Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Heather Tallis, Joe Fargione, Edward Game, Rob McDonald, Leandro Baumgarten, Nirmal Bhagabati, Rane Cortez, Bronson Griscom, Jonathan Higgins, Christina M. Kennedy, Joe Kiesecker, Timm Kroeger, Trina Leberer, Jennifer McGowan, Lisa Mandle, Yuta J. Masuda, Scott A. Morrison, Sally Palmer, Rebecca Shirer, Priya Shyamsundar, Nicholas H. Wolff, Hugh P. Possingham
Summary: Spatial prioritization is crucial in conservation planning but many current methods have limitations. The introduction of spatial action mapping offers a solution by providing a spatially explicit view. Through seven case examples, it is demonstrated that this method can be applied across various scales to support decision-making on conservation actions and benefits efficiently.
ANNALS OF THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Yosra Ellili-Bargaoui, Christian Walter, Blandine Lemercier, Didier Michot
Summary: This study aimed to quantitatively evaluate six soil ecosystem services (SES) using a set of indicators derived from dynamic soil and crop modelling. The results revealed that soil variability plays a crucial role in providing SES, particularly for groundwater recharge, plant biomass provision, plant water provision, and carbon sequestration. These findings highlight the importance of soil properties in influencing the provision of ecosystem services.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Ana Sofia Vaz, Francisco Amorim, Paulo Pereira, Sandra Antunes, Hugo Rebelo, Nuno Gaspar Oliveira
Summary: Securing biodiversity values alongside ecosystem services is a priority in European policy and territorial planning. The study in central Portugal identified priority conservation areas through spatial prioritization of biodiversity and literature review on ecosystem services, involving political stakeholders and expert-based field validation. Nine priority areas were selected for landscape planning and management, considering their high biodiversity values and potential for ecosystem services' supply, reflecting the goals of the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030.
LANDSCAPE AND URBAN PLANNING
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Aftab Khan, Sufyan Ullah Khan, Muhammad Abu Sufyan Ali, Arshad Ahmad Khan, Minjuan Zhao
Summary: Understanding public preferences and evaluating river basins are crucial for effective management. This study examines people's preferences and rankings of river ecosystem services based on their willingness to pay. The results show that residents at different elevations value the rehabilitation of environmental attributes differently. The findings can be used as a reference for improving deteriorated ecological quality.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Article
Environmental Studies
Charu Manivannan, Jakub Krukar, Angela Schwering
Summary: Sketch maps are widely used in studying people's perception of the environment, but research on generalization in these maps is limited. This paper identifies and classifies frequently occurring generalizations in 108 sketch maps of a small urban area. The study also evaluates the classification through inter-rater agreement, suggesting the comprehensibility and clarity of the identified generalization types. The findings provide a systematic view on the generalization in sketch maps and offer a new way of analyzing them.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Aurelie Cardona, Marc Tchamitchian, Servane Penvern, Arnaud Dufils, Stine Kramer Jacobsen, Maren Korsgaard, Mario Porcel, Weronika Swiergiel, Marco Tasin, Francois Warlop, Lene Sigsgaard
Summary: The study reveals that farmers have different perceptions and uses of functional biodiversity, including attitudes of wait-and-see, naturalist, regulation, and multifunctional. These attitudes help in designing monitoring programs tailored to various uses and targeted services.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2021)
Article
Oceanography
Marco Custodio, Ine Moulaert, Jana Asselman, Katrien van der Biest, Lennert van de Pol, Magriet Drouillon, Simon Hernandez Lucas, Sue Ellen Taelman, Gert Everaert
Summary: Involving stakeholders and incorporating their knowledge in the decision-making process is beneficial for applying the Ecosystem Services concept in managing marine activities. A stakeholder workshop was organized on the Belgian Continental Shelf to capture stakeholders' opinions on key ecosystem services and to identify the relationship between specific marine economic activities and the anticipated change in ecosystem services. The highest-ranking ecosystem services were coastal protection, biodiversity, offshore wind energy, surface for navigation, and habitat maintenance. This approach provides a baseline for establishing priorities during ecosystem services modeling and management.
