Measuring and managing ecosystem goods and services in changing landscapes: a south-east Australian perspective

Participatory assessment and mapping of ecosystem services in a data-poor region: Case study of community-managed forests in central Nepal

“…For example, participatory approaches and expert opinion can provide rapid ES assessment but the accuracy and reproducibility of results may be lower (Krueger et al, 2012;Jacobs et al, 2015). In contrast, on-site measurement and mapping may be more accurate but it takes more time and resources (Baral et al, 2014c). In data-poor regions such as Nepal, participatory approaches are preferred as they do not require a substantial amount of expensive biophysical data (Baral et al, 2014c;van Oort et al, in this issue), and they can be applied rapidly.…”

“…In contrast, on-site measurement and mapping may be more accurate but it takes more time and resources (Baral et al, 2014c). In data-poor regions such as Nepal, participatory approaches are preferred as they do not require a substantial amount of expensive biophysical data (Baral et al, 2014c;van Oort et al, in this issue), and they can be applied rapidly. Local situations are often better understood by local people than by outside experts (Nightingale, 2005;Ojha et al, 2009) and their perceptions of the value of different ES are critical for future management (Paruelo, 2012;van Oort et al, in this issue).…”

“…Spatial information on the local uses and perceptions of ES can improve landscape planning and management within rapidly changing landscapes (Abram et al, 2014;Baral et al, 2014c), and a wide range of methods and tools have been utilised to assess ES. These include: biophysical and environmental models (Bryan et al, 2010;Crossman et al, 2012); expert opinion or professional judgment (Burkhard et al, 2010a(Burkhard et al, , 2010bVihervaara et al, 2010;Yapp et al, 2010; users perception (e.g., Smith and Sullivan, 2014) or social and community values (Raymond et al, 2009;Sherrouse et al, 2011;van Oort et al, in this issue); participatory approaches (Fagerholm et al, 2012;Palomo et al, 2013); visual knowledge by repeat photography (Garrard et al, 2012;Niraula et al, 2013;Webb et al, 2010); participatory geographical information system (PGIS) tools (Baral, 2008;Brown, 2013;Brown and Donovan, 2014;Brown et al, 2012;Sieber, 2006); and remote sensing and GIS tools (Baral et al, 2014b;Frank et al, 2012;Vihervaara et al, 2012).…”

Anthropogenic Decline of Ecosystem Services Threatens the Integrity of the Unique Hyrcanian (Caspian) Forests in Northern Iran

“…Although there are a variety of ways to assess ES and examine changes in these over time, financial restrictions, limited time, and lack of quantified data for conducting this study led us to apply a simple, rapid, and qualitative assessment approach [23,34]. The approach taken attempts to determine the potential capacity of a given landscape to provide a group of ES [35][36][37].…”

“…In general, they reduce the energy from wind and water, increase water filtration, conserve soil, support natural habitats for a rich biota of terrestrial and aquatic species, and resist the establishment of invasive species. However, many forested landscapes are changing rapidly in response to changes in key social and ecological drivers such as land use change and global warming [22][23][24].…”