Ecosystem services in coupled social–ecological systems: Closing the cycle of service provision and societal feedback

Both the ‘cascade model’ of ecosystem service provision and the Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response framework individually contribute to the understanding of human–nature interactions in social–ecological systems (SES). Yet, as several points of criticism show, they are limited analytical tools when it comes to reproducing complex cause–effect relationships in such systems. However, in this paper, we point out that by merging the two models, they can mutually enhance their comprehensiveness and overcome their individual conceptual deficits. Therefore we closed a cycle of ecosystem service provision and societal feedback by rethinking and reassembling the core elements of both models. That way, we established a causal sequence apt to describe the causes of change to SES, their effects and their consequences. Finally, to illustrate its functioning we exemplified and discussed our approach based on a case study conducted in the Alpujarra de la Sierra in southern Spain.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13280-015-0651-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

OASIS(R) WAX固相提取吸附剂用于水及组织中PFOS和相关化合物的UPLC(R)/MS定量分析

近年来,全氟化合物(PFCs)如全氟辛烷磺酸(PFOS)和全氟辛酸(PFOA,其分子结构如图1所示)已经被明确为持久性有机污染物(POPs),并在环境中普遍存在[1].由于PFCs可能具有毒性和生物积聚性,因此,对食品、饮用水、组织、血浆和全血中PFCs分析方法的建立受到越来越多的关注.     

The Influence of Chironomus plumosus Larvae on Nutrient Fluxes and Phosphorus Fractions in Aluminum Treated Lake Sediment

One of the methods to diminish the internal phosphorus (P) loading is inactivation of P by aluminum (Al). After addition of Al to lake water an Al(OH)₃ floc is formed, which settles to the bottom and initially form a lid on the sediment surface. The effects of Chironomus plumosus larvae on sediment nutrient fluxes and P binding-sites in the sediment after addition of Al were tested. C. plumosus larvae were added to sediment cores in which sediment–water fluxes of nutrients were measured four times. After one month, the sediment was sectioned with depth and P fractions were measured by sequential chemical extraction. The chironomids created burrows through the Al layer which caused a significantly increased efflux of P from the Al treated sediment, because the P had only limited contact to the added Al. The chironomids also affected the P fractions in the sediment by their bioturbating activity. Thus, they caused increased Al concentrations in the upper part of the Al treated sediment. This created an enhanced contact between Al and P in the upper 7 cm of the sediment and, as a result, an increased binding of P to Al and a lowered porewater P. The DIP efflux is therefore expected to be lowered after the initial phase. Al had no effects on the nitrogen fluxes, but the chironomids enhanced the release, and decreased the release or increased the uptake by the sediments.     

Nitrate and sediment fluxes from a California rangeland watershed

Long-term water quality records for assessing natural variability, impact of management, and that guide regulatory processes to safeguard water resources are rare for California oak woodland rangelands. This study presents a 20-yr record (1981-2000) of nitrate-nitrogen (NO(3)-N) and suspended sediment export from a typical, grazed oak woodland watershed (103 ha) in the northern Sierra Nevada foothills of California. Mean annual precipitation over the 20-yr period was 734 mm yr(-1) (range 366-1205 mm yr(-1)). Mean annual stream flow was 353 mm y(-1) (range 87-848 mm yr(-1)). Average annual stream flow was 48.1 +/- 16% of precipitation. Mean annual NO(3)-N export was 1.6 kg ha(-1) yr(-1) (range 0.18-3.6 kg ha(-1) yr(-1)). Annual NO(3)-N export significantly (P < 0.05) increased with increasing annual stream flow and precipitation. Mean daily NO(3)-N export was 0.004 kg ha(-1) d(-1) (range 10(-5) to 0.55 kg ha(-1) d(-1)). Mean annual suspended sediment export was 198 kg ha(-1) yr(-1) (range 23-479 kg ha(-1) yr(-1)). There was a positive relationship (P < 0.05) between annual suspended sediment export, annual stream flow and precipitation. Mean daily suspended sediment export was 0.54 kg ha(-1) d(-1) (range 10(-4) to 155 kg ha(-1) d(-1)). Virtually no sediment was exported during the dry season. The large variation in daily and annual fluxes highlights the necessity of using long-term records to establish quantitative water quality targets for rangelands and demonstrates the difficulty of designing a water quality monitoring program for these ecosystems.     

