Valuation of Ecosystem Services

Valuation of Ecosystem Services

A framework for ecosystem services valuation.

In the recent article, “Managing Invasive Aquatic Plants in a Changing System: Strategic Consideration of Ecosystem Services,” Hershner and Havens (2008) reject the need to manage certain aquatic plant invaders. The authors claim that Phragmites australis invasion is acceptable because it provides three ecosystem services: habitat, soil stabilization, and nutrient uptake and retention. We stron...

Non-monetary techniques for the valuation of ecosystem services

Non-monetary approaches can be applied in various stages of ecosystem planning and management, e.g. in problem framing, mapping, valuation, and decision making. They examine the importance, preferences, needs or demands expressed by people towards nature, and articulate plural values through different qualitative and quantitative measures other than money (Chan et al., 2012). They can grasp the...

A framework for the social valuation of ecosystem services.

Methods to assess ecosystem services using ecological or economic approaches are considerably better defined than methods for the social approach. To identify why the social approach remains unclear, we reviewed current trends in the literature. We found two main reasons: (i) the cultural ecosystem services are usually used to represent the whole social approach, and (ii) the economic valuation...

Ecosystem services and valuation of urban forests in China

Urban forests are integral components of urban ecosystems, which could generate significant ecosystem services, such as offsetting carbon emission, removing air pollutants, regulating the microclimate, and recreation. These ecosystem services contribute to improving environmental quality, quality of life, and sustainable urban development. Despite a long history of inserting vegetation in human...