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Ecosystem services research in Latin America: The state of the art

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... The main targeted services of the studied PWS schemes are: extractive water supply (quality and quantity), instream water supply, and, damage mitigation; the great majority corresponds to the local scale; the sellers are mostly landowners and in punctual cases: farmers, rural producers, local NGOs and park administration; the buyers are (i) external donors, local and international NGOs, water cooperatives, municipalities, farmers, hydropower government and producers, water users, domestic water users, commercial water users and water utilities and governments. Ecosystem services science has developed at a fast rate in LA, a region characterized by a high biological and cultural diversity, strong emphasis in foreign investment, and high socioeconomic inequities (Balvanera, et al., 2012). In Table 1 below greatest information for 8 countries on the region is presented. ...
... The future of the ecosystem paradigm in LA will largely depend on its capacity to demonstrate effectiveness in meeting both conservation and development goals (Balvanera et al., 2012). ...
... Adapted from "Ecosystem services research in Latin America: The State of the Art" byBalvanera et al., 2012 ...
Conference Paper
This thematic note was intended to orient and encourage the dialogue in the second part of the electronic forum before the Multi Networks Thematic Regional Encounter. The concepts of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), financing schemes and incentives for IWRM and Payments for Environmental Services (PES) are presented. A characterization of experiences associated with incentive schemes related to PES in Latin America is presented, and then some experiences of SDC in this field are shown. Finally, series of challenges and open questions that can serve as inputs to the discussions are presented.
... Water services are the most regulated services under PES schemes in the Latin America region (Balvanera et al., 2012;Martin-Ortega et al., 2013) including in Peru. The unequal distribution of its population with respect to water availability in the territory represents a major challenge in the country's water management. ...
... Wunder et al. (2008) identified secondary effects of PES in the global south, especially on local livelihoods such as diversification and increased income from conservation. The latter is very attractive for countries such as Peru, characterized by abundant natural resources and social inequalities (Balvanera et al., 2012;Castro-Díaz, 2014;Lorenzo & Del Pilar Bueno, 2019). Therefore, the ecosystem services approach and its management through PES schemes is fundamentally political because it frames ecosystem needs with societal needs (Kull et al., 2015). ...
... The emergence of PES instruments is based on the highly political nature of ESs approach (Barnaud & Antona, 2014;Kull et al., 2015) allowing ecosystems to be easily integrated with the needs of society (Balvanera et al., 2012). The cases of Costa Rica (Sánchez-Chaves & Navarrete-Chacón, 2017), Colombia (Balvanera et al., 2012) and Ecuador (Chafla & Cerón, 2016) reflect the impact of PES as multisectoral policies in Latin America. ...
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Increasing pressures on ecosystems in the Latin American region, as well as the adoption of multilateral conservation commitments, have led to the implementation of instruments that are economic in nature but oriented towards the recovery, conservation, and functioning of ecosystems such as Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES). In the Peruvian Andes, hydro-climatic factors and land-use changes are affecting the capacity of the ecosystems of the glaciated Cordillera Blanca to provide water services, in terms of both quality and quantity, to the main users of the Santa River basin. Thus, this study analyses how the socio-ecological interactions affect, and are affected by, the planned introduction of water-related PES in the Quillcay sub-basin, the most populated sub-basins along the Santa River basin. We use a conceptual model based on the current evolution of the water metabolism approach to integrate into a common language of analysis the multiple dimensions of water: water as an ecological fund, as a service, and as a political asset. To explore the interface of these three domains of analysis we rely on a mixed-method data collection: primary data collection through a stakeholder survey and interviews and a review of information from secondary sources. The result of our case study shows that both the ecological dimension and the social dimension affect on the PES project and vice versa. These complex interactions could result in the design of a mechanism in which not all stakeholders benefit equally. This raises the need to recognise the multidimensional nature of water in the design and implementation of policies, and the importance of identifying processes and barriers which affect the success of these policies without making invisible the direct effect they also have on social-ecological systems.
... Desde o ano 2000, o pagamento por serviços ambientais (PSA) tem se tornado um mecanismo de política pública muito promovidos, focado em combinar e estruturar objetivos e práticas para a conservação ambiental e o desenvolvimento sustentável (Balvanera et al., 2012;Derissen;Sattler;Matzdorf, 2013). Em escala de bacia hidrográfica, observou-se uma possibilidade de realizar melhor a gestão de mecanismos de PSA. ...
... As principais formas lexicais conectoras com essas três palavras foram solo, bacia, quantidade e qualidade da água, reflorestamento, rio, conservação ambiental, agrícola e biodiversidade. Importante mencionar que, próximo ao nó principal e dentro de seu grupo, também está a palavra gestão.Por exemplo,Balvanera et al. (2012) evidenciaram o maior peso conferido aos serviços ecossistêmicos ligados aos ciclos da água e do carbono. Os autores mencionaram, ainda, que o sucesso da abordagem de serviços ecossistêmicos na América Latina dependerá em grande parte da sua capacidade de conferir eficácia aos objetivos de conservação e de desenvolvimento sustentável. ...
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O pagamento por serviços ambientais (PSA) é um mecanismo de política pública, que combina e determina práticas para a conservação ambiental e desenvolvimento sustentável. No entanto, o PSA de bacias hidrográficas, pouco utilizado no Brasil, permite ampliar a efetividade em quatro aspectos: custos do programa, adicionalidade, perdas ou excessos de mensuração, bem como a prestação real de serviços ambientais. Desta forma, este trabalho teve como objetivo determinar os aspectos relativos ao pagamento por serviços ambientais em bacias hidrográficas. A metodologia utilizada para realizar este estudo foi selecionada com o intuito de analisar os critérios de seleção de fontes de pesquisa em documentos disponíveis na web, especificamente em plataformas como SciELO e ScienceDirect com o período do levantamento das produções científicas de 2005 até 2021, verificando a frequência destes termos em pesquisas da área. Observou-se um aumento temporal na publicação dos artigos acerca da temática de PSA, sendo possível identificar potencialidades do pagamento por serviços ambientais para gestão de bacias hidrográficas. Assim, o estudo forneceu novas abordagens para analisar as lacunas de pesquisa e contribuir para melhorar o entendimento sobre o potencial do PSA e sua integração em diversos cenários problematizados nos artigos científicos.
... According to Balvanera et al. (2012), in Latin America there are notable differences in the study of ecosystem services, reflecting the specific historical context, pressures and needs of each nation. A set of conceptual and methodological approaches have been used for environmental economic valuation in the region, inspired by the research of Costanza et al. (1997). ...
... De acuerdo con Balvanera et al. (2012), en América Latina existen diferencias notables en el estudio de servicios ecosistémicos, que reflejan el contexto histórico particular, las presiones y necesidades de cada nación. Se ha utilizado un conjunto de enfoques conceptuales y metodológicos para la valoración económica ambiental en la región, inspirados desde el trabajo de Costanza et al. (1997). ...
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Introducción: La valoración económica de los servicios ecosistémicos que brindan los bosques es un esfuerzo necesario para el manejo sostenible de los ecosistemas forestales.Objetivo: Estimar el valor económico de uso directo expresado a través de los productos forestales no maderables (PFNM) del Bosque Atlántico del Alto Paraná, Paraguay.Materiales y métodos: El estudio se llevó a cabo en una parcela permanente de monitoreo de 1 ha y se utilizó el método directo de precios de mercado. Las especies no maderables se identificaron y se clasificaron de acuerdo con sus usos, se priorizaron según su importancia comercial y se aplicaron precios referenciales del mercado nacional.Resultados y discusión: Se identificaron 36 especies con posibles usos no maderables (medicinal, ornamental, alimenticio y artesanal), entre las cuales se priorizaron: Didymochlaena truncatula (Sw.) J. Sm., Miltonia sp., Oeceoclades maculata (Lindl.) Lindl., Thaumatophyllum bipinnatifidum (Schott. ex Endl.) Sakur., Calazans & Mayo, Billbergia nutans H. Wendl. ex Regel, Acianthera sp. y Chusquea ramosissima Lindm. La categoría medicinal fue la mejor representada (71 %). El valor económico de los PFNM priorizados con usos ornamentales y precios de mercado por unidad fue 2 270 USD∙ha-1.Conclusiones: El valor económico de los PFNM del Bosque Atlántico del Alto Paraná constituye un monto de referencia que representa el rol importante de los productos no maderables en el manejo sustentable de los bosques tropicales.
... Globally, reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and the role of forests as carbon sink, represented in the acronym 'REDD+', have been promulgated as key climate change mitigation action. In Latin America, biodiversity and hydrological services have received considerable attention in ES studies (Perevochtchikova et al., 2019), while hydrological and water-related services were mostly targeted by PES schemes (Balvanera et al., 2012;Grima, Singh, Smetschka, & Ringhofer, 2016). Water related services, food provision and recreation were also dominant categories in other regions (Malinga, Gordon, Jewitt, & Lindborg, 2015;Mengist et al., 2020a). ...
... Our review offers an alternative kind of map for identifying knowledge gaps that complements other literature reviews conducted for South American ecosystems (Balvanera et al., 2012;Grima et al., 2016;Malinga et al., 2015;Perevochtchikova et al., 2019). As such, it is our hope to stimulate new research efforts directed at ES other than the central themes described above in order to engender more pathways towards forest conservation. ...
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Tropical forests are widely recognized for providing valuable ecosystem services (ES), but their existence is increasingly under pressure. The production of policy-relevant ES science is important to effectively convey their value. The main objective of this review is to insight into the associations between scientific knowledge, policy domains and ES categories to identify gaps for advancing further research and improve ES policy-making. For this purpose, we developed a classification system and conducted a systematic review of publications between 2000 and 2020 that focus on the Amazon, Cerrado and Atlantic Forest, the main tropical forest and tropical savannah biomes of South America. The review results indicated high heterogeneity across the biomes. Valuation studies were least prominent in comparison with other categories, whereas descriptive studies dominated ES science in South America. Scientific contributions tended to cluster around central themes of global environmental governance, including GHG emissions. The research peaks and gaps identified for the three biomes can stimulate new knowledge production efforts and inform regionally specific evidence-based policies for enhancing ES programs and policies in South America.
... Ecuador currently holds minor relevance in the international policy-science interface on biodiversity conservation as can be seen in the IPBES Regional Report in contrast to Brazil and Mexico. Balvanera et al. (2012) assumed that Ecuador did not join the IPBES because the economic valuation of BES was strongly emphasized in the IPBES process; which is also against the concept of Buen Vivir ("Sumak Kawsay";good living;MAE, 2016b). With the incorporation of the rights of nature and the indigenous concept of Buen Vivir in its constitution, the Ecuadorian government has shown promising approaches to sustainable development (Asamblea Constituyente de Ecuador, 2008). ...
