1,721,230 research outputs found
SEEA-EA ecosystem accounts as an opportunity for standardization of ecosystem services assessment and its intertwining with life cycle assessment
No full textDuring the last decade there has been an increasing interest in the development of national ecosystem accounts, which has led to the recent adoption of the statistical framework for Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA-EA) of the United Nations. SEEA-EA is a system composed of five types of accounts which are developed integrated: ecosystem extent, ecosystem condition, ecosystem services flow (biophysical and monetary), and monetary ecosystem asset. Its clear systems of rules and the integration of anthropocentric, ecocentric, intrinsic and utilitarian perspectives offer a great opportunity for standardization of ecosystem assessments, and ecosystem services assessments from local to international levels. In the case of anthropogenic ecosystem types, e.g., urban ecosystems, ecosystem accounts also present an opportunity window for integrating life cycle assessment (LCA) to achieve ecosystem condition accounts that take into account global and local changes. In this presentation, we introduce initial works on SEEA-EA urban ecosystem accounts for EU to
reflect on the potential value of SEEA-EA ecosystem accounts for standardisation of ecosystem services assessments. We also introduce current gaps of urban ecosystem accounts, common for other anthropogenic ecosystems, which could be minimised or tackled via the integration of life cycle assessment, especially a territorial life cycle assessment approach. As a final output, this research draw lines to integrated ecosystem services assessment guidelines, territorial life cycle assessment, and previous works on the intertwining of ES and LCA, highlighting the potential value of ecosystem accounts for
standardisation of integrated ecosystem services assessments
Identifying cause-effect links between nature-based solutions, ecosystem services and urban challenges to enhance the assessment of nature-based solutions
No full textPoster
Abstract:
The use of Nature-based Solutions (NBS) to support sustainable urban development is
increasing. However, the cause-effect relationships between NBS and their supply of
ecosystem services (ES) in order to address urban challenges (UC) are still not fully understood,
hampering the optimal plan and design of NBS. This research aims to identify cause-effect
links between different NBS, ES, and UC, thus providing a robust technical and scientific ground
for the sustainability assessment of urban NBS. First, an identification of UC was developed
through a critical review of the scientific and grey literature. Second, links between ES and UC
were established. Third, an analysis of NBS was conducted to define an operational urban NBS
typology. Finally, main biophysical factors of specific urban NBS and their related ecological
processes influencing different ES supply were identified. As a result, twelve groups of UC (e.g.
climate change; public health; water security and management) and associated ES (e.g.
regulation of temperature and humidity, filtration, sequestration and storage of pollutants by
plants) are identified. For several UC (e.g. social equity, cultural identity), the type of
implementation needs to be known before making an evaluation of NBS possible. The
proposed multi-hierarchical urban NBS typology classifies NBS in i) new biophysical features,
ii) restoration & reclamation interventions, iii) management techniques; iv) spatial levels; and
v) media. The typology facilitates the association of specific NBS types with biophysical factors
affecting the ecological processes responsible for different ES supply. The identification of
UC-ES-NBS links and their related socio-environmental factors and processes increases the
pool of knowledge on the appropriateness of different NBS to address specific UC. However,
this study also points out that further research is needed to support quantitative assessments
of urban NBS.
Keywords: Urban Challenges; Ecosystem Services; Nature-based Solutions; Cause-effect
Links; Urban Plannin
A life cycle costing approach to integrate economic valuation in modelling nature-based solutions in cities
No full textOral Presentation
Abstract:
Abstract:
Nature-based solutions (NBS) are usually described as solutions to societal challenges inspired and supported by nature, which provide social, economic, and environmental benefits. Current NBS assessment toolkits, which assess benefits in the form of ecosystem services (ES), usually do not consider the associated costs during NBS life cycles. Moreover, assessments do not consider changes in ES supply along NBS lifetime, assuming static conditions. In this paper, we present a modelling framework that integrates ES and life-cycle costing (LCC) approaches and considers dynamic conditions to overcome the above mentioned limitations. Based on the modelling framework, a pilot urban forest model is developed and tested in a case study in Madrid (Spain), providing results in biophysical and monetary units. The pilot model assesses two regulation ES classes (regulation of chemical composition of the atmosphere, regulation of temperature and humidity), one provisioning ES class (materials from cultivated plants for direct use or processing), and operational costs due to pruning and management of plant residues. The modelling framework serve as an initial basis for the integration of ES and LCC in the valuation of NBS and similar solutions.
