Esmeralda ICP

ESMERALDA's Results in Brief now available in six languages

Thu, 21 Mar 2019 14:48:00 +0200

English, French, German, Italian, Polish and Spanish - ESMERALDA's Results in Brief can now be found in any of these languages, published on the CORDIS website.

ESMERALDA's flexible methodology on mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services contributes to protecting the planet's ecological services. Valuable project outputs guaranteed ESMERALDA a spot in the Result Pack on Biodiversity.

According to the article, ESMERALDA created innovative strategies to facilitate European national and regional mapping for the effective assessment of ecosystems and their services. The project contributes to healthy ecosystems, which help mitigate the impacts of climate change, while supporting a green economy, creating job opportunities and enhancing biodiversity.

ESMERALDA is one of eleven projects within the Results Pack that prove the need for biodiversity and ecosystem services research to ensure Europe's sustainability, and their relevance for current and future global policy objectives.

Find the project's Results in Brief here and the full Results Pack here.

The business of biodiversity: can we put a value on nature?

Tue, 19 Mar 2019 11:36:00 +0200

The concept of quantifying these so-called ecosystem services, which has grown in recent years, has proved controversial for some environmentalists who oppose reducing nature to numbers. Others see it as a way to get businesses and policymakers to account for nature to make better decisions that preserve biodiversity.

First, though, working out what ecosystem services we have, and how much of them, requires mapping where they are. To aid this process, a project called ESMERALDA tested tools and methods to help decision-makers map and assess ecosystem services across Europe.

The end result is an open access online tool that provides full guidance for mapping and assessing ecosystem services.

‘The key message is to show the human dependence on functioning nature. Everything that we get and receive is related to ecosystems and their functions, and biodiversity,’ said Professor Benjamin Burkhard, a geographer at Leibniz University in Hannover, Germany, and project coordinator of ESMERALDA.

‘If we can really show how much a tree, for example, provides us with fresh air or how much carbon it’s sequestering, I think we will have more appreciation of nature’s contribution in society and decision-making,’ he said.

Land use

ESMERALDA’s approach takes into account three areas – biophysical, which refers to physical factors such as land use or volume of greenhouse gases – sociocultural and economic.

In its country case studies, ESMERALDA assessed different ways of valuing the three areas. For example, a study on Germany’s Bornhöved Lakes District combined biophysical data such as crop volumes and numbers of pollinators with sociocultural information including a survey of people on the aesthetic values of landscapes.

Prof. Burkhard says that a wide-ranging assessment is important to obtain a full picture. ‘It doesn’t help you to only have an economic value, but it also doesn’t help you to only have a social value. You need to have the whole set of biophysical, social and economic values for a perfect assessment,’ he said.

‘I’m an ecologist and would be happier if people were convinced just by having nice nature and lots of species – but this is not the way the world works at the moment, and usually the most convincing argument is money.’

Prof. Benjamin Burkhard, geographer, Leibniz University, Hannover, Germany

On the thorny issue of attaching economic values to nature, he says this approach can help raise awareness among policymakers and businesses.

‘I think it’s at least a good tool to convince many people,’ he said. ‘I’m an ecologist and would be happier if people were convinced just by having nice nature and lots of species – but this is not the way the world works at the moment and usually the most convincing argument is money.’

Prof. Burkhard says that awareness among EU decision makers about ecosystem services has grown over the course of the three-and-a-half-year project, which ended last July. The next stage for upcoming projects will be to start applying the ESMERALDA methodology in real-life situations, such as policymaking at a national level on issues such as agriculture, or local spatial planning.

For Guy Duke at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) valuing the world’s natural capital – its stock of natural assets – could help businesses make more environmentally sustainable decisions. However, he says that we are only at the ‘tip of the iceberg’ in terms of the number of companies that have started to understand and address this. ‘There’s a very long way to go,’ he said.

Duke leads the We Value Nature campaign which seeks to encourage businesses to embed the value of nature into their decision-making and apply the Natural Capital Protocol. This is a global set of standards that allows businesses to identify, measure and value what role natural capital plays in their business. The project is run by ICAEW, and other organisations that are part of the international collaboration, the Natural Capital Coalition.

Catalyst

‘We see our role very much as a catalyst of this idea,’ said Duke. ‘There has been a sea change in recent years, with the whole paradigm of natural capital finding its way into the policy space and business.’

Since launching last November, the project has started reviewing barriers and bottlenecks that impede businesses from investing in natural capital, with training to be later developed for companies.

Duke says one aim is to identify industry sectors in which action will bring the most benefit to nature, followed by specific businesses in those sectors and then individuals with the most influence on shaping decisions that affect natural capital and biodiversity.

Richard Spencer, head of sustainability at ICAEW, believes the approach is necessary. ‘To get business to grasp the quite perilous position we’re getting to, you’ve got to couch it in terms that people such as finance directors understand,’ he said. ‘If it’s economically invisible, people don’t make decisions about it.’

Spencer says some companies have recognised, for example, that restoring wetlands acts as an effective flood defence, thus saving money.

Nature

Spencer stresses that the project is not about attaching a single price that commoditises nature but about ascribing a value through a mix of descriptive information and numbers to build a complete story. ‘We never, ever put a price on nature,’ he said.

Natural capital is, however, far from an easy bedfellow of biodiversity and the term has provoked fierce debate among environmental activists such as the British campaigner George Monbiot who argue that the concept is not only wrong, but counterproductive.

Dr Berta Martín-López, a professor for sustainability science at the Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Germany, who worked on an earlier ecosystem services project called OpenNESS, warns future biodiversity programmes against putting too much stock in monetary value as a whole.

‘To me, the homogenisation of world views to only one simplistic view that fits with the mindset of monetary values and capitalism is the most dangerous pressure for biodiversity,’ she said.

‘By expressing values of nature only in monetary terms, we are not only overlooking the plural ways by which people give importance to nature, but also neglect multiple actors’ voices and their needs and interests.’

Dr Martín-López highlighted that nature goes far beyond just providing basic services – it also offers intangible, non-material benefits that cannot be valued in monetary terms.

‘The multiple ways by which people develop relationships with nature contribute to the construction of our cultural identity, sense of place and belonging,’ she said.

The approaches that will pave the way for the future, she says, are those that ‘foster a diversity of world views’.

The research in this article was funded by the EU. If you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media.

This post The business of biodiversity: can we put a value on nature? was originally published on Horizon: the EU Research & Innovation magazine | European Commission.

ESMERALDA MAES Explorer helps EU member states map and assess ecosystems and their services

Thu, 18 Oct 2018 14:18:00 +0300

The recently introduced online resource - the ESMERALDA MAES Explorer - aids decision-makers from policy, science and society to implement Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services (MAES) at different levels. MAES can reach from national policy to local spatial planning or businesses, who want to support sustainable resource use and understand the condition of ecosystems, their ability to provide services and the socio-cultural and economic values related to them.

The online guidance tool is created by the collaborative EU Horizon 2020 funded Coordination and Support Action "ESMERALDA - Enhancing ecosystem services mapping for policy and decision making" to showcase major project results and to make them available Open Access, in support of Action 5 of the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020.

Together with the EU MAES Working Group MAES, ESMERALDA developed the platform to share the project's broad experience and to direct EU Member states, and other countries alike, through the process of mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services.

Starting from various questions arising from policy, business or society, through supporting stakeholder identification and related network creation, the ESMERALDA MAES Explorer provides ESMERALDA-derived practical guidance to mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services, all the way to dissemination of respective outcomes and their implementation in policy and decision making.

Figure 1: The homepage of the ESMERALDA MAES Explorer guides you through the seven key steps of mapping and assessment of ecosystem services.

The MAES Explorer also links to the ESMERALDA MAES Methods Explorer - an interface that allows users to explore the comprehensive methods database created within ESMERALDA. The purpose of this database it to collect the majority of available methods to map and assess ecosystem services. Its aim is also to link those methods to specific ecosystem types, ecosystem services, questions from policy, business and society, tiers and practical case studies.

"To ensure the perennity of the excellent project results available in the ESMERALDA MAES Explorer, we decided to cooperate with large information hubs and integrate crucial findings to external platforms, so they will be online after the actual project will have ended," says project Coordinator Prof. Benjamin Burkhard, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Germany.

Based on regular stakeholder meetings, the consortium decided to integrate the online guidance tool to the Ecosystem Services Partnership (ESP) platform. With more than 20 000 visitors in the past year, an audience of over 3000 newsletter subscribers, and a total of 6000+ followers on its social media channels, ESP has proven itself to be a suitable host for the ESMERALDA MAES Explorer. The common future strategy will sustain and expand the ESMERALDA stakeholder network after the project lifetime with the ultimate goal to support EU Member States and local practitioners in achieving and delivering their part towards Action 5 Target 2 of the EU Biodiversity Strategy.

To access the ESMERALDA MAES Explorer, click here.

ESMERALDA Meeting in Bulgaria: Future development of the national ecosystem service network

Wed, 04 Jul 2018 10:26:00 +0300

The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS) hosted a one-day workshop on possibilities for implementation of ESMERALDA results in Bulgaria. Project partners and stakeholders discussed how to continue with mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services on a national level after an ambitious and dedicated participation in the project. The event took place on 3rd July 2018 in the National Institute of Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography in Sofia, Bulgaria.

A review of the different methods for mapping and assessment developed within ESMERALDA, was followed by a discussion on the best approaches for creating a strong stakeholder network and for sustaining the foundation for mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services in the country.

"ESMERALDA, being a coordination and support action of the EU, focuses on the use of knowledge and dissemination of science. For that reason, the practical implementation of results is crucial," explained project partner Stoyan Nedkov, Assoc. Professor in the National Institute of Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography.

The workshop ended with a demonstration of the ESMERALDA MAES Explorer, a platform designed to share ESMERALDA’s broad experience throughout the project and to direct EU Member states and other countries alike through the process of mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services.

ESMERALDA Final Project Conference: A success story of science supporting policy

Tue, 19 Jun 2018 15:17:00 +0300

ESMERALDA gathered scientists, practitioners and policy-makers for its final project Conference, to demonstrate key scientific results and practical resources designed to assist and guide EU Member States in Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services (MAES) in their respective local, national and pan-national contexts. The three-day Conference took place from 11 to 13 June 2018 in Brussels, Belgium.

The event focused on how the ESMERALDA flexible mapping and assessment methodology supports decision makers from policy, business and society to integrate ecosystem services in their day-to-day work. About 100 delegates from 27 EU Member states, 6 other European countries, EU outermost regions, and various European Commission's bodies and institutions attended the event.

