Comparing land-use alternatives: Using the ecosystem services concept to define a multi-criteria decision analysis

Fontana, Veronika; Radtke, Anna; Fedrigotti, Valérie Bossi; Tappeiner, Ulrike; Tasser, Erich; Zerbe, Stefan; Buchholz, Thomas

doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2013.05.007

Cited by 139 publications

(91 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…The gross yield of hay production in Leiblachtal study area has a high value if compared with the other ecosystem goods and services. Fontana et al (2013) estimated a gross yield of 1,080 €/ha year in a study area with similar environmental and socio-economic characteristics (South Tyrol, Italy). Taking into account the labour and mechanization costs estimable in 1,200 €/ha the net yield of hay production is 200 €/ha year.…”

Section: Economic Values Of Esmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping the value of ecosystem services: A case study from the Austrian Alps

et al. 2015

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. Ma-pping the value of ecosystem services: a case study from the Austrian Alps. Ann. For. Res. 58(1): 157-175.Abstract. Ecosystem services (ES) are considered the conditions and processes through which natural ecosystems sustain and fulfil human life. In the decision making process related to the natural resources management, two key-aspects must be taken into account: the economic value of the benefits provided by ES (provisioning, regulating and cultural services) and the spatial distribution of these benefits. The purpose of the paper is to develop a method aimed to capture the economic value of the benefits provided by ES, in order to support the decision makers in the natural resources management. ES are not homogeneous across landscapes nor in space. Consequently, gaining knowledge on the spatial distribution of the economic relevance of ES is a fundamental information to target management actions. This method was tested in a case study in the Austrian Alps (Leiblachtal area in Vorarlberg region), characterized by a high importance of forests and grasslands. The results show that the highest economic values could be achieved for the provisioning services with a range between 200 €/ha year and 1,400 €/ha year. The regulating services have also important economic values, but strongly localized in specific areas (i.e. protective forests against natural hazards). The economic values of the cultural services are influenced by the preferences of tourists and varies between 5 €/ha year to 60 €/ha year. The method allowed us to reveal the spatial heterogeneity of provisioning, regulating and cultural ES, depending on the ecological characteristics of the site.

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Section: Economic Values Of Esmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping the value of ecosystem services: A case study from the Austrian Alps

et al. 2015

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“…Thus, stakeholder weights on ecosystem services can be combined with the empirical value (performance) of each service for each land use to obtain an integrative evaluation. By applying appropriate multi-criteria analysis, it may be possible to determine if restored landscape units respond more adequately to stakeholder needs and aspirations than unrestored ones, and evaluate their contribution to society well-being by enhancing the bulk of ecosystem services (Derak and Cortina, 2014;Fontana et al, 2013). Aggregation of scientific knowledge and human needs and values may enhance the efficiency and sustainability of ecological restoration practices, and thus increase the likelihood of their success.…”

Section: Implications For Ecological Restorationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Similarities in stakeholder identification of restoration targets in a semiarid area

Derak

Taiquib

Aledoc

et al. 2016

Journal of Arid Environments

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Ecological restoration is a suitable tool to revert the decline in the provision of ecosystem services in semiarid areas. Stakeholder opinion has been increasingly incorporated in ecological restoration strategies. However, the debate still exists whether the opinion of scientists and managers should be integrated together with that of local stakeholders in the decision making process. We assessed the restoration priorities in a semiarid area in North Morocco according to the opinion of 67 stakeholders, including scientists and managers, direct users and collaborators. The questions consisted in (i) ranking five categories of services in addition to economic benefits, and in (ii) comparing pairs of services within each category. We checked for both cardinal and ordinal inconsistency. The results showed an overall consensus about regulating and supporting services as the most valuable categories. More specifically, the most important services were erosion and flood control, soil fertility, water supply and species richness. The accuracy of the responses of the three groups was similar as the consistency for their judgments was not significantly different. Our results bring additional proof that the opinion of scientists, managers and local stakeholders should be considered of similar interest and accuracy when defining the most suitable restoration objectives.

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“…To address above interdisciplinary and complex problems, multi-criteria analysis, as a tool that can take both ecological and socioeconomic criteria into consideration, is mostly applied to conduct ecological economic analysis (Huang et al, 2011;Fontana et al, 2013). Multi-criteria analysis had been applied in various disciplinary researches and recently been broadly introduced and utilized to solve the problems in ecosystem services management (Daily et al, 2009;Nelson et al, 2009).…”

Section: Multi-criteria Analysis Of Trade-offsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review on trade-off analysis of ecosystem services for sustainable land-use management

2016

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Ecosystem services are substantial elements for human society. The central challenge to meet the human needs from ecosystems while sustain the Earth's life support systems makes it urgent to enhance efficient natural resource management for sustainable ecological and socioeconomic development. Trade-off analysis of ecosystem services can help to identify optimal decision points to balance the costs and benefits of the diverse human uses of ecosystems. In this sense, the aim of this paper is to provide key insights into ecosystem services trade-off analysis at different scales from a land use perspective, by comprehensively reviewing the trade-offs analysis tools and approaches that addressed in ecology, economics and other fields. The review will significantly contribute to future research on trade-off analysis to avoid inferior management options and offer a win-win solution based on comprehensive and efficient planning for interacting multiple ecosystem services.

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Comparing land-use alternatives: Using the ecosystem services concept to define a multi-criteria decision analysis

Cited by 139 publications

References 50 publications

Mapping the value of ecosystem services: A case study from the Austrian Alps

Mapping the value of ecosystem services: A case study from the Austrian Alps

Similarities in stakeholder identification of restoration targets in a semiarid area

A review on trade-off analysis of ecosystem services for sustainable land-use management

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