Laura Malinauskaite

University of Iceland | HI · Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences

The social-ecological change in the Arctic is accelerated by the multifaceted effects of climate change and globalization. Among other things, this means changing human-ecosystem dynamics through altered availability, co-production, and governance of ecosystem services (ES). A group of species illustrative of this change are whales, migratory speci...

The paper presents a synthesis of some of the interdisciplinary work from the ARCPATH project that focuses on the effects of climate change on Arctic social- ecological systems. It does so through the prism of whales and their recreational ecosystem services (ES). Whales present a group of species that are vulnerable to climate change and, at the s...

Arctic coastal communities are a part of co-evolving marine social-ecological systems (SES), which support livelihoods, provide sustenance and underpin cultural identity. Whale ecosystem services (ES) represent a useful lens for gaining greater understanding of the linkages between marine ecosystems and human well-being, in the Arctic and beyond. T...

Volcanic ecosystem services (ES) is a subject that has been overlooked by the vast ecosystem services literature, where the spotlight has been focused on the many ecosystem disservices (ED) of volcanic hazards. This study conducts a literature review using the Search, Appraisal, Synthesis and Analysis (SALSA) framework, identifying the main ES comm...

Glaciers have been an increasingly studied topic in the ecosystem services (ES) literature, with multiple scientific studies affirming a critical and diverse contribution to human well-being. However, the literature to date on glacier ES has lacked a systematic analysis of their type and the various stages in the formation of glacier ES, including...

Community engagement in the research process is more than communication and outreach. It is a process of co-production of knowledge. The co-production of knowledge starts and ends at the “small” local level but is embedded in “big” processes that are nested in academic and research institution priorities. This chapter problematizes the issues of sm...

The concept of ecosystem services (ES) has only just begun to be applied in the Arctic, and to an even lesser extent to marine mammals, such as whales. This chapter develops an ES cascade model and related ES co-production processes as they apply to whale resources in the Arctic. The result is a new conceptual model demonstrating the interconnected...

There is currently limited knowledge concerning the economic value of commercial whale watching from the perspective of the consumer's trip experience. This study outlines the results of an in-person contingent valuation survey, which asked whale watching tourists in Faxaflói Bay, Iceland, how much they would have been willing to pay beyond the pai...

This paper presents the first study in the academic literature to explore the various stages in the formation of geothermal ES and their interactions between the biosphere and anthroposphere. This is achieved through the development of the first ES cascade model in the academic literature specific to geothermal ES, which integrates the four main st...

The study examines the socio-cultural values of multiple ecosystem services (ES) sourced from whales in Skjálfandi Bay, North Iceland, with many beneficiaries living in and visiting the town of Húsavík. The study begins to address the research gap in non-monetary valuation of marine ecosystem services. Based on a multi-method approach, it elicits s...

Commercial whaling is a divisive issue in Iceland, and often considered to be irreconcilable with whale watching. The coexistence of both activities in Faxaflói Bay, adjacent to the capital city of Reykjavík, has led to the designation of part of the bay as a whale sanctuary, where whaling is banned. The study utilises the contingent valuation meth...

Goal 14, ‘Life Below Water’, of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals sets a target for nations to increase the number of marine protected areas managed using ecosystem-based management, which requires interventions focused on fish stock conservation and enhancement, environmental sustainability and ecosystem services of benefit to human...

The study presents the first systematic review of the existing literature on Arctic ES. Applying the Search, Appraisal, Synthesis and Analysis (SALSA) and snowballing methods and three selection criteria, 33 publications were sourced, including peer-reviewed articles, policy papers and scientific reports, and their content synthesised using the the...