The first day of the Conference was dedicated to meeting members of the EU MAES working group and discussing various tools, their interoperability and integration of results on similar platforms. Within the Fun Fair on tools and methods to map and assess ecosystems and their services, participants had the chance to click through the MAES Explorer - an online platform assisting non-scientific users of ESMERALDA's methodology in choosing the right approach and execution in their specific context.

On day two of the project meeting, the Director-General of DG Environment and Deputy Director-General of DG Research & Innovation highlighted how the ESMERALDA outcomes are supporting the implementation of various EU policies. Other EC members and stakeholders explained the integration of the concept of ecosystem services in EU member states.

On day three, ESMERALDA showcased its flexible methodology and highlighted results and conclusions across the project's case studies. The project presented its open access book "Mapping Ecosystem Services" and its Special Issue, publicly accessible in the open access journal One Ecosystem, where interested parties can acquaint themselves with a variety of results and methods.

The Conference ended with a joint discussion with the whole team on next steps towards sustaining the ESMERALDA network, as well as making best use of the project’s valuable findings.

We are putting an end to the #ESMERALDAfinal Conference with a couple of fun facts about the project and good ideas on how to continue networking and make best use of ESMERALDA in the future!

Congratulations and a big thank you to all participants! pic.twitter.com/SpFBRDNsYb
— ESMERALDA Project (@ESMERALDA_H2020) June 13, 2018

All presentations from the final project Conference can be found on the website's media center.

ESMERALDA at the 5th ECCB, Finland

Fri, 15 Jun 2018 14:25:00 +0300

In June 2018, ESMERALDA joined the 5th European Congress of Conservation Biology (ECCB 2018) held in Jyväskylä, Finland, to demonstrate its key deliverables and progress towards providing a flexible methodology for the assessment of ecosystems and their services on both regional and European level.

Themed Planetary wellbeing, the fifth installment of the congress gathered hundreds of conservation biologists and ecologists from around the globe. With a strong presence were the early researchers eager to leave their own novel scientific mark in the improvement of Earth’s health.

Reaching out to young experts with ESMERALDA’s findings and know-how could be crucial in resolving knowledge into future-proof and environmentally friendly strategies and practices.

Interested in Mapping & Assessment of #Ecosystems & their services?

We've just had our final conference & results are all around to show, so don't forget to visit C108, #ECCB2018 #Ecosystemservices #sustainablefuture https://t.co/mUSSLHwVzS
— ESMERALDA Project (@ESMERALDA_H2020) June 14, 2018

Meeting Stakeholders in Eger: Testing methods for mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services in policy- & decision-making

Tue, 24 Apr 2018 09:54:00 +0300

The latest ESMERALDA Workshop took place from 19 to 22 March 2018 in Eger, Hungary and focused on testing the final version of the flexible ecosystem services (ES) mapping and assessment methodology in policy- and decision-making through real-world case studies.

Involving a larger variety of policy- and decision-making processes and actors, including businesses and citizens, coming from a range of geographical contexts, the Workshop was divided into ten sessions.

On day one, the participants coming from 22 EU member states, Israel and Norway, had the opportunity to receive an update on the final version of the ESMERALDA flexible methodology, including the concept, structure and contents of the "Final Guidance Documentation". The session was followed by a keynote speech on "Perspective on using ES mapping and assessment in the private sector", based on the experiences of the Land Degradation Neutrality Fund under the UNCCD in session two.

In sessions three to six, the meeting focused on three case studies from Hungary, Finland, and Sweden, which served as a basis to analyse how mapping and assessment of ES supports different phases of decision-making processes. The last session of day one was a panel discussion involving stakeholders in an overall review of the ESMERALDA methodology and products.

Day two was dedicated to a field excursion to the Bükk National Park, which is a protected area since 1976, to safeguard the rich fauna and flora, as well as to protect geological and cultural heritage and various ecosystem services of the area.

Finally, day three and the last three sessions within the Workshop concentrated on finalising the different ESMERALDA products and Deliverables. Participants actively discussed further actions after the completion of the project, such as maintaining the stakeholder network and products in the future.

ESMERALDA Workshop in Trento: Testing Final Methods for Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services in Policy- & Decision-making

Mon, 16 Apr 2018 16:14:00 +0300

Within a three-day Workshop, ESMERALDA project partners and stakeholders tested the final version of the flexible ecosystem services mapping and assessment methodology in policy- and decision-making in real-world case studies and analysed how "Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services" (MAES) can support different phases of a practical decision-making process.

The Workshop took place from 22 to 25 January 2018 at the University of Trento, Italy and focused on urban planning as an illustrative and relevant decision-making process. ESMERALDA case studies from the cities of Trento (Italy) and Antwerp (Belgium) were used to practice the whole MAES process.

On day one, participants explored the spectrum of needs and requirements - from the more strategic to the more technical stages - that determine the effectiveness of MAES in informing and supporting policy, as well as decision-making processes.

During the second day of the Workshop, participants coordinated the activities of the Consortium Partners towards achieving and showcasing the final ESMERALDA Deliverables through a plenary discussion focusing on structuring and implementing the ESMERALDA "Final Guidance" online document and tool.

The third Workshop day was dedicated to a field excursion to the ‘Arte Sella: the contemporary mountain’, which displays an art exhibition, accumulated from a desire to continue a dialogue between nature and the natural world.

The main outcome of the seventh ESMERALDA Workshop was that case study stakeholders as well as ESMERALDA partners were introduced to the ESMERALDA general approach, which has been further developed within the ESMERALDA consortium. This was particularly useful for identifying the main outcomes and remaining tasks, such as further method testing in case studies, networking, developing documentation for MAES in EU member states and developing long-term strategies for the ESMERALDA products.

Fifth MAES report on urban ecosystem condition is out.

Tue, 13 Feb 2018 16:47:34 +0200

The fifth MAES report presents indicators for mapping and assessment of ecosystem condition at European level. A set with specific indicators is available for assessment of ecosystem condition per ecosystem type. A core set with key indicators is available to support an integrated ecosystem assessment across ecosystem type.

ESMERALDA at the 9th ESP World Conference in Shenzhen, China

Thu, 14 Dec 2017 17:04:00 +0200

Photo: ESMERALDA members at the 9^th ESP Conference in Shenzhen, China (Photo: Kremena Burkhard).

The 9^th Ecosystem Services Partnership (ESP) World Conference took place in Shenzhen, China, from December 11-15, 2017. This year’s conference was under the theme "Ecosystem Services for Eco-civilization: Restoring connections between people and landscapes through nature-based solutions". ESMERALDA was well-represented among the about 400 delegates from 49 countries. Altogether 12 project collaborators from 8 partner institutions and 2 advisory board members were active organizing the conference, hosting thematic sessions and giving presentations.

More information can be found at the website of the 9. ESP World Conference: http://www.espconference.org/espconference2017

Photo: Group picture from the 9^th ESP Conference in Shenzhen, China (Photo: Ida Kubiszewski).

How to map ecosystems?

Mon, 20 Nov 2017 14:36:27 +0200

Italian scientists have published an approach for mapping ecosystems at national scale. The publication is available here.

You can contact Giulia Capotorti for more information.

Towards testing and implementing ESMERALDA’s flexible methodology

Wed, 18 Oct 2017 10:33:00 +0300

The project meets key stakeholders for its Mid-term Conference in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

For nearly two and a half years to date, the Horizon2020-funded EU project ESMERALDA has been working hard towards the development of a flexible methodology in support of pan-European and regional Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystem Services (MAES).

From 2 to 5 October, in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, the ESMERALDA project met with key stakeholders from the EU member states, the European Commission and Science-Policy-Society Advisory Board members to present a final version of its ecosystem services mapping and assessment methodology, and collect feedback and ideas for improvements and implementation. Altogether 70 participants attended the meeting.

In a session dedicated to ESMERALDA support and coordination for MAES implementation and application, the participants split into four breakout groups to discuss four key areas of further developing the flexible methodology and tiered approach for mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services, including:

Ways in which ESMERALDA can support EU member states during the final year and beyond the project and ideas how the national support groups could activate themselves and build national actor networks that carry on the support actions and provide discussion for the long-run.
Useful methods and tools for mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services.
Possible structure and content of guideline documents and tools to support the applications of ecosystem services mapping and assessment methods by policy, decision-makers from business and practice as well as science and the society.
Indicators to measure progress on phase 1 and phase 2 of Action 5 of the EU Biodiversity Strategy’s Target 2.

Coming back from this meeting, the participants from the 37 ESMERALDA partner organisations from across 31 different European countries were using the feedback to create a roadmap for integration of the recommendations for the last project phases and towards implementation in practise of policy and decision making.

During the field trip to the Balkan National Park on the second day of the meeting, the participants had the chance to familiarize themselves with the progress and objectives of the EnRoute project (Enhancing Resilience Of Urban Ecosystems through Green Infrastructure) by visiting key stakeholders in Karlovo, the Bulgarian City Lab for the project.

Job Alert: ECOPOTENTIAL opens two positions

Tue, 13 Jun 2017 15:17:00 +0300

Two new positions open at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) as a part of the large European-funded H2020 project ECOPOTENTIAL. The project is looking for one PhD student and one Postdoctoral researches to conduct ecosystem service research using earth observation data within the international project "ECOPOTENTIAL" with focus on habitats in European national parks.

ECOPOTENTIAL focuses its activities on a targeted set of internationally recognised Protected Areas, blending Earth Observations from remote sensing and field measurements, data analysis and modelling of current and future ecosystem conditions and services. ECOPOTENTIAL considers cross-scale geosphere-biosphere interactions at regional to continental scales, addressing long-term and large-scale environmental and ecological challenges.

For more information and to apply, see the job offers:

PhD: https://recruitingapp-5128.de.umantis.com/Vacancies/1056/Description/2?customer=5128
Postdoc: https://recruitingapp-5128.de.umantis.com/Vacancies/1085/Description/2?customer=5128

ESMERALDA Workshop in Madrid: Integrating Data, Discussing Methods across European biomes and regions & Involving Stakeholders

Tue, 25 Apr 2017 11:45:00 +0300

ESMERALDA project partners and stakeholders met for a 3-days Workshop to discuss latest developments in the project, to test ecosystem services mapping and assessment methods across European biomes and regions and to plan future actions. The event took place from 4 to 7 April 2017, kindly hosted by the Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain.