... Ecuador's gross domestic product is highly dependent on oil and gas resources, which accounts for about a third of their export earnings in 2017 (CIA World Fact Book, 2020). This indicates that the economic argument provided by Balvanera et al. (2012) cannot be the reason for the low representation of Ecuador in IPBES. In addition, the Socio Bosque Program was launched in 2008 as part of Buen Vivir, which is also an economic valuation of BES. ...
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Ecuador belongs to the megadiverse countries of the world. However, the high diversity in species, ecosystems and their services are under threat by land use changes, invasive species, overexploitation, pollution and climate change. There is a need to monitor, manage, protect and improve biodiversity and ecosystem services (BES) in Ecuador; however, Ecuador is marginally represented in the international policy-science interface for the protection of BES. We analyzed 266 international peer-reviewed papers that were published between 2000 and 2020 to assess the current impact of human disturbance and climate change on BES in continental Ecuador. We found that there were more studies available on the impact of human disturbance on BES than on climate change effects. Birds represented the most studied taxon in Ecuador (70 studies), whereas the total amount of available international scientific publications for other Ecuadorian plant and animal taxa were rather low (< 34 studies) and spatially and thematically scattered. Among ecosystem services, water provision was analyzed relatively often. Our literature review revealed that there is a need to conduct more studies on impacts of human disturbance and climate change on BES. Further research is needed; particularly in the coastal hinterland, in the central Andes and in the Amazon. We suggest that the investment of time, resources and effort into the documentation, standardization, sharing, and publishing of data are key towards supporting the monitoring and maintenance of BES.
... Latin America has been a pioneer in the implementation of PES [8,13] by addressing four main ecosystem services: biodiversity conservation, watershed services, carbon sequestration, and scenic beauty [14]. The Atlantic Forest biome has stood out, being present in most of the 200 PES projects according to Forest Trends [15], and the projects are related to payments for watershed services (PWS), with a focus on water resource conservation [12]. ...
Article
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Payments for ecosystem (or environmental) services (PES) encourage land users to manage their land in ways that deliver environmental benefits. This study aimed to assess the water quality in a rural property located in the Protection and Recovery of Watersheds of Campinas, which has been participating in the payment for ecosystem services program since 2018. More specifically, seven points of interest regarding the physicochemical indicators of the water were raised, which were subjected to descriptive statistical and variance analysis. The results revealed significant spatio-temporal variability in the monitored water quality indicators for dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, pH, total phosphorus, and total nitrogen. More significant fluctuations were observed in the spatial location of the sampling points for turbidity, temperature, and electrical conductivity. However, the greatest variability depends on the time of year when the samples were collected.
... Pollination of crops by animal pollinators is a crucial ecosystem service, but a universally accepted method for valuing it does not yet exist (Winfree et al., 2011). Numerous socio-ecological studies have explored different methods for valuation of pollination ecosystem services (Balvanera et al., 2012;Cáceres et al., 2015). Various methods can be used individually or together to assign a monetary value to natural resources. ...
Article
The Indian economy's ability to survive depends heavily on agriculture. Rice is a crucial staple in Asia, parts of Africa, and Latin America, providing both food security and livelihoods in these regions. Paddy rice farming delivers key ecosystem services, including the provision of food, energy, and livelihoods. The review highlights the importance of evaluating ecosystem services from rice-based cropping systems in India, which provide various benefits such as food production, nutrient cycling, soil protection, and climate regulation. Giving ecosystem services a monetary value is a crucial way to educate lawmakers about their significance and increase public awareness, also to give appropriate monetary help to the farmers. Studies in Eastern India concluded that food and by-product's total marketed value based on rice paddy ranged from US1052ha1year1(NECP:Northeasterncoastalplain)toUS 1052 ha-1 year-1 (NECP: North eastern coastal plain) to US 1234 ha-1 year-1 (NWP: North western plateau), with a mean value of US1122ha1year1whereasthetotalecosystemservicesrangedfromUS 1122 ha-1 year-1 whereas the total ecosystem services ranged from US 1238 to 1688 ha-1 year-1 in different agroclimatic zones of Odisha. This review also emphasizes the need to consider ecological disservices, such as competition for water and habitat loss, and to develop a clear understanding of these issues and development of Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) policies to raise farmers' income in India. The economic benefits of PES, including environmental taxes and subsidies, can be leveraged to support sustainable livelihoods. The complex interplay of factors influencing PES outcomes, including governance, participation, and contextual factors, is explored, emphasizing the collaborative role of policymakers, communities, and businesses in advancing successful PES initiatives
... In countries in the region , the use of market instruments to control pollution and manage natural resources is still limited. However, the concept of payments for ecosystem services (PES) has become popular as a mechanism aimed at reinforcing biodiversity conservation policies, Juvenile sloth in tropical rainforest, Costa Rica particularly with regard to water (to protect sources in hydrologically important ecosystems) and conservation of forests and biodiversity (Balvanera et al. 2012). In general, the results from implementing PES mechanisms have been mixed (Pattanayak et al. 2010). ...
Book
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This work is divided in three parts. The first is an assessment of thepresent state of performance in the management of the environment and the natural capital of the region. This section will identify the primary threats to sustainability and the challenges that the region faces in order to overcome them. In the second section, we will analyze the policies that are necessary to achieve high environmental performance with a focus on governance, multisector mainstreaming, the participation of the private sector, and social inclusion. The study reviews the debate on trade offs between economic growth and the environment, showing that investing in physical infrastructure and economic development, while conserving the environment and natural capital, is a viable and smart sustainable development strategy. In fact, it is argued that the natural capital is itself a form of "ecological infrastructure" generating valuable goods and services that contribute to economic competitiveness, income generation, and better quality of life, especially for vulnerable groups. The study ends with a short section of conclusions.
... Se ha planteado que la articulación de aspectos sociales y ecológicos es indispensable para el desarrollo de proyectos y actividades de restauración, y es también un desafío para la generación de herramientas útiles en la formulación de nuevas estrategias y fortalecimiento de las existentes (SER, 2004). En la mayoría de los casos de restauración ecológica se desarrollan muy bien los aspectos técnicos, pero se observa carencia de evaluación social y lineamientos para apoyar las necesidades humanas (Balvanera et al., 2012). Así, la gestión de iniciativas de restauración se realiza a partir de conceptos ecológicos, dejando de lado en la mayoría de los casos el componente social que es necesario en los procesos integrales que benefician a los ecosistemas y a las comunidades de personas (Duarte y Avella, 2019). ...
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La restauración y rehabilitación de bosques intervenidos o alterados se ha constituido en una prioridad global para cumplir objetivos ambientales y de desarrollo sustentable. En este escenario, el referido proyecto desarrolló investigación para dilucidar la efectividad y aplicabilidad práctica de la técnica de siembra directa como una herramienta para revegetar bosques de roble hualo afectados por incendios forestales en términos más económicos que usando plantación. El texto presenta una detallada descripción de los resultados de la investigación y pondera en términos objetivos la utilidad de esta práctica frente a alternativas de mayor intervención, como la plantación, y otras de menor intervención, como facilitar el desarrollo de la regeneración natural.
... Se ha planteado que la articulación de aspectos sociales y ecológicos es indispensable para el desarrollo de proyectos y actividades de restauración, y es también un desafío para la generación de herramientas útiles en la formulación de nuevas estrategias y fortalecimiento de las existentes (SER, 2004). En la mayoría de los casos de restauración ecológica se desarrollan muy bien los aspectos técnicos, pero se observa carencia de evaluación social y lineamientos para apoyar las necesidades humanas (Balvanera et al., 2012). Así, la gestión de iniciativas de restauración se realiza a partir de conceptos ecológicos, dejando de lado en la mayoría de los casos el componente social que es necesario en los procesos integrales que benefician a los ecosistemas y a las comunidades de personas (Duarte y Avella, 2019). ...
Book
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El texto presenta un resumen de información y consideraciones prácticas y empíricas, organizado como respuestas a preguntas básicas relacionadas con los bosques de hualo, las herramientas para su restauración, la aplicabilidad práctica de ellas y las consideraciones respecto a la participación de las comunidades locales en el proceso de restauración. El objetivo del texto es difundir información específica referente a restauración de bosques de hualo afectados por incendios, particularmente de las formaciones costeras de esta especie, de modo que la aplicabilidad de sus contenidos se circunscribe fundamentalmente a esa situación.
... Durante la última década, las publicaciones académicas sobre los servicios de los ecosistemas han aumentado considerablemente, tanto a nivel mundial (McDonough et al., 2017) como en América Latina (Balvanera et al., 2012). Paralelamente, la noción de bienestar humano se ha convertido en una idea central para las investigaciones sobre los servicios de los ecosistemas (Bizikova, 2011). ...
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El presente capítulo explora los factores socioculturales que influyen en la percepción de los servicios de los ecosistemas en una región altoandina del Ecuador, habitada por el pueblo Kichwa, donde la noción ancestral del Buen Vivir (o Sumak Kawsay) está muy presente. Para ello se realizaron 482 encuestas en cinco localidades emplazadas a lo largo de un gradiente rural-urbano. Se detectaron diferencias significativas a lo largo del gradiente, respecto a cómo diferentes aspectos socioculturales lograron explicar el grado de importancia que los pobladores locales atribuyeron a los diferentes servicios proporcionados por los ecosistemas altoandinos. La educación formal, la percepción del conocimiento ecológico local y el uso del idioma Kichwa fueron identificados como los factores socioculturales que mejor explicaron las diferencias observadas.
... Over the last decade, scholarly journal publications on ecosystem services have considerably increased, both globally (McDonough et al., 2017) and in Latin America (Balvanera et al., 2012). In a recent systematic literature review, Cruz-Garcia et al. (2017) found that most of the investigations typically assume, as part of the study justification, that the relationships between ecosystem services and human wellbeing dimensions do exist, proposing hypotheses based on that assumption. ...
Article
Understanding sociocultural perceptions about human-nature relationships is essential to promote collective responses for sustainable ecosystem management. This study explores the sociocultural factors that influence subjective well-being (measured by life satisfaction) and how ecosystem services are perceived in an area inhabited by the Kichwa people, for whom the ancient notion of Good Living (Sumak Kawsay) is active. We carried out 482 surveys in five villages along a rural-urban gradient in the province of Imbabura (Ecuador). Rural and urban people differed in their subjective valuations of well-being components and the sociocultural factors that most influence life satisfaction. We also detected changes along the rural-urban gradient regarding how these sociocultural and subjective well-being factors explain the degree of importance that local people attribute to different ecosystems services provided by high Andean ecosystems. Formal education, the perception of local ecological knowledge, and the use of the Kichwa language were identified as important sociocultural factors that explain the observed differences. Finally, we discuss the risks of the ongoing expansion of urban lifestyles for the conservation of Andean social-ecological systems, highlighting the importance of maintaining traditional practices and beliefs associated with the Kichwa culture.
