Unravelling the psychological processes determining landowners\' support towards forest conservation is key, particularly, in developing countries, where most forest remnants are within private lands. As human-nature connections are known to shape pro-environmental behaviors, the intention of preserving forest remnants should be ultimately determined by the ecological context people live in. Here, we investigate the pathways through which the ecological context (forest cover), via experiences with nature (contact, uses and losses associated with forests), influences the psychological determinants of conservation behavior (beliefs, attitude and intention towards preserving forest remnants). We conceptualized a model based on the Reasoned Action Approach, using the ecological context and experiences with nature as background factors, and tested the model using Piecewise SEM. Data was collected through an interview-based protocol applied to 106 landowners across 13 landscapes varying in forest cover in a region in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Our results indicate that: (i) ecosystem services are more important than disservices for shaping intention of preserving forests, particularly those related to non-provisioning benefits; (ii) contact with forest has an indirect effect on intention, by positively influencing forest uses; (iii) people living in more forested ecological contexts have more experiences with nature, and ultimately stronger intention of preserving forests. Hence, our study suggests a dangerous positive feedback loop between deforestation and the extinction of human-nature connections. Local demands across the full range of ecosystem services, the balance between services and disservices, and the ecological context people live should be considered when developing conservation initiatives in rural areas / Desvendar os processos psicológicos que determinam o apoio dos proprietários de terras à conservação das florestas é fundamental, particularmente, nos países em desenvolvimento, onde a maioria dos remanescentes florestais se encontra em áreas privadas. Como as conexões humano-natureza são conhecidas por moldar comportamentos pró-ambientais, a intenção de preservar remanescentes florestais deve ser, em última instância, determinada pelo contexto ecológico no qual as pessoas vivem. Neste trabalho, investigamos os caminhos pelos quais o contexto ecológico (cobertura florestal), através das experiências com a natureza (contato, usos e perdas associados às florestas), influencia os determinantes psicológicos do comportamento de conservação (crenças, atitude e intenção de preservar remanescentes florestais). Formulamos um modelo baseado na Abordagem da Ação Racional, usando o contexto ecológico e as experiências com a natureza como fatores de base, e o testamos através da Piecewise SEM. Os dados foram coletados através de protocolo aplicado, por meio de entrevista, a 106 proprietários de terra em 13 paisagens que variam em cobertura florestal em uma região da Mata Atlântica. Nossos resultados indicam que: (i) serviços ecossistêmicos são mais importantes que desserviços para moldar a intenção de preservar florestas, particularmente outros serviços que não os de provisão; (ii) o contato com a floresta tem um efeito indireto sobre a intenção, influenciando positivamente os usos da floresta; (iii) as pessoas que vivem em contextos ecológicos mais florestados têm mais experiências com a natureza e, assim, uma intenção mais forte de preservar as florestas. Nosso estudo, portanto, sugere um perigoso ciclo de retroalimentação positiva entre o desmatamento e a extinção das conexões humano-natureza. As demandas locais considerando toda a gama de serviços ecossistêmicos, o balanço entre serviços e desserviços e o contexto ecológico no qual as pessoas vivem devem ser considerados ao se desenvolverem iniciativas de conservação em áreas rurais

