Using ecological production functions to link ecological processes to ecosystem services

Bruins, Randall; Canfield, Timothy J.; Duke, Clifford S.; Kapustka, Lawrence A.; Nahlik, Amanda M.; Schäfer, Ralf B.

doi:10.1002/ieam.1842

Cited by 45 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…In the past decade, we have made progress on categorizing the link between ecosystem characteristics and final services, but quantification remains elusive due to disciplinary confusion on EPFs (U.S. National Research Council , U.S. Environmental Protection Agency , Bruins et al. ). From our experience, the primary problem is the lack of clarity among ecologists on: what is a production function.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Quantifying multiple ecosystem services for adaptive management of green infrastructure

et al. 2018

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Demands for ecosystem service assessments are growing around the world. However, management applications remain limited in part because we lack measurements linking ecosystem characteristics (ecosystem structure and processes) to final ecosystem services. Policymakers need marginal values, changes in final ecosystem services (direct link to human welfare) relative to additional units of ecosystem characteristics (∆final ecosystem services/∆ecosystem characteristics) to assess tradeoffs. Progress, however, has been slow due to confusion on ecological production functions (EPFs) in ecology. Here, we apply a new interdisciplinary approach to craft EPFs to evaluate four ecosystem services using the Yongding River Green Ecological Corridor as our case study. The Yongding Corridor is Beijing's largest, most expensive green infrastructure project (~ $2.5 billion USD), constructed as a network of seven artificial lakes and wetlands. The Beijing Government wants the Yongding Corridor to improve four ecosystem services: (1) water storage, (2) local climate regulation, (3) water purification, and (4) aesthetics. We first worked with stakeholders to determine final ecosystem service levels and then used the Variable Infiltration Capacity model to estimate key ecosystem processes from the designed lakes and wetlands. We coupled the modeling with ecological field data and social surveys to create EPFs. We evaluated the ecosystem services by calculating shortfalls and then determined synergies and tradeoffs to identify actions for reducing shortfalls. We found the Yongding Corridor is meeting desired levels for aesthetics, but incurred shortfalls on the remaining services. To obtain the desired services, we recommend managers: (1) maintain inflow rates and/or make the lakes deeper to reduce water loss rates; (2) improve water quality—wetlands have high nutrient retention, but nutrient loads must be reduced; and (3) plant shade trees since evaporative cooling from the lakes and wetlands is having no measurable impact on human comfort. Results indicate the absence of ecosystem functions in landscape design led to shortfalls, but solutions require coupling green and built infrastructure to obtain multi‐functionality. Managers found marginal values useful for clarifying connections, which led to adaptive policy changes for improving green infrastructure.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Currently, natural scientists are classifying any biophysical model as an EPF (Bruins et al. , Bell et al. ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying multiple ecosystem services for adaptive management of green infrastructure

et al. 2018

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“…An EPF is an expression of the processes by which ecosystems produce ecosystem services (Bruins et al. ). The final module of the STEPS Framework is the Final Ecosystem Services Module, which links the identified ecological endpoints with specific types of human groups who use or value the resource (e.g., beneficiary groups).…”

Section: Steps Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The EPF Module is the core of the STEPS Framework as it identifies the series of cause-and-effect relationships that link each biological indicator of a stressor ❖ www.esajournals.org to ecological endpoints that are directly used, appreciated, or valued by humans. An EPF is an expression of the processes by which ecosystems produce ecosystem services (Bruins et al 2017). The final module of the STEPS Framework is the Final Ecosystem Services Module, which links the identified ecological endpoints with specific types of human groups who use or value the resource (e.g., beneficiary groups).…”

Section: Steps Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

A framework to quantify the strength of ecological links between an environmental stressor and final ecosystem services

et al. 2017

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Abstract. Anthropogenic stressors such as climate change, increased fire frequency, and pollution drive shifts in ecosystem function and resilience. Scientists generally rely on biological indicators of these stressors to signal that ecosystem conditions have been altered. However, these biological indicators are not always capable of being directly related to ecosystem components that provide benefits to humans and/or can be used to evaluate the cost-benefit of a change in health of the component (ecosystem services). Therefore, we developed the STEPS (Stressor-Ecological Production function-final ecosystem Services) Framework to link changes in a biological indicator of a stressor to final ecosystem services. The STEPS Framework produces "chains" of ecological components that explore the breadth of impacts resulting from the change in a stressor. Chains are comprised of the biological indicator, the ecological production function (EPF, which uses ecological components to link the biological indicator to a final ecosystem service), and the user group who directly uses, appreciates, or values the component. The framework uses a qualitative score (high, medium, low) to describe the strength of science (SOS) for the relationship between each component in the EPF. We tested the STEPS Framework within a workshop setting using the exceedance of critical loads of air pollution as a model stressor and the Final Ecosystem Goods and Services Classification System (FEGS-CS) to describe final ecosystem services. We identified chains for four modes of ecological response to deposition: aquatic acidification, aquatic eutrophication, terrestrial acidification, and terrestrial eutrophication. The workshop participants identified 183 unique EPFs linking a change in a biological indicator to a FEGS; when accounting for the multiple beneficiaries, we ended with 1104 chains. The SOS scores were effective in identifying chains with the highest confidence ranking as well as those where more research is needed. The STEPS Framework could be adapted to any system in which a stressor is modifying a biological component. The results of the analysis can be used by the social science community to apply valuation measures to multiple or selected chains, providing a comprehensive analysis of the effects of anthropogenic stressors on measures of human well-being.

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“…Solutions to environmental problems can be extremely costly in terms of infrastructure, monitoring, enforcement, and more. While costs are often relatively easy to measure, particularly if they involve installation and maintenance of technological solutions, benefits can be difficult to predict and measure, both from the biophysical side and in terms of economic values (Bruins et al 2017, Iovanna and Griffiths 2006, Kline et al 2013). …”

Section: Best Practices For Applied Economic Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Application and Usefulness of Economic Analyses for Water Quality Management in Coastal Areas

Jewhurst¹,

Mulvaney²,

Mazzotta³

2017

Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics

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Economic studies are increasingly sought as tools to contribute to water quality management in estuaries and coastal communities, yet little is known about how the results from existing studies have been received and utilized by the organizations who solicited them. We interviewed managers from eight organizations who solicited economic studies over the past 15 years to understand how useful the studies were to their organizations and what economic research would be most helpful for their management needs. In terms of utility for coastal managers, there are a number of limitations in the studies. These include lack of site-specific data, the high cost of thorough studies, the appropriate application of methods, and receiving highly technical information that can be difficult to translate to the appropriate stakeholder audiences. Despite these drawbacks, we found the managers to be extremely positive about the usefulness of the economic studies, but in need of more research and localized data. Managers who embark upon economic analyses should take care to engage trained economists who can identify and implement appropriate methodologies to answer management questions, and who can help managers to interpret and communicate the findings. The coastal managers also identified specific areas of research that are most salient for their programs. These range from broad applications of economic analysis as a communication tool, to specific applications such as costeffectiveness analyses of management actions. Overall, the interviews revealed great interest and utility in economic analyses, and also opportunities for conducting specific economic analyses to improve coastal decision making.

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Using ecological production functions to link ecological processes to ecosystem services

Cited by 45 publications

References 70 publications

Quantifying multiple ecosystem services for adaptive management of green infrastructure

Quantifying multiple ecosystem services for adaptive management of green infrastructure

A framework to quantify the strength of ecological links between an environmental stressor and final ecosystem services

The Application and Usefulness of Economic Analyses for Water Quality Management in Coastal Areas

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