... Pollination of crops by animal pollinators is an important ecosystem service for which there is currently no generally accepted valuation method [4]. Many socio-ecological analyses have been carried out on this topic [15][16][17]. Several methods can be applied separately or in parallel to each other for the monetary valuation of natural resources. ...
Article
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Apiaries must be ecologically and economically sustainable to provide pollination as a unique ecosystem service. Pollination as an ecosystem service is economically, socially, and environmentally irreplaceable. Therefore, it is essential to improve the profitability of beekeeping activities, which are mainly carried out in rural areas. With this in mind, the main objective of this article is to assess pollination as one of the ecosystem services provided by bees, based on the specificities of Hungarian honey production. The authors’ analysis is based on a Hungarian apiary with 300 colonies active in migratory beekeeping. The model farm produces a wide variety of honey thanks to its migratory beekeeping, visiting several bee pastures during the beekeeping season. This paper presents an approach to quantify the ecosystem services provided by honey bees (Apis mellifera) using two economic valuation methods (productivity change and surrogate market goods) belonging to the family of cost-based valuation. The results of the monetary valuation of the ecosystem services provided by bees can provide a starting point for further research to help decision-makers and farmers to calculate a fair “pollination fee” for beekeepers, which will significantly help beekeepers to maintain beekeeping, an important and beneficial activity for all of us.
... The recent growth of ES science can be attributed to the usefulness of ecosystem services as a concept that explicitly links ecosystems to human needs (BALVANERA et al., 2012). ...
Article
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Payment for Environmental Services (PES) can be defined as a monetary/non-monetary compensation mechanism (provider-receiver principle) by the supply of environmental services. This work identified and analysed Brazilian and Argentine PES’s case studies under a national perspective but also under an eventual and future River Plate watershed. Brazilian projects can be considered unique due their special conditions and the environmental goals of the various Federative Entities, mainly the case of Sao Paulo state. In Argentina, by contrast, and despite improvements in PES projects through county and federal government initiatives. Finally, it was suggested some aspects that could be utilized, such as “parameters”, to promote social, economic, and environmental standardization in conjunction with regional PES projects that require international cooperation.
... Human perceptions of the "worth" of ecosystem services (ES) are subjective and context-dependent. The value attributed to nature's services is informed by an ecosystem's ability to provide desired services, and this varies by different groups' needs and uses of the ecosystem (Balvanera et al., 2012;Ernstson, 2013;Hynes et al., 2018;MEA, 2005;Rincón-Ruiz et al., 2019;Shapiro & Báldi, 2014;Vaughan & Ardoin, 2014). Ecosystems are complex and multifunctional and can provide various "services" to different people. ...
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Cultural ecosystem services (CES) contribute to people's physical, emotional, and mental well-being. CES research has significantly increased in recent years. However, most studies focused on the Global North, and most publications, primarily focused on recreation, (eco)tourism, and aesthetic values. Even fewer studies focus on the gendered dimensions of CES. I address these research gaps by investigating local perspectives of CES provided mangrove forests in northern Ecuador to identify how mangrove ecosystems support local well-being. I conducted ethnographic research to capture an inventory of mangrove CES through in-depth interviews with 40 local mangrove users over 14 weeks in Bolívar, a mangrove-dependent community in Esmeraldas province, Ecuador. The findings show that mangrove users assign profound cultural importance and personal attachments to the mangrove ecosystem. They describe a reciprocal relationship with the ecosystem where mangroves provide numerous "services" for the community, and mangrove users reciprocate with protection and caregiving. The findings also show that women have a higher appreciation of mangrove CES and are more socially, culturally, and emotionally connected to the mangrove ecosystem than men. I argue that researchers can employ ethnographic research methods to identify a more extensive range of CES, particularly non-material dimensions of ecosystem services often undervalued or overlooked in traditional economic valuation assessments. Such approaches can help develop management strategies that are environmentally and socially just and promote environmental decision-making that minimizes unintended consequences imposed on human populations that rely on ecosystems for their livelihoods and cultural survival.
... This is particularly important as nations negotiate the framework for global biodiversity (CBD 2021a, b). There are additional links that should be explored in the field of biodiversity indicators of sustainability (Hillebrand et al. 2018) and biodiversity's links to ecosystem functioning (Balvanera et al. 2006(Balvanera et al. , 2012IPBES 2018). As a result of the urgent need for scientific evidence on nature's contribution to people as well as on the state and trends of biodiversity, the quantity of scientific publication in these fields has increased rapidly (McDonough et al 2017;IPBES 2018IPBES , 2019. ...
Article
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Understanding the relationship between biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services concepts is essential for evidence-based policy development. We used text mining augmented by topic modelling to analyse abstracts of 15 310 peer-reviewed papers (from 2000 to 2020). We identified nine major topics; “Research & Policy”, “Urban and Spatial Planning”, “Economics & Conservation”, “Diversity & Plants”, “Species & Climate change”, “Agriculture”, “Conservation and Distribution”, “Carbon & Soil & Forestry”, “Hydro-& Microbiology”. The topic “Research & Policy” performed highly, considering number of publications and citation rate, while in the case of other topics, the “best” performances varied, depending on the indicator applied. Topics with human, policy or economic dimensions had higher performances than the ones with ‘pure’ biodiversity and science. Agriculture dominated over forestry and fishery sectors, while some elements of biodiversity and ecosystem services were under-represented. Text mining is a powerful tool to identify relations between research supply and policy demand.
... In contrast to the global and previous Latin American reviews where cultural services have been found to be the least common [2,8], several South American studies have assessed them possibly because they are easily recognized in cities (e.g., [24,50,60]), especially by local actors and residents (e.g., [26,27,57,61,62]). South America is characterized by its great cultural diversity and connection with nature [13]; therefore, cultural services such as spiritual and aesthetic values, social relationships, recreation, and a sense of belonging are of great importance. In addition, the first studies in Latin America on ecosystem services emerged under the frameworks of ethnoecology, cultural ecology, and political ecology [63], which might explain our results. ...
Article
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Nature within cities provides benefits for people known as urban ecosystem services. An assessment of urban ecosystem services is growing in South America, a biodiverse and highly urbanized region. To synthesize this growing body of knowledge in South America, we performed a systematic review identifying patterns in the literature and knowledge gaps. Our review shows that Brazil, Chile, and Colombia contribute the greatest number of studies. More than 80% of the studies were published in the last five years, revealing this as an emerging research topic in the region. More than half of the studies had an environmental perspective and focused on services provided by green spaces. Nearly all studies involved regulating services, followed by cultural services. We found clear knowledge gaps, including a paucity of assessments on supporting and provisioning services, as well as the lack of studies in several countries, evaluations concerning land cover other than parks, and large-scale assessments. Comparing ecosystem services in different planning scenarios is urgently needed to make informed decisions, aid nature conservation, and provide ecosystem services for all urban dwellers. This knowledge will contribute to achieving sustainable cities and equitable access to ecosystem services in South America.
... Different researchers (like, Vanwambeke et al., 2007;Quétier et al., 2010;Tielbörger et al., 2010;Scholte, 2015, Palomo andMontes, 2011) summarized that industrialized societies value cultural services more than that of other services. That's why, in the industrialized societies, the demand for cultural services is supposed to increase more in future (Carpenter et al., 2009;Balvanera et al., 2012, Guo et al., 2010Ingold and Zimmermann, 2011). By comparison, the cultural ESS is the means of cultural identity and survival of the traditional communities (Le Maitre et al., 2007b;Voora and Barg, 2008;Brown and Neil, 2011). ...
... The ecosystem services approach in Latin America is still difficult to implement into governance. Involving multiple and diverse stakeholders with power differences and contrasting interests makes incorporation of this approach particularly challenging [80]. The concept still creates confusion and there is a lack of knowledge on how to connect it with planning and policy [81,82]. ...
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Land-use planning identifies the best land-use options by considering environmental, economic, and social factors. Different theoretical land-use plan models can be found in the literature; however, few studies focus on its practical application and particular challenges in different contexts, especially in the Global South. We use expert surveys to explore the feasibility and relevance of integrated land-use planning and data acquisition in developing countries using Paraguay as an example. We identify the challenges of developing land-use plans and strategies to navigate these barriers to speed up its implementation. The results show that it might be difficult to develop an integrated land-use plan in the context of developing countries, mainly due to data availability, lack of political will, lack of stakeholder engagement, and insufficient financial and human resources. We also highlight examples of creative ways in which previous land-use planning projects and studies navigated these challenges, including stakeholder consultations, use of simpler models that required less data, prioritization of data collection, and engagement of decision makers throughout the process. We provide crucial information to improve land-use planning processes in Paraguay and across the Global South in areas with similar contexts and challenges that aim to develop in a more sustainable way.
... We compiled a list of 35 potential ES and 12 EdS, based on a literature review (Maass et al. 2005;Zhang et al. 2007;Dobbs et al. 2011;Escobedo et al. 2011;Vilardy et al. 2011;Balvanera et al. 2012;Gómez-Baggethun and Barton 2013;Mukherjee et al. 2014;Von Döhren and Haase 2015;Aldana-Domínguez et al. 2017) (Appendix 1). Then, we conducted fieldwork from June to November 2016, following two steps. ...
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Rapid urbanization trends and urban lifestyles challenge urban populations to recognize ecosystems’ contributions to their well-being, and urban planners to integrate nature at the core of urban development. This study assesses the relationships between ecosystems and people in the rapidly expanding Barranquilla Metropolitan Area (BMA) and extracts lessons for its planning as a BiodiverCity. Using 22 interviews and 400 face-to-face surveys we evaluated: 1) the perception of positive and negative contributions of specific types of ecosystems to human well-being (HWB); 2) the importance and vulnerability of multiple ecosystem services (ES) and disservices (EdS); and 3) the relationships between ES, EdS and relational values (RV), and the influence of socioeconomic factors in providing HWB, using a Structural Equation Model (SEM). Open-ended answers in the survey showed that rural and certain natural ecosystems, such as wetlands, mangroves and tropical dry forest were the least valued ecosystems and included some EdS. In contrast, urban and peri-urban ecosystems, namely the river, beaches, crops, urban green, and backyards, were the most valued. Overall, regulating ES were perceived as critical, as well as important and vulnerable. The results of the SEM model indicate that HWB is not only explained by socioeconomic factors such as income and education, but also by ES. We argue that the necessary sustainable socio-economic development of the BMA should be coupled with an urban planning that integrates ES and their contributions to HWB.