Orientador: Rozely Ferreira dos Santos / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Civil, Arquitetura e Urbanismo / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-19T19:04:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Hackbart_VivianCristinadosSantos_M.pdf: 20017417 bytes, checksum: 716e9b1efb415471b6a8e886d18181a3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / Resumo: Os serviços ecossistêmicos têm papel fundamental para a sobrevivência humana, mas são duramente atingidos por suas ações. Entre todos os serviços ecossistêmicos, os relacionados aos recursos hídricos são bastante sensíveis às perturbações causadas pelas ações humanas e representam claramente os elos de conectividade da paisagem. Nesse sentido, reconhecer as relações entre gradiente de conservação ambiental de bacias hidrográficas e a disponibilidade de serviços é fundamental para entender o ponto crítico da degradação a partir do qual as perdas seriam irreversíveis. Nessa direção, o presente trabalho teve por objetivo medir as relações entre o estado de conservação de cinco microbacias hidrográficas em diferentes fases de evolução histórica da paisagem da Ilha de São Sebastião (SP), ao longo dos corredores ecológicos, de forma a avaliar a qualidade ambiental das microbacias e seu significado para a oferta de três serviços ecossistêmicos. Foram produzidos mapas de uso da terra que serviram de base para aplicação de métricas da paisagem. Essas métricas foram relacionadas à Índices de Conservação que representaram a qualidade e quantidade de florestas em cada segmento analisado. A partir dos resultados desta etapa, foram selecionadas as métricas Tamanho médio das manchas (MPS), Média do tamanho das fronteiras (MPE), Número de manchas (NumP), Índice de Diversidade de Shannon (SDI) e Densidade de fronteiras (ED), pois foram as que melhor explicaram a variação da qualidade ambiental ao longo do gradiente de fases históricas nas microbacias. Para a identificação da qualidade dos cursos de água, foram analisados e selecionados, através da relação com o Índice de Conservação, os parâmetros químicos de qualidade de água (PQA) Carbono Orgânico Total, Nitrogênio Total Kjeldahl, Fósforo total, Turbidez, Condutividade e Zinco, por responderem melhor a degradação da qualidade ambiental. As métricas e os PQAs selecionados foram relacionados entre si e os resultados foram traduzidos em qualidade de serviços ecossistêmicos hídricos. Por fim, pode-se concluir que apesar de não ter sido encontrado uma reposta única para a relação entre parâmetros e métricas dentro do gradiente de fases das microbacias e corredores ecológicos, pode-se evidenciar a existência de um ponto crítico entre o estado de conservação ambiental e a disponibilidade de serviços ecossistêmicos voltados aos recursos hídricos / Abstract: Ecosystem services play an essential role for human survival, but are severely affected by their actions. Among all ecosystem services, those related to water resources are very sensitive to disturbances caused by human actions and they clearly represent the links of landscape connectivity. In this way, recognize relationships between the environmental conservation gradient of a watershed and the availability of services is fundamental to understand the critical point of degradation from which losses would be irreversible Thus, this study aimed to measure the relationship between the conservation status of five watersheds in different phases of historical evolution on the São Sebastião Island (SP) along its ecological corridors, in order to evaluate the watersheds environmental quality and its meaning for the provision of three ecosystem services. It was generated land use maps that served as basis for the application of landscape metrics. These metrics were related to indices of Conservation that represent the quality and quantity of forests in each segment analyzed. From the results of this step, we selected the following metrics: Mean patch size (MPS), Mean patch edge (MPE), Number of patches (NumP), Shannon's Diversity Index (SDI) and Edge Density (ED). These metrics were chosen because they better explained the variation in environmental quality along the gradient of historical phases in the watershed. To identify the watercourses quality, the chemical parameters of water quality (PQA), Total Organic Carbon, Kjeldahl Nitrogen, Total Phosphorus, Turbidity, Conductivity and Zinc, that better respond to environmental quality degradation and have a relationship with the index of Conservation were the ones selected and analyzed. The selected metrics and PQAs were related to each other and the results were translated into quality of hydric ecosystem services. Finally, one can conclude that despite it has not been found a single answer to the relationship between parameters and metrics within the gradient phase, the watersheds and ecological corridors, it is possible to show the existence of a critical point between the environmental conservation status and the availability of ecosystem services related to water resources / Mestrado / Recursos Hidricos, Energeticos e Ambientais / Mestre em Engenharia Civil

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.