OCEAN & COASTAL MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Arijit Das, Manob Das, Riya Gupta
Summary: Wetland ecosystems are highly productive and provide essential ecosystem services to humans. However, they are being degraded due to a lack of understanding of social benefits and economic values. This study compares two wetlands in Eastern India and identifies differences in ecosystem services and their perceived importance. The findings suggest the need for policy interventions and further research to ensure the sustainability of dependent communities and the ecosystem health of wetlands.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Environmental Studies
Hao Chen, Luuk Fleskens, Simon W. Moolenaar, Coen J. Ritsema, Fei Wang
Summary: This study investigated the perceptions of local stakeholders on the Grain to Green project in the Chinese Loess Plateau. The survey results showed that 72% of the stakeholders supported the current project, with government officers having the highest support rate and tourism practitioners the lowest. While stakeholders recognized the positive impacts on regulation and cultural ecosystem services, they also identified negative impacts on grain production, livestock production, water yield, and water quantity. The decision-making of farmers regarding future land restoration was found to be economically driven.
Article
Geography
Ran Zhang, Fengyun Sun, Yanan Shen, Shengjing Peng, Yue Che
Summary: This study analyzed UPBs in Shanghai's central city and found that areas with higher socioeconomic status have better access to UPBs. Specific populations such as elderly and unemployed individuals also have good UPB access, but there are inequities in UPB access for children.
Article
Ecology
Pauline Choquet, Benoit Gabrielle, Maha Chalhoub, Joel Michelin, Ophelie Sauzet, Ottone Scammacca, Patricia Garnier, Philippe C. Baveye, David Montagne
Summary: With the rapid development of models assessing and mapping ecosystem services, there is a growing need for comparative studies testing their efficiency and accuracy against field data. The representation of soils in these models is often oversimplified and remains a major source of uncertainty. The study found that process-based modeling is more effective in deep, homogeneous, and cultivated soils, while empirical modeling works better for a wider range of soils.
ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Charity Nyelele, Charles N. Kroll, David J. Nowak
Summary: This study compares different tree planting prioritization scenarios and optimal solutions, and shows that when considering multiple objectives, the choices between prioritization and optimization can differ.
URBAN FORESTRY & URBAN GREENING
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Lolita Ammann, Aliette Bosem-Baillod, Philipp W. Eckerter, Martin H. Entling, Matthias Albrecht, Felix Herzog
Summary: Predatory insects play a crucial role in natural pest control in agriculture, utilizing plant pollen or nectar as supplementary food sources. Land cover maps were effective in predicting predator abundance, particularly showing positive effects of forest edges. However, floral resource maps may not be as effective in predicting predators due to the potential importance of other resources such as overwintering sites or alternative prey. Further research is needed to enhance understanding of resource requirements beyond floral resources for aphid predators at the landscape scale.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
William de Cothi, Nils Nyberg, Eva-Maria Griesbauer, Carole Ghaname, Fiona Zisch, Julie M. Lefort, Lydia Fletcher, Coco Newton, Sophie Renaudineau, Daniel Bendor, Roddy Grieves, Eleonore Duvelle, Caswell Barry, Hugo J. Spiers
Summary: By studying the behavior of humans, rats, and simulated reinforcement learning agents, we found that they exhibit similar dynamics in spatial navigation. These findings contribute to refining navigation models and uncovering shared mechanisms underlying behavior.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Tariq Aziz
Summary: This study maps the potential and realized ecosystem services intensity of TPAs in Pakistan and examines the relationship between ecosystem services intensity and various variables. The results indicate a positive correlation between potential and realized ecosystem services, meaning that increased supply leads to more use. However, both potential and realized ecosystem services are negatively correlated with TPA size and distance from urban centers.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Review
Engineering, Environmental
Agnes Vari, Zsolt Kozma, Beata Pataki, Zsolt Jolankai, Mate Kardos, Bence Decsi, Zsolt Pinke, Geza Jolankai, Laszlo Pasztor, Sophie Conde, Gabriele Sonderegger, Balint Czucz
Summary: Riverine floods cause severe damages to human settlements and infrastructure, but ecosystems have the natural capacity to regulate floods. The flood regulating mechanisms are not consistently recognized in major ecosystem service classifications, highlighting the importance of assessing this ecosystem service for balanced landscape management.