... The Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES v5.1) developed by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), the World Bank, and the European Environment Agency (EEA) is one of the most widely used classification systems in the assessment of ES all over the world (Alejandre et al., 2019;Dittrich et al., 2017) due to its hierarchical structure for collecting internationally comparable statistical data which are useful to provide standardization in ecosystem accounting, mapping and valuation of ES (Haines-Young and Potschin, 2018;Kasparinskis et al., 2018). Furthermore, conducting a national-scale assessment of multiple and interrelated ES studies is crucial for not only improving the conservation of biodiversity via inter-and transboundary practices (Schröter et al., 2016;Balvanera et al., 2012) but also for developing necessary precautions against natural disasters and anthropogenic impacts to support environmental policy and decision-making process (Alamgir et al., 2014;Wangai et al., 2016;Molnar and Kubiszewski, 2012). Therefore, comparing diverse approaches, methods and experiences among countries can help identify gaps and challenges and determine trade-offs among ecosystems and their services (Schröter et al., 2016;Perez-Verdin et al., 2016;van den Belt and Blake, 2014;Jiang, 2017). ...
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The concept of “Ecosystem Services (ES)” has gained global importance since the 1990s. Today its link to sustainable development and human welfare is well documented. However, the level of know-how and the scale and effectiveness of practices differ significantly around the globe. The Ecosystem Services Partnership (ESP) National Network of Turkey aims to fill gaps in ES research and foster collaboration among experts in the public and academic sectors and non-governmental organizations. Therefore, a comprehensive review of ES studies was carried out with rigorous literature research. The review of 247 publications showed that ES research has advanced in the last two decades principally as a result of academia's impetus but increasing efforts in the science-policy interface have also supported its integration into diverse policy sectors. Among all ES, regulating ES were studied more intensely due to the growing effects of climate change on leading economic sectors such as agriculture, forestry, and water management. Monetary valuation and trade-off knowledge have remained low, based on the difficulties in data availability and assessment methods. Although protected areas are critical to biodiversity conservation, the ES concept has not been integrated into protected area management. Therefore, the ES knowledge in Turkey needs to be scaled up to cover the national level, with higher stakeholder engagement and more focused implementation driven by political will.
... Aunque la relación biodiversidad -servicios ecosistémicos es un tema muy debatido en la teoría ecológica, en general resulta positiva (Balvanera et al. 2006). En AL se comienza a investigar sobre la relación y las disyuntivas entre distintos servicios ecosistémicos (Balvanera et al. 2012), pero tanto estos estudios como los de los efectos de diferentes aproximaciones de restauración en los servicios ecosistémicos son aún incipientes (Suding 2011). Es necesario reforzar estos temas y analizar iniciativas, como el pago por servicios ecosistémicos, que han experimentado un crecimiento en la región, pero cuyos impactos ecológicos, económicos y sociales no han sido establecidos con claridad. ...
... Pesquisa Agrícola (Fundag), além do Instituto Estadual de Florestas (IEF/MG), United Kingdon Aid (UKaid) e o Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Sul de Minas Gerais (IFSULDEMINAS) como instituições parceiras do projeto (CONSERVADOR DA MANTIQUEIRA, 2017).Programas voltados principalmente a serviços locais relacionados à água têm sido a forma mais comum dos mecanismos de PSA criados no Brasil e no restante da América Latina(BALVANERA et al., 2012;GLEHN;TAFFARELLO, 2013). Estruturalmente amparado no modelo de gestão ambiental local criado pela Prefeitura Municipal de Extrema (MG), a proposta do PCM não se restringe somente ao modelo de PSA-hídrico, mas também prevê, em seus objetivos, a adoção de práticas para melhorar a capacidade de produção dos serviços ambientais, como a conservação de solo, a biodiversidade, o sequestro de carbono e a manutenção da paisagem (CONSERVADOR DA MANTIQUEIRA, 2017).De acordo com o PCM há um histórico de inexpressiva replicação nos municípios interessados em implantar o modelo de Extrema, que pode ser atribuída à ausência de três fatores determinantes: (i) atitudes e experiências, (ii) habilidade política e; (iii) gestão e conhecimento (CONSERVADOR DA MANTIQUEIRA, 2017). ...
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Environmental services are essential to guarantee economic and social development. To ensure the maintenance of these services, there are environmental policy instruments, such as Payment for Environmental Services (PSA in portuguese). The PSA aims at transferring resources between social actors, aiming to create incentives with social interest in the management of natural resources. The State of Minas Gerais is characterized by the pioneering movement of the PSA mechanism in Brazil, called the Conservative Plan of Mantiqueira (PCM in portuguese), a proposal to strengthen environmental governance involving 284 municipalities in the Serra da Mantiqueira area of influence. Seeking to understand the process of implementing the public environmental policy proposed by the PCM, a case study in the municipality of Inconfidentes (MG), from the perspectives of development and effectiveness of PES schemes around the notions of design and institutional interactions. A theoretical survey based on documentary analysis, literature review and specific legislation was carried out. The role played by the PCM's partner actors in the study area testified to the induction of local environmental governance and the plural insertion of public and private actors, demonstrating that governance has been increasingly considered in the planning, formulation and implementation of municipal environmental policies proposed by the PCM.
... Sin embargo, en la actualidad existen vacíos importantes en cuanto a la adecuada valoración de la biodiversidad que soportan y sobre todo respecto a la cuantificación de las contribuciones que provee su funcionamiento a la sociedad colombiana. En Latinoamérica, Colombia es uno de los países con menor número de investigaciones relacionadas a las contribuciones a la humanidad de los ecosistemas (Balvanera et al., 2012). Este conocimiento es necesario para una valoración integral de la diversidad ecosistémica en los ejercicios de conservación y manejo que sirvan como garante de bienestar de la población colombiana. ...
... However, a detailed understanding of the complex variation in the use and relative importance of ESs at the household level is required to fully understand how ESs affect livelihoods across different landscapes [12][13][14][15]. Other researchers are of the view that determination and identification of ESs is a prerequisite in order to estimate the relative importance of ESs in a community and ensuring their conservation and sustainable management [16][17][18]. Therefore, understanding the linkages between ESs and benefits for people is critical for safeguarding natural resources and particularly those important for groups that are most vulnerable to global change [19,20]. ...
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Background Many communities in developing countries rely on ecosystem services (ESs) associated with wild and cultivated plant species. Plant resources provide numerous ESs and goods that support human well-being and survival. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize wild and tended plant species, and also investigate how local communities in the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa perceive ESs associated with plant resources. Methods The study was conducted in six local municipalities in the Eastern Cape Province, between March 2016 and September 2021. Data on socio-economic characteristics of the participants, useful plants harvested from the wild and managed in home gardens were documented by means of questionnaires, observation and guided field walks with 196 participants. The ESs were identified using a free listing technique. Results A total of 163 plant species were recorded which provided 26 cultural, regulating and provisioning ESs. Provisioning ESs were the most cited with at least 25 plant species contributing towards generation of cash income, food, traditional and ethnoveterinary medicines. Important species recorded in this study with relative frequency of citation (RFC) values > 0.3 included Alepidea amatymbica , Allium cepa , Aloe ferox , Artemisia afra , Brassica oleracea , Capsicum annuum , Cucurbita moschata , Hypoxis hemerocallidea , Opuntia ficus-indica , Spinacia oleracea , Vachellia karroo and Zea mays . Conclusion Results of this study highlight the importance of plant resources to the well-being of local communities in the Eastern Cape within the context of provision of essential direct and indirect ESs such as food, medicinal products, construction materials, fodder, regulating, supporting and cultural services. The ESs are the basis for subsistence livelihoods in rural areas, particularly in developing countries such as South Africa. Therefore, such body of knowledge can be used as baseline data for provision of local support for natural resource management initiatives in the province and other areas of the country.
... None of them focused on the evaluation of PES. Until now, PES effects have been mainly assessed regarding the change in forest cover area [33], while studies focused on assessing water services associated with forest conservation in Mexico are scarce [34] [35]. ...
... Los servicios ecosistémicos se definen como los beneficios tangibles e intangibles, que los diferentes ecosistemas proporcionan a la sociedad de manera natural y que actúan como contribuciones directas e indirectas al bienestar humano (Gómez-Baggethun et al., 2014). Al hablar de servicios ecosistémicos, se enfatiza la interdependencia que existe entre sistemas ecológicos y sistemas sociales (Daily, 1997;Balvanera et al., 2012). Esta interacción es especialmente importante en el contexto urbano donde la infraestructura construida, cubre gran proporción de la superficie y la densidad poblacional es alta (Pickett et al., 2001). ...
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La incorporación del enfoque de los servicios ecosistémicos, en la planificación de los espacios urbanos, contribuye con la mitigación el impacto hidrológico de la urbanización. Bajo esta premisa, el objetivo del trabajo fue analizar las reglamentaciones asociadas al manejo de aguas pluviales en la capital nacional y las capitales provinciales de la Argentina y reconocer así, antecedentes en la implementación de políticas, que favorezcan la provisión del servicio ecosistémico de regulación hídrica. Para ello, se revisaron de ordenanzas y códigos de zonificación. Los resultados obtenidos se agruparon en: indicadores urbanísticos, zonificaciones y medidas de infraestructura verde. Si bien, el 87,5% de las ciudades analizadas presenta algún tipo de medida urbanística, relacionada con el servicio ecosistémico de regulación hídrica en la mayoría de los casos, no existe una mención explícita. Esto dificulta la cuantificación, su nivel de provisión servicio y, por lo tanto, su incorporación efectiva en los instrumentos de planificación.
... Additionally, some studies make future projections for more horizons so that they can be identified when a conservation policy can intervene [17]. Despite this, the identification of vulnerable areas demarcated in this study allows decision-makers to focus adaptation plans for economies dependent on ecosystem services at risk [50,51]. ...
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The biodiversity present in Peru will be affected by climatic and anthropogenic changes; therefore, understanding these changes will help generate biodiversity conservation policies. This study analyzes the potential distributions of biomes (B) in Peru under the effects of climate change. The evaluation was carried out using the random forest (RF) method, six bioclimatic variables, and digital topography for the classification of current B in Peru. Subsequently, the calibrated RF model was assimilated to three downscaled regional climate models to project future B distributions for the 2035–2065 horizon. We evaluated possible changes in extension and elevation as well as most susceptible B. Our projections show that future scenarios agreed that 82% of current B coverage will remain stable. Approximately 6% of the study area will change its current conditions to conditions of higher humidity; 4.5% will maintain a stable physiognomy, but with an increase in humidity; and finally, 6% will experience a decrease in humidity but maintain its appearance. Additionally, glaciers and swamps are indicated as the most vulnerable B, with probable losses greater than 50% of their current area. These results demonstrate the need to generate public policies for the adaptation and mitigation of climate effects on B at a national scale.