Ekosystemtjänster är ekosystemens direkta och indirekta bidrag till människors välbefinnande. Ren luft, rent vatten, pollinering och biologisk mångfald är exempel på tjänster som människan är beroende av och vars värde behöver integreras i beslutsprocesser i samhällets alla olika sektioner. Kommunerna har en viktig roll i detta då de genom den fysiska planeringen har möjlighet att på lokal nivå styra utvecklingen mot mer långsiktigt hållbara lösningar. Syftet med examensarbetet var att synliggöra ekosystemtjänsterna i Knivsta kommuns grönstrukturplan och att med hjälp av ArcGIS-verktyget Matrixgreen analysera den ekologiska konnektivteten mellan de ekologiska strukturerna. En litteraturstudie lade grunden för arbetet och följdes av en workshop där viktiga ekosystemtjänster för Knivsta kommun identifierades. Utifrån den inlästa kunskapsbasen skapades ekologiska profiler där 11 av de 18 prioriterade ekosystemtjänsterna kunde kopplas till en viss biotoptyp. Biotoptypen kunde i sin tur kopplas till en biologisk art eller artgrupp, kallad profilart, med den specifika biotopen som möjlig livsmiljö. Profilartens habitatpreferenser (storlekskrav och spridningsmöjligheter) satte ramarna för hur konnektiviteten för respektive biotop skulle analyseras. Efter insamling av relevant kartunderlag skapades ekologiska nätverk i Matrixgreen. Nätverken analyserades med avseende på patchernas position i nätverket (”Betweenness Centrality”-analys) samt den totala konnektiviteten i kommunen (Komponentanalys). Gemensamt för de fyra valda biotoperna (våtmark, gräsmark, äldre barrskog och lövskog) är att de indirekt förser oss med de prioriterade stödjande ekosystemtjänsterna livsmiljöer och biologisk mångfald. De prioriterade ekosystemtjänsterna vattenrening, flödesreglering och översvämningsskydd kunde kopplas till biotopen våtmarker och material (dekorativa) och pollinering kunde kopplas till biotopen gräsmark. Till biotoperna barrskog och lövskog kunde de prioriterade ekosystemtjänsterna livsmedel (tama och vilda djur, växter), material (biomassa), bioenergi och klimatreglering kopplas. Nätverksanalyserna visar god konnektivitet i kommunen för våtmarker samt områden med äldre barrskog. För gräsmarker och lövskog är den totala konnektiviteten begränsad. Analyserna visar vidare att för respektive biotop finns ett antal områden som är extra viktiga för konnektiviteten, dessa områden har ett högt så kallat ”Betweenness Centrality”-värde. De ekologiska profiler som ligger till grund för analyserna är teoretiska profiler, inga platsbesök eller inventeringar har gjorts för att se hur verkligheten stämmer överens med teorin. De nätverk som har skapats och analyserats i detta examensarbete ska därför främst ses som en guide till var i kommunen de utvalda ekosystemtjänsterna finns. Nätverken utgör inte fullgoda livsmiljöer för de valda profilarterna och inga direkta slutsatser kan dras om var i kommunen en specifik art finns eller inte. Den biologiska mångfalden är en ekosystemtjänst i sig men utgör också en försäkring för ekosystemen som blir mer resilienta, det vill säga mer stabila och motståndskraftiga mot yttre störningar. Resilienta ekosystem är en förutsättning för de ekosystemtjänster som har studerats. Bristande konnektivitet i landskapet riskerar att leda till ökad fragmentering och en utarmad biologisk mångfald. / Ecosystem services are the direct and indirect contributions of ecosystems to human well-being. Clean air, clean water, pollination and biodiversity are all examples of ecosystem services that humans depend on and whose value needs to be integrated into decision-making processes in all different levels of society. Local authorities have an important role in this as they at local level through spatial planning have the possibility to steer development towards more sustainable solutions. The aim of this thesis is to make ecosystem services in Knivsta municipality visible through the green structure plan and to analyze the ecological connectivity between the ecological structures using the ArcGIS-tool Matrixgreen. A literature study laid the foundation for further work and was followed by a workshop where important ecosystem services to the municipality of Knivsta were identified. Ecological profiles were created where 11 of the 18 prioritized ecosystem services were associated with specific biotopes which in turn could be linked to a biological species or species groups, called target species, with the specific biotope as possible habitat. The habitat preferences of the target species (size requirements and distribution patterns) worked as a framework for how to analyze the connectivity for each biotope. This was followed by gathering of maps and the making of ecological networks in Matrixgreen. The networks were analyzed with respect to position of the patches in the network (Betweenness Centrality analysis) and the overall connectivity in the municipality (Component analysis). Common to the four selected biotopes (wetland, grassland, coniferous and deciduous forest) is that they indirectly provide us with the prioritized supporting ecosystem services habitats and biodiversity. The prioritized ecosystem services water treatment, flow regulation and flood control were linked to the biotope wetlands and materials (ornamental) and pollination were linked to the biotope grasslands. The biotopes coniferous and deciduous forest could be linked to the prioritized ecosystem services food (domestic and wild animals, wild plants), raw materials (fiber), bio-energy and climate control. The network analyses show good connectivity for wetland areas and coniferous forest in the municipality. The total connectivity for grasslands and deciduous forest is limited. The analyzes also show that for each biotope a couple of areas are especially important for the overall connectivity. These areas have a high Betweenness Centrality value. The ecological profiles upon which the analyzes are based are theoretical profiles, no site visits or surveys have been done to investigate how reality matches theory. The constructed and analyzed networks in this thesis are therefore to be seen mainly as a guide to where in the municipality the selected ecosystem services are available. The networks do not constitute adequate habitats for the selected target species and no conclusions can be drawn as to where in the municipality a specific species exists or not. Biodiversity is an ecosystem service itself but also represents an insurance for the ecosystem that becomes more resilient, i.e. more stable and resilient to external shocks. Resilient ecosystems are essential for the ecosystem services that have been studied. Lack of connectivity in the landscape could lead to increased fragmentation and eventually risk biodiversity depletion.