During the first day, ESMERALDA partners had the opportunity to present latest project results. Special focus was placed on presenting the progress in developing ESMERALDA’s Flexible Methodology for Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystem Services (MAES). Another hot topic was the development of a Europe-wide database to track the progress of MAES methods development and implementation across member states. The second Workshop day was used for a field visit of the Guadarrama National Park and its mountain range, containing some ecologically very valuable areas providing numerous ecosystem services.

Case studies on different spatial scales and varying biomes from Spain, Bulgaria and the Azores and the methods tested within them were presented and discussed with Workshop participants on the third day, where also a dedicated session on marine ecosystem services mapping was organised. During a special stakeholder panel discussion organised during the last day, practitioners and policy makers had the opportunity to give their direct feedback about the presented results of ESMERALDA.

Next steps for ESMERALDA will involve not only further developing the project’s Flexible Methodology for mapping and assessment of ecosystem services, underlying databases and test cases, but also working on integrating all results towards a widely applicable resource for mapping and assessment of ecosystem services and related policy and decision making in Europe.

Mapping Ecosystem Services: Collection of theories, methods and practical applications

Wed, 05 Apr 2017 12:19:00 +0300

The new book Mapping Ecosystem Services provides a comprehensive collection of theories, methods and practical applications of ecosystem services (ES) mapping, for the first time bringing together valuable knowledge and techniques from leading international experts in the field. Published by Pensoft, the book is both available in an online open access version via the publisher's Advanced Books platform, and can be ordered in paperback and hardback format.

Human well-being and economic prosperity are largely dependent on ecosystem conditions and the essential goods and services they provide to mankind, such as fertile soils, multi-functional forests, land and seas, fresh water, clean air, pollination, and climate regulation, to name just a few. Mapping ecosystems and their services is a powerful tool to raise awareness about such areas of ecosystem goods and services supply and demand and to assist environmental education about human dependence on functioning nature.

ES have the potential to become a major tool for policy and decision making on global, national, regional and local scales, with a myriad of possible applications. Sustainable management of natural resources, land use optimisation, environmental protection, nature conservation and restoration, landscape planning, nature-based solutions, climate protection, disaster risk reduction to environmental education and research are just some of the areas where the concept can be applied.

In this context, mapping ecosystem services constitutes a very powerful tool to bring ES into practical application. Being able to efficiently communicate complex spatial information, ES maps are very useful for raising awareness about areas of ecosystem services supply and demand. Furthermore, maps are mandatory instruments for landscape planning, environmental resource management and land use optimisation.

Targeting an audience broader than just the research community, the new Mapping Ecosystem Services book provides in eight chapters insights in ES and mapping theory, ES quantification and mapping methods and tools and related uncertainties, in combination with examples of application in practice.

"Our aim was to present concise chapters in a professional but understandable language in order to facilitate their readability and comprehension. For example footnotes with direct links and suggestions for further reading are provided at the end of each chapter", explain the editors Prof. Benjamin Burkhard, Leibniz Universität Hannover and Joachim Maes, Joint Research Centre, European Commission. "We hope this book is helpful and supports the appropriate mapping of ES!".

"There are still big challenges ahead of us such as the improvement of the mapping and assessment of the ecosystem condition and the integration of the assessment of the ecosystem condition with ecosystem services and the construction of the first ecosystem accounts. As highlighted in this book, we are however on a very positive track!", comments Anne Teller, European Commission, Directorate-General Environment in her preface to the book.

Original Source:

Ecosystem Services. Advanced Books. https://doi.org/10.3897/ab.e12837

Order online at: http://books.pensoft.net/book/13161/mapping-ecosystem-services

Additional Information:

The Advanced Books platform is launched by Pensoft to publish new books or re-publish such previously available in paper or PDF only, in an advanced and semantically enhanced HTML and XML formats, to accelerate open access, data publication, mining, sharing and reuse. Advanced Books builds on the novel approaches developed by Pensoft's journals.

Sharing Knowledge: Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services (MAES) in Europe’s Outermost Regions and Overseas Countries and Territories

Wed, 08 Mar 2017 11:40:00 +0200

Being at the core of the EU’s Biodiversity (BD) Strategy, Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services (MAES) across EU countries is an important stepping stone towards the achievement of a sustainable future for Europe.

While ESMERALDA has already achieved substantial progress towards analysing and supporting the process of implementing MAES across EU member states and to deliver a flexible methodology for pan-European and regional assessments, little has been said so far about Europe’s Outermost Regions (ORs) and Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) in this context. The ORs and OCTs with their very specific social-ecological system settings are hotspots of biodiversity and need special consideration in management.

Initiated and organised as a joint activity of ESMERALDA, the European Commission DG Environment’s Voluntary Scheme for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in Territories of European Overseas (BEST) and the University of Azores, a dedicated workshop on MAES in EU’s ORs and OCTs took place from 28 Feb to 03 Mar 2017 in Ponta Delgada, São Miguel Island, Azores, to start the process of exchanging knowledge and initiate coordinated MAES activities in these special regions and adjacent marine areas.

Group photo of workshop participants taking during the field trip to Lagoa das Sete Cidades, São Miguel Island, Azores, Portugal.

During the 3 day workshop, the 26 participants, including representatives of Europe’s ORs&OCTs, including the Azores, French Guiana, Canary Islands, Martinique, Bonaire and Reunion, presented their work on assessing biodiversity, ecosystems and their services. The BEST initiative also outlined its ongoing projects in the OR&OCTs, as well as plans for future developments.

Partners from ESMERALDA presented the project’s implementation strategy, results and progress towards creating a flexible MAES methodology. The project also hosted practical workshops on application of the ESTIMAP model on recreation and pollination ecosystem services, application of the RIOS model for watershed management for ecosystem services, a participatory GIS session and a session dedicated to marine ecosystems.

Selection of images from the workshop’s plenary sessions and practical trainings.

This workshop was only a first step towards exchanging knowledge, creating mutual understanding and establishing respective supporting and coordination scheme for MAES implementation in EU’s ORs&OCTs and marine areas. Further workshops, staff and student exchanges and common case studies were planned during the event on the Azores.

Photo Gallery.

Latest in our ESMERALDA Insider Rubric

Mon, 20 Feb 2017 16:11:00 +0200

If you have not checked our Insider Rubric in the last few months, then you have missed on three new additions, providing a great insight on the project's diverse team, bringing expertise form various fields and backgrounds.

The last three addiotions to the rubric - Davide Geneletti, Pavel Stoev and Fernando S. Martín - share their research interest form fields varying from speleology and supporting decision-making to communication and social impacts ecosystem services approaches.

Davide Geneletti is an Associate Professor of Spatial Planning at the University of Trento, where he teaches Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Planning. Davide is also leader of the research group PLANES-Planning for ecosystem services. Being an Executive Board Member and Work Package Leader, within ESMERALDA he mainly works in the area of decision support, i.e., looking at ways to mainstream ecosystem services into real-life decision-making processes.

Pavel Stoev is an Editorial Director at Pensoft Publishers, while also holding the position of a Professor of Zoology at the National Museum of Natural History in Sofia, Bulgaria. Being an Executive Board Member within ESMERALDA, he also acts as a leader of Work Package 6, dealing with the project’s dissemination and outreach.

Fernando Santos Martín is a Senior Researcher working at the Social-Ecological Systems Laboratory at the Autonomous University of Madrid. During the last seven years he has been involved in several national and international cross-disciplinary research projects and teaching activities.

Science in Action: ESMERALDA at the MAES Conference in Bulgaria

Mon, 13 Feb 2017 15:47:00 +0200

Sofia, Bulgaria was the host of the two-day Conference "Mapping and assessment of ecosystem services - Science in action", organized by the EEA-funded project "Methodological Support for Ecosystem Services Mapping and Biophysical Valuation" (MetEcoSMap). The event, which took place on 6 and 7 February, brought together 133 experts from 21 countries.

The conference focused on mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services across the different countries represented at the event. MetEcoSMap presented their work on the development of a methodological framework and application results for mapping and assessment of ecosystem services in Bulgaria.

ESMERALDA was represented at the event by several consortium partners, among them Benjamin Burkhard, who spoke on "Integrated mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services", as well as Joachim Maes and Fernando Santos, who presented their research in keynote speeches. The Bulgarian ESMERALDA partners Svetla Bratanova-Doncheva and Stoyan Nedkov were two of the key organisers of the whole event.

Mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services (MAES) are core to the EU Biodiversity (BD) Strategy, where Action 5 sets the requirement for an EU-wide knowledge base. During the conference, progress towards achieving these objectives with special focus on Bulgaria was presented and scientists had the opportunity to exchange know how and measure progress against other countries.

PhD position in the field of Ecosystem Services offered at Leibniz Universität Hannover

Fri, 10 Feb 2017 11:38:00 +0200

The Institute of Physical Geography and Landscape Ecology at Leibniz Universität Hannover is seeking a highly motivated scientist for research and development work in the transdisciplinary field of ecosystem services, ecosystem conditions and functions. Special focus is on the interrelations between ecosystem conditions and related ecosystem service supply.

The work is integrated in ongoing international (ESMERALDA, MAES Working of the EU, ESP) and national (cooperations e.g. with the BfN, UBA, ESP-DE). The job holder shall furthermore contribute to teaching in the BSc and MSc curricula within the integrative education in Physical Geography and Landscape Ecology. The possibility to derive a PhD thesis within above-mentioned research fields is given.

Requirements

Required are a degree (MSc, Diploma) in related disciplines (e.g. geography, landscape ecology, environmental sciences, landscape or environmental planning, geoinformatics, biology, hydrology or agricultural sciences) and solid English language skills. Additionally we expect methodological knowledge (e.g. GIS, data analysis, modelling, statistics) and experience in interdisciplinary project work.

To apply

Please send your application (including a letter of interest, a curriculum vitae, a list of publications (if available) and copies of certificates) before 15.03.2017 to

e-mail: faust@phygeo.uni-hannover.de

More information, available in the OFFICIAL JOB OFFER!

A new MOOC on Ecosystem Services available on Coursera

Thu, 02 Feb 2017 09:57:00 +0200

A new online course Ecosystem Services: a Method for Sustainable Development is now available immediately on the Coursera MOOC platform. Produced by the University of Geneva, the Geneva Water Hub, the Luc Hoffmann Institute and the Natural Capital Project, the course aims at anybody interested in mastering the strengths and weaknesses of the Ecosystem Services concept as a tool for promoting sustainable development.

Subjects covered will be both technical (methods for valuation, data acquisition, etc.) and socio-political (how to mainstream the process, criticism of the method, etc.). An introductory video (3min) gives a feel for the course content and philosophy.

