Ecosystem services are the benefits people obtain from ecosystems. Ecosystem service valuation (ESV) is the process of assessing the contributions of ecosystem services to human well-being. Its goal is to express the effects of changes in ecosystem services in terms of trade-offs against other things that also support human welfare. Ecologists tend to use biophysical-based methods while economists have developed preference-based tools for ESV. In this dissertation I attempt to bridge these two worlds by writing six papers using methods and insights from both disciplines. In paper 1, my coauthors and I (thereafter “we”) reviewed (1) what has been done in ESV research in the last 45 years; (2) how it has been used in ecosystem management; and (3) prospects for the future. One conclusion is that researchers and practitioners will have to transcend disciplinary boundaries and synthesize methodologies and tools from various disciplines in order to meet the challenge of ecosystem service valuation and management. Ninety-four peer-reviewed environmental economic studies were used to value ecosystem services in the State of New Jersey in paper 2. We translated each benefit estimate into 2004 US dollars per acre per year, computed the average value for a given eco-service for a given ecosystem type, and multiplied the average by the total statewide acreage for that ecosystem. The total value of these ecosystem services was estimated as $11.6 billion/year and we believe that this result is conservative. This aggregate value of New Jersey’s ecosystem services is a useful, albeit imperfect, basis for assessing and comparing these services with conventional economic goods and services. In paper 3 we present a conceptual framework for non-market valuation of ecosystem services provided by coastal and marine systems and review the peer-reviewed literature in this area. Next we selected a subset of this literature and conducted the first meta-analysis of the ecosystem service values provided by the costal and nearshore marine systems in paper 4. Using regression we found that over 75% of the variation in willingness to pay (WTP) for coastal ecosystem services could be explained. Our metaregression models also predicted out-of-sample WTPs and showed that the overall average transfer error was 24%, with 40% of the sample having transfer errors of 10% or less, and only 2.5% of predictions having transfer errors of over 100%. In the final two papers our focus is on the linkage between biodiversity and ecosystem function (BEF) which connects ecosystems with human welfare. In paper 5 we first present an overview of the main concepts and findings from a decade of the BEF literature. After a discussion on how agrobiodiversity relates to stability and resilience in agricultural systems at both the species and the landscape scales, we conclude with observations on the research needs in assessing the BEF relationship and the implications for agrobiodiversity ESV research. Finally, in paper 6, by using multiple regression analysis at the site and ecoregion scales in North America, we estimated relationships between biodiversity (using plant species richness as a proxy) and Net Primary Production (NPP, as a proxy for ecosystem services). We tentatively conclude that a 1% change in biodiversity in the high temperature range (which includes most of the world’s biodiversity) corresponds to approximately a 1/2% change in the value estimate of ecosystem services.

Coastal ecosystems, such as the salt marsh of the Georgia coast, have long been valued for decision-making purposes based on market-values of goods and services including: fishery landings, hedonic pricing of waterfront homes, and tourism dollars. These values do not show the full picture of services provided by these ecosystems. Using focus group discussions and key informant interviews I investigate socio-cultural values and benefits provided by salt marsh ecosystems in central coastal Georgia. Participants noted that through their experiences in marshes they developed a desire to be stewards. This desire, coupled with the industrial pollution, residential development, and sea-level rise threats in the area result in a need for cooperative conservation and thus better enforcement of existing regulations. This relational value persisted across geographic locations and sample populations. My results show the importance of utilizing diverse members of community to elicit qualitative value statements. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Human reliance on the goods and services provided by ecosystems and the global decline in the health of many of these ecosystems, necessitates ecosystem valuation for the purposes of decision-making and conservation policy. The literature suggests that conventionally employed economic valuation methods have been unsuccessful in capturing the full scope of the benefits ecosystems provide, particularly those benefits that are considered cultural. This research explores public perceptions of salt marsh value through the use of focus groups in marsh-adjacent communities in Massachusetts, Virginia, and Georgia. Results suggest that in case study communities, outdoor experiences in salt marshes inspire serenity in Massachusetts, shape shore and “marsh” identities in Virginia, and promote stewardship cultivation in Georgia. Perceived threats to these benefits, such as the threat of residential development, industrial pollution, and increasing flood risk, together constitute the context for various community responses related to marsh protection. Results contribute to existing economic valuations. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

The thesis explores how monetisation of corporate externalities, can be carried out in order to provide investors, policy makers and consumers with accurate pictures of the true costs and benefits of business operations from a resilience and ecosystem services perspective. By drawing conclusions from company cases, and previous research – methods, drivers and monetary values of impacts such as carbon dioxide, water usage, pollutants and land use are analysed. The findings reflect opportunities that open up with monetisation, in terms of tools for guidance and support in internal corporate decision making, by making the actual impacts visualised and understandable. Findings from company cases, show that monetisation of corporate effects has potential to contribute to visualising impacts – and add knowledge that may close information gaps internally as well as externally. It can guide and facilitate strategic choices at corporate level. It may also have a role in bridging information asymmetries in the picture of a firm’s operation, to consumers and investors. Monetising effects may facilitate identification of risks arising from ecosystem services dependencies, visualising the actual impacts by, assed costs in losses in ecosystems’ production (yields e.g.) caused by corporate harm.Providing relevant information to policy makers, on obstacles and where regulative incentives are needed, and investors and consumers with guidance, monetisation of impacts potentially can play a part in bridging market information gaps toward better incentive structures and possibly facilitating effective market transformation in favor of sustainable production and consumption patterns.