Latin America has pioneered the concept of Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) as a strategy to improve the management of ecosystem services. Ecuador is not an exception, where many PES schemes have been implemented to protect the tropical mountain ecosystem “páramo” and the water resources these areas are generating for downstream societies. A successful PES scheme needs to achieve both targeted bio-physical objectives and at the same time benefit local conditions while not risking to sacrifice the local demand for ecosystem services. This balance is explored here in a case study focusing on the Río Grande watershed in the highlands in the northern parts of Ecuador by exemplifying community participation in the public PES scheme Socio Bosque (PSB) starting in 2009. The water resource distribution (precipitation, discharge, actual evapotranspiration and potential evapotranspiration) in the watershed was evaluated over the last decades. The local perception of the PSB and its impacts on local and regional water resources were also studied and characterized. The results showed that the annual discharge in the Río Grande watershed has decreased significantly from 1967-2014 and that the annual discharge was significantly lower between 1997-2015 compared to 1979-1997. Since precipitation did not decrease significantly during this period, the changes of the annual discharge are more likely depended on factors controlling the seasonal distribution of discharge and evapotranspiration in the watershed. For example, large scale land use changes coupled with a significantly warmer climate in the region could be a possible driver. Of course, this would not exclude other important factors such as changes in water demand and the supply of freshwater from the Río Grande watershed to downstream societies. The results of this case study showed that it is likely too early to see any impacts in the water balance components as a direct response to the implemented PSB scheme. Clearly, this motivates a need for continued evaluation of the local perception and the water resources to ensure that the need and demand for ecosystem services in a long-term perspective are maintained. / Latinoamérica ha sido pionera en el concepto de Pago por Servicios Ecosistémicos (PSE o PES en lassiglas en inglés) como estrategia para mejorar la gestión de servicios ecosistémicos. En Ecuador, se han implementado muchos PSE para proteger el ecosistema montañoso tropical de El Páramo así como los recursos acuíferos que dichas áreas generan para las sociedades que habitan cuenca abajo. Un esquema de PSE exitoso requiere alcanzar los objetivos biofísicos y respetar las necesidades locales de servicios ambientales. Este equilibrio se ha analizado tomando como objeto de estudio la cuenca hidrográfica del Río Grande en las tierras altas del norte de Ecuador y la participación comunitaria en el programa de PSE denominado Socio Bosque (PSB) iniciado en 2009. Se estudiaron la distribución del agua (precipitación, descarga del agua, evapotranspiración actual y evapotranspiración potencial) en la cuenca hidrográfica durante las últimas décadas. También se estudiaron los impactos locales y regionales del PSB en los recursos hídricos y los percepción local con respecto a la implementación de PSB. Los resultados muestran que la descarga anual de la cuenca hidrográfica ha decrecido significativamente durante el período comprendido entre 1967 y 2014, particularmente, señalan un decrecimiento considerablemente mayor entre 1997 y 2015 con respecto al período 1979-1997. La precipitación no se redujo durante el período estudiado y, en consecuencia, los cambios en la descarga anual dependen presumiblemente de factores que controlan la distribución estacional de la descarga y la evapotranspiración en la cuenca. Como ejemplo, los intensos cambios en el uso del suelo junto a un clima regional marcadamente más cálido pueden ser dos condicionantes del fenómeno. Esto no excluye otros factores como los cambios en la demanda y abastecimiento de agua potable en la cuenca del Río Grande en las comunidades que se encuentran distribuidas a lo largo del río. Los resultados muestran que es aún temprano para observar impactos en los componentes del balance hídrico como resultado directo de la implementación de un esquema de PSB. Esto motiva la necesidad de una evaluación continua de la percepción local y un monitoreo los recursos hídricos para garantizar que las necesidades y demandas de servicios ecosistémicos en la región se mantengan a largo plazo.