Learners will hear from many of the field’s leading minds. The course is taught by three primary instructors and by 29 guest instructors and interviewees coming from many of the key institutions (the Natural Capital Project, WWF, IUCN, IPBES, TEEB, Luc Hoffmann Institute) and Universities. Learners can expect to hear multiple contrasting opinions. The full syllabus and list of instructors on the course page.

The course is offered "on-demand". In practice, class cohorts are formed on a regular basis and you can take as much time as necessary to complete the course (2-5 hours for 5 weeks is a rough estimate). The first cohort begins February 2^nd 2017.

Access to all course materials is free. To obtain a certificate of completion costs 49 USD. Financial aid is available (see FAQs on bottom of the course page).

ESMERALDA ecosystem services mapping and assessment methods testing continues in three further practical case studies

Mon, 23 Jan 2017 10:42:00 +0200

From 9 to 12 January 2017, ESMERALDA held the second of a series of five planned project workshops aimed at testing the flexible ecosystem services (ES) mapping and assessment methodology under development using real-world case studies. Bringing together both project partners and stakeholders, the workshop aimed to collect feedback on the suitability of the various methods to be used in different decision-making processes.

Group photo of the participants at the Amsterdam workshop during the excursion to De Biesbosch National Park. Credit: Pavel Stoev

During the workshop, the 60 participants received an update on the latest developments of the consortium and the flexible methodology developed within ESMERALDA, and had the opportunity to contribute to the methods classification, database generation and methodology development during different break-out sessions.

Using a selection of three case studies, participants were introduced to a set of selected mapping and assessment methods with the aim to enhance the understanding of the practical applicability of different methods across different spatial scales, methods’ complexities and relevant themes. The case studies used came from the Netherlands, Poland and Malta, mainly focusing on the following themes: Natural risk (NL), Agriculture and Forestry (ML) and Urban and spatial planning (PL).

The overall aim of the workshop was to explore whether the selected methods have the flexibility required to promote the integration of ES in a variety of policy themes relevant across the European Union. The stakeholders Mr Marius Brants from Droomfonds project Haringvliet, Dr. Łukasz Mikuła from the City council of Poznan and Nikolas Cassar from the MALTA Environment and Resources Authority shared their valuable experience in relevant environment management projects in their countries which were broadly discussed by the participants. The ESMERALDA workshop series will continue in April with the next meeting in Madrid, dedicated to specific European biomes and regions.

Job offer: Two new positions at Institute Zittau / TU Dresden in Germany

Tue, 20 Dec 2016 17:59:00 +0200

The Chair of Ecosystem Services at the International Institute Zittau / TU Dresden in Germany (Prof. Irene Ring) invites applications for two positions of a Research and Teaching Fellow / PhD Position on governance and valuation of ecosystem services, preferably related to the following topics:

1) Ecosystem services in economic accounting

2) Ecosystem services in intergovernmental fiscal relations

These posts entail 50% of the fulltime weekly hours, offering a contract of 3 years.

Requirements: Very good or good university degree (Masters or equivalent), preferably in economics, agricultural, forestry or environmental sciences with a focus in ecological economics or environmental economics; familiarity with the ecosystem services concept. A background in the following areas is of advantage: environmental valuation and environmental-economic accounting (topic 1); public finance, economic analysis of environmental policy instruments and ecological fiscal transfers (topic 2); quantitative and qualitative methods in economics / social sciences (both topics). Very good English and German language and communication skills are also required. The posts also involve teaching in English language in the newly introduced MSc Programmes of "Ecosystem Services" and "Biodiversity and Collection Management".

Closing date: January 9, 2017.

For further details on the job description and requirements: in English Deutscher Ausschreibungstext

Special Issue on Assessment and Valuation of Recreational Ecosystem Services of Landscapes: Submit Contributions

Fri, 02 Dec 2016 09:31:00 +0200

A new Special Issue addressing the challenge of assessing and valuing cultural ecosystem services as specifically stipulated by Target 2, Action 5 of the EU Biodiversity strategy (i.e. Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services (MAES), http://biodiversity.europa.eu/maes) is being currently in preparation to be published in Ecosystem Services.

The focus of this Special Issue will be on the assessment and valuation of the cultural ecosystem service of recreation al opportunities, especially at regional and national levels. Contributions should present novel insights and latest methods for mapping and assessing recreational ecosystem services and cultural ecosystem services more broadly, tackling potentials, demand, actual use, as well as economic and socio-cultural values and benefits of RES. Furthermore, the Special Issue aims to add value by also focusing on practical applications and the potential for modelling and mapping outputs to be used in policy and practical decision making.

Submissions that address the following key questions are welcomed:

How can we advance the theory and practice of RES mapping, assessment, and economic and socio-cultural valuation in the context of MAES, including suggestions for harmonizing the diversity of approaches?
Which bottlenecks and innovative solutions have been identified in the mapping, assessment and valuation of RES?
How can ‘big data’ be applied in the assessment of RES?
Which evidence do we have about the links between RES and the benefits for human wellbeing?
How can we understand the diverse benefits depending on the diversity of beneficiaries of RES?
How can we implement RES assessments that provide valid and relevant information at various spatial and temporal scales?
How can we harmonize different approaches to mapping and assessing RES, for example among EU member states, to enhance the comparability of the results?

Key Dates:

Submission start: December 1, 2016
Submission deadline: May 31, 2017
First review deadline: August 31, 2017
Revised submission deadline: September 30, 2017
Second review deadline: November 30, 2017
Acceptance deadline: December 31, 2017

International Scientific Conference on Ecosystem Services, Sofia 2017

Fri, 04 Nov 2016 18:05:00 +0200

The international scientific conference "Mapping and assessment of ecosystem services - science in action" aims to bring together researchers from different countries to discuss the scientific aspects of mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services. It will be focused on the methods for mapping of ecosystem services, the challenges and problems of their implementation in the national assessments related to MAES. The program includes plenary sessions with keynotes and workshops on the main conference topics:

- Mapping of ecosystems

- Assessment of ecosystem’s condition

- Mapping and assessment of ecosystem services

Biophysical perspectives
Socio-cultural perspectives

Mapping of ecosystems

The assessment of ecosystems and their services needs spatially explicit data representing the landscape heterogeneity of different areas. This topic aims to address the ecosystem typologies used at European and national scales, the variety of spatial datasets and methods used for delineation of ecosystems and correspondence between the approaches applied in different countries.

Assessment of ecosystem’s condition

The assessment of ecosystem’s condition requires information about drivers (land use, mmanagement), pressure (land-take, pollution, climate change) and their impact on the structure and function of the ecosystems. The main objective of this topic is to discuss about appropriate indicators for ecosystem condition, quantification of these indicators and spatial representation of the indicators data.

Mapping and assessment of ecosystem services – biophysical perspective

Ecosystem services need to be mapped in their integrity based on the capacity to ecosystems to provide multiple services. Biophysical methods for mapping ecosystem services are used to quantify ecosystems’ capacity to deliver ecosystem services and the amount of this capacity to ensure human benefits. In this topic, the objective is to discuss the variety of methods for quantification of indicator for ecosystem services, the challenges and problems in their spatial representation as well as their application in national assessments.

Mapping and assessment of ecosystem services – socio-cultural perspective

Socio-cultural methods are related to analyzes of human preference, uncover of individual and collective values and perceptions towards ecosystem services in non monetary units. This topic addresses the problems and challenges in the application of socio-cultural methods for mapping and assessment purposes and their potential to derive indicators for ecosystem services supply, flow and demand.

More information is availabe on the official conference website.

Threats and potentialities of urban and peri-urban ecosystems session at EGU 2017

Tue, 25 Oct 2016 14:15:00 +0300

The General Assembly 2017 of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) is held at the Austria Center Vienna (ACV) in Vienna, Austria, from 23–28 April 2017. The assembly is open to the scientists of all nations. Find out more on the event's website: http://egu2017.eu/home.html

A special session at the event will look at threats and potentialities of urban and peri-urban ecosystems.

SSS9.4/HS11.54/NH1.20
Threats and potentialities of urban and peri-urban areas: soil and water degradation, ecosystem services and risk management (co-organized)

Convener: Carla Ferreira
Co-Conveners: Zahra Kalantari , Rory Walsh , Paulo Pereira , Artemi Cerdà

Urban and peri-urban areas roost most of the world population. The high human pressure is amplifying the impacts of the natural hazards in these areas, including human lives and ecosystems sustainability. Urbanization changes the water cycle due soil imperviousness, and normally, increase the runoff and flood hazards. These events have to be managed and mitigated due to the destruction caused and due to problems related to water demand and pollution. Other important problem in urban areas is the increase of land degradation as a consequence of activities that constitute a threat to soil (e.g. construction works, residues deposition). Land degradation do not affect only the sustainability of the ecosystems but also the production capacity of the soil.

This session aims to give an overview of the problems within urban and peri-urban areas, namely related with soil, water, vegetation and hazards, and to discuss the current and future management issues to the challenge of global changes. Contributions regarding to sustainable ways to improve water, nutrients and energy cycles within these areas and how to use the ecosystem services to mitigate impacts of future extreme events and hazards are also welcome.

The BEES Xmas Market is coming up

Mon, 24 Oct 2016 16:22:00 +0300

The Belgian community of practice on Ecosystem Services announces third edition of the BEES Market. This year’s host is the Natural Capital Platform of the Faculty of Bioscience Engineering at Ghent University and the market will take place on Tuesday 13th of December 2016 at Congrescentrum ‘Het Pand’ in Ghent.

The BEES Xmas market brings together people from academia, public administration and civil society, from Belgium and abroad, with one common interest: ecosystem services. The BEES market is the perfect spot to exchange ideas, learn from other experiences and discover how ecosystem services are transformed into real products or daily life applications.

The concept? A cozy afternoon in a friendly Xmas market-like atmosphere: the perfect event to wrap up 2016 in a useful and fun way! Exibitors can choose to have a stand, give a training session or just to enjoy the market.

Register here before 20th of November.

Job alert: Two Postdoc positions available at the Swedish Species Information Centre

Fri, 07 Oct 2016 11:09:00 +0300

The Swedish Species Information Centre is a national center for species and habitats. The cetre contributes to a sustainable management of the natural resources by collecting, analyzing and making data available, and by describing andpresenting facts about biodiversity. The organization interacts nationally and internationally, with focus on the benefit for conservation. Now the Swedish Species Information Centre recruits two people who will model and simulate the distribution and (meta)population dynamics of species.