Keywords:
Nature-based solution, Monetary valuation, Byophysical valuation, Life-cycle thinking, Urban area
A system dynamics model of urban forests to assess ES trade-offs and synergies in biophysical and monetary unit.
No full textOral Presentation
Abstract
Enhancing urban ecosystem services through the implementation of nature-based solutions
(NBS) in cities can support a further integration of environmental objectives into urban
planning. However, how to implement NBS to reduce the distance between urban planning
and practical urban sustainable management and development remains an open question. In
this study, we use a system dynamics framework to analyse the contribution of NBS,
specifically urban forests, to address environmental urban challenges. An initial model of
urban forest was developed to study i) regulation of temperature and humidity; ii) regulation of chemical conditions; and iii) provision of materials by respectively modelling changes in
physiological equivalent temperature, carbon sequestration, and exploitable above ground
biomass. The economic benefits (in terms of these services) and costs were then computed
under several management and development scenarios representing alternative management
types (i.e. trimming, harvesting) and built densities (i.e. low to high built density). As part of
the modelling framework, several other ecosystem services, biophysical indicators, and their
main socio-environmental factors and processes are identified and related to key urban
challenges. The tested model shows the potential of urban forests’ for supplying ecosystem
services and identifies different trade-offs on the regulation of chemical conditions and
temperature depending on the intensities of wood harvesting and urban conditions (e.g.
urban vs periurban), which together with the consideration of costs inform about economic
benefits or loss. The use of a system dynamics approach applied to the modelling of NBS
shows to be a valuable decision support solution to allow understanding how the concept of
ecosystem services can be valuable for the planning and management of green spaces.
Keywords: System Dynamics; MIMES; Nature-based Solutions; Ecosystem Services; Monetary
Valuatio
Dryland meta-analysis
No full textDataset accompanying the paper: Schild, J.E.M., Vermaat, J.E., de Groot, R.S., Quatrini, S., van Bodegom, P.M., 2018a. A global meta-analysis on the monetary valuation of dryland ecosystem services: The role of socioeconomic, environmental and methodological indicators. Ecosyst. Serv. 32. doi:10.1016/j.ecoser.2018.06.00
Operational challenges in EU ecosystem condition accounts: the case of urban, agricultural and marine ecosystems
No full textFollowing the amendment to the EU Regulation on environmental economic accounts, it is expected that the compilation of ecosystem conditions accounts by Member States would be a requirement in the near future. These accounts will follow the statistical framework for the System of Environmental Economic Accounting - Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA-EA) of the United Nations. However, potential operational issues of SEEA-EA, including those of specific groups of ecosystems should be solved before its practical implementation. Our presentation introduces operational challenges for anthropogenic ecosystems (urban ecosystems and agroecosystems) and marine ecosystems identified during the development of the upcoming EU Methodology. The latter is a guidance developed by the European Commission to map and assess the condition of all ecosystem types in the EU, including those not protected under EU Nature Directives. It provides an initial basis for the identification of good condition per ecosystem type, supporting restoration actions. Anthropogenic and marine ecosystems are illustrative cases of ecosystem types that do not always fulfil assumptions valid for other ecosystems, which are useful to highlight ecosystem specific issues of SEEA-EA implementation at national and EU levels. In fact, the EU Methodology represents a first
attempt to translate the concept of restoration in a harmonised method applicable to all ecosystem types, requiring to deal with a great number of challenges. For example, the difficulty of identifying suitable reference levels for anthropogenic ecosystems, or the need to guarantee the self-regenerative capacity of ecosystems, or the problem of keeping pressures originating/impacting the ecosystems into account. Some of these challenges are shared with
other ecosystem types and lines will be drawn to them. Potential solutions investigated will be also introduced. Both challenges and potential solutions will contribute as inputs for the open round table discussions anticipated in the second part of this session
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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