Livestock production is one of the largest and fastest growing agricultural subsectors in the world, contributing almost 40 % of agricultural GDP. The present global trend of livestock intensification affects water demand, resulting in local alterations of hydrological features. This study quantifies water requirements for livestock production and links them to local changes in water-related ecosystem services (WRES). It examines the present situation in Uruguayan beef production as it undergoes an intensification process by analyzing three systems: traditional extensive production, mixed systems and intensive production.Mixed production systems are most water-effective in terms of water requirement. However, extensive production has the least negative long-term effects on the studied WRESs: soil productivity, erosion control and grass, crop and livestock production. Intensive systems contribute the largest negative impacts on soil productivity due to management practices, e.g. continuous cropping and fertilizer application (which is also costly). However, intensification also increases short-term positive effects on crop and livestock production. Mixed systems offer opportunities to increase livestock production, water use efficiency and mitigate soil degradation. However, a threshold value to avoid an undesirable regime shift in soil productivity remains to be determined.This framework developed herein, maps and quantifies local ecosystem effects associated with livestock production from a water perspective. It required simplifications and thus needs further improvements to be of practical use as a tool for best management practices of livestock production. Such tools can assist decision-makers in Uruguay on how to manage multiple ecosystem services in an agricultural landscape and enhance the provision of desired ES without degrading other key ecosystem processes, goods and services. For sustainable production of livestock in Uruguay, one should consider if the tradeoff between long-term negative impacts of intensification on regulating services is justifiable in the context of the short-term economic gains in provisioning services.

Lake St Lucia in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, experiences severe ecological stress during dry periods largely as a result of diminishing freshwater supplies and conditions of hypersalinity. Possible intervention involves diverting the Mfolozi River to the St Lucia Lake system. However, due to high sediment loading, water from the Mfolozi river requires considerable filtration before a link can be established. A suggested option considered in this study is to restore the existing sugarcane farmlands on the Mfolozi Floodplain (~20 800 ha) to previous wetland conditions to reinstate a sediment removal function amongst other benefits. Proposed restoration will have a direct impact on the industries currently supported by the iSimangaliso Wetland Park and the Mfolozi Floodplain (tourism, sugar, conservation). to understand a measure of such impacts, ecosystem services for both Lake St Lucia and the Mfolozi Floodplain were analysed (flood alleviation, water provision, water purification, sediment regulation, tourism, fisheries, vegetation for harvest, existence, cultural and research). Annual economic values for each ecosystem service were determined by means of valuation methods that included benefit transfer and replacement cost. Results showed a current annual minimum value of the Mfolozi Floodplain and Lake St Lucia as greater than R21 million and R1.1 billion respectively. Partial restoration of the floodplain (~6 000 ha) is expected to increase the sum of all ecosystem services values by approximately 26% for the Mfolozi Floodplain and by 23% for the St Lucia System. Full restoration (~20 800 ha) increases the total ecosystem services value by 88% and 50% for the Mfolozi Floodplain and St Lucia System respectively. Results showed that economic values for existence, fisheries, tourism and water provision increase by the greatest percentage for the St Lucia System under both restoration scenarios. Partial and full restoration of the floodplain will result in the greatest increases in economic value for the services existence, tourism, fisheries and the harvesting of vegetation on the Mfolozi Floodplain.

Dans notre société actuelle, il s’avère difficile de déployer l’Écologie industrielle. Ceci peut s’expliquer par le fait que l’information à destination des décideurs est principalement issue des sciences naturelles et de l’ingénieur. Ainsi l’information apportée dans les processus de décision est focalisée sur l’étude physique des flux de matière et d’énergie. Elle semble peu pertinente pour interpeller les décideurs industriel et public. Pour cela, ce travail de thèse a pour objectif de mieux comprendre quels indicateurs utiliser pour mieux intégrer les impacts environnementaux dans les processus de décision industriel et public. Il s’intéresse en particulier à la prise en compte des externalités environnementales dans les processus de décision. Il cherche ainsi à mieux comprendre quelles sont les interactions entre le cycle de vie d’un produit et les services écosystémiques au niveau local au moyen de la méthodologie d’analyse du cycle de vie. Cette proposition est mise à l’épreuve en la développant sur un cas d’étude illustratif modélisant deux services écosystémiques liés au phénomène d’eutrophisation. Ensuite, des indicateurs des systèmes industriels sur les services écosystémiques sont testés dans un processus de validation expérimentale dans deux contextes de prise de décisions différents / In today's society, it is difficult to spread the Industrial ecology. This can be explained by the fact that information for decision makers is mainly outcome from the natural and engineering sciences. Thus, information provided in the decision process is focused on the physical study of material and energy flows. It seems irrelevant to challenge the industrial and public decision makers. For this, this thesis aims to understand which indicators to use to better integrate environmental impacts in the process of industrial and public decision. It is particularly interested in the integration of environmental externalities in the decision process. It seeks to understand what are the interactions between the life cycle of a product and ecosystem services of a territory by using the methodology of Life cycle assessment. This proposal was put to the test by developing an illustrative case study by modeling two ecosystem services related to eutrophication. Then indicators of industrial systems on ecosystem services are tested in an experimental validation process in two different contexts of decision making