Postdoc 1: Modelling and projecting forest ecosystem service

Postdoc 2: Modelling for population viability analyses in forest

Deadline: October 17, 2016.

Testing ecosystem services mapping and assessment methods across Europe

Fri, 07 Oct 2016 09:41:00 +0300

First of a series of five, the recent ESMERALDA Workshop was dedicated to testing methods for mapping and assessment of ecosystem services identified in the second project phase using real-world case studies.

Group photo from the "Testing the methodology acrossEurope" Workshop, Prague; Credit: CzechGlobe

Taking place from 26 – 29 September 2016 in Prague, Czech Republic, ESMERALDA thematic Workshop III was attended by about 60 project partners and stakeholders, who have been directly involved in the case studies, and who provided valuable feedback on the suitability of the methods to be used in different decision-making processes. The event was organized by the ESMERALDA partner CzechGlobe (Global Change Research Institute CAS).

The ESMERALDA Workshop "Testing the methodology across Europe" not only updated participants on the latest scientific and supporting developments within the project, but also aimed at stimulating discussions on a set of selected methods.

Focused on understanding how the selected methods have been applied in three case studies from Latvia, Czech Republic, and Germany, the overall purpose of the Workshop was to start drafting ESMERALDA’s flexible ecosystem services mapping and assessment methods data base, for which among others specific "method cards" were applied.

The methods collection resulting from the various ESMERALDA Workshops, will be gradually compiled and revised during the course of the project and integrated into a holistic flexible methodology for ES mapping and assessment.

The Workshop took place at Karolinum, the historical building of the Charles University in Prague and was supplemented by a field visit to the Třeboňsko UNESCO Biosphere Reserve with a visit to a CzechGlobe LTER monitoring station in the protected landscape area.

Photos: Discussions during the workshop (left) and Excursion (right); Credits: Pavel Stoev

Latest in Insider: Marion Potschin-Young on incorporating ecosystem services in her research, at work and in everyday life

Wed, 17 Aug 2016 17:16:00 +0300

This issue of the ESMERALDA Insider rubric will introduce you to Marion Potschin-Young. Learn more about Marion’s contribution to ESMERALDA, her research and general interests.

Marion Potschin-Young is director of Fabis Consulting, an consultancy working at the interface of environment and society. Before November 2016 she was Director for CEM (Centre for Environmental Management) at the University of Nottingham. In ESMERALDA she is leader of Work Package 4 and is also acting as a deputy coordinator of the project. Since 2002 she focuses on Ecosystem Service research and their applications, which led her to serve as a reviewer for the European Commission's FP7 programme and project evaluator for FP6 and FP7 on Environment. More recently she is on the advisory board for TEEB-Germany, the German, Swedish but also Belgium and Luxemburg Governmental funding bodies for ecosystem service research. Her latest output is being the co-editor of the "Handbook of Ecosystem Services".

Research:

Generally interested in the way science is used in policy and decision making, Marion is especially looking at how concepts and conclusions are translated between different communities. Working with decision makers is especially important for scientists both to demonstrate the relevance of what they do, but also to identify key problems and challenges which new thinking can address.

Currently, Marion is mainly working on ecosystem service assessment and especially how classification systems can be designed to support a number of purposes. In addition to mapping and assessment, these include ecosystem accounting. Her early background is based on the landscape ecology of the Arctic and Antarctic, but she now mostly focuses on the landscapes and associated biomes that we find in Europe.

Interests:

On a more more personal leve

l, Marion combines her research interests with her hobbies, now working on delivering a lot of ecosystem services through a massive gardening project. Having recently bought a plot of land she is now establishing an orchard, a wildflower meadow and a length of new hedgerow and investigates "how this improves the pollination of fruits and vegetables".

Marion's gardening project.

"While we want to encourage biodiversity in our area, we need to eat too, and so provisioning services are on the menu with a vegetable plot and hopefully chickens," adds Marion with a pinch of humor in her tone. "When not in the garden or working for ESMERALDA I love to cook good fresh food and create interest for healthy nice food for workshops."

In ESMERALDA:

Within the project Marion is leading Work Package 4, which is dealing with integrated assessments, and together with WP3 develops the ideas of a "flexible methodology" to apply and use a set of methods of different scales and Ecosystem Services as a base for the assessment.

At CEM she is currently updating CICES (Common International Classification for Ecosystem Services) with her team on the base of a recent international survey. CICES plays an important role in mapping and assessment within the MAES process, and hence ESMERALDA, but it also ties this work up with the efforts to develop ecosystem accounting methods that are being led by the United Nations.

"We need to find ways of helping people to apply ecosystem service classifications easily and to link it with other classification of ecosystems, ecological functions, benefits and beneficiaries and also different backgrounds and understandings of different groups of users. ESMERALDA will really contribute in these areas," concludes Marion.

Find out about other members here.

ESMERALDA Insider: Joachim Maes on science-policy dialogue and urban ecosystems

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 14:30:00 +0300

Find out more about each member of our team in ESMERALDA Insider. In this issue of the rubric Joachim Maes from the Joint Research Center of the European Commission shares his research interests and motivation in the project.

Joachim Maes is currently acting as a scientific and technical project officer at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (JRC), where he is heavily involved in research activities in support of the famous Action 5 of the Biodiversity Strategy, which is the Commission’s initiative to promote mapping and assessment in the member states.

With his work at the JRC having a one-to-one relationship with the objectives of ESMERALDA, Joachim is a deputy-coordinator and task leader of WP2.

About his research interests:

Working closely with policy-makers at the Directorate-General for the Environment of the European Commission, Joachim would still refer to himself as an ecosystem services mapper before anything else.

Giving extra focus to urban ecosystems in his latest work, he is interested to understand the role of biodiversity and ecosystem services of human-dominated ecosystems such as cities and croplands and how it can be mapped and assessed.

Cities, in particular, qualify as laboratories for an ecosystem services approach. In cities the demand for ecosystem services such as clean air, access to green space or storm water regulation is usually high whereas the supply of these services typically runs short.

The new data revolution with the increasing availability of data at very high spatial and temporal resolution coming from different sources like remote sensing but also from citizens needs to be exploited better by ES research.

"I am quite happy with the new MAES report on urban ecosystems. The study showed that there is a lot of scope for urban ecosystem assessment," comments Joachim, "it delivers guidance on how to map urban ecosystems and how to assess their condition and services. An interesting finding is that the Natura 2000 covers as much as 17% of the EU’s urban areas. The management of urban biodiversity will become more important."

The MAES group , where Joachim is a member, is currently testing knowledge co-production as a new collaboration model for the Commission on how ecology and biodiversity policy can work together. This already exists for climate and water policy but it has to be extended to biodiversity policy.

Within ESMERALDA:

Within ESMERALDA Joachim plays an important role facilitating the science-policy interface between the project and the European Commission updating both parties about ongoing developments.

The MAES urban pilot will continue to work during 2017 and 2018 and another step for collaboration would be for ESMERALDA partners who are planning an urban ecosystem assessment or who have interesting data on urban ecosystem services to join this initiative.

New Handbook on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in Impact Assessment

Fri, 05 Aug 2016 17:57:00 +0300

The new new Handbook on "Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in Impact Assessment", presents methodological guidance and discussion of international practice related to the integration of biodiversity and ecosystem services in impact assessment. The volume edited by ESMERALDA researcher Davide Geneletti, features variety of case studies to provide examples of the use of information on biodiversity and ecosystem services in different types of impact assessment to improve decisions at all levels, from strategic choices to individual projects. The Handbook presents a range of applications and possible solutions to challenges in key policy and planning sectors, including urban development, land use, energy, marine areas, infrastructure, agriculture, forestry, health and tourism.

Find the handbook on the following links:

http://www.e-elgar.com/shop/handbook-on-biodiversity-and-ecosystem-services-in-impact-assessment

http://www.elgaronline.com/abstract/9781783478989.xml?rskey=Mo1hbU&result=1

Call for abstracts: Assessment and Economic Valuation of Recreational Ecosystem Services (RES) of Landscapes in EU Member States

Thu, 30 Jun 2016 17:58:00 +0300

The workshop Assessment and Economic Valuation of Recreational Ecosystem Services (RES) of Landscapes in EU Member States will take place at Leibniz Universität Hannover, Germany, on September 12-13, 2016. The workshop picks up the challenge of assessing and valuing ecosystem services as stipulated by target 2, action 5 of the EU Biodiversity strategy (i.e. Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services – a process commonly abbreviated as MAES, http://biodiversity.europa.eu/maes).

The objectives of the workshop are:

1. To bring together and discuss the best available knowledge concerning RES of landscapes in EU member states, that is spatial analysis and quantification of potentials, estimation of demand as well as actual use, and economic valuation,

2. To synthesize commonalities and differences, current bottlenecks and new ideas for further research to advance the theory and practice of RES mapping, assessment and economic valuation in the context of MAES, including suggestions for harmonizing the diversity of approaches,

3. To develop material and insights for a joint publication effort on the topic such as a special issue or joint paper, depending upon the interest of participants,

4. To initiate and enhance across EU member states’ knowledge exchange and cooperation around RES assessment and valuation approaches.

The workshop is planned as a 1,5 day meeting addressing (i) approaches and methods for assessing and mapping potentials of RES of landscapes, (ii) approaches and methods for modelling the demand as well asactual use of RES, and (iii) approaches and methods for the economic valuation of RES. A final session (iv) will integrate the results and discuss future steps of cooperation.

To join the workshop, fill in the registration form available in the conference flyer and send it to hermes@umwelt.uni-hannover.de until July 31, 2016. If you wish to present a paper or a poster, please add a short abstract (max. 300 words). The number of participants will be restricted to ensure a reasonably size for collaboration. Therefore, only an early registration will assure your place.

UNEP GEO-6 Assessment for the pan-European region

Tue, 28 Jun 2016 11:09:00 +0300

As part of the new 6th Global Environment Outlook (GEO-6) UNEP has just released a separate Assessment for the pan-European region. The report provides an overview on the current state, trends and an outlook for the environment, and also highlights environmental factors that contribute to human health and well-being at the regional level.

The assessment for the pan-European region clearly indicates that biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation is continuing in the region. Ongoing biodiversity decline and loss is particularly high in Eastern and Western Europe. Some positive developments and individual success stories offer lessons worth learning, for example developments of protected area networks such as Natura 2000 and the pan-European Emerald Network. However, an important challenge that needs urgent attention is improving availability and open access to comprehensive and integrated biodiversity data to support assessments and analysis, as well as planning and implementation of conservation efforts.