Visitor-induced changes in the chemical composition of soils in backcountry areas of Mt Robson Provincial Park, British Columbia, Canada

Balancing recreation and conservation is an important issue in Canada's parks and protected areas. Increased levels of visitation to parks, especially to backcountry areas, create undue pressure on natural resources, resulting in a variety of ecological impacts. This paper illustrates the issue of visitor-induced changes on the chemical composition of soils in Mt Robson Provincial Park, British Columbia. Soil samples were collected from dish wash stations and fire pits (disturbed sites) at seven campgrounds located along two popular backcountry trails, and were compared to samples obtained from adjacent undisturbed control sites. Analysis of soil samples suggest that the lower amounts of aluminum, potassium, magnesium and sodium in many of the 'disturbed' samples can be related to intense leaching in dish wash stations, and can be attributed to frequent disposal of waste water from washing and cooking activities. Soils in wash stations generally had higher phosphorus, copper and zinc contents as compared to controls. Soils in fire pits were elevated in copper, relative to controls. Results of this study support park regulations that waste water disposal and camp fires be restricted to designated areas. Informing the public of scientific studies helps them understand the consequences of their activities; this may help persuade them to observe park rules and regulations.     

TUGAI: An Integrated Simulation Tool for Ecological Assessment of Alternative Water Management Strategies in a Degraded River Delta

The development of ecologically sound water allocation strategies that account for the needs of riverine ecosystems is a pressing issue, especially in semiarid river basins. In the Aral Sea Basin, a search for strategies to mitigate ecological and socioeconomic deterioration has been in process since the early 1990s. The Geographic Information System–based simulation tool TUGAI has been developed to support the policy determination process by providing a simple, problem-oriented method to assess ecological effects of alternative water management strategies for the Amudarya River. It combines a multiobjective water allocation model with simple, spatially explicit statistical and rule-based models of landscape dynamics. Changes in environmental conditions are evaluated by a fuzzy habitat suitability index for Populus euphratica, which is the dominant species of the characteristic riverine Tugai forests. Water management scenarios can be developed by altering spatiotemporal water distribution in the delta area or the amount of water inflow into the delta. Outcomes of scenario analysis are qualitative comparisons of the ecological effects of different options for a time period of up to 28 years. The given approach utilizes different types of knowledge, from quantitative hydrological data to qualitative local expert knowledge. The main purpose of the tool is to integrate the knowledge in a comprehensive way to make it available for discussions on alternative policies in moderated workshops with stakeholders. In this article, the modules of the tool, their integration, and three hypothetical scenarios are presented. Based on the experience gained when developing the TUGAI tool, we propose that the general framework can be transferred to other areas where tradeoffs in water allocation between the environment and other water users are of major concern. The potential for a simulation tool to structure and inform a complex resource management situation by involving local experts and stakeholders in the development of possible future scenarios will become increasingly valuable for transparent and participatory resource management.     

Motivated to disengage: The ethical consequences of goal commitment and moral disengagement in goal setting

A growing literature has suggested that high performance goals can have unintended consequences within organizations as employees engage in unethical behavior to achieve outcomes associated with goal attainment. Extending research on the dark side of goal setting, we suggest that high performance goals not only create a desire to achieve a particular outcome but also alter moral reasoning processes related to goal attainment. Integrating goal-setting theory with motivated moral reasoning, we hypothesize an indirect effect of high performance goals on unethical behavior via state moral disengagement. We also examine goal commitment—which tends to amplify the relationship between high goals and performance—as a key boundary condition associated with this indirect effect. We build this conditional indirect effect model across three studies conducted in the field and the laboratory. Our results provide new insight into both when and why high goals can facilitate moral disengagement and unethical behavior within organizations.     

