Is ecosystem service research used by decision-makers? A case study of the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia

2014 ◽  
Vol 29 (8) ◽  
pp. 1447-1460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darla Hatton MacDonald ◽  
Rosalind H. Bark ◽  
Anthea Coggan
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Service Research ◽  
Murray Darling Basin

scholarly journals Blind spots in ecosystem services research and implementation

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sven Lautenbach ◽  
Anne-Christine Mupepele ◽  
Carsten F Dormann ◽  
Heera Lee ◽  
Stefan Schmidt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Individual Case ◽  
Service Research ◽  
Services Research ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Study Results

Ecosystem service research has gained attraction, and the topic is also high on the policy agenda. Projects such as TEEB have generalized results of individual case studies to provide guidelines for policy makers and stakeholders. Seppelt et al. (2011) raised critical questions about four facets that characterize the holistic ideal of ecosystem services research: (i) biophysical realism of ecosystem data and models; (ii) consideration of trade-offs between ecosystem services; (iii) recognition of off-site effects; and (iv) comprehensive but shrewd involvement of stakeholders within assessment studies. An extended and updated analysis of ecosystem service case studies showed that the majority of these facets were still not addressed by the majority of case studies. Whilst most indicators did not improve within the span analyzed (1996-2013), we found a tendency for an increasing geographical spread of the case studies. Moreover, we incorporated an additional facet, namely the relevance and usability of case study results for the operationalization of the ecosystem service concept. Only a minority of studies addressed this facet sufficiently with no significant trend for improvement over time.

Assessment of Karst Regional Ecosystem Service Functions Based on Land Use Change: A Case Study in Guizhou, China*

2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 174-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chuanyan ZHOU ◽  
Xun CHEN ◽  
Xiaoling LIU ◽  
Weiquan ZHAO ◽  
Kun LI ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Use Change ◽  
Ecosystem Service

scholarly journals Exploring the Use of Ecosystem Services Conceptual Models to Account for the Benefits of Public Lands: An Example from National Forest Planning in the United States

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 267
Author(s):  
Lydia Olander ◽  
Katie Warnell ◽  
Travis Warziniack ◽  
Zoe Ghali ◽  
Chris Miller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Public Lands ◽  
The United States ◽  
Forest Planning ◽  
National Forest ◽  
Planning Team ◽  
National Forest Planning

A shared understanding of the benefits and tradeoffs to people from alternative land management strategies is critical to successful decision-making for managing public lands and fostering shared stewardship. This study describes an approach for identifying and monitoring the types of resource benefits and tradeoffs considered in National Forest planning in the United States under the 2012 Planning Rule and demonstrates the use of tools for conceptualizing the production of ecosystem services and benefits from alternative land management strategies. Efforts to apply these tools through workshops and engagement exercises provide opportunities to explore and highlight measures, indicators, and data sources for characterizing benefits and tradeoffs in collaborative environments involving interdisciplinary planning teams. Conceptual modeling tools are applied to a case study examining the social and economic benefits of recreation on the Ashley National Forest. The case study illustrates how these types of tools facilitate dialog for planning teams to discuss alternatives and key ecosystem service outcomes, create easy to interpret visuals that map details in plans, and provide a basis for selecting ecosystem service (socio-economic) metrics. These metrics can be used to enhance environmental impact analysis, and help satisfy the goals of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the 2012 Planning Rule, and shared stewardship initiatives. The systematic consideration of ecosystem services outcomes and metrics supported by this approach enhanced dialog between members of the Forest planning team, allowed for a more transparent process in identification of key linkages and outcomes, and identified impacts and outcomes that may not have been apparent to the sociologist who is lacking the resource specific expertise of these participants. As a result, the use of the Ecosystem Service Conceptual Model (ESCM) process may result in reduced time for internal reviews and greater comprehension of anticipated outcomes and impacts of proposed management in the plan revision Environmental Impact Statement amongst the planning team.

scholarly journals Integrated Impact Assessment for Sustainable Hydropower Planning in the Vjosa Catchment (Greece, Albania)

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1514
Author(s):  
Rebecca Peters ◽  
Jürgen Berlekamp ◽  
Ana Lucía ◽  
Vittoria Stefani ◽  
Klement Tockner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Catchment Scale ◽  
Northern Greece ◽  
Hydropower Plants ◽  
Hydropower Planning

Mitigating climate change, while human population and economy are growing globally, requires a bold shift to renewable energy sources. Among renewables, hydropower is currently the most economic and efficient technique. However, due to a lack of impact assessments at the catchment scale in the planning process, the construction of hydropower plants (HPP) may have unexpected ecological, socioeconomic, and political ramifications in the short and in the long term. The Vjosa River, draining parts of Northern Greece and Albania, is one of the few predominantly free-flowing rivers left in Europe; at the same time its catchment is identified an important resource for future hydropower development. While current hydropower plants are located along tributaries, planned HPP would highly impact the free-flowing main stem. Taking the Vjosa catchment as a case study, the aim of this study was to develop a transferable impact assessment that ranks potential hydropower sites according to their projected impacts on a catchment scale. Therefore, we integrated established ecological, social, and economic indicators for all HPP planned in the river catchment, while considering their capacity, and developed a ranking method based on impact categories. For the Vjosa catchment, ten hydropower sites were ranked as very harmful to the environment as well as to society. A sensitivity analysis revealed that this ranking is dependent upon the selection of indicators. Small HPP showed higher cumulative impacts than large HPP, when normalized to capacity. This study empowers decision-makers to compare both the ranked impacts and the generated energy of planned dam projects at the catchment scale.

