernández‐Blanco¹,

Costanza

Chen

et al. 2022

Global Change Biology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

An ecosystem is healthy if it is active, maintains its organization and autonomy over time, and is resilient to stress. Healthy ecosystems provide human well‐being via ecosystem services, which are produced in interaction with human, social, and built capital. These services are affected by different ecosystem stewardship schemes. Therefore, society should be aiming for ecosystem health stewardship at all levels to maintain and improve ecosystem services. We review the relationship between ecosystem health and ecosystem services, based on a logic chain framework starting with (1) a development or conservation policy, (2) a management decision or origin of the driver of change, (3) the driver of change itself, (4) the change in ecosystem health, (5) the change in the provision of ecosystem services, and (6) the change in their value to humans. We review two case studies to demonstrate the application of this framework. We analyzed 6,131 records from the Ecosystem Services Valuation Database (ESVD) and found that in approximately 58% of the records data on ecosystem health were lacking. Finally, we describe how the United Nations' System of Environmental‐Economic Accounting (SEEA) incorporates ecosystem health as part of efforts to account for natural capital appreciation or depreciation at the national level. We also provide recommendations for improving this system.

show abstract

Section: A S E S Tud Ie S On Ecosys Tem He Alth Chang E and Well-b Eingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Case Studies On Ecosystem Health Change and Well‐beingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Case Studies On Ecosystem Health Change and Well‐beingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Case Studies On Ecosystem Health Change and Well‐beingmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Ecosystem health, ecosystem services, and the well‐being of humans and the rest of nature

Hernández‐Blanco¹,

Costanza

Chen

et al. 2022

Global Change Biology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Finally, a study that looked at how land cover change is tied up with ecosystem service values (ESVs) in northeast Yunnan stated that increasing grassland proportion with respect to forestland would increase ESVs in certain counties (Wang et al 2018), which underscores the contributions of savannas and forests for human well-being and biodiversity conservation. A Yunnan-wide assessment of ESVs is recommended, for understanding potential synergies and trade-offs among multiple ecosystem services in savannas and other land cover types can help improve conservation priorities (Eastburn et al 2017), as well as land and fire management strategies that may encourage the participation of communities as stewards of savannas (Sangha et al 2021).…”

Section: Conservation Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Greater loss and fragmentation of savannas than forests over the last three decades in Yunnan Province, China

Lapuz

Jaojoco

Reyes

et al. 2021

Environ. Res. Lett.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Yunnan Province, southwest China, has a monsoonal climate suitable for a mix of fire-driven savannas and fire-averse forests as alternate stable states, and has vast areas with savanna physiognomy. Presently, savannas are only formally recognised in the dry valleys of the region, and a no-fire policy has been enforced nationwide since the 1980s. Misidentification of savannas as forests may have contributed to their low protection level and fire-suppression may be contributing to vegetation change towards forest states through woody encroachment. Here, we present an analysis of vegetation and land-use change in Yunnan for years 1986, 1996, 2006, and 2016 by classifying Landsat imagery using a hybrid of unsupervised and supervised classification. We assessed how much savanna area had changed over the three decades (area loss, fragmentation), and of this how much was due to direct human intervention versus vegetation transition. We also assessed how climate (mean annual temperature, aridity), landscape accessibility (slope, distance to roads), and fire had altered transition rates. Our classification yielded accuracy values of 77.89%, 82.16%, 94.93%, and 86.84% for our four maps, respectively. In 1986, savannas had the greatest area of any vegetation type in Yunnan at 40.30%, whereas forest cover was 30.78%. Savanna coverage declined across the decades mainly due to a drop in open parkland savannas, while forest cover remained stable. Savannas experienced greater fragmentation than forests. Savannas suffered direct loss of coverage to human uses and to woody encroachment. Savannas in more humid environments switched to denser vegetation at a higher rate. Fire slowed the rate of conversion away from savanna states and promoted conversion towards them. We identified remaining savannas in Yunnan that can be considered when drafting future protected areas. Our results can inform more inclusive policy-making that considers Yunnan’s forests and savannas as distinct vegetation types with different management needs.

show abstract

Building Resilient, Sustainable, and Well-Being-Based Economies in Northern Australia

Sangha

2023

SDGs in the Asia and Pacific Region

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Assessing the value of ecosystem services delivered by prescribed fire management in Australian tropical savannas

Cited by 23 publications

References 65 publications

Ecosystem health, ecosystem services, and the well‐being of humans and the rest of nature

Ecosystem health, ecosystem services, and the well‐being of humans and the rest of nature

Greater loss and fragmentation of savannas than forests over the last three decades in Yunnan Province, China

Building Resilient, Sustainable, and Well-Being-Based Economies in Northern Australia

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About