Form follows function? Proposing a blueprint for ecosystem service assessments based on reviews and case studies

Seppelt, Ralf; Fath, Brian D.; Burkhard, Benjamin; Fisher, Judith; Grêt‐Regamey, Adrienne; Lautenbach, Sven; Pert, Petina L.; Hotes, Stefan; Spangenberg, Joachim H.; Verburg, Peter H.; Oudenhoven, A.P.E. van

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2011.09.003

Cited by 161 publications

(81 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…Response categories were based on the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and other works (Table A2.1, Appendix 2). For example, because some authors consider both use and nonuse values of cultural ecosystem services-including existence, bequest, and option values (e. g., Burkhard 2010, Finnoff et al 2012) and the intrinsic value of ecosystems (e.g., , Burkhard et al 2012)-we considered these as a subcategory of cultural ecosystem services. Publications could fall in multiple categories in the case of seven questions (Table A2.1, Appendix 2; for example, Maass et al (2005) gathered information at all four spatial scales considered).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cultural Ecosystem Services: A Literature Review and Prospects for Future Research

Milcu¹,

Hanspach²,

Abson³

et al. 2013

E&S

735

431

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ABSTRACT. Cultural ecosystem services constitute a growing field of research that is characterized by an increasing number of publications from various academic disciplines. We conducted a semiquantitative review of publications explicitly dealing with cultural ecosystem services. Our aims were: (1) to provide an overview of the current state of research, (2) to classify the diversity of research approaches by identifying clusters of publications that address cultural ecosystem services in similar ways, and (3) to highlight some important challenges for the future of cultural ecosystem services research. We reviewed 107 publications and extracted 20 attributes describing their type and content, including methods, scales, drivers of change, and trade-offs between services. Using a cluster analysis on a subset of attributes we identified five groups of publications: Group 1, conceptual focus, deals with theoretical issues; Group 2, descriptive reviews, consists mostly of desktop studies; Group 3, localized outcomes, deals with case studies coming from different disciplines; Group 4, social and participatory, deals mainly with assessing preferences and perceptions; and Group 5, economic assessments, provides economic valuations. Emerging themes in cultural ecosystem services research relate to improving methods for cultural ecosystem services valuation, studying cultural ecosystem services in the context of ecosystem service bundles, and more clearly articulating policy implications. Based on our findings, we conclude that: (1) cultural ecosystem services are well placed as a tool to bridge gaps between different academic disciplines and research communities, (2) capitalizing on the societal relevance of cultural ecosystem services could help address real-world problems, and (3) cultural ecosystem services have the potential to foster new conceptual links between alternative logics relating to a variety of social and ecological issues.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cultural Ecosystem Services: A Literature Review and Prospects for Future Research

Milcu¹,

Hanspach²,

Abson³

et al. 2013

E&S

735

431

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“…These preliminary considerations of any study in an urban environment are a basic part of scientific research, but a common shortcoming is the adequate and transparent reporting of approaches and associated methods (Martínez-Harms & Balvanera, 2012;Seppelt et al, 2012). In accordance, it is often not possible to trace back arguments and information that led to the decision on including or excluding urban built-up structures within a proposed assessment approach.…”

Section: Key Issues • Is It Feasible and Useful To Consider Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

Does the Ecosystem Service Concept Reach its Limits in Urban Environments?

Beichler

Bastian²,

Haase

et al. 2017

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There is a rapidly growing body of literature on the theory about the ecosystem service concept and the practical assessment of ecosystem services in different contexts ranging from natural to urban environments. Yet, where does the concept reach its limits? This paper critically reflects the application of the ecosystem service concept in urban environments illustrating the handling of urban structures (incl. built-up areas) and the risk that the normative principle of the concept could be missed. It is shown that in theory urban structures refer to a variety of ecosystem concepts. As a starting point for ecosystem service assessments, these could be classified into natural, managed, constructed and overbuilt systems. Since ecosystem service concepts do not directly refer to a specific ecosystem definition, but to biophysical structures and processes, all of these classes could be included. However, the dependency on context and scale makes a differentiation in practical ecosystem services assessment challenging. We conclude that the ecosystem service concept does not reach its limits in urban environments, but urban environments represent an extreme case characterized by multifunctionality and a high degree of modification that enables to uncover research challenges applying in any environment. There is a need for a more transparent reporting of theoretical and methodological assumptions to facilitate the comparability between ecosystem service assessments. Comprehensive approaches that consider multiple ecosystem services and include human input, human modification, the ecosystem status as well as their interactions are required to understand the spatial relations between ecosystem services delivered by different ecosystems.

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“…In line with Seppelt et al (2012), we promote a more systematic and structured approach for studying driving forces of landscape change to achieve high-quality scientific results that allow more robust generalization (e.g., by meta-analyses), and to improve interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary communication in all phases of a project.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From concepts to practice: combining different approaches to understand drivers of landscape change

Kizos¹,

Verburg²,

Bürgi³

et al. 2018

E&S

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ABSTRACT. Landscape change and its drivers have been the focus of a growing body of literature in the past years. Our objective is to present different approaches to studying and understanding landscape change. We sketch the way in which different approaches and existing conceptual models are related to spatial scales and epistemological aims, and discuss complementarity and a range of applications with five specific research approaches from a Mediterranean landscape, including approaches at national and European levels. These include an analysis of historical landscape change, an investigation of decision-making processes, public awareness raising, evaluation of landscape services, and provision of policy support with data from published and unpublished material. The findings indicate that on the issue of complementarity, some models work better together with others. A major difference observed is the role that conceptual models and related approaches provide to the "voice" of stakeholders and actors of landscape change, sometimes contradicting, but often complementary. An important issue that comes up is a need for a plurality of research approaches and underlying conceptualizations of human-environment interactions, as the approaches represent different lenses for looking at the humanenvironmental system that are all abstractions from the full complexity of how decision-making on land use is conducted.

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Form follows function? Proposing a blueprint for ecosystem service assessments based on reviews and case studies

Cited by 161 publications

References 64 publications

Cultural Ecosystem Services: A Literature Review and Prospects for Future Research

Cultural Ecosystem Services: A Literature Review and Prospects for Future Research

Does the Ecosystem Service Concept Reach its Limits in Urban Environments?

From concepts to practice: combining different approaches to understand drivers of landscape change

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