Les services écosystémiques (SE) réfèrent aux bénéfices que produisent et soutiennent la biodiversité et les écosystèmes et qui profitent à l’être humain. Dans beaucoup de cas, ils ne sont pas pris en compte dans le système économique. Cette externalisation des SE engendre des décisions sur l’utilisation du territoire et des ressources naturelles qui ignorent leur contribution à la qualité de vie des communautés. Afin notamment de sensibiliser l’opinion publique à l’importance des SE et de mieux les intégrer dans les processus décisionnels, ont été développées des démarches d’évaluation économique des SE. Dans cette thèse, nous avons cherché à comprendre à la fois comment l’utilisation passée et actuelle des sols dans la région de Montréal affecte la valeur des SE et comment ces aménités naturelles sont perçues et valorisées par la population, dans une perspective d’aménagement futur du territoire. Pour ce faire, nous avons utilisé deux approches : l’analyse spatiale recourant aux systèmes d’information géographique et l’analyse des préférences exprimées par des techniques d’enquête. Pour l’analyse spatiale, nous avons combiné des analyses cartographiques à des valeurs monétaires associées aux SE publiées dans la littérature. Nous avons alors estimé la valeur des écosystèmes d’un territoire par le transfert de bénéfices, de prix de marchés directs et de coûts évités. Cette démarche nous a permis de comprendre la relation entre l’utilisation actuelle du territoire du Grand Montréal écologique et la valeur des services fournis par les écosystèmes, que nous avons estimée à 2,2 milliards de dollars par année. Elle nous a permis aussi de mesurer les effets sur la valeur des SE du changement d’utilisation des sols entre les années 1960 et 2010. Nous avons montré que malgré différentes politiques de contrôle et d’encadrement de l’étalement urbain au cours de cette période, les pertes économiques non marchandes liées aux SE s’élèvent à 236 millions de dollars par année. Pour l’analyse des préférences exprimées, nous avons utlilisé deux méthodes, l’évaluation contingente et le choix multi-attributs, avec l’objectif de mesurer le consentement à payer de répondants pour des variations dans l’aménagement du territoire. Nous avons montré d’une part que les répondants valorisent significativement l’incidence des pratiques agro-environnementales sur la qualité de l’environnement et des paysages en consentant à payer entre 159 et 333 dollars par ménage par année pour une amélioration de la diversité du paysage agricole. D’autre part, leur volonté à payer pour l’amélioration de l’état des milieux humides du Québec est estimée entre 389 et 455 dollars par ménage par année. L’utilisation conjointe des deux méthodes nous a permis d’en comparer les résultats. Nous avons en outre démontré que le choix du format de question de valorisation de l’évaluation contingente affecte la convergence des résultats. Enfin, nous avons proposé des pistes de recherches futures portant sur l’intégration des démarches d’analyse biophysique, économique et politique dans des outils de prise de décision mieux adaptés à la dynamique des écosystèmes, de la biodiversité et des communautés humaines. / Ecosystem services (ES) refer to benefits produced and sustained by biodiversity and ecosystems that benefit humans. In many cases, they are not considered in the economic system. This externalization of SE generates decisions on land use and natural resources that ignore their contribution to the well-being of communities. In order to raise awareness of the importance of ES and better integrate them into decision-making processes, economic approaches to value ES have been developed. In this thesis, we sought to understand both how the past and current land use in the Montreal area affects the value of ES and how these natural amenities are perceived and valued by the population in a future planning and management perspective. To accomplish this, we used two approaches: spatial analysis using geographic information systems and analysis of stated preferences by survey techniques. In the spatial analysis approach, we combined cartographic analyzes to monetary values associated to ES published in the literature. We then estimated the value of ecosystems using benefit transfer, direct market prices and avoided costs methods. This approach has allowed us to understand the relationship between the current land use in the Greater Montreal and the economic value of the services provided by ecosystems, which we estimated at 2.2 billion dollars per year. It also allowed us to estimate the effects of land use