The full report can be found here: http://bit.ly/21q2ghL

UNEP press release: http://bit.ly/24A7sQN

ESMERALDA Workshop in Nottingham: a video report

Thu, 09 Jun 2016 18:16:00 +0300

Our latest workshop, which took place from 14 to 16 April 2016 in Nottingham, UK, brought together 51 representatives from countries across Europe, including all ESMERALDA partners, together with potential new consortium members. During the event participants looked at developing a common understanding within ESMERALDA of methods for mapping and assessing ecosystems and their services, and how they could be used in the context of different ecosystem types, services, "tiers" and spatial scales, cross-referenced to the CICES framework.

Learn more about the workshop and its outcomes from the video:

New ESMERALDA Insider rubric will introduce you to the members of our consortium

Tue, 10 May 2016 15:24:00 +0300

Today, ESMERALDA is launching its brand new Insider rubric! Every few weeks we will post profiles of our consrtium members to give you insights on their research interests and role in the project. Tune in to learn about what motivates scientists in their work, and how are they hoping to contribute to society with their research.

To kick start the rubric, we feature two profiles - our project coordinator Dr Benjamin Burkhard pioneers the initiative, alongside SYKE Senior researcher Dr Petteri Vihervaara.

Dr Burkhard is a geographer working as a senior researcher at Kiel University in Germany. Since 2001 he has worked on various ecosystem services projects, involved in research areas ranging across irrigated rice agriculture in Southeast Asia, landscape management in Finland, Bulgaria and integrative coastal zone management in the North Sea.

Being the first project where Dr Burkhard takes the coordinating role, here is what he shared with us on his experience and coming up with the idea behind ESMERALDA.

Dr Petteri Vihervaara is a senior research scientist at SYKE, currently also working as a research programme manager and coordinating SYKE’s Ecosystem Services research programme.

Lately, his work has been deeply linked with the implementation of the Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystem Services (MAES) work in Finland, as well as coordination of new research opportunities on the whole field of ecosystem services and biodiversity. Read more.

Follow the Insider rubric for more updates on the work of our researchers.

Special Issue "Agro(Eco)System Services—Supply and Demand from Fields to Society" published in LAND.

Thu, 21 Apr 2016 18:06:00 +0300

A new Special Issue (edited by Benjamin Burkhard, Stefan Hotes and Hubert Wiggering) of the online and fully open-access journal LAND deals with questions of ecosystem services delivery in managed and human-modified systems. Existing agricultural systems in different socio-ecological settings are analysed based on system-oriented modeling and simulation, experimental work, observations, interviews with experts, stakeholders and farmers, and analyses of agriculture and land use systems.

Based on that, concepts for improved agricultural systems that aim to integrate the supply of/demand for multiple agro(eco)system services so as to maintain long-term ecosystem functioning are elaborated.

All articles can be accessed from the journal website.

ESMERALDA country fact sheets now available on BISE

Thu, 21 Apr 2016 10:42:00 +0300

The first phase of ESMERALDA was dedicated to the identification of relevant stakeholders and stocktaking of the implementation of MAES (Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services) in all EU member states.

One key outcome of this phase are the EU Country Fact sheets (project Milestone 09) containing information about each country’s MAES-related activities, implementation prerequisites and needs as well as relevant policy and research activities. The fact sheets were produced based on information collected by the ESMERALDA project partners as well as related policy and research activities such as the MAES Working Group and the MESEU project.

All fact sheets are now available on BISE, the Biodiversity Information System for Europe, for the different countries within the platform’s MAES-related developments in the European Union section.

The sharing of information between ESMERALDA and BISE is based on ESMERALDA Milestone 31, under which stakeholders from the European Commission, different institutions and projects meet regularly to discuss inter-operability of ESMERALDA outputs into common platforms.

Two other highly relevant outcomes from the first project phase are Deliverables 2.1 "Clustering of EU Member States according to their prerequisites and needs to perform ES mapping and assessment" and 2.2 "Ecosystem service mapping and assessment gaps in EU member states and recommendations to overcome them", giving an overview of the stocktaking of MAES implementation in EU member states. All publicly available reports can be downloaded here.

Towards a Europe-wide integrated framework for mapping and assessment of ecosystem services

Wed, 20 Apr 2016 11:26:00 +0300

With the aim of supporting EU countries in the Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services (MAES) process, ESMERALDA held a dedicated workshop to look at and discuss existing methods and how they could be used as part of an integrated assessment.

The workshop, which took place from 14 to 16 April 2016 in Nottingham, UK, brought together 51 representatives from countries across Europe, including all ESMERALDA partners, together with potential new consortium members.

Participants at the ESMERALDA Workshop in Nottingham, UK, 14-16 April 2016; Photo Credit: Pensoft

Using results from existing and ongoing ESMERALDA reports, participants looked at developing a common understanding within ESMERALDA of methods for mapping and assessing ecosystems and their services, and how they could be used in the context of different ecosystem types, services, "tiers" and spatial scales, cross-referenced to the CICES framework.

ESMERALDA aims at supporting European countries in fulfilling their duties in relation to the EU Biodiversity Strategy’s Target 2 Action 5 "Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services" (MAES). In the second project phase that has just been started, ESMERALDA will develop a first version of a report on flexible methods for mapping and assessing ecosystem services.

In the discussion sessions the experts looked at biophysical, socio-cultural and economic methods in order to identify the potential relationships between ecosystem services and specific methods, as well as the potential linkages between the methods themselves.

Discussing biophysical methods for MAES in one of five dedicated breakout groups during the workshop; Photo Credit: Pensoft

Results and feedback from the workshop will serve as a basis for the selection of methods to be used and tested within the project’s selected case studies. The final aim is to get an overview of available methods, their strengths and weaknesses and potential application for ES mapping and assessment to serve for building a holistic flexible methodology in the next phase of ESMERALDA.

Clockwise from top: Local host from Nottingham Roy Haines-Young on quantification of ecosystem services; ESMERALDA Coordinator Benjamin Burkhard opening the workshop; Field trip at the Melbourne Parklands; Photo Credits: Pensoft

Have Ecosystem Services Been Oversold? Scientists debate the future of the ES concept

Thu, 07 Apr 2016 15:03:00 +0300

A recent publication in Trends in Ecology & Evolution has posed some criticism on the concept of Ecosystem Services. The article authored by Jonathan Silvertown, University of Edinburgh, draws attention to the argument that this concept, encapsulating the ways in which human society depends upon the existence and functioning of nature, also draws power by chiming with dominant neoliberal ideology.

Since its publication, the article has received some attention from scientists that work within this sphere, resulting into several replies - some of which have been officially published alongside the original piece in the journal. The responses bring more points for consideration and invites for further more holistic and balanced debate within the discipline. ESMERALDA partner Marion Potschin and her colleagues are among the critical reviewers of the original paper.

Learn more and read the article, followed by all published responses here.

Call for papers: Ecosystem services – methods, data and applications

Thu, 31 Mar 2016 15:50:00 +0300

Following the 8th ESP Conference last year in Stellenbosch, the new ESP-associated journal One Ecosystem is now ready to welcome your contributions to its first Special Issue "Ecosystem services – methods, data and applications". One Ecosystem is an innovative Open Access scholarly journal that welcomes, in addition to conventional research papers, contributions documenting the entire research cycle, including data, models, methods, workflows, results, software, perspectives and policy recommendations. Contributions from all ESP 8 sessions and ESP Working Groups are welcome!

Scope of the Special Issue

With this Special Issue (and the new Journal) the main intention is to really make a difference, by promoting and supporting methods and data sharing, ideas exchange and dissemination of relevant applications in the sphere of ecosystem services. For this reason, the focus of this Special Issue is kept broad, welcoming all contributions related to ecosystem service research methods, data and their applications in science, policy making, society and practice. Please contact one of the Special Issue editors in case you are unsecure whether your specific topic is fitting.

Timeline

Call for papers: March 2016
Indication of interest (authors): April 11, 2016 (but also later indications may be considered)
Submission of papers: any time, but preferably before June 1, 2016
Publication individual papers: when ready
Collection for Special Issue: September 2016

Download the official Call for Papers here.

Two PhD Positions at Kiel University

Thu, 24 Mar 2016 17:11:00 +0200

Twi PhD positions for ecosystem services in coastal regions have been opened at Kiel University. Click on the links below to download the official offers and learn how to apply.

Project BACOSA II:

1 position for Ecological Assessment

1 position for Economic Assesment.

Application deadline: March 31, 2016.

Job Offers: Two Research Fellows in Ecosystem Service Mapping

Mon, 07 Mar 2016 17:40:00 +0200

The University of Southampton is seeking to appoint two Research Fellows to work with Dr Felix Eigenbrod on his European Research Council Starting Grant, "Scaling Rules for Ecosystem Service Mapping (SCALEFORES)" in the School of Geography and the Environment. Qualified applicants are encouraged to apply for both positions.

Position 1: Applied Biogeography. Apply at: https://jobs.soton.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx?ref=699516WR

Position 2: Spatial Modelling. Apply at:https://jobs.soton.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx?ref=699416WR

The deadline for application for both positions is 1 April 2016.

European Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Research & Innovation Strategic Science Dialogue

Wed, 02 Mar 2016 10:00:01 +0200

The Climate Action and Resource Efficiency Directorate of DG Research and Innovation organised on 29 February 2016 in Brussels a science – science interface workshop with an emphasis on biodiversity and ecosystem services related themes. The objective of the meeting was to identify synergies between EU funded research and networking projects and actions; foster collaboration on scientific and technical issues, as well as communication and science-policy strategies.

Projects funded under various funding schemes such as FP7, Horizon 2020, Biodiversa, LIFE+, and COST were invited to the meeting. Joachim Maes represented ESMERALDA at the meeting.

The discussions were organised in working groups along five themes: • basic research • applied research • technological developments • prototypes • demonstration projects.

The working groups identified needs and areas for collaboration within and between these themes, discussed bottlenecks and barriers, and proposed possible solutions.Solutions to enhance collaboration between all the different projects include: • More flexibility in the funding schemes to respond better to emerging calls, • Separate funding mechanisms for post project meetings and for workshops and • Open data and publishing.

The European Commission will make a report of the meeting available.

How to argue for biodiversity conservation: 2 guides from the FP7 EU project BESAFE

Tue, 01 Mar 2016 15:09:00 +0200

Biodiversity decline is a fact, but how can society be convinced of the benefits of biodiversity for human well being and of the necessity of further protective action? The FP7 funded EU project Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services: Arguments for our Future Environment (BESAFE) addressed this challenge to produce guidance that can help improve the way we use arguments for conservation and convincingly demonstrate the value of biodiversity to decision-makers.

