Freshwater systems and ecosystem services: Challenges and chances for cross-fertilization of disciplines

Abstract

Freshwater ecosystems are among the most threatened in the world, while providing numerous essential ecosystem services (ES) to humans. Despite their importance, research on freshwater ecosystem services is limited. Here, we examine how freshwater studies could help to advance ES research and vice versa. We summarize major knowledge gaps and suggest solutions focusing on science and policy in Europe. We found several features that are unique to freshwater ecosystems, but often disregarded in ES assessments. Insufficient transfer of knowledge towards stakeholders is also problematic. Knowledge transfer and implementation seems to be less effective towards South-east Europe. Focusing on the strengths of freshwater research regarding connectivity, across borders, involving multiple actors can help to improve ES research towards a more dynamic, landscape-level approach, which we believe can boost the implementation of the ES concept in freshwater policies. Bridging these gaps can contribute to achieve the ambitious targets of the EU’s Green Deal.

A global agenda for advancing freshwater biodiversity research

“…Strengthen research on freshwater biodiversity and its ecological context, which is fundamental to conservation and management, as are the interactions among organisms and the environment that determine responses to global change. Identified priority needs include: Further identify relationships among biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and nature's contributions to people (Díaz et al, 2018; Dudgeon, 2010; Vári et al, 2021). This requires developing a mechanistic understanding of these relationships, integrating the multidimensionality of the role of biodiversity in ecosystem processes and improving process‐based models (Tonkin et al, 2019) for freshwater biodiversity and their contribution to human well‐being. Establish cause‐and‐effect relationships to understand and predict the responses of biodiversity to multiple stressors (Birk et al, 2020) and the release from such stressors.…”

“…A Further identify relationships among biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and nature's contributions to people (Díaz et al, 2018;Dudgeon, 2010;Vári et al, 2021). This requires developing a mechanistic understanding of these relationships, integrating the multidimensionality of the role of biodiversity in ecosystem processes and improving process-based models (Tonkin et al, 2019) for freshwater biodiversity and their contribution to human well-being.…”

Integrating Ecosystem Services into Risk Assessments for Drinking Water Protection

“…This assessment only considered WSS statically and locally and disregarded services at the regional or global scale, such as carbon sequestration or global climate regulation. Spill-over effects from the local to the global scale are often not sufficiently explored [39], leading to underestimating the delivered services.…”

A new ecosystem services approach to enable identification of pro-biodiversity businesses of protected karst areas in Central and South-Eastern Europe

“…However, the financial evaluations of nature have not been perfected yet and the ways of how to integrate economic valuation into nature conservation remain problematic and often serve as a basis for distrust towards the whole ES approach (Ellis, E.C. et al 2019, Vári, Á. et al 2022. Additionally, the ES approach is usually used by managers, public authorities in decision-making and for communication of conservation or sustainable development rationales; however, it has been rarely employed in order to foster better cooperation between the PAs and their local stakeholders.…”