Econometric Evidence on Forest Ecosystem Services: Deforestation and Flooding in Malaysia

Tan-Soo, Jie-Sheng; Adnan, Norliyana; Ahmad, Ismariah; Pattanayak, Subhrendu K.; Vincent, Jeffrey R.

doi:10.1007/s10640-014-9834-4

Cited by 59 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…In Malaysia, recent research indicates that tropical forests can also mitigate floods (Tan-Soo et al 2014) and generate large values related to biodiversity conservation (Vincent et al 2014). Protection decisions that appear to be economically unjustified when only water purification is considered might turn out to be justified when a broader range of services is taken into account.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Valuing Water Purification by Forests: An Analysis of Malaysian Panel Data

Vincent

Ahmad

Adnan

et al. 2015

Environ Resource Econ

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Water purification might be the most frequently invoked example of an economically valuable ecosystem service, yet the impacts of upstream land use on downstream municipal water treatment costs remain poorly understood. This is especially true in developing countries, where rates of deforestation are highest and cost-effective expansion of safe water supplies is needed the most. We present the first econometric study to estimate directly the effect of tropical forests on water treatment cost. We exploit a rich panel dataset from Malaysia, which enables us to control for a wide range of potentially confounding factors. We find significant, robust evidence that protecting both virgin and logged forests against conversion to nonforest land uses reduced water treatment costs, with protection of virgin forests reducing costs more. The marginal value of this water purification service varied greatly across treatment plants, thus implying that the service offered a stronger rationale for forest protection in some locations than others. On average, the service value was large relative to treatment plants' expenditures on priced inputs, but it was very small compared to producer surpluses for competing land uses. For various reasons, however, the latter comparison exaggerates the shortfall between the benefits and the costs of enhancing water purification by protecting forests. Moreover, forest protection decisions that appear to be economically unjustified when only water purification is considered might be justified when a broader range of services is taken into account.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Valuing Water Purification by Forests: An Analysis of Malaysian Panel Data

Vincent

Ahmad

Adnan

et al. 2015

Environ Resource Econ

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“…F p would be 1.0 and Q a,t zero; in contrast, an F p value equal to zero and Q a,t directly reflecting erratic rainfall represents the lowest possible level of predictability. The F p parameter is conceptually identical to the "recession constant" commonly used in hydrological models, typically assessed during an extended dry period when the Q a,t term is negligible and streamflow consists of base flow only (Tallaksen, 1995); empirical deviations from a straight line in a plot of the logarithm of Q against time are common and point to multiple rather than a single groundwater pool that contributes to base flow. The larger catchment area has a possibility to get additional flow from multiple independent groundwater contributions.…”

Section: Recursive Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Detectability of effects depends on their relative size, the accuracy of the measurement devices, length of observation period, and background variability of the signal. A recent econometric study for Peninsular Malaysia by Tan-Soo et al (2016) concluded that, after appropriate corrections for space-time correlates in the data set for 31 meso-and macroscale basins (554-28 643 km 2 ), conversion of inland rain forest to monocultural plantations of oil palm or rubber increased the number of flooding days reported, but not the number of flood events, while conversion of wetland forests to urban areas reduced downstream flood duration. This Malaysian study may be the first credible empirical evidence at this scale.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flood risk reduction and flow buffering as ecosystem services – Part 1: Theory on flow persistence, flashiness and base flow

Noordwijk

Tanika²,

Lusiana³

2017

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. Flood damage reflects insufficient adaptation of human presence and activity to location and variability of river flow in a given climate. Flood risk increases when landscapes degrade, counteracted or aggravated by engineering solutions. Efforts to maintain and restore buffering as an ecosystem function may help adaptation to climate change, but this require quantification of effectiveness in their specific social-ecological context. However, the specific role of forests, trees, soil and drainage pathways in flow buffering, given geology, land form and climate, remains controversial. When complementing the scarce heavily instrumented catchments with reliable long-term data, especially in the tropics, there is a need for metrics for data-sparse conditions. We present and discuss a flow persistence metric that relates transmission to river flow of peak rainfall events to the base-flow component of the water balance. The dimensionless flow persistence parameter F p is defined in a recursive flow model and can be estimated from limited time series of observed daily flow, without requiring knowledge of spatially distributed rainfall upstream. The F p metric (or its change over time from what appears to be the local norm) matches local knowledge concepts. Inter-annual variation in the F p metric in sample watersheds correlates with variation in the "flashiness index" used in existing watershed health monitoring programmes, but the relationship between these metrics varies with context. Inter-annual variation in F p also correlates with common base-flow indicators, but again in a way that varies between watersheds. Further exploration of the responsiveness of F p in watersheds with different characteristics to the interaction of land cover and the specific realisation of space-time patterns of rainfall in a limited observation period is needed to evaluate interpretation of F p as an indicator of anthropogenic changes in watershed conditions.

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“…For example, deforestation can reduce soil infiltration capacity and alter the partitioning of precipitation between overland flow and soil infiltration (and subsequently groundwater recharge) (Costa et al, 2003;Giertz and Diekkruger, 2003;Giertz et al, 2005;Hess et al, 2010;Schilling et al, 2014). In addition, there is considerable evidence that seasonal availability of water (especially in the tropics where there is a distinct wet and dry season) can be affected by deforestation leading to increased peak flows in the wet season that can lead to flooding (Bradshaw et al, 2007;McCartney et al, 2013;Tan-Soo et al, 2014); and reduced base-flow in the dry season that can lead to streamflow droughts (Guo et al, 2000;Pattanayak and Kramer, 2001;Tallaksen and van Lanen, 2004;Simonit and Perrings, 2013). In general, in tropical regions with seasonal rainfall, the distribution of streamflow throughout the year is of greater importance to food and water security than total annual water yield (Bruijnzeel, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%