Article
Environmental Sciences
M. van der Velde, H. Goeau, P. Bonnet, R. d'Andrimont, M. Yordanov, A. Affouard, M. Claverie, B. Czucz, N. Elvekjaer, L. Martinez-Sanchez, X. Rotllan-Puig, A. Sima, A. Verhegghen, A. Joly
Summary: We have developed a new application called Pl@ntNet Crops that can recognize 218 species of cultivated crops on geo-tagged photos. The app utilizes over 750k photos collected by Pl@ntNet users and is enriched by data from the European Union's LUCAS survey. By setting a threshold of >0.5 on the Pl@ntNet prediction probabilities, 70,170 LUCAS photos representing 101 species were added to the app with an accuracy of 0.9.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Celina Aznarez, Jens-Christian Svenning, German Taveira, Francesc Baro, Unai Pascual
Summary: Urban green and blue spaces (UGBS) play a crucial role in biodiversity conservation, but their ecological and quality impacts on urban biodiversity are not well understood. This study analyzed the predictive accuracy of urban wildness (UW) and habitat quality (HQ) spatial patterns on biodiversity in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Basque Country. The findings indicate that UW and HQ models accurately predicted urban biodiversity patterns, with peripheral UGBS showing higher UW and HQ and positively correlating with biodiversity. In contrast, smaller centrally located UGBS, more vulnerable to threats, failed to effectively support urban biodiversity. The study suggests the importance of focusing on larger centrally located UGBS with rewilding strategies and reduced exposure to threats to enhance UGBS habitat quality and support urban biodiversity.
LANDSCAPE AND URBAN PLANNING
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Fulvia Calcagni, Julia Nogue Batalle, Francesc Baro, Johannes Langemeyer
Summary: Environmental values depend on social-ecological interactions and can influence the production of biophysical ecosystems. Understanding the nuanced nature of these values is crucial for environmental science and planning. This study explores the relational values ascribed to cultural ecosystem services (CES) through analyzing both visual and textual content in social media data. The results provide valuable information for landscape planning and highlight the need for spatial, temporal, and demographic analysis, as well as machine learning techniques.
ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
(2022)
Review
Plant Sciences
Gyula Pinke, Viktoria Kapcsandi, Balint Czucz
Summary: There is a growing recognition of the importance of arable weed species in agricultural biodiversity. This study focuses on the ethnographic relevance of three selected species and explores their medicinal, ornamental, and cultural applications in Hungarian literature. The results reveal the diverse uses of these species, including medicinal purposes, ornamental value, and cultural significance in festivals, religious processions, traditional art, and poetry. The findings emphasize the need to consider the ethnobotanical and cultural embeddedness of arable weed species in conservation efforts.
Article
Development Studies
Rachel E. Bitoun, Gilbert David, Rodolphe Devillers
Summary: This study analyzes the challenges and opportunities of sustainability in three European outermost regions and proposes strategies using ecosystem services assessments to address these challenges. The study uses SWOT and PESTEL analysis, and identifies seven implementation strategies through interviews and matrix analysis. The results indicate that these strategies contribute to achieving multiple sustainable development goals.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Studies
Manuel Wolff, Dagmar Haase, Joerg Priess, Tobias Leander Hoffmann
Summary: The connectivity of green infrastructure is crucial for enhancing biodiversity in cities. Revitalising brownfields as a Nature Based Solution is being prioritised, supporting cities' goals of densification and greenery development. This paper introduces a model using Leipzig, Germany as an example to identify and prioritize the role of revitalised and existing brownfields in green infrastructure connectivity. Comparing metrics, brownfields serve as important stepping stones (13%), and revitalised brownfields significantly contribute to global connectivity (87%), similar to Leipzig's central parks. The spatial-explicit network approach presented in this paper offers a planning tool to prioritize brownfields and assess the added value of their renaturing by identifying strategic corridors, connectivity relevance, and potential alternative paths. Furthermore, the study proposes a standardized evaluation of NBS strategies using freely available software tools and high-resolution canopy data.