... Las discusiones y contribuciones académicas en esta línea llevan avances relevantes, pero diferentes y dispersos a nivel regional (Balvanera et al., 2012), logrando establecer esquemas financieros que valoran y potencian el valor económico del bosque, más allá del valor económico a nivel de madera, leña o algunos productos forestales no maderables, ya que cuentan con precios de mercado. A pesar de sus complejidades y limitaciones (Aguiar, Camba Sana y Paruelo, 2017), la valoración ecosistémica de los bosques es una herramienta útil para el uso sostenible de los recursos forestales siempre y cuando se consideren a los actores involucrados, las políticas públicas locales y el contexto local (Howe, Suich, Vira y Mace, 2014). ...
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En el año 2006 iniciaron esfuerzos de valoración económica de los servicios ecosistémicos que brindan los bosques en Paraguay, esta información es de mucha utilidad para la implementación de políticas públicas. Esta investigación buscó estimar valores económicos de bienes de uso directo e indirecto de un bosque mesoxerofítico semicaducifolio de Schinopsis balansae Engl., Ecorregión Chaco Húmedo, Paraguay, detallando su composición, estructura y diversidad florística, analizando dos Parcelas Permanentes de Monitoreo de la Biodiversidad de 1 ha cada una. En ambas se registraron 1.388 individuos con DAP ≥ 10 cm, pertenecientes a 54 especies, 1 morfoespecie, 48 géneros y 25 familias botánicas. Phyllostylon rhamnoides (J. Poiss.) Taub. fue la especie con mayor Índice de Valor de Importancia (39,20 %). El sitio 02 es el de mayor diversidad. Para valorar su uso directo, luego de un censo a 303 industrias forestales, fueron clasificadas 13 especies con valor de mercado para el uso industrial. El valor económico de bienes de uso directo, con un plan de uso de la tierra, para el sitio 01 fue 256,81 USha1yparaelsitio02,1.562US ha-1 y para el sitio 02, 1.562 US ha-1. Considerando la opción de manejo forestal el valor para sitio 02 fue 124,52 USha1,mientrasqueensitio01ningunaespeciecomercializablealcanzoˊlosdiaˊmetrosmıˊnimosestablecidos.Elvaloreconoˊmicodelservicioecosisteˊmicoporreservadecarbonoparaelsitio01ascendioˊa129,47US ha-1, mientras que en sitio 01 ninguna especie comercializable alcanzó los diámetros mínimos establecidos. El valor económico del servicio ecosistémico por reserva de carbono para el sitio 01 ascendió a 129,47 US ha-1 y para el sitio 02, 150,81 US$ ha-1. Estos valores ayudarían a mejorar las estrategias de valoración de bosques en la región.
... The core idea of PES programs is to link users and providers of ecosystem services by providing economic incentives for the conservation or improvement of natural resources, such as soil, water, and forests, in these regions [2]. PES policies are a combination of market economic incentives and regulations [3,4]. PES programs have recently received substantial consideration in developing countries, particularly in Latin America and Southeast Asia [5]. ...
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In 2010, Vietnam implemented the payment for forest environmental services (PFES) program that was expected to bring additional income to local people and improve the efficiency of forest protection. However, factors affecting the motivation to participate in PFES have rarely been examined. The objectives of this study were to (1) identify factors that influence local people’s participation in PFES, (2) examine how local people participating in the PFES program were involved in decision-making in the Thua Thien Hue Province, and (3) assess PFES impact on local people. We conducted a field survey of 32 households at the study site. We found no difference in the access to PFES between poor and non-poor households. Participation in PFES was considered a reward for labor work in forests and a means to compensate for the legal rights of participants. Local people could participate at many stages of PFES implementation; however, they were only passive spectators with regards to PFES management. Two-thirds of the participants did not participate in decision-making regarding PFES distribution. We conclude that the efficiency of future PFES programs may be increased by enabling and stimulating the participants to take a more active part in the process of PFES management and distribution.
... Therefore, qualitative approach was used. Doing so, we were in line with approaches applied to understand ecosystem services implementation strategies in general and constructed wetlands in particular [10], [11], [12], [13], [14], [15]. ...
Article
Colombian páramos, strategic ecosystems of the northern Andes, provide a broad range of ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, water regulation, and soil protection. The department of Boyacá in Colombia contains the largest area of páramo ecosystems, with the Rabanal páramo serving as the primary water source for the capital city of Tunja. Despite scientific studies on the diversity of flora and fauna, páramos remain among the least studied ecosystems regarding their services. No study has yet addressed a detailed systematic review assessing the range of ecosystem services in the Rabanal páramo. We systematically reviewed 162 documents published between 1992 and 2022 to assess the progress of ecosystem services knowledge, identify biases, and define research priorities. Most of the studies (60%) focused on regulating services, followed by cultural services (24%) and provisioning services (16%). In the category of regulating services, biodiversity maintenance is the most studied service with 60 studies (37%), followed by vegetation cover with 22 studies (14%). In provisioning services, fresh water has the most studies 18 (11%), while environmental education, with 16 studies (10%), is the cultural service with the most publications. Likewise, we identified 21 different research methods in the documents. The most employed was environmental assessment (23%), followed by stakeholder engagement and environmental planning (10%) and inventory (7%). We conclude that there is a significant research gap in prioritizing the understanding of cultural services and the impacts of conservation initiatives on páramo communities. This unique ecosystem, which is not only a source of livelihood for local farmers but also deeply connected with their cultural identity and heritage, underscores the need to address these gaps to sustain the Rabanal páramo ecosystem.
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Payments for ecosystem services programs (PESPs) are increasingly being adopted globally to enhance sustainability outcomes. There are also hundreds of studies yearly on various aspects of PESPs, but research on their contributions to sustainability of communities and the ecosystems they depend upon at the global scale are rare. Our global review explores twelve key characteristics of PESPs at three different phases (inputs – implementation – outputs and outcomes) and their relationship types of these characteristics to sustainability outcomes. To do so, we review 376 peer-review journal articles on PESPs, and test three hypotheses related to these relationships. Our findings confirm that the relationships between each of these characteristics and sustainability outcomes are bidirectional and/or multidirectional to some extent and can be positive, negative or both, depending on specific cases and research methods used to study these relationships. The findings also disclose that separating one characteristic as the primary causal factor in any relationship or outcome is not easy as relevant characteristics are linked in a complex network. Thereby, determining key characteristics of PESPs that drive relationships for the sake of sustainability is important. Through analyzing relationships between PESP characteristics, this study offers a series of suggestions to further aid the contributions of PESPs’ contributions to sustainability in the future.
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Water security is a global concern sharpened by the biggest humanity challenge of climatic crisis. With the end of designing and implementing efficient and sustainable water management strategies, it is necessary to recognize the interdependence and coevolution between natural and social systems and understand how the double way relationships between these systems shape sustainability. The socio‐ecological systems (SES) sustainability approach is an alternative to this end. Conceptual challenges have been identified in the analysis of the sustainability of SES. These challenges include (i) A lack of clarity in the definition of SES sustainability, (ii) the non‐inclusion of some inherent SES characteristics that determine critical thresholds, and (iii) a lack of conceptual frameworks for analyzing the sustainability of SES and water security‐related ecosystem services. This study proposes a conceptual framework, based on a strong sustainability approach, for analyzing SES sustainability focusing on water security and addressing the above‐mentioned challenges. This conceptual development includes three elements: (i) the key thresholds to ensure ecological functionality; (ii) the benefits that society derives from ecological functioning and; (iii) the two‐way relationship between natural capital and social systems. Analyzing these three elements helps identification of different sustainability states of SESs, focusing on water security, in the presence of endogenous or exogenous drivers of change. The conceptualization and operationalization of SES sustainability focusing on water security allows the analysis of the trajectories of change and provides insights into the required water management strategies in the target territory.
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Rapid urbanization and growing transportation infrastructure in cities negatively affect ecosystems and their functions. Quantifying these effects is a prerequisite for integrating environmental considerations into all phases of transportation planning. However, in many developing or newly developed countries, research is lacking that helps to understand and manage the ecological impacts of transportation construction under local conditions. Presented research contributed to filling this gap by investigating the implications of growing transportation infrastructure on three ecosystem services: local climate regulation, erosion control, and photosynthesis potential. As a case study, we used spatial indicators to quantify changes in the supply of ecosystem services caused by the development of the 3rd Bosporus Bridge and its connecting highway in Istanbul, Turkiye. Our results indicate a substantial decrease in ecosystem services close to the transportation infrastructure, including a decrease in local climate regulation (− 5.4%), an increase in erosion (+ 9.4%), and a decline in photosynthesis potential or vegetation health (− 28%). Additionally, hotspots of ES supply change were detected. This study provides a blueprint for planning and impact mitigation studies.
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A perceção global da necessidade de se integrar o conceito da sustentabilidade nas dimensões económicas, sociais e ambientais nas sociedades atuais gerou um esforço entre países e instituições para a conservação da biodiversidade e entendimento dos benefícios obtidos pelos seres humanos prestados pelo ecossistema. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o estado da arte no âmbito da pesquisa em serviços ecossistêmicos e ambientais por meio de levantamento bibliométrico na base de dados Scopus, com o intuito de levantar a produção científica sobre o tema e detetar as tendências e destaques no período entre 2016 e 2020, referentes ao número de publicações, periódicos, instituições, países e palavras-chave. Com os dados obtidos constatou-se que: 1) a atenção dispensada ao tema tem evoluído, resultando num acréscimo de 59,6% no número de publicações entre 2016 e 2020; 2) a multidisciplinaridade da temática reflete-se na diversidade de periódicos que publicam sobre o tema, com predomínio daqueles da área da Ecologia; 3) destaca-se o crescente interesse no estudo social de serviços ecossistêmicos e serviços ambientais; 4) há o predomínio de publicação pela categoria de provisão, serviços atrelados ao ecossistema solo e os que visam o monitoramento de serviços ecossistêmicos e serviços ambientais ; 5) em números absolutos, os Estados Unidos é o país líder neste campo de estudo, seguido pela China e países europeus como Alemanha e Itália; tal interesse se reflete nas instituições que mais analisam o escopo de serviços ecossistêmicos e serviços ambientais ; 5) as palavras-chave de alta frequência nas publicações são “Ecosystem”, “Environmental” e “Management”, e indicam o elemento de estudo e o caráter integrativo dos serviços ecossistêmicos.
