Conceptual advancement of socio-ecological modelling of ecosystem services for re-evaluating Brownfield land

Abstract

Essential environmental resources are rapidly exploited globally, while socialecological systems at different scales fail to meet sustainable development challenges. Ecosystem services research, which at present predominantly utilizes static modelling approaches, needs better integration with socio-economic dynamics in order to assist a scientific approach to sustainability. This article focuses on Brownfield lands, a unique landscape that is undergoing transformations and provides ecosystem services that remain, at this point in time, mostly unrecognized in public discourse. We discuss the main issues associated with current modelling and valuation approaches and formulate an ecosystem-based integrated redevelopment workflow applied to the assessment of Brownfield redevelopment options.

Mapping the functional connectivity of ecosystem services supply across a regional landscape

“…A recent review of studies that have modelled interactions between multiple ES found that a large proportion did so from the perspective of co-occurring production synergies and trade-offs, but that the examination of flows, and the identification and quantification of explicit functional relationships remain largely unexplored (Agudelo et al 2020). Ultimately, simultaneously modelling multiple ES continues to be difficult in part because of methodological inadequacies and the complexity of the ecological processes involved (Kolosz et al 2018). Our approach provides a new framework that can help address these challenges.…”

“…Therefore, we are limited in the generalizations we can make, especially as they pertain to the specific locations, LULC- and ecosystem-relevance of the potential for connectivity ‘hotspots’. Investigating a limited number of ES is common among studies that model interactions among ES (Agudelo et al 2020), with data limitations, complexity of socio-ecological process involved, and methodological gaps cited as barriers to inclusion of all ES (Kolosz et al 2018). However, our choice to test only three ES was motivated by our goal to provide a straightforward case study of how each of the three broad ES categories (i.e., non ‘supporting’; MEA 2005) can be represented in the same study.…”

“…In spite of the growing knowledge around the complex interactions and feedbacks between ES and the related suite of biotic and abiotic mechanisms and the cruciality of incorporating this into decision-making (Qiu and Turner 2013, Dee et al 2017), spatial modelling of the diverse functional connections between multiple ES (e.g., Cui et al 2012, Kolosz et al 2018, Agudelo et al 2020) from several broad ES categories at the regional scale remains limited (Field et al 2017). Several approaches used in ecological connectivity studies to identify potential spatial linkages across a landscape are promising in their applicability multi-ES assessment.…”

Upcoming Challenges in Land Use Science—An International Perspective

“…There is often no real valid relation between spot-oriented sampling or monitoring regarding up-scaling approaches to regional or global scales, but vice versa, also no real attempts to down-scale and validate outcomes from global assessments and modelling approaches with regard to their local reliability (e.g. Kolosz et al 2018;Le Clec'h et al 2018;Malenovský et al 2019). Most of the modelling approaches in land use sciences are purely data driven and miss making use of such theoretical frameworks as provided by the socialecological system concept (Colding and Barthel 2019).…”

Sequestering Atmospheric CO2 Inorganically: A Solution for Malaysia’s CO2 Emission

“…In addition, based on another laboratory study, Kim and Lee [81] observed maximum CO 2 sequestration capacity of 195 kg for one tonne of bottom ash. If the 6.8 and 1.7 million tonnes of fly and bottom ashes, respectively, being produced annually in Malaysia [73] would be used for the first 10 cm of land associated with the country's future developments (e.g., using lands associated with construction of highway [14,82]), more than 9000 ha of land could be designed for inorganic CO 2 sequestration, and 500,000 tonnes of CO 2 could be captured. This figure accounts for 0.2% of the country's projected total CO 2 emission in 2020.…”