Projecting Urban Natures is a compilation thesis in critical studies in architecture. It comprises three journal articles and four design proposals in which I have taken an active part. The point of departure for this thesis is the renewed emphasis on social-ecological interaction and resilience that is currently taking place within ecological systems science, and the opportunities that these paradigmatic insights in turn have opened up within urbanism and design. The thesis argues that although they are promising, these emerging integrative frameworks are seldom brought into mainstream planning and urban design practice. Instead, the structuring of “nature” and “city” into a dualistic balance relationship still permeates not only the general planning discourse, but also makes its way into planning documents, notably influencing distinctions between professions. In response, this thesis sets out to rethink and explore more integrated approaches to human/nature relationships, through the utilization of design-based and transdisciplinary research methods. While this core aim of the thesis remains the same throughout the work, the task is approached from different perspectives: through different constellations of collaborative work as well as through parallel case-based explorations that emphasize the relational, anti-essentialist and situated articulation of values of urban natures and how these forces come into play. The work has been propelled through workshop-based, site-specific, and experimental design processes with professionals and researchers from the fields of e.g. systems ecology, natural resource management, political ecology, urban design, architecture, and landscape design, as well as planners, developers, local interest groups, and NGOs. Specifically, projects performed within this thesis include: Nature as an Infrastructural Potential – An Urban Strategy for Järvafältet; Kymlinge UrbanNatur together with NOD, Wingårdhs, MUST and Storylab; Årsta Urban Natures with James Corner Field Operations and Buro Happold; and Albano Resilient Campus — a collaboration between Stockholm Resilience Centre, KTH and KIT. / <p>QC 20171102</p>

Ecosystem services, capturing the benefits and values of functioning ecosystems for human well-being, is a concept receiving increasing attention both in science and policy. This study investigates the utility of considering ecosystem service in the ecological restoration of a river affected by small-scale hydropower. While hydropower is a renewable energy source, it has impacts on the ecological status in water sheds and generates issues addressed e.g. by the EU Water Directive. To mitigate ecological impacts, and maintain hydroelectricity production that better correspond to the Water Directive, several restoration measures are carried out in river Billstaån, County of Jämtland, Sweden.   This study presents an ecosystem service perspective of the restoration process in river Billstaån linked to recommendations in terms of further interpretation, monitoring and communication of the assessment results. By applying evaluation of ecosystem services to the case of river Billstaån, it is examined to what extent ecosystem service descriptions can give support in monitoring and communication of the results of the ecological restoration efforts.   Ecosystem services were assessed for the restoration outcomes in river Billstaån using the two frameworks Corporate Ecosystem Service Review (ESR) and Toolkit for Ecosystem Service Assessment (TESSA), respectively. The ecosystem services deemed most important partly differed between the two frameworks due to different assessment perspectives. However, both ESR and TESSA pointed out ecosystem services connected to recreation and tourism as important, indicating a potential regarding recreational use of the area. Such socio-economic impacts of the restoration project was not included in the planning of the restoration, but if identified and utilized such “added benefits” might give opportunities for local rural development beyond the restoration work itself.   Contrasting the results from the ecosystem service assessment of river Billstaån towards the Swedish Environmental Objectives identified two direct and seven indirect connections. Through these connections the restoration project can be presented in relation to national goals. Indicating such connections can help in communicating the ecosystem service perspective. For future monitoring of project outcomes in river Billstaån, a set of potential indicators were identified using an ecosystem service approach, that can complement the planned monitoring of ecosystem functions. For future monitoring of ecosystem service development it is advisable to use a combination of indicators that reflect both the ecosystem function availability and the ecosystem service use. Three types of illustrations that can support different perspectives in future communication regarding ecosystem services in river Billstaån were identified in this study and termed system, overview and single service perspective. Example illustrations include a Causal Loop Diagram, a hot-spot map and a range of photos, respectively. The illustrations are deemed to present the assessment results in a more accessible way and can be adapted to a diversity of future communication settings. / <p>Betyg 2017-06-14</p>