Article
Ecology
Grazia Zulian, Alessandra La Notte
Summary: Europe leads the tourism industry and Nature-based tourism (NBT) is a major market worldwide. Quantifying the contribution of NBT to the tourism sector is essential to understand its economic and environmental impact.
Article
Plant Sciences
Amalia Calderon-Argelich, Isabelle Anguelovski, James J. T. Connolly, Francesc Baro
Summary: Cities are increasingly adopting urban green and blue infrastructure to become more sustainable, but often overlook social and gender equity in their planning. This research focuses on Barcelona as a case study to assess how social justice and gender are operationalized in urban greening projects. The findings suggest a shift towards inclusive and gender-sensitive urban green planning practices, including incorporating inclusivity and care as guiding values, designing greenspaces for different uses and perceptions, and raising awareness among municipal staff. Practical examples of these strategies implemented in Barcelona are provided, along with discussions on challenges and limitations.
URBAN FORESTRY & URBAN GREENING
(2023)
Article
Geography
A. Viinikka, M. Tiitu, V. Heikinheimo, J. I. Halonen, E. Nyberg, K. Vierikko
Article
Environmental Studies
Celina Aznarez, Jens-Christian Svenning, Juan Pablo Pacheco, Frederik Have Kallesoe, Francesc Baro, Unai Pascual
Summary: Socio-economic and historical drivers shape urban nature distribution and characteristics, with luxury and legacy effects playing a role. Higher educational attainment positively correlated with urban biodiversity, confirming the luxury effect. Older areas had higher vegetation cover and ecosystem services (ES), evidencing a legacy effect with an inverse response on biodiversity. Habitat quality amplified the luxury effect, while population density strengthened the legacy effect.
NPJ URBAN SUSTAINABILITY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Alessandra La Notte, Sara Vallecillo, Ioanna Grammatikopoulou, Chiara Polce, Carlo Rega, Grazia Zulian, Georgia Kakoulaki, Bruna Grizzetti, Silvia Ferrini, Mayra Zurbaran-Nucci, Eduardo Garcia Bendito, Veronika Vysna, Maria Luisa Paracchini, Joachim Maes
Summary: INCA is an integrated system developed by the European Commission to implement SEEA EA. Through the compilation of ES accounts, it provides several conceptual and methodological lessons related to ES classification, flow assessment, demand identification, potential-demand matching, assessment and accounting methods.
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Agnes Vari, Eszter Tanacs, Eszter Tormane Kovacs, Agnes Kaloczkai, Ildiko Arany, Balint Czucz, Krisztina Bereczki, Marta Belenyesi, Edina Csakvari, Marton Kiss, Veronika Fabok, Livia Kisne Fodor, Peter Koncz, Robert Lehoczki, Laszlo Pasztor, Robert Pataki, Rita Rezneki, Zsuzsanna Szerenyi, Katalin Torok, Aniko Zolei, Zita Zsembery, Aniko Kovacs-Hostyanszki
Summary: Mapping and assessing ecosystem services at the national level have become a recent focus in the European Union. Hungary has completed a six-year project, presenting selected and quantified indicators for 12 ecosystem services, discussing conceptual issues, and suggesting theoretical extensions to the cascade model.
Article
Ecology
Alessandra La Notte, Balint Czucz, Sara Vallecillo, Chiara Polce, Joachim Maes
Summary: There is a linkage between the condition of ecosystems and the services they provide. The United Nations accounting framework assesses and monitors ecosystems through different sets of accounts. Concrete applications demonstrate a direct connection between ecosystem condition and ecosystem services. The paper proposes a simple procedure for linking condition and ecosystem services accounts.
Article
Ecology
Grazia Zulian, Federica Marando, Lorenzo Mentaschi, Claudia Alzetta, Bettina Wilk, Joachim Maes
Summary: This paper presents a methodology for calculating an indicator that assesses changes in vegetation cover within Urban Green Infrastructure (UGI), and applies it to European Functional Urban Areas (FUAs). The results show that vegetation cover in European cities has been relatively stable, but there is still a negative balance between greening and browning.