changes between 1960 and 2010 on the value of ES. We showed that despite different land use planning policies implemented to manage urban sprawl during this period, non-market economic losses related to ES have reached 236 million dollars per year. In the stated preferences approach, we used two methods, contingent valuation and choice experiment, with the aim of measuring the willingness to pay of respondents for proposed changes in their environment. In a first study, we showed that respondents significantly value the impact of agri-environmental practices on the quality of the environment and landscapes and are willing to pay between 159 and 333 dollars per household per year on improving the diversity of agricultural landscape. In a second study, their willingness to pay on improving the status of wetlands in Quebec is estimated at between 389 and 455 dollars per household per year. The combined use of the two methods allowed us to compare the results. We also demonstrated that the choice of valuation question format in contingent valuation affects the convergence of the results. Finally, we propose directions for future research related to the integration of ecological, economic and political analyzes of ES that would lead to better assessments of the dynamics of ecosystems, biodiversity and human communities.

As competing uses of our coastlines increase, natural resource agencies are employing marine spatial planning (MSP) to designate areas for different uses or activities in order to reduce conflicts while achieving ecological, economic and social objectives. A central challenge of implementing MSP is development of a rigorous approach for analyzing tradeoffs across the provision of ecosystem services (i.e., the benefits humans receive from nature). This study develops an operational approach to this problem that is founded on community-based methods, ecological production theory, and multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA). The approach merges ecological models with surveys to identify marine ecosystem services for use in tradeoff analysis. The approach allows for a single set of marine ecosystem services to at once be valued by local stakeholders and measured by biologists, thus connecting social and biological monitoring efforts. To develop the approach in a real-world context, I examined ecosystem services associated with nearshore marine ecosystems in Oregon, where marine reserves are being introduced for biodiversity conservation. I worked with stakeholder focus groups in three Oregon communities to identify 24 marine ecosystem services. I then linked the ecosystem services with ecological indicators, which I then consolidated to derive 11 items for use in a survey-based tradeoff analysis exercise. I administered the survey to a nonrandom sample of stakeholders in Oregon (n=31), from which their relative preferences and preference weights for ecosystem services were derived. The weights and preference measures may then be used in MSP decision-making. Furthermore, I grouped the stakeholder survey data in three ways: by location of residence (coastal vs. non-coastal), by eight categories of affiliation (e.g., business owners, conservationists, commercial and recreational fishers, etc.), and by resource use patterns. I then analyzed the various groupings of stakeholders for within- and between-group homogeneity of preferences. Results of the analyses showed that there are statistically significant variations in preferences within and between most groupings. Capturing the variations in stakeholder preferences is important when developing policies that affect different stakeholder groups. Thus, when implementing the survey instrument, I suggest random sampling of stakeholders stratified by location, affiliation, and resource use. This study provides one of the first examples of a systems-based approach to ecosystem service valuation operationalized to inform MSP, and novel features of the approach have a number of implications for advancing marine research and management. First, by using stakeholders to identify ecosystem services, the approach allows for a tailored implementation of ecosystem-based management at the community level. Second, by integrating ecological and economic information on the provision and value of ecosystem services, the approach provides relevant data for MSP decision-making during the siting, evaluation, and monitoring stages. And third, by applying both stated-preference and MCDA methods, the approach may capture the array of values represented by diverse stakeholder groups. / Graduation date: 2013