Assessing water ecosystem services for water resource management

Ecosystem service concepts can offer a valuable approach for linking human and nature, and arguments for the conservation and restoration of natural ecosystems. Despite an increasing interest in the topic, the application of these concepts for water resource management has been hampered by the lack of practical definitions and methodologies. In this study we review and analyse the current literature and propose an approach for assessing and valuing ecosystem services in the context of water management. In particular, to study the link between multiple pressures, ecological status and delivery of ecosystem services in aquatic ecosystems under different scenarios of measures or future changes. This is of interest for the development of River Basin Management Plans under the EU Water Framework Directive. We provide a list of proxies/indicators of natural capacity, actual flow and social benefit for the biophysical assessment of the ecosystem services. We advocate the use of indicators of sustainability, combining information on capacity and flow of services. We also suggest methods for economic valuation of aquatic ecosystem for each service and spatial scale of application. We argue that biophysical assessment and economic valuation should be conducted jointly to account for the different values of ecosystem services (ecologic, social and economic) and to strengthen the recognition of human dependency on nature. The proposed approach can be used for assessing the benefits of conservation and restoration of aquatic ecosystems in the implementation of the EU water policy.     

生态系统服务价值研究进展

生态系统服务价值评价结合了生态学、经济学、社会学、伦理学等学科的相关内容,是当前国际上科学研究的热点和前沿.本文论述了生态系统服务功能的内涵,就国内外生态系统服务价值评价研究的进展情况分别进行了回顾和总结,提出今后应重点关注生态系统服务价值的时空动态模型开发、时空变化驱动力分析、不确定性分析、评价指标体系与评价方法的标准化制定和生态服务付费及其市场化机制等方面的研究.     

Knowledge brokerage designs and practices in four european climate services: A role model for biodiversity policies?

Environmental policies are broadly claimed to rely on sound scientific evidence because of the complexity, the uncertainty and the diverging political stakes that characterize issues like biodiversity decline or climate change. Classical advisory formats like assessments or standing advisory bodies have proliferated widely – especially at the global and national levels – yet exert only a limited influence on political decision-making, particularly in sub-national and local implementation contexts. Against this background, scholars have called for ‘bottom-up’ approaches to Science-policy interfaces that move from ‘problem to policy’. In the area of climate change, numerous ‘climate services’ have evolved at national, sub-national and even local levels, with the promise of being more decision-oriented. Four climate services in three European countries (the United Kingdom, Germany and Switzerland) are investigated regarding whether and how they institutionalize and enact knowledge brokerage in a credible, salient and legitimate way. Focusing on the institutional and strategic design principles of this advisory setting in climate policy, insights are generated for the biodiversity policy field, where comparable settings are still broadly lacking.     

Alien species: to remove or not to remove? That is the question

Invasive alien species (IAS) are universally known for being a controversial management issue. What makes IAS management a particularly thorny question is that although numerous studies document the negative effects of IAS, the potential benefits of IAS are generally underreported. This may result in wrong assessments on the real socio-economic and environmental impact of IAS. This study aimed to provide new insights to support the decision making of IAS management. In particular, the biased approach to IAS management seems to be a likely consequence of the lack of appropriate metrics able to assess the real IAS impact. A basic aspect of IAS management is to decide whether and when IAS removal is a suitable action. Specifically, this study supported the idea that IAS removal may be considered as a possible solution only after establishing a tipping point relying on economic, cultural and pragmatic evaluations. This analysis should include the identification of the ecosystem services damaged and provided by IAS, the attribution of an economic value to such ecosystem services, and when expressing the interaction between IAS and culture is not possible in monetary terms, then social values and cultural traditions should be incorporated in any management plan. Novel ecosystems are now a fact worldwide that should prompt to be realistic about the extent of efforts required for IAS removal. A significant step towards well-pondered decisions should consider that a change in host communities does not imply necessarily harm, and that the functional roles of a species matter more than its origins.     

Understanding the North–South knowledge divide and its implications for policy: a quantitative analysis of the generation of scientific knowledge in the environmental sciences

The paper investigates the scientific knowledge divide in the environmental sciences between developed and developing countries and explores the implications and impacts on both science and policymaking. Quantitative data analysis of more than 6400 scientific papers published in 1993–2003 yield evidence for a growing divide in authorship, publication rates, and location of scientific research in nine environmental journals with high impact factor ratings. In addition to this severe imbalance in publication rates between developed and developing countries, we also find a research bias toward certain eco-climatic zones. More than 80% of papers are published in and about temperate and cold eco-climatic zones. Only 13% of the papers in our study are based on research in the dry sub-tropical and tropical zones, although these eco-climatic zones account for more than 52% of the world's land area. Based on these results, we discuss how the limited empirical source and focus of environmental research undermine the claims of universality of environmental science and what consequences this may have on policymaking processes at different levels. Finally, we briefly explore some short- and long-term strategies to address the knowledge divide.     