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Purpose The Seasonally dry forests of South America are known as the Gran Chaco are areas vulnerable in the world, the highest percentage of protected areas is found in South America. Anthropogenic processes as clearing of native forests makes ecosystems more fragile to changes, due to agricultural frontier expansion. We purpose study as the soil fungal community has been modified due to land use changes caused by clearing and agricultural activities. Methods We observed the response of the soil fungal community due to anthropogenic actions through to use phenotypic and genotypic tools to detecting changes in the diversity, at three study sites under different land uses in Chaco dry forest in Argentina. Soil samples were obtained from relicts of native forests of Schinopsis spp., cleared soils that are used later for agricultural activities and soil of soybean monoculture. Results The results provided a signal of consequences of human activity on soil fungal communities. This was visualized by the grouping of different soils by species fungi abundance, the presence of detector species in both sampling years and in the ordering of sampling sites through analysis with traditional and molecular tools such as PCR-DGGE. Soil organic carbon and phosphorous parameters were significantly modified by the interactions of sampling sites and years. Conclusion The present study emphasizes the different land use change between fungal communities of native soils and soils for agricultural purposes, being replaced by others with different soil roles.
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“Payment for ecosystem services” (PES) schemes have been introduced worldwide as an instrument to support the participation of multiple actors through an organizational arrangement. In Brazil, Minas Gerais State’s Prosecution Office (MPMG—Ministério Público de Minas Gerais, in Portuguese) acted as a pioneer in channeling resources from Deferred Prosecution Agreements (TACs—Termo de Ajustamento de Conduta, in Portuguese) to financially enable a PES project’s implementation. This is the first study to have analyzed the performance of the MPMG as a prominent actor in the institutional arrangement related to this project. The research mobilizes the notion of institutional design as proposed by Corbera, et al. (Ecol Econ 68:743–761, 2009), which establishes that, for the long-term viability of PES schemes, different institutional actors have fundamental roles to play, specially dedicated to the financial sustainability of the schemes. This research involved related documents’ analysis and a state-of-the-art review of the origin and implementation of the Oásis Brumadinho project in the Brazilian State of Minas Gerais. An analysis of the institutional arrangement of the Oásis Brumadinho project showed that the role of the State’s Prosecution Office was crucial in making the PES feasible in terms of transaction costs. Our reflections on alternatives to finance PES projects will be useful for future cases, especially the new legal provision of the National Policy on Payment for Environmental Services at the federal level. Overall, this study furthers our understanding of the role played by the State’s Prosecution Office and sheds light on the possibility of using TAC resources as an economic alternative to enable the implementation of PES frameworks in other locations in Brazil.
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Background. Coastal communities are highly dependent on ecosystem services, but the benefits and livelihoods people derive from natural ecosystems are directly and indirectly affected by climate change. The need for a mechanistic understanding of how components of climate change translate into measurable impacts on ecosystems and society is fundamental to the ability to manage, plan and mitigate for the most likely environmental futures, yet progress in this area in tropical and subtropical countries is frustrated by a lack of research capacity at the local and regional level. Objective. Here, we investigate the research capacity of the countries along the Pacific coast, between Mexico and Chile, a region with an extensive coastline (23,191 km) that spans 11 countries of varying socio-economic development status and anticipated to be especially vulnerable to climate change. Specifically, our focus was to explore how the effects of climate change on ecosystem services (provision, regulation and cultural) may relate to research capacity and gross domestic product (GDP) in each country along the Pacific coast of the Americas. Results. We find that, since 1980, the number of peer-reviewed scientific studies relevant to this topic strongly correlates with GDP (r = 0.90, p < 0.05) and that research effort is an order of magnitude lower along the Latin American Pacific coast (13.8 studies 1000 km-1) than in the neighbouring Californian coast (103 studies 1000 km-1). Conclusions. Our results highlight the need to better develop the research in the Latin America Pacific, and for more work on the key links between climate change and ecosystem services.
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La minería es la extracción de minerales en diversas escalas y en diversas modalidades. Como cualquier otro sector económico de producción, genera impactos positivos y negativos. Sin embargo, también generan impactos negativos si no se tiene una buena gestión ambiental ni responsabilidad social. Por ello, muchos países mineros, tienen conflictos sociales por dichos impactos, ante ello existe el Observatorio de Conflictos Mineros el cual mapea el origen y causa de los conflictos mineros. La pregunta que guía este artículo es ¿Qué aspectos relacionan a la minería a la sostenibilidad? Por lo tanto, el objetivo de este artículo es de presentar una revisión sistemática multinivel de los documentos científicos y políticos para identificar las perspectivas y brechas de la sostenibilidad en el sector minero bajo una perspectiva de la epistemología ambiental en cuatro categorías: (i) la presencia del ambiente en la minería, (ii) gestión ambiental, (iii) conflictos y (iv) soluciones. Fueron encontrados a nivel global y transnacional un total de 87197 documentos científicos y 14303 documentos legislativos, los cuales se categorizaron y filtraron según la metodología PRISMA para revisar las cuatro categorías. No hay duda que el sector minero debe aplicar términos como una gestión ambiental eficaz y el desarrollo sostenible, pudiéndolo hacer mediante diversas herramientas; tales como el cumplimiento de las normas y estándares nacionales e internacionales obligatoria e inclusive las certificaciones ambientales voluntarias mediante la inclusión de tecnologías limpias o términos de gestión como la economía circular y la ecología industrial.
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In recent years, social media has been widely utilized to identify cultural ecosystem services (CES) that encapsulate place-dependent non-material values, yet related studies remained in expert-based and single-word lexicons to retrieve such values. Taking online tourism reviews from TripAdvisor and Google Maps for El Cajas National Park in Ecuador as a case study, we propose a novel approach to develop a crowdsourced phrasal lexicon for eight CES. After applying the lexicon to the texts, we filtered CES-positive reviews to find that TripAdvisor showed higher CES frequencies based on greater verbosity than Google Maps, while Google Maps contained more non-English reviews to represent Spanish-speaking users. The frequency of CES showed little difference for aesthetic value, yet English reviews outperformed in describing biological and recreational values whereas Spanish reviews excelled in describing spiritual values. Cross-linguistic comparisons of frequent phrases further elaborated different expressions in describing CES. We confirmed the applicability of crowdsourced phrasal lexicon to comprehend CES with higher context, despite the limitations from tourism-inclined contents. Overall, understanding site-specific CES can enable the implementation of data-driven conservation strategies in global protected areas.
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Among the world's mega-biodiversity countries in the tropics, Indonesia has experienced the most severe deforestation in recent decades. It is alarming that the rate is potentially disrupting the future provision of ecosystem services. On the other hand, there is a paucity of research on ecosystem services in Indonesia, and its current state is unknown. This study provided an overview of ecosystem services research trends in Indonesia from 1998 to 2020 using bibliometric and science mapping analysis of 298 published works from the Scopus database. Since 2013, publications on the topic have increased and grown exponentially, with environmental science dominating the subjects, followed by agriculture and biology, and the social sciences. Biodiversitas and Ecosystem Services are the most prolific journals for publishing results, while Science and Ecological Economics have the most citations. Being the most productive in publications, Indonesia and the United States are also engaged the most in research collaborations. Ecosystem services research in Indonesia is closely linked to biodiversity, deforestation, and oil palm. Furthermore, oil palm, sustainability, and land-use change are promising topics to address in the coming years. This study suggests that the dynamics of ecosystem services research in Indonesia call for further developments in improving the quality of impactful research through interdisciplinary approaches, international collaboration, and the engagement of diverse stakeholders and policy-makers related to the field, to increase the benefits of sustainable ecosystem services in the future.
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The Country Assessment on Natural Capital Accounting and Valuation of Ecosystem Services in Mexico was completed in December 2018. This report describes the current situation in Mexico (as of 2018) with regard to: a) environmental-economic accounting; b) valuation of ecosystem services; c) mechanisms for payment for environmental services; d) inclusion of ecosystem services concepts in public policy, planning and regulatory instruments; and e) the country’s participation in international initiatives for valuing ecosystem services. The report also identifies opportunity areas where adoption of the SEEA-EEA framework in Mexico might be useful.
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Current socioeconomic drivers of land-use change associated with globalization are producing two contrasting land-use trends in Latin America. Increasing global food demand (particularly in Southeast Asia) accelerates deforestation in areas suitable for modern agriculture (e.g., soybean), severely threatening ecosystems, such as Amazonian rain forests, dry forests, and subtropical grasslands. Additionally, in the coming decades, demand for biofuels may become an emerging threat. In contrast, high yields in modern agricultural systems and rural-urban migration coupled with remittances promote sthe abandonment of marginal agricultural lands, thus favoring ecosystem recovery on mountains, deserts, and areas of poor soils, while improving human well-being. The potential switch from production in traditional extensive grazing areas to intensive modern agriculture provides opportunities to significantly increase food production while sparing land for nature conservation. This combination of emerging threats and opportunities requires changes in the way the conservation of Latin American ecosystems is approached. Land-use efficiency should be analyzed beyond the local-based paradigm that drives most conservation programs, and focus on large geographic scales involving long-distance fluxes of products, information, and people in order to maximize both agricultural production and the conservation of environmental services. Copyright © 2008 by the author(s). Published here under license by the Resilience Alliance.
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Conventional livestock production is one of the most prevalent land uses in Latin America, and often results in rapid land degradation. The adoption of silvopastoral systems (SPS) which combine multipurpose trees and improved pastures, could provide important ecosystem services while reducing the pressure to clear more forests. Investment and information barriers, however, can discourage the widespread adoption of SPS. From 2002 to 2007, the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) funded a pilot project to promote SPS in degraded, pasture-dominated regions of Colombia, Costa Rica and Nicaragua. A substantial transformation of these lands was achieved over a five-year period, through increased vegetation cover and improved land use practices. This study focuses on the Quindio region in Colombia, where the successful project now serves as a model to take the initiative to nation-wide scale. Through semi-structured interviews and field visits, we gathered information on why farmers in this region were receptive to SPS. We assessed the motivations, feedback and difficulties that influenced the farmers' decision-making processes. The results highlight the role of adequate technical assistance (TA) in helping farmers understand the past and future implications of their land use decisions. They also demonstrate how Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) can help to build initial trust, and to link the adoption of SPS to environmental and economic benefits. The lessons from this project can be applied in designing strategies to promote SPS and other sustainable practices at a larger scale which can potentially help to reduce land degradation and tropical deforestation.
