An Ecosystems Approach to Quantify Soil Performance for Multiple Outcomes: The Future of Land Evaluation?

Abstract

Amongst natural resources, soils are often forgotten and poorly represented in ecosystem service frameworks and decision making processes, even though they are a non-renewable resource and the foundation of terrestrial ecosystems' function and health. This study used a novel methodology to (i) quantify the ecosystem services provided by dairy based agroecosystems on two contrasting soils in New Zealand using a process-based model, (ii) determine the economic value of each service using on-farm built capital substitutes and (iii) explore the merits of incorporating an ecosystems approach into land evaluation and resource management.Ecosystem services quantification proved insightful in distinguishing and quantifying the inherent differences in the capabilities of two contrasting soils to contribute to service provision by translating them into differences in performance under the same use, before calculating economic values. The economic value of the services provided by the system with Horotiu was on average 35% greater than the economic value of the services provided by the same land use on the Te Kowhai soil, with differences in the provision of some services (provision of food, flood mitigation and the filtering of nutrients and contaminants) more pronounced between the two soils than others (provision of support, recycling of wastes). Regulating services had greater economic values than provisioning services for both agro-ecosystems.Existing limitations of land evaluation processes can be addressed by an ecosystems approach through increased emphasis on inclusive, quantitative assessments that reflect society's desired outcomes as informed by stakeholder input.

Soil “Ecosystem” Services and Natural Capital: Critical Appraisal of Research on Uncertain Ground

“…These numbers illustrate in a striking manner the significance of discounting rates in the monetary valuation of soil services. Interesting also in this study is the fact that, not only did the authors have to disregard all "cultural" services, but they also could not monetarize some regulating services because of the absence of man-made substitutes for them, for example in the case of the filtering of N and P. This analysis was extended recently by Dominati et al (2016) to two different soils.…”

“…It consists of evaluating the total cost of erosion by summing individual costs associated with the replacement of a number of services that soils render. Along that line of work, but in a broader context than just soil erosion, ; Dominati et al (2016) have carried out what appears to be by far the most comprehensive monetary valuations available to date of multiple soil functions/services. In a volcanic soil under dairy in the Waikato region in New Zealand, modeled various provisioning services, related respectively to "food quantity and quality, " and to "support for human infrastructures and animals, " as well as a number of regulating services, linked with "flood mitigation, " "filtering of nutrients and contaminants, " "detoxification and recycling of wastes, " "carbon storage and greenhouse gas regulation, " and "regulation of pest and disease populations."…”

“…However, the transition to the next step, in which values, and eventually monetary values, are supposed to be assigned to the various services identified, appears to progress extremely slowly. Only a handful of articles to date have attempted to associate any kind of price tag to soil services (Dominati et al, 2010b(Dominati et al, , 2016Adhikari and Nadella, 2011;Robinson et al, 2014). All signs are, instead, that soil researchers are actively trying to migrate toward other approaches that do not require monetization, at least not of each and every soil service.…”

Land suitability analysis for agriculture in the Abbay basin using remote sensing, GIS and AHP techniques

“…Soil characteristics are one of the most important factors in agricultural land-use assessment (Dominati et al 2016;Bonfante and Bouma 2015;Juhos et al 2016). In this study, soil depth, soil water content, soil type and soil stoniness are taken as indicators to assess general soil suitability for agriculture.…”

Integrated Modeling of Land and Water Resources in two African Catchments

“…Soil characteristics are one of the most important factors in agricultural land-use assessment (Bonfante and Bouma, 2015;Dominati et al, 2016;Juhos et al, 2016). In this study, soil depth, soil water content, soil type and soil stoniness are taken as indicators to assess general soil suitability for agriculture.…”