近20年渔子溪流域土地利用变化的环境影响

采用渔子溪流域1986、1994及2002年的遥感影像资料,对流域土地利用变化导致的生态系统服务价值及景观格局指数的变化进行了定量分析.结果表明,在1986～2002年间,流域土地利用变化导致其总体生态系统服务功能增加了0.42%,其中产品供给功能、生态调节功能、生命系统支持功能、文化娱乐功能的相对变化率分别为1.15%、0.36%、0.16%和-0.94%,它们对总体生态系统服务功能变化的贡献率分别为62.95%、46.82%、6.33%和-16.1%.从景观格局变化来看,渔子溪流域的斑块密度指数在1986-2002年间从0.0016减小到0.0013,而景观破碎度指数从0.00307增大到0.00474,表明渔子溪流域的景观粒度减小而景观破碎化的程度提高.研究结果还表明,流域不同土地利用类型景观破碎度的变化趋势并不一致,其中耕地、疏林地、高覆盖度草地、低覆盖度草地和居民建设用地的破碎度指数有所增加,而有林地、灌木林、中覆盖度草地和永久性冰雪覆盖的破碎度指数有所下降,这主要是由于一些零散分布的灌木林被开垦为耕地或转变为居民建设用地及气候变暖使得部分永久性冰雪覆盖转变为中覆盖度草地等原因造成的.     

Renaturing cities using a regionally-focused biodiversity-led multifunctional benefits approach to urban green infrastructure

If a ‘Renaturing of Cities’ strategy is to maximise the ecosystem service provision of urban green infrastructure (UGI), then detailed consideration of a habitat services, biodiversity-led approach and multifunctionality are necessary rather than relying on the assumed benefits of UGI per se. The paper presents preliminary data from three case studies, two in England and one in Germany, that explore how multifunctionality can be achieved, the stakeholders required, the usefulness of an experimental approach for demonstrating transformation, and how this can be fed back into policy. We argue that incorporating locally contextualised biodiversity-led UGI design into the planning and policy spheres contributes to the functioning and resilience of the city and provides the adaptability to respond to locally contextualised challenges, such as overheating, flooding, air pollution, health and wellbeing as well as biodiversity loss. Framing our research to encompass both the science of biodiversity-led UGI and co-developing methods for incorporating a strategic approach to implementation of biodiversity-led UGI by planners and developers addresses a gap in current knowledge and begins to address barriers to UGI implementation. By combining scientific with policy learning and defined urban environmental targets with community needs, our research to date has begun to demonstrate how nature-based solutions to building resilience and adaptive governance can be strategically incorporated within cities through UGI.     

Ecosystem services for water policy: Insights across Europe

In this research we explored how the concepts and approaches of ecosystem services are currently used in water management in Europe, in the application of River Basin Management Plans (RBMP) developed for the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). Five case studies have been considered, located in the River Basin Districts of the Po river (Italy), Scotland (United Kingdom), Scheldt river (Belgium), Danube river (Romania), Sado and Mira rivers and Ribeiras do Algarve (Portugal). These cases represent different regional contexts of application of this EU water policy, with specific socio-economic drivers and environmental issues. Each case study has developed an operational framework to analyse ecosystem services in practice together with a group of local stakeholders. In each regional case, we examined how EU water policy and RBMPs are implemented, considered legal and planning instruments from the national to the local scale, and we analysed the use of ecosystem service terms and concepts in the relevant planning instruments. In parallel, we explored the view of local stakeholders and water managers on the topic, collecting their opinion on three major aspects: the usefulness of the concepts and approaches of ecosystem services for WFD river basin management plans, the risks and benefits of their use, and the knowledge needs to put the concepts into practice. The major drawback of the ecosystem service approach seems to be the challenge for practitioners of understanding new concepts and methodologies, while the major advantages are that it highlights all the hidden benefits of a water body in good health and promotes multi-functionality and sustainability in water management. The results of this study provide a picture across Europe of the current use of the concepts of ecosystem services in the RBMP and relevant insight on the opinion of local stakeholders and water managers.     

基于全球三大经济体实践的环境影响评价改革趋势及动因研究

环境影响评价(简称环评)是一项重要环境管理制度,自1969年实施以来,在全球范围内经历了不断的修正和完善。特别是近10年来,在不同的政治、经济背景下,全球三大经济体——美国、中国和欧盟的环评改革均呈现出简化行政程序以及提高评价过程和报告书质量的共同趋势。采用多源流分析框架,对美国、欧盟和中国环评制度改革的根源、动力和趋势进行比较研究。结果表明,环评改革的根源在于不同国情背景下政策的实践反馈、公众环保意识的觉醒以及市场压力。

     

水利水电工程环境影响综合评价的人工神经网络专家系统

在分级加权评价模型层次结构体系基础上,以三峡工程为背景,应用人工神经网络技术,建立了一个水利水电工程环境影响综合评价的人工神经网络专家系统,该专家系统的知识获取和存贮方式与普通专家系统不同,具有较高的推理效率,较强的容错、自适应和自我更新能力。      

A nexus perspective on competing land demands: Wider lessons from a UK policy case study

As nations develop policies for low-carbon transitions, conflicts with existing policies and planning tools are leading to competing demands for land and other resources. This raises fundamental questions over how multiple demands can best be managed. Taking the UK as an empirical example, this paper critiques current policies and practices to explore the interdependencies at the water-energy-food nexus. It considers how current land uses and related policies affect the UK’s resilience to climate change, setting out an agenda for research and practice relevant to stakeholders in land-use management, policy and modelling. Despite recent progress in recognising such nexus challenges, most UK land-related policies and associated science continue to be compartmentalised by both scale and sector and seldom acknowledge nexus interconnections. On a temporal level, the absence of an over-arching strategy leaves inter-generational trade-offs poorly considered. Given the system lock-in and the lengthy policy-making process, it is essential to develop alternative ways of providing dynamic, flexible, practical and scientifically robust decision support for policy-makers. A range of ecosystem services need to be valued and integrated into a resilient land-use strategy, including the introduction of non-monetary, physical-unit constraints on the use of particular services.