Ecosystem services: Challenges and opportunities for hydrologic modeling to support decision making

Guswa, Andrew J.; Brauman, Kate A.; Brown, Casey; Hamel, Perrine; Keeler, Bonnie L.; Sayre, Susan Stratton

doi:10.1002/2014wr015497

Cited by 137 publications

(108 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Guswa, et al [62] argue that ecosystem services models are often used in land cover and land management scenarios, finding confirmed in many studies reviewed here focusing on hydrological ecosystem services. They also argue that the land-parcel is the level at which scenarios will be specified [62].…”

Section: Spatial Considerationssupporting

confidence: 73%

“…They also argue that the land-parcel is the level at which scenarios will be specified [62]. Thus, the hydrological models used need to be able to include this spatial heterogeneity properly.…”

Section: Spatial Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Guswa, et al [62] argue that if spatial planning or payment for ecosystem services is the objective of the ecosystem service study, this spatial scale should be retained for the analysis. On the other hand, the comparison of scenarios could take it into account only implicitly by comparing the catchment scale outputs in a ranking approach.…”

Section: Spatial Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Challenges in Using Hydrology and Water Quality Models for Assessing Freshwater Ecosystem Services: A Review

et al. 2018

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Abstract:Freshwater ecosystems contribute to many ecosystem services, many of which are being threatened by human activities such as land use change, river morphological changes, and climate change. Many disciplines have studied the processes underlying freshwater ecosystem functions, ranging from hydrology to ecology, including water quality, and a panoply of models are available to simulate their behaviour. This understanding is useful for the prediction of ecosystem services, but the model outputs must go beyond the production of time-series of biophysical variables, and must facilitate the beneficial use of the information it contains about the ecosystem services it describes. This article analyses the literature of ad hoc approaches that aim at quantifying one or more freshwater ecosystem services. It identifies the strategies adopted to use disciplinary-specific models for the prediction of the services. This review identifies that hydrological, water quality, and ecological models form a valuable knowledge base to predict changes in ecosystem conditions, but challenges remain to make proper and fruitful use of these models. In particular, considerations of temporal and spatial scales could be given more attention in order to provide better justifications for the choice of a particular model over another, including the uncertainty in their predictions.

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Section: Spatial Considerationssupporting

confidence: 73%

Section: Spatial Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Spatial Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Challenges in Using Hydrology and Water Quality Models for Assessing Freshwater Ecosystem Services: A Review

et al. 2018

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“…Thus, the benefit of a watershed investment project can be directly evaluated as the additional flow or improved water quality it provides in comparison with the flow or quality that would have occurred in the absence of the project, a concept known as additionality (Porras et al 2013). Although novel statistical and model-driven methods to detect vegetation effects on water flow are being developed (e.g., van der Velde et al 2013), data constraints coupled with local land-cover transitions make these methods untenable at present for many projects (Guswa et al 2014).…”

Section: Challenges and Opportunitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Managing water services in tropical regions: From land cover proxies to hydrologic fluxes

Ponette‐González

Brauman

Marín-Spiotta

et al. 2014

Ambio

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Watershed investment programs frequently use land cover as a proxy for water-based ecosystem services, an approach based on assumed relationships between land cover and hydrologic outcomes. Water flows are rarely quantified, and unanticipated results are common, suggesting land cover alone is not a reliable proxy for water services. We argue that managing key hydrologic fluxes at the site of intervention is more effective than promoting particular land-cover types. Moving beyond land cover proxies to a focus on hydrologic fluxes requires that programs (1) identify the specific water service of interest and associated hydrologic flux; (2) account for structural and ecological characteristics of the relevant land cover; and, (3) determine key mediators of the target hydrologic flux. Using examples from the tropics, we illustrate how this conceptual framework can clarify interventions with a higher probability of delivering desired water services than with land cover as a proxy.

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“…A first step in this effort is to assess the services in an appropriate way [9]. The second challenge is to incorporate the ecosystems considerations into planning practice by e.g., modelling and using scenarios [10] and by bringing relevant stakeholders together through participatory dialogues [11]. The broader perspective of upstream-downstream effects and water allocation in the Tarim basin has been described in detail by [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trading Natural Riparian Forests for Urban Shelterbelt Plantations—A Sustainability Assessment of the Kökyar Protection Forest in NW China

Missall

Abliz

Halik

et al. 2018

Water

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Cities at the fringe of the Taklimakan desert in NW China are prone to dust and sand storms with serious consequences for human well-being. The Kökyar Protection Forest was established in the 1980s as an ecological engineering project with the intent of protecting the city of Aksu, NW China, from these impacts. It is designed as a combination of poplar shelterbelts and orchards, irrigated by river water from the Aksu River, the main tributary of the Tarim River. Prevalent literature describes it as an afforestation project for combatting desertification with manifold positive effects for the economic, social, and environmental dimension of sustainable development. This paper sets out to challenge these claims by a sustainability assessment in which the plantation is examined from a broader perspective, embedding it to the wider context of social and environmental problems in South Xinjiang. Methods comprise evapotranspiration calculations, interviews, a socioeconomic household survey, stakeholder dialogues, and literature research. Results affirm its economic sustainability, but see a mixed record for the social sphere. From the nature conservation point of view, it has to be classified as unsustainable because its high irrigation water consumption results in the downstream desiccation and desertification of natural riparian forests along the Tarim River, causing a forest loss in the downstream area twice the size of the forest gain in the upstream area. There is a trade-off between artificial shelterbelt plantations for urban ecosystem services on the one hand side, and natural riparian forests and their biodiversity on the other hand side. The paper recommends restricting agricultural extension, and using locally adapted less water consuming agroforestry schemes to protect urban dwellers from dust stress.

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Ecosystem services: Challenges and opportunities for hydrologic modeling to support decision making

Cited by 137 publications

References 41 publications

Challenges in Using Hydrology and Water Quality Models for Assessing Freshwater Ecosystem Services: A Review

Challenges in Using Hydrology and Water Quality Models for Assessing Freshwater Ecosystem Services: A Review

Managing water services in tropical regions: From land cover proxies to hydrologic fluxes

Trading Natural Riparian Forests for Urban Shelterbelt Plantations—A Sustainability Assessment of the Kökyar Protection Forest in NW China

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