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cosystems provide businesses with numerous benefits or “ecosystem services.” Forests supply timber and wood fiber, purify water, regulate climate, and yield genetic resources. River systems provide freshwater, power, and recreation. Coastal wetlands filter waste, mitigate floods, and serve as nurseries for commercial fisheries. However, human activities are rapidly degrading these and other ecosystems. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment— the largest audit ever conducted of the condition and trends in the world’s ecosystems—found that ecosystems have declined more rapidly and extensively over the past 50 years than at any other comparable time in human history. In fact, 15 of the 24 ecosystem services evaluated have degraded over the past half century. The Assessment projected further declines over coming decades, particularly in light of population growth, economic expansion, and global climate change. Left unchecked, this degradation could jeopardize future economic well-being, creating new winners and losers within the business community. Ecosystem degradation is highly relevant to business because companies not only impact ecosystems and the services they provide but also depend on them. Ecosystem degradation, therefore, can pose a number of risks to corporate performance as well as create new business opportunities. Types of risks and opportunities include: • Operational –– Risks such as higher costs for freshwater due to scarcity, lower output for hydroelectric facilities due to siltation, or disruptions to coastal businesses due to flooding –– Opportunities such as increasing water-use efficiency or building an on-site wetland to circumvent the need for new water treatment infrastructure • Regulatory and legal –– Risks such as new fines, new user fees, government regulations, or lawsuits by local communities that lose ecosystem services due to corporate activities –– Opportunities such as engaging governments to develop policies and incentives to protect or restore ecosystems that provide services a company needs Reputational –– Risks such as retail companies being targeted by nongovernmental organization campaigns for purchasing wood or paper from sensitive forests or banks facing similar protests due to investments that degrade pristine ecosystems –– Opportunities such as implementing and communicating sustainable purchasing, operating, or investment practices in order to differentiate corporate brands • Market and product –– Risks such as customers switching to other suppliers that offer products with lower ecosystem impacts or governments implementing new sustainable procurement policies –– Opportunities such as launching new products and services that reduce customer impacts on ecosystems, participating in emerging markets for carbon sequestration and watershed protection, capturing new revenue streams from company-owned natural assets, and offering eco-labeled wood, seafood, produce, and other products • Financing –– Risks such as banks implementing more rigorous lending requirements for corporate loans –– Opportunities such as banks offering more favorable loan terms or investors taking positions in companies supplying products and services that improve resource use efficiency or restore degraded ecosystems.
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The crucial role of biodiversity in the links between ecosystems and societies has been repeatedly highlighted both as source of wellbeing and as a target of human actions, but not all aspects of biodiversity are equally important to different ecosystem services. Similarly, different social actors have different perceptions of and access to ecosystem services, and therefore, they have different wants and capacities to select directly or indirectly for particular biodiversity and ecosystem characteristics. Their choices feed back onto the ecosystem services provided to all parties involved and in turn, affect future decisions. Despite this recognition, the research communities addressing biodiversity, ecosystem services, and human outcomes have yet to develop frameworks that adequately treat the multiple dimensions and interactions in the relationship. Here, we present an interdisciplinary framework for the analysis of relationships between functional diversity, ecosystem services, and human actions that is applicable to specific social environmental systems at local scales. We connect the mechanistic understanding of the ecological role of diversity with its social relevance: ecosystem services. The framework permits connections between functional diversity components and priorities of social actors using land use decisions and ecosystem services as the main links between these ecological and social components. We propose a matrix-based method that provides a transparent and flexible platform for quantifying and integrating social and ecological information and negotiating potentially conflicting land uses among multiple social actors. We illustrate the applicability of our framework by way of land use examples from temperate to subtropical South America, an area of rapid social and ecological change
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Interest in ecosystem services and the development of financial mechanisms to incentivize their protection have rapidly expanded over the past decade. The notion of ecosystem services and their value was described by (Daily 1997) with the publication of the book Nature's Services, which highlighted the notion that ecosystems provide human society with a variety of important needs. The valuation of these services was brought to light by (Costanza et al. 1997) who estimated that ecosystems provide humanity with 33trilliondollarsperyearinservices,whichwashigherthanglobalGrossNationalProduct,33 trillion dollars per year in services, which was higher than global Gross National Product, 18 trillion dollars, when the analysis was conducted. The notion of ecosystem services was further popularized by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA 2005) that identified four classes of services: provisioning, regulating, cultural, and supporting. In reality, the public and private interest in ecosystem services has surpassed our ecological knowledge regarding how ecosystems and biological communities interact to provide these services (Daily, personal communication). As ecosystem services continue to gain in popularity and in demand, it is critical that ecologists and economists continue to collaborate in understanding how to correctly value the provisioning of services, and how to ensure that the service purchased by the buyer is provided by the landowner. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012. All rights reserved.
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El presente informe se enmarca en el convenio de trabajo firmado entre el MGAP- Proyecto de Producción Responsable y la Sociedad Zoológica del Uruguay, para la implementación de una Eco-regionalización del Uruguay, cuyo objetivo general es: Desarrollar un esquema de eco-regionalizción del territorio Uruguayo para la planificación ambiental del país, que incluya la delimitación y caracterización ambiental de las eco-regiones y una evaluación de sus valores de conservación, presiones y amenazas. En particular, en este informe se presenta el primer producto comprometido, que se enfoca en la delimitación de eco-regiones de Uruguay. Cabe destacar que la presente propuesta de eco-regionalización, ha sido previamente difundida a la comunidad científico-técnica del país vinculada al área ambiental en dos oportunidades: (1) Mesa Redonda “Eco-regionalización de Uruguay”, en el marco del Primer Congreso Uruguayo de Zoología (diciembre 2010, Montevideo, Uruguay), y (2) Jornada de adhesión al mes del Medio Ambiente (junio 2011), organizado por el Proyecto PPR/MGAP.
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•Discusses novel science that focuses on providing standardized valuations of multiple ecosystem services in a framework that reveals tradeoffs among services, as well as opportunities for possible new sources of funding for conservation. This science is connected to open-access online tools for mapping and valuing ecosystem services (InVEST). •Incorporates policy analysis and provides guidance on policy implementation •Boxed case studies authored by conservation or political leaders from the field enliven the book and give it broader appeal •Common chapter templates and rigorous editing provide a coherent and integrated work In 2005, The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) provided the first global assessment of the world's ecosystems and ecosystem services. It concluded that recent trends in ecosystem change threatened human wellbeing due to declining ecosystem services. This bleak prophecy has galvanized conservation organizations, ecologists, and economists to work toward rigorous valuations of ecosystem services at a spatial scale and with a resolution that can inform public policy. The editors have assembled the world's leading scientists in the fields of conservation, policy analysis, and resource economics to provide the most intensive and best technical analyses of ecosystem services to date. A key idea that guides the science is that the modelling and valuation approaches being developed should use data that are readily available around the world. In addition, the book documents a toolbox of ecosystem service mapping, modeling, and valuation models that both The Nature Conservancy and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) are beginning to apply around the world as they transform conservation from a biodiversity only to a people and ecosystem services agenda. The book addresses land, freshwater, and marine systems at a variety of spatial scales and includes discussion of how to treat both climate change and cultural values when examining tradeoffs among ecosystem services.
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1. Tree plantations play an important role in meeting the growing demand for wood, but there is concern about their high rates of water use. Recent approaches to reforestation in the tropics involve the establishment of multispecies plantations, but few studies have compared water use in mixed vs. monospecific stands. 2. We hypothesized that tree species diversity enhances stand transpiration. Tree water use rates were estimated in monocultures ( n = 5), two‐species mixtures ( n = 3), three‐species mixtures ( n = 3) and five‐species mixtures ( n = 4). Sap flux densities were monitored with thermal dissipation probes in 60 trees for 1 year in a 7‐year‐old native tree plantation in Panama. We also estimated changes in the amount of wood produced per unit water transpired (i.e. water use efficiency, WUE wood ). 3. Annual stand transpiration rates in two‐/three‐species mixtures (464 ± 271 mm year ⁻¹ ) and five‐species mixtures (900 ± 76 mm year ⁻¹ ) were 14% and 56% higher than those of monocultures (398 ± 293 mm year ⁻¹ ), respectively. Trees growing in mixtures had larger diameters, conductive sapwood and basal area than those in monocultures, which partly explained the enhanced stand transpiration in mixtures. 4. The five‐species mixtures maintained equally high stand transpiration rates during wet (2·64 ± 0·30 mm day ⁻¹ ) and dry seasons (2·51 ± 0·21 mm day ⁻¹ ), whereas monocultures and two‐species mixtures had significantly lower transpiration rates during the dry season, because of the presence of dry season deciduous species. 5. The WUE wood of the five‐species mixtures (2·1 g DM kg ⁻¹ H 2 O) was about half that of either monocultures, two‐ or three‐species mixtures. 6. The comparably high stand transpiration rates in the five‐species plots may arise from enhanced vegetation‐atmosphere‐energy exchange through higher canopy roughness and/or complementary use of soil water. 7. Synthesis and applications . Stand transpiration increased linearly with tree species richness and basal area in monocultures, two‐ and three‐species mixtures, but the ratio of stand transpiration to basal area was larger for five‐species mixtures. In conclusion, species selection and consideration of species richness and composition is crucial in the design of plantations to maximize wood production while conserving water resources.
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1. Tree plantations play an important role in meeting the growing demand for wood, but there is concern about their high rates of water use. Recent approaches to reforestation in the tropics involve the establishment of multispecies plantations, but few studies have compared water use in mixed vs. monospecific stands. 2. We hypothesized that tree species diversity enhances stand transpiration. Tree water use rates were estimated in monocultures (n = 5), two-species mixtures (n = 3), three-species mixtures (n = 3) and five-species mixtures (n = 4). Sap flux densities were monitored with thermal dissipation probes in 60 trees for 1 year in a 7-year-old native tree plantation in Panama. We also estimated changes in the amount of wood produced per unit water transpired (i.e. water use efficiency, WUEwood). 3. Annual stand transpiration rates in two-/three-species mixtures (464 ± 271 mm year−1) and five-species mixtures (900 ± 76 mm year−1) were 14% and 56% higher than those of monocultures (398 ± 293 mm year−1), respectively. Trees growing in mixtures had larger diameters, conductive sapwood and basal area than those in monocultures, which partly explained the enhanced stand transpiration in mixtures. 4. The five-species mixtures maintained equally high stand transpiration rates during wet (2·64 ± 0·30 mm day−1) and dry seasons (2·51 ± 0·21 mm day−1), whereas monocultures and two-species mixtures had significantly lower transpiration rates during the dry season, because of the presence of dry season deciduous species. 5. The WUEwood of the five-species mixtures (2·1 g DM kg−1 H2O) was about half that of either monocultures, two- or three-species mixtures. 6. The comparably high stand transpiration rates in the five-species plots may arise from enhanced vegetation-atmosphere-energy exchange through higher canopy roughness and/or complementary use of soil water. 7. Synthesis and applications. Stand transpiration increased linearly with tree species richness and basal area in monocultures, two- and three-species mixtures, but the ratio of stand transpiration to basal area was larger for five-species mixtures. In conclusion, species selection and consideration of species richness and composition is crucial in the design of plantations to maximize wood production while conserving water resources.
