Search

Community decision making based on the sustainability of ecosystem services is an integrated process that involves multiple complex decisions and is greatly aided by an understanding of how those decisions are interrelated. The interrelatedness of decisions can be understood and even measured based on connections between actions and services and influence of services on domains of human well-being. These connections can be formed into a network structure so that quantifiable properties of networks can be applied to understanding decision impacts. We developed an eco-decisional network based on weighted social-ecological networks as a tool for integrated decision making based on ecosystem services and human well-being. Nodes are actions, services, or domains of human well-being and they are linked by weighted influence derived from community stakeholder input. Examination of the eco-decisional network, as well as comparison to pattern in the random networks, suggest there are important patterns of influence among different influence pathways from actions to community well-being, which describe community priorities and define unique roles through which chosen sets of actions can influence human well-being. The eco-decisional network is generalized across communities but can also be made community specific, which provides a tool for comparison between communities in decisional priorities (network properties), as well as comparisons between proposed actions within a community (network paths). The well-studied properties of networks, well- established network theory, as well as established network metrics make this approach promising for application to integrated decision making and for communicating possible outcomes to stakeholders. The result is a guidance tool for connecting propose actions to ecosystem services and human well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal suburban watersheds are under heavy pressure from human activity. This pressure has yielded an extensive effort to protect, mitigate, and restore watershed ecosystem services. Assessment of restoration investments would be greatly improved by a standard approach for estimating change in ecosystem service production combined with a well-defined baseline for assessment of restoration effects. Here we take a model-based approach to both objectives by applying two established ecosystem service models in a representative coastal watershed. This watershed has undergone extensive suburbanization resulting in a loss of ecosystem services, which has resulted in heavy restoration investments. We used models to estimate loss of the ecosystem services; clean air, clean water, stable climate, and water storage resulting from suburbanization. We then applied these model-based estimates as a baseline for assessment of restoration focusing on the appropriate restoration scale and considering downstream watershed impacts. The results suggest that losses of ecosystem services, such as flood water storage, from suburbanization have been extensive since 2001, but a comparison of restoration value suggests that restoration has been effective in recouping ecosystem services in some but not all local regions suggesting there are trade-offs to be made in these efforts. These benefits were most evident for the services of clean water and water storage. Models can inform decisions by clarifying what has been lost and estimating what can be regained through restoration action. The former sets a baseline for the latter and allows for a functional equivalency approach to assessment., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Estuary management is limited by lack of consensus on operational tools for handling multiple conflicting management objectives. One critical step to this goal is a shift from individual problems to a focus on maintaining ecosystem functions that benefit humans. If function is maintained, then the ecosystem is said to be functionally equivalent to its unimpacted state, which is sufficient for management. We propose an adaptation of a functional equivalency (FE) assessment approach from marine fishery management and use a case study demonstration to address how this approach can be integrated into existing ecosystem assessment tools. The functional equivalency framework has three components for implementation: definition of target ecosystem functions, measurable metrics of ecosystem functions, and policy-based thresholds for each metric that indicate when functional equivalency is lost and must be restored. Each case study is an application of available data, models, and management policy to define these ecosystem function components. We intend to foster discussion and future work on integrating the FE approach into existing ecosystem assessment tools. Data requirements are high, as is the necessary integration between science and policy. The results can be a more integrated management approach focused on maintenance of ecosystem functions most beneficial to humans., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.