Credit: Rob Bugter

Two key outputs of the project are the final brochure "How to Argue for Biodiversity Conservation More Effectively: Recommendations from the BESAFE project", including key conclusions from project publications and case studies, and an interactive online tool, which can lead stakeholders to the relevant information in a few mouse clicks.

Key recommendations of BESAFE featured in these resources are:

- The success of a more integrated approach depends on stakeholder engagement. A top-down policy framework that sets goals for the protection of particular sites and species is important, but it is not enough to prevent biodiversity loss. - -- An integrated approach, seeking to 'mainstream' biodiversity concerns across all policy sectors (e.g. agriculture, forestry, water, energy, transport and urban planning) is needed.

- Promote bottom-up initiatives at the local level. All stakeholders need to be actively involved in the decision-making process, which should facilitate building trust and working towards generally agreed and accepted solutions.

- Tailor arguments to the audience. Arguments need to be framed to fit the values and goals of the audience, embracing the plurality of values attached to nature, and using appropriate language. For example, over-emphasising economic arguments could alienate people who are motivated mainly by ethical and moral concerns.

- Use positive arguments. Positive framing of arguments to emphasise benefits is often more powerful than negative framing that focuses on threats and losses. The concept of ecosystem services is useful for emphasising positive benefits, provided that it is properly explained to stakeholders.

- Use a wider range of arguments. Arguments based on the economic value of nature for humans dominate European and national policy-making, and are often seen as central to gaining high-level policy-maker support, but our results show that many decision-makers and other stakeholders also use and respond positively to ethical and moral arguments.

"We aimed to provide the essence of 4 years worth of research in an easy to read and reuse form, to maximise the potential of using the right arguments for conservation at the right time in order to successfully demonstrate the value of biodiversity to decision-makers," comments Rob Bugter, co-ordinator of the BESAFE project.

Try out the resources below:

Bugter R., Smith A.C. and the BESAFE consortium. 2015. How to argue for biodiversity conservation more effectively. Recommendations from the BESAFE project. Pensoft Publishers, Sofia, 26 pp. Available at: http://www.besafe-project.net/img/uplf/BESAFE_brochure_online_18.pdf

BESAFE web tool available at: http://tool.besafe-project.net/

Workshop on "Customisation of CICES across Member States" at EEA in Copenhagen

Tue, 01 Mar 2016 12:40:00 +0200

From 25 to 26 February 2016, around 20 experts from 10 different European countries met at the European Environment Agency (EEA) in Copenhagen, Denmark. The workshop is part of ESMERALDA (Milestone 19) and was organised by Marion Potschin and Roy Haines-Young from the ESMERALDA partner University of Nottingham (UNOTT, leader of Work Package 4 on Ecosystems Service Assessment Methods) and hosted by the European Environment Agency.

Picture: Workshop participants following a video presentation; Credit: B. Burkhard

The aim of the workshop was to take stock of the experience gained in using the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES) Version 4.3 for mapping and assessment, and to advise on the objectives for any future revision and the development of guidelines to help people apply it effectively. The workshop has drawn on interim results from the current consultation on CICES that will be completed in April 2016 (see www.cices.eu).

The outcomes of the meeting will be published as a project Milestone report, helping to define options that can be developed in the CICES revision process and how changes can help meet current user needs. The results will support the development of the ESMERADLA guidelines for a flexible, integrated ecosystem service assessment methodology. Outcomes from the workshop and further insights from the consultation will also be presented during the ESMERALDA workshop II in Nottingham in late April and will form the basis for M20 "CICES-consistent library of indicators for biophysical, social and economic ES dimensions".

New EEA Report: Mapping and assessing the condition of Europe's ecosystems

Tue, 01 Mar 2016 12:07:00 +0200

We depend on healthy and resilient ecosystems to continue to deliver services, such as food, water, clean air and stable climate, which are essential for our well-being. A new EEA report provides an overview about the current condition of ecosystems in Europe and the human pressures they are exposed to.

An ecosystem map for Europe reveals that many ecosystems are highly concentrated in a small number of countries, which could increase their vulnerability to environmental change, and a substantial proportion of the most vulnerable ecosystems are not protected within Natura 2000 sites, Marine Protected Areas or equivalent zones.

Download the report on the EEA dedicated page.

MapNat - The ecosystem service mapping smartphone App

Wed, 17 Feb 2016 10:11:00 +0200

Go ahead and test an advanced beta version of MapNat, the ecosystem service (ES) mapping smartphone App.

MapNat lets you map the ecosystem services you are actually using in the very moment of mapping. So the mapping perspective is that of ES use or ES ‘flow’. It is designed as a citizen science tool, to be used to get to know more about how people appreciate and use different ES. Just map which ES you are using. On the map display you can also assess which ES have been used by others, what they commented and how often they use/enjoy the ES they mapped or how severe they judge the disservices they encountered.

Any technical and thematic comments are welcome. For questions, comments please contact: joerg.priess(at)ufz.de .

Download the App for Android devices here.

Download the instructions (Pdf) here.

One Ecosystem Journal: Innovation in ecology and sustainability research publishing

Wed, 10 Feb 2016 18:44:00 +0200

Focused on the fields of ecology and sustainability, One Ecosystem is an innovative open access scholarly journal that goes beyond the conventional research article publication. Launched in January 2016, the new journal is now open for submissions ranging across the entire research cycle, including data, models, methods, workflows, results, software, perspectives and policy recommendations.

Ecosystem services, Ecology and Sustainability are research areas that address highly relevant scientific and societal topics. One Ecosystem aims to respond to the newest developments in scholarly publishing, adapting them for and applying them to these fields.

The journal offers a wide set of article templates, including domain-specific ones, such as Ecosystem services mapping, Ecological models or Environmental monitoring, allowing scientists to publish and get credit for their work at any stage of the research cycle. Through the technologically advanced ARPHA publishing platform and innovative publishing model, all data that underpin a given study will be made free to everyone and integrated into relevant and domain-specific global data repositories.

"We need better incentives for scientists who want to share their data. One Ecosystem provides such incentives by linking peer review to open data" adds Joachim Maes, European Commission - Joint Research Centre.

"We believe that open access to all the relevant products of the scientific cycle is key to both scientific advancement, and innovation in the real world. With One Ecosystem we aim at fostering open exchange of information to address sustainability challenges." - Deputy Editor-in-Chief Dr. Davide Geneletti, University of Trento.

Open access to content and data is quickly becoming the prevailing model in academic publishing and research funding schemes. By making research outputs public, the new journal opens up new mechanisms for integration of information, collaboration, appraisal, and dissemination. Committed to openness and innovation, One Ecosystem offers a novel community-based peer-review introduced for the first time in these academic disciplines. The journal gives authors and reviewers the opportunity to opt for an entirely open review process.

Making use of the unique ARPHA Writing Tool, One Ecosystem does not only enable authors to prepare their manuscripts directly within the system, but also allows to submit pre-submission reviews from the very start. These reviews or supporting statements from experts in the subject will facilitate the manuscript evaluation and speed up the publishing process.

"With One Ecosystem we want to accelerate scientific progress in the frontier research fields of ecology and sustainability. We are convinced that this new format of writing, reviewing and open access publishing of scientific findings is the future", explains the Editor-in Chief of One Ecosystem - Dr. Benjamin Burkhard, University of Kiel.

Four PhD positions offered by the Institute of Environmental Planning, Leibniz Universität Hanover

Wed, 03 Feb 2016 17:42:00 +0200

The Institute of Environmental Planning at Leibniz Universität Hanover, contingent upon approval from the funding institution, invites applications for four PhD positions in Landscape Planning and GIS, Landscape Ecology, Social Sciences, and Economics.

The positions are part-time (50%) and limited to up to five years. Successful applicants will contribute to the research group PlanSmart, exploring innovative approaches to planning and implementing nature-based solutions for resilient development of metropolitan regions. PlanSmart focusses on water-borne challenges, cooperates with the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research and is funded through the program for Social-Ecological Research by the
Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

The following positions are available:

- PhD position in Landscape Ecology or Landscape Planning: Modelling ecological potentials, risks, and effectiveness of nature-based solutions

- PhD position in Social Sciences: Assessing social conditions and effects of nature-based solutions

- PhD position in Economics: Modelling economic risks, impacts and benefit-cost-ratios of nature-based solutions

- PhD position in Landscape Planning and GIS: Developing a GeoDesign tool for the participatory planning of nature-based solutions

See the official job announcements here: http://www.umwelt.uni-hannover.de/vacancies0.html

For more information and inquiries concerning PlanSmart and the positions, please contact Dr. C. Albert, email: albert@umwelt.uni-hannover.de

PhD position at UFZ: Plant functional traits as indicators for ecosystem services

Tue, 02 Feb 2016 12:42:00 +0200

The Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ)is offering a PhD Position (m/f) in the subject of Plant functional traits as indicators for ecosystem services. Project start: 1st July 2016. Working time 50% (19.5 hours per week), limited to 3 years.

Duties:
- Identify the links between plant functional traits and functional diversity and the provision of key ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes
- Model the response of plant communities, their traits, functional diversity and related ecosystem services to changes in agricultural land use
- Suggest ways to manage agricultural landscapes in a way that maximizes both functional diversity and key ecosystem services
- Highlight consequences of decisions made under different societal priorities

Candidate profile:
- Diploma or MSc degree in biology, ecology, geoecology, geography or a related discipline
- Expertise in modern concepts of ecology
- Experiences with plant ecology are preferable
- Skills in the analysis of functional traits are advantageous
- Experiences in GIS are advantageous
- Expertise in modern statistical methods and readiness to become acquainted with the statistical environment "R"
- Ability to work in a team
- Fluency in written and spoken English

To apply and for more information go to: https://recruitingapp-5128.de.umantis.com/Vacancies/682/Description/2?customer=5128

Workshop "Mapping and assessment of ecosystem services in enlargement countries" at JRC Ispra

Mon, 01 Feb 2016 15:38:00 +0200

From January 26-28, 2016, around 20 experts from EU enlargement countries and EU member states met at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) in Ispra, Italy. The enlargement countries were represented by participants from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Israel, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey.

ESMERALDA was represented by Joachim Maes (Workshop chair), Grazia Zulian, Benjamin Burkhard, Fernando Santos, Davide Geneletti and Markus Erhard. The aim of this workshop was to take stock of the progress made in EU enlargement countries on mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services, to analyse gaps in knowledge and to initiate training activities on mapping and modelling ecosystem services using a tiered mapping approach.