scholarly journals Boundaries Between Research Ethics and Ethical Research Use in Artificial Intelligence Health Research

2021 ◽  
pp. 155626462110027
Author(s):  
Gabrielle Samuel ◽  
Jenn Chubb ◽  
Gemma Derrick
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Health Research ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Societal Impact ◽  
The Past ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Responsible Research ◽  
Past Half

The governance of ethically acceptable research in higher education institutions has been under scrutiny over the past half a century. Concomitantly, recently, decision makers have required researchers to acknowledge the societal impact of their research, as well as anticipate and respond to ethical dimensions of this societal impact through responsible research and innovation principles. Using artificial intelligence population health research in the United Kingdom and Canada as a case study, we combine a mapping study of journal publications with 18 interviews with researchers to explore how the ethical dimensions associated with this societal impact are incorporated into research agendas. Researchers separated the ethical responsibility of their research with its societal impact. We discuss the implications for both researchers and actors across the Ethics Ecosystem.

Do different types of organizational trust matter to employees’ commitment? A case study from Oman

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Moaz Gharib ◽  
Kamaal Allil ◽  
Omar Durrah ◽  
Mohammed Alsatouf
Keyword(s):  
Online Survey ◽  
Employee Commitment ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Design Strategies ◽  
Food Sector ◽  
Final Sample ◽  
Organisational Trust ◽  
Positive Effect ◽  
Practical Implications

PURPOSE: Trust is vital to all positive relationships. This empirical study explores the effect of three facets of organisational trust (trust in supervisors, in co-workers and in the organisation) on employee commitment in Salalah Mills Co. in the food industry in the Sultanate of Oman. METHODOLOGY: Data were collected via an online survey sent to all employees working in Salalah Mills Co., Oman. The final sample consisting of 102 responses with a response rate of 54 percent were analysed using multiple regression analysis. RESULTS: The findings revealed that two facets of organisational trust (trust in co-workers and trust in supervisors) were found to have a significant positive effect on employee commitment, while trust in the organisation was found to have no significant effect. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Trust in supervisors and trust in co-workers directly affect employee commitment. Therefore, managers should consider promoting both of these forms of trust to enhance employee commitment. VALUE: Although previous studies have examined the link between organisational trust and employee commitment, a focus on Oman and the food sector has been particularly rare, so this study offers new insights. The findings will help decision-makers on design strategies and policies to improve employee commitment through trust.

scholarly journals The current and future uses of machine learning in ecosystem service research

2021 ◽  
pp. 149263
Author(s):  
Matthew Scowen ◽  
Ioannis N. Athanasiadis ◽  
James M. Bullock ◽  
Felix Eigenbrod ◽  
Simon Willcock
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Service Research

scholarly journals Conformity of the NASADEM_HGT and ALOS AW3D30 DEM with the Altitude from the Brazilian Geodetic Reference Stations: A Case Study from Brazilian Cerrado

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (9) ◽  
pp. 2935
Author(s):  
Giovana Maranhão Bettiol ◽  
Manuel Eduardo Ferreira ◽  
Luiz Pacheco Motta ◽  
Édipo Henrique Cremon ◽  
Edson Eyji Sano
Keyword(s):  
Decision Makers ◽  
Surface Model ◽  
Brazilian Cerrado ◽  
Digital Elevation ◽  
Class B ◽  
Crucial Information ◽  
Error Standard Deviation ◽  
Elevation Model ◽  
Main Region

The Brazilian Cerrado (tropical savanna) is the second largest biome in South America and the main region in the country for agricultural production. Altitude is crucial information for decision-makers and planners since it is directly related to temperature that conditions, for example, the climatic risk of rainfed crop plantations. This study analyzes the conformity of two freely available digital elevation models (DEMs), the NASADEM Merged Digital Elevation Model Global 1 arc second (NASADEM_HGT) version 1 and the Advanced Land Observing Satellite Global Digital Surface Model (ALOS AW3D30), version 3.1, with the altitudes provided by 1695 reference stations of the Brazilian Geodetic System. Both models were evaluated based on the parameters recommended in the Brazilian Cartographic Accuracy Standard for Digital Cartographic Products (PEC-PCD), which defines error tolerances according to eight different scales (from 1:1000 to 1:250,000) and classes A (most strict tolerance, for example, 0.17 m for 1:1000 scale), B, C, and D (least strict tolerance, for example, 50 m for 1:250,000 scale). Considering the class A, the NASADEM_HGT meets 1:250,000 and lower scales, while AW3D30 meets 1:100,000 and lower scales; for class B, NASADEM_HGT meets 1:100,000 scale and AW3D30 meets 1:50,000. AW3D30 presented lower values of root mean square error, standard deviation, and bias, indicating that it presents higher accuracy in relation to the NASADEM_HGT. Within eight of Cerrado’s municipalities with the highest grain production, the differences between average altitudes, measured by the Cohen’s effect size, were statistically insignificant. The results obtained by the PEC-PCD for the Cerrado biome indicate that both models can be employed in different DEM-dependent applications over this biome.

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