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Agriculture has drastically transformed landscapes and ecosystems on this planet. These changes alter the supply of goods and ecosystem services thereby impacting human well-being. There are significant environmental impacts associated with modern agriculture and green revolution technologies. This has promoted the development of agricultural production systems that try to reduce the environmental impact and/or improve the well-being of producers. Agricultural certification is one such strategy. This set of management practices promotes agricultural production that simultaneously generates some environmental, social, economic, and quality benefits. Shade-grown coffee production is one of these environmentally-friendly management practices. This paper describes this kind of agricultural production and discusses some of the changes associated with certification as well as the impact it has had on the landscape of Aratoca (Santander). The article also analyzes the differences between certified and non-certified producers. It concludes with some suggestions for the certification process in order to make it a win-win (environment-society) situation for different kinds of coffee growers.
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Por lo general, la economía clásica computa en sus cuentas los bienes y servicios naturales que tienen un valor tangible de mercado (e.g., alimentos, materias primas, agua, energía). Sin embargo, la pérdida de un activo ambiental impone un costo que la sociedad no percibe fácilmente cuando el mismo es intangible. Por razones prácticas (i.e., diseño de políticas, toma de decisiones, pago por activos ecológicos), en los últimos años se han multiplicado los esfuerzos dirigidos a valuar los bienes y servicios intangibles de la naturaleza. Los enfoques económicos tienden a enfatizar su valor de uso, y se idearon procedimientos relativamente subjetivos tales como la “predisposición a pagar”, “el valor contingente”, “el valor de reemplazo”, “el costo evitado”, “el costo de viaje” o el “precio hedónico”. Los ecólogos tienden a criticar esta concepción y a enfatizar su valor de no-uso, o sea, el valor intrínseco que tienen los bienes y servicios intangibles. La objetividad del escrutinio científico parece ser el elemento que puede ordenar el debate, orientar valores de mercado y dar fundamento a las políticas y programas de conservación. La tesis que desarrollamos en esta contribución sostiene que la incorporación de atributos biofísicos al análisis es un camino posible para mejorar la objetividad de las estimaciones. De manera exploratoria, se propone un “método funcional” de valuación basado en la identificación de atributos físicos y biológicos (e.g., productividad primaria y su variabilidad temporal, cuerpos de agua, áreas anegables, pendientes, temperaturas medias, altura sobre el nivel del mar, etc.) que pueden ser asociados, directa o indirectamente, a la provisión de servicios ecosistémicos. Como no vamos a poder ignorar la influencia del mercado, la opción es intentar minimizar sus fallas mediante valoraciones correctivas que, a partir de una base biofísica, racionalicen el proceso de valuación puramente monetario.
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Agroforestry on small-scale farms has potential to provide important ecological services, such as carbon sequestration and maintenance of biological diversity, while also providing on-farm products for domestic use and marketing. Payments for environmental services (PES) are an increasingly popular mechanism for encouraging production of ecological services on agricultural lands and may also contribute to poverty reduction and sustainable farming practices through adoption of new farming technologies. There is little current information, however, on the degree to which PES increase tree planting relative to a baseline or the effects of program participation on farmer livelihoods. This study examined the initial impacts of a recent PES program for agroforestry in southern Costa Rica by: (1) assessing the efficiency of PES in increasing reforestation relative to baseline tree planting activities; (2) examining farmer perceptions of socioeconomic and environmental impacts of PES; and (3) exploring obstacles to adoption of agroforestry practices. Thirty-six participant and non-participant farmers were given semi-structured interviews. Key informant interviews were conducted with forestry engineers, farmers' associations, NGOs, and government agencies. Farmers reported positive economic benefits in the first 2–3 years of program participation. PES participants also planted substantially more trees and more species than non-participant farmers. The PES program was effective in overcoming initial economic and technical obstacles that made adoption of agroforestry unattractive. Strong local organizations played a key role in facilitating adoption. Additional investment in short- to medium-term technical support will likely be necessary for broad retention of agroforestry practices beyond the life of the PES contracts.
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An overview of ethnobiological information obtained among Indian peoples of Mexico is presented, analyzing patterns and tendencies in the forms of perceiving, using, and manipulating plant resources. The plant classification folk systems studied are highly complex. Although in general they follow the general principles formulated by Brent Berlin and other scholars, some significant variations are observed. Subsistence has been based on a strategy which combines different productive activities and takes advantage of a wide variety of plant products available both in time and space. This subsistence strategy also involves managing a wide variety of resources under different degrees of domestication by humans.
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Latin American experience with payments for watershed environmental services is examined in this article. Interest in the approach is substantial in the region, probably more so than in other parts of the developing world. However, existing conservation payments frequently lack key features, such as conditionality. Impediments to the approach are analyzed, including factors that drive up costs or interfere with internalization of benefits. Included in this article is detailed examination of three schemes: two local initiatives in Ecuador (one in Pimampiro and the other in Quito), as well as a nationwide program in Mexico.
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UDC 551.44:338.48(81) Heros Augusto Santos Lobo & Edvaldo Cesar Moretti: Tour- ism in Caves and the Conservation of the Speleological Heri- tage: The case of Serra da Bodoquena (Mato Grosso do Sul State, Brazil) The Serra da Bodoquena is the region in the state of Mato Gros - so do Sul, Brazil in which the municipality of Bonito is located. This municipality is the primary calling card for tourism in the state and is one of the most developed areas of ecotourism and speleotourism in the country. The tourism there is entitled ecotourism, and is designed to be sustainable. The present case study focuses on the ecologically sustainable aspects of the spe- leotourism practiced there, especially the proposals for tourist carrying capacity adopted. The results and discussion provide suggestions for the adoption of a different formulation of car - rying capacity focusing on both operational and quantitative aspects. Ecologically sustainable speleotourism in the Serra da Bodoquena should be possible as long as new proposals limit- ing visitation are adopted which conform to technical environ- mental management procedures and consider the interests of local stakeholders.
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Para realizar la valoración económica, se calculó la densidad de la biomasa de las especies del bosque tropical mediante una metodología indirecta basada en datos existentes de volumen total. También se determinó el contenido de carbono de 11 especies que representan el 66 % del volumen total. Con el resultado de ambos procesos se determinó existencias en toneladas de carbono por hectárea, igual a 353.341. Empleando volúmenes a aprovechar en el área de corta 2003 y, precios de venta, así como costos de extracción por m3 en el 2002, se determinó el ingreso por aprovechamiento forestal estimado en 6,021.850.44.Mientrasqueelingresoporlaventadelservicioambientaldealmacenamientodecarbonoenlamismaaˊreadecortaseestimoˊen 6,021.850.44. Mientras que el ingreso por la venta del servicio ambiental de almacenamiento de carbono en la misma área de corta se estimó en 21,200.442.00. El costo de oportunidad es de 3.5:1, por lo que es conveniente para el ejido vender este servicio ambiental, incrementando de esta manera sus ingresos.
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The encroachment of the logging frontier into Western Amazonia, where non-timber extraction has historically driven regional economies, provides an opportunity to explore the practice of multiple-use forest management. Families are now harvesting timber in their Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa)-rich community-titled forests, and we examined effects of formal and informal logging (with and without government-approved management plans, respectively) on forest disturbance and natural regeneration (individuals ⩽10 cm dbh) of B. excelsa and 10 timber species in Northern Bolivia. B. excelsa regeneration densities 2–5 years after timber harvests did not differ between unlogged or logged (formally nor informally) sites; densities were, however, greater in larger logging disturbances (i.e., log landings vs skid trails), corroborating our model in which canopy openness explained regeneration densities. Regeneration of the two most valuable timber species, Swietenia macrophylla and Amburana cearensis, rarely occurred, and only where conspecific trees were felled, implying that population recovery of selected species may need post-harvest silvicultural interventions. In contrast, two other high-value timber species (Cedrela odorata and Dipteryx odorata) responded favorably to disturbances. Contrary to our expectations and reported industrial-scale findings, formal logging resulted in a larger percentage, but still acceptable level, of disturbed area than informal logging (10.6% ± 0.65 SE vs 6.9% ± 1.26 SE; p = 0.047).
Book
Mismeasuring Our Lives is the result of this major intellectual effort, containing pressing relevance for anonyme engaged in assessing how and whether our economy is serving the needs of our society. The authors offer a sweeping assessment of GDP's limitations as a measurement of the well-being of societies and introduce a bold array of new concepts from sustainable measures of economic welfare to evaluations of savings and wealth and a "green GDP". At a time when policy makers worldwide are grappling with unprecedented global financial and environmemntal issues. Mismeasuring Our Lives is an essential guide to measuring the things that matter most.
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Este estudio se enmarca en la misión institucional en el ámbito de los ecosistemas forestales y la mediana y pequeña propiedad, y en particular en materia de introducir y adaptar nuevos conocimientos para la protección y la sustentabilidad social y ambiental
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There is an important need to find ways to preserve biodiversity outside protected areas, in agricultural landscapes. Shade-grown coffee provides a very promising means of doing so, as it is very biodiversity-friendly, particularly in its more traditional, ‘rustic’ form. Recent decades have seen coffee production shifting either to shadeless ‘sun’ coffee or to annual crops or pasture, both of which provide substantially lower biodiversity benefits. The mechanism described here seeks to harness consumers’ willingness to pay for conservation by inducing them to pay a premium for biodiversity-friendly shade-grown coffee. This premium would then encourage farmers to retain shade-grown coffee, thus maintaining its biodiversity benefits. The chapter examines efforts to apply this approach to help protect Mesoamerica’s rich biological diversity, which is severely threatened by land use change and other pressures.2 Mesoamerica is a particularly promising area in which to use shade-grown coffee as a conservation tool, as coffee is an important crop throughout the region. Two projects that are seeking to apply this approach will be examined in detail: the Promotion of Biodiversity Conservation within Coffee Landscapes project in El Salvador, and the El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve’s: Habitat Enhancement in Productive Landscapes project in Chiapas, Mexico. Both of these projects are being implemented by the World Bank with financing from the Global Environment Facility (GEF). They have very similar objectives but use different approaches and are being implemented in different contexts, providing a valuable opportunity to see the mechanism at work.