Comparison and Evaluation of Gridded Precipitation Datasets in a Kansas Agricultural Watershed Using SWAT

Gridded precipitation datasets are becoming a convenient substitute for gauge measurements in hydrological modeling; however, these data have not been fully evaluated across a range of conditions. We compared four gridded datasets (Daily Surface Weather and Climatological Summaries [DAYMET], North American Land Data Assimilation System [NLDAS], Global Land Data Assimilation System [GLDAS], and Parameter‐elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model [PRISM]) as precipitation data sources and evaluated how they affected hydrologic model performance when compared with a gauged dataset, Global Historical Climatology Network‐Daily (GHCN‐D). Analyses were performed for the Delaware Watershed at Perry Lake in eastern Kansas. Precipitation indices for DAYMET and PRISM precipitation closely matched GHCN‐D, whereas NLDAS and GLDAS showed weaker correlations. We also used these precipitation data as input to the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model that confirmed similar trends in streamflow simulation. For stations with complete data, GHCN‐D based SWAT‐simulated streamflow variability better than gridded precipitation data. During low flow periods we found PRISM performed better, whereas both DAYMET and NLDAS performed better in high flow years. Our results demonstrate that combining gridded precipitation sources with gauge‐based measurements can improve hydrologic model performance, especially for extreme events.     

Selecting Species for Marine Assessment of Radionuclides Around Amchitka: Planning for Diverse Goals and Interests

Considerable attention has been devoted to selecting bioindicator species as part of monitoring programs for exposure and effects from contaminants in the environment. Yet the rationale for selection of bioindicators is often literature-based, rather than developed with a firm site-specific base of data on contaminant levels in a diverse range of organisms at different trophic levels in the same ecosystem. We suggest that this latter step is an important phase in the environmental assessment process that is often missing. In this paper we address the problem of how to select a wide range of species representing different trophic levels that serve as a basis for selecting a few species suitable as bioindicators. We illustrate this with our assessment of radionuclides on Amchitka Island, Alaska. We propose a multi-stage process for arriving at the list of available species that includes review of literature, review by experts experienced in the area, review by interested and affected parties, selection of trophic levels or groups for analysis, arraying of possible species, and selection of species within each trophic level group for sample collection. We first had to identify all likely species, then narrow our focus to those we could collect and analyze. In all cases, review includes suggestions for possible target species with justifications. While this method increases the up-front costs of developing bioindicators for an ecosystem, it has the advantage of providing information for selection of species that will be most informative in the long run, including those that are the best bioaccumulators, thus providing the earliest warning of any potential environmental consequences. Further, the recognition that a range of stakeholder's needs and interests should be included increases the utility for public-policy makers, and the potential for continued usage to establish long-term trends.     

Contamination of Canadian and European bottled waters with antimony from PET containers

Using clean lab methods and protocols developed for measuring Sb in polar snow and ice, we report the abundance of Sb in fifteen brands of bottled water from Canada and forty-eight from Europe. Comparison with the natural abundance of Sb in pristine groundwaters, water bottled commercially in polypropylene, analyses of source waters prior to bottling, and addition of uncontaminated groundwater to PET bottles, provides unambiguous evidence of Sb leaching from the containers. In contrast to the pristine groundwater in Ontario, Canada containing 2.2 +/- 1.2 ng l(-1) Sb, 12 brands of bottled natural waters from Canada contained 156 +/- 86 ng l(-1) and 3 brands of deionized water contained 162 +/- 30 ng l(-1); all of these were bottled in PET containers. Natural water from Ontario bottled in polypropylene contained only 8.2 +/- 0.9 ng l(-1). Comparison of three German brands of water available in both glass bottles and PET containers showed that waters bottled in PET contained up to 30 times more Sb. To confirm that the elevated Sb concentrations are due to leaching from the PET containers, water was collected in acid-cleaned LDPE bottles from a commercial source in Germany, prior to bottling; this water was found to contain 3.8 +/- 0.9 ng l(-1) Sb (n = 5), compared with the same brand of water purchased locally in PET bottles containing 359 +/- 54 ng l(-1) (n = 6). This same brand of water in PET bottles, after an additional three months of storage at room temperature, yielded 626 +/- 15 ng l(-1) Sb (n = 3). Other German brands of water in PET bottles contained 253-546 ng l(-1) Sb (n = 5). The median concentration of Sb in thirty-five brands of water bottled in PET from eleven other European countries was 343 ng l(-1) (n = 35). As an independent check of the hypothesis that Sb is leaching from PET, the pristine groundwater from Canada (containing 2.2 +/- 1.2 ng l(-1) Sb) was collected from the source using PET bottles from Germany: this water contained 50 +/- 17 ng l(-1) Sb (n = 2) after only 37 days, even though it was stored in the refrigerator, and 566 ng l(-1) after six months storage at room temperature.