Picture: Joachim Maes is opening the Workshop.

The Workshop aimed at increasing the capacity of enlargement countries to meet their international obligations under the Convention of Biological Diversity and increase the role of the MAES activities as crucial input to the IPBES regional assessments.

More information can be found at the JRC’s website:
https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/event/workshop/mapping-and-assessment-ecosystem-services-enlargement-contries

The Handbook of Ecosystem Services is now published

Fri, 29 Jan 2016 12:00:00 +0200

The Routledge Handbook of Ecosystem Services, edited by Marion Potschin, Roy Haines-Young, Rob Fish and Kerry Turner is now published. The volume includes input from people in ESMERALDA who contributed chapters on Indicators for Ecosystem Services, Mapping Ecosystem Services, and Ecosystem Services in the Mediterranean Basin and several other topics.

This handbook provides a comprehensive reference text on ecosystem services, integrating natural and social science (including economics). The volume aims to demonstrate the importance of biodiversity for people, policy and practice. The handbook also shows how the value of ecosystems to society can be expressed in monetary and non-monetary terms, so that the environment can be better taken into account in decision making.

The book contains over 50 chapters and seven briefing notes, and spans the spectrum of ecosystem issues from concepts, methods through to applications. In his forward Sir Robert Watson, Professor of Environmental Sciences, at the University of East Anglia in the UK wrote:

"This handbook, written by world-class academic and policy experts, is long overdue, and provides a much-needed guide to address this challenge. It is an authoritative reference text written in easy to read sections that is essential reading for academics, decision-makers and civil society."

A discount is available by using the code in the flyer attached, for those who are interested to buy a copy or encourage their library to obtain one.

For more information see: https://www.routledge.com/products/9781138025080

TUNESinURB project kick-off: Towards better understanding of ecosystem services in urban environments

Fri, 29 Jan 2016 11:02:00 +0200

The TUNESinURB project Kick-off meeting took place on 28 January 2016 in Sofia, Bulgaria. TUNESinURB will operate on a national level, aiming to create an information system on urban ecosystems and their ecosystem services for Bulgaria.

The project will use a set of indicators for ecosystem services assessment and mapping to facilitate the understanding and implementation of sectoral policies for planning and development of urban territories.

TUNESinURB is financed by the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area (EEA FM) 2009-2014 and is coordinated by the Forest Research Institute, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in partnership with Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski", GEOgraphica Ltd., and the Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO).

ESMERALDA was also presented at the project’s kick-off, by our partner Stoyan Nedkov, National Institute of Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, to open the possibilities for future collaboration. Options for use of common case studies and application of mapping methods were discussed, as well as the development of national network on ecosystem services in Bulgaria in collaboration with the Ecosystem Services Partnership and MAES activities.

Images from the TUNESinURB Kick-off, clockwise from top to bottom: Opening speech by Prof. H. Tsakov, Director of Forest Research Institute, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences; TUNESinURB project Co-ordinator Dr. M. Zhiyanski; ESMERALDA partner S. Nedkov presenting the project; Credit: Pensoft

The BEES X-mas market video

Mon, 25 Jan 2016 18:08:00 +0200

The Belgium Ecosystem Services (BEES) network is a community of practice aiming to connect different societal actors involved in ecosystem services research, practice and policy-making. In December 2015, for a second year BEES had organized a X-mas market with the aim to bring together scientists, practitioners and policy makers in an informal setting to stimulate interaction and exchange of ideas.

ESMERALA was also present at the market with a separate stand where the project was showcased, the project was also included in the reporting video. Learn more about the participants and outcomes of the market in the video below:

BEES Christmas Market 2015 from Belgian Biodiversity Platform on Vimeo.

Job Offer: Associate Professor, School of Geography, University of Nottingham

Mon, 25 Jan 2016 18:01:00 +0200

The University of Nottingham is opening a position for Associate Professor in the School of Geography.

The University is seeking to appoint an academic to make a significant leadership impact within the research and teaching area of environmental management (which could include topics such as ecosystem services, sustainability, climate change, development, hazards, risk and human health and well-being). Experience in the application of remote sensing and/or GIS techniques to environmental management issues would be welcome.

Deadline: 22nd February 2016

More information on the position and requirements available here.

Article Alert: Combining internal and external motivations in multi-actor governance arrangements for biodiversity and ecosystem services

Thu, 14 Jan 2016 17:39:00 +0200

A new paper "Combining internal and external motivations in multi-actor governance arrangements for biodiversity and ecosystem services" published in the journal Environmental Science & Policy looks at ways to motivate actions for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services provision. The paper is a result of the EU FP7 funded project BIOMOT.

Abstract:

This paper analyses the possibility of building a mutually supportive dynamics between internally and externally motivated behaviour for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services provision. To this purpose a face to face survey amongst 169 key actors of 34 highly successful and prominent biodiversity arrangements in seven EU countries was conducted. The main finding of the paper is the feasibility of combining inherently intrinsically motivated behaviours (providing enjoyment, pleasure from experimentation and learning, aesthetic satisfaction) and internalized extrinsic motivations (related to the identification with the collective goals of conservation policy) through a common set of governance features. Successful initiatives that combine internal and external motivations share the following features: inclusive decision making processes, a broad monitoring by "peers" beyond the core staff of the initiatives, and a context that is supportive for the building of autonomous actor competences. These findings are in line with the psycho-sociological theory of motivation, which shows the importance of a psycho-social context leading to a subjective perception of autonomy and a sense of competence of the actors.

Original Source:

Tom Dedeurwaerdere, Jeroen Admiraal, Almut Beringer, Flavia Bonaiuto, Lavinia Cicero, Paula Fernandez-Wulff, Janneke Hagens, Juha Hiedanpää, Paul Knights, Erica Molinario, Paolo Melindi-Ghidi, Florin Popa, Urban Šilc, Nathalie Soethe, Tiina Soininen, Jose Luis Vivero, Combining internal and external motivations in multi-actor governance arrangements for biodiversity and ecosystem services, Environmental Science & Policy, Volume 58, April 2016, Pages 1-10, ISSN 1462-9011, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2015.12.003

Scientific support for managing biodiversity: ESMERALDA featured in EC news

Wed, 13 Jan 2016 22:16:00 +0200

ESMERALDA is featured in the Research & Innovation news to expose the project to a great audience across Europe and the World.

"EU-funded project ESMERALDA is developing ways to assess Europe's biodiverse ecosystems and their many contributions to society and the economy." states the story going in deph through the ways in which the project aims to provide methods to asses the state of ecosystems across Europe towards supporting Action 5 of the EC Biodiversity Strategy 2020.

Ecosystem services research and stakeholder involvement: Between theories and practice

Mon, 11 Jan 2016 19:16:00 +0200

What do people value, why and how? This should be a leading question in sustainability research, but putting it into practise can be tricky. A new paper published in the journal Ecosystem Services looks at how to improve stakeholder participation in the research on and governance of ecosystem services (ESS) as a stepping point to more comprehensive and participatory research practises.

Credit: J. Settele

Stakeholder participation in the governance of ecosystem services (ESS) is conceptually necessary, especially in the light of the failure of monetary valuation to provide assessment instruments suitable as policy guidance. To answer the Whys and Hows of ESS research real involvement and participation of stakeholders has proven to be a more valuable tool.

Building upon experience from transdisciplinary research projects in Asia, Africa and Europe, the new paper argues that successful participation depends on the specific socio-cultural context and requires different means and modes of participation during different project phases.

The paper provides a useful overview of tested methods, with their pros and cons listed. Alongside the challenges on the basis of different projects experiences, the research also outlines the ways in which good project coordination can help for such difficulties to be anticipated and handled. The main conclusions and recommendations are extracted in five core lessons, with regards to:

- Participation;

- Target groups;

- Integration;

- Managing;

- Limits to economic valuation;

This paper benefitted from the experience in transdisciplinary research projects over the last 20 years, in particular the EU FP 6 Integrated Project "ALARM" (GOCE-CT-2003-506675, 2003-2008), "LEGATO" (German Ministry for Education and Research, research Grant no. FKZ01LL0917A-01LL0917O, 2010-2016), "EO-Miners" (EU FP 7 research Grant agreement no. 244242, 2009-2013), "APPEAL" (funded by BiodivERsA 2011-33, Grant 01LC1102A, 2011-2015),"EJOLT" (EU FP7 Science in Society Grant agreement no. 266642, 2011-2015), "ENRI" (ESF European Science Foundation funded, 2011-2015), "DEEDS" (EU Leonardo da Vinci Programme funded, 2005-2008) (Contract no. DK/06/B/F/PP-145612'DK/06/B/F/PP-145612), "SUSTRAT" (EU FP5 funded, IHDP endorsed, 2002-2006) (Contract no. HPSE-CT-2002-50019HPSE-CT-2002-50019), and earlier projects.

Original Source:

Joachim H. Spangenberg, Christoph Görg, Josef Settele, Stakeholder involvement in ESS research and governance: Between conceptual ambition and practical experiences - risks, challenges and tested tools, Ecosystem Services, Volume 16, December 2015, Pages 201-211, ISSN 2212-0416, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2015.10.006.

First stakeholder workshop in Riga - a video review

Wed, 06 Jan 2016 10:10:00 +0200

The first ESMERALDA Stakeholder Workshop took place from 13 to 16 October 2015 in Riga, Latvia, as the first of a series of events planned to enhance the project collaboration with stakeholders. The event brought together project partners and stakeholders to discuss the state and gaps of ecosystem service mapping and assessment activities in their countries, and the ways ESMERALDA outputs can feed into their work to achieve Action 5 of the EU Biodiversity Strategy.

The following video reports back from the workshop:

ESMERALDA at the BEES Market: Wishing everyone Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Fri, 25 Dec 2015 19:46:00 +0200

Just 10 days before Christmas EMSERALDA participated at the BEES Christmas Market, which took place on 15 Dec 2015 in Brussels, Belgium. The event brought together experts, NGOs and organizations working in the sphere of ecosystem services to discuss and present their work.

ESMERALDA had its own stand where we had the opportunity to showcase our aims and objectives and discuss future work.

We want to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year with this picture from the event and wish the project another year of fruitful work!

Postdoctoral position: Modelling of the land-sea nutrient transfer to the Mediterranean sea under different land management scenarios

Mon, 09 Nov 2015 11:32:00 +0200

Post-doctoral scientist position is open for the project "Towards an integrated prediction of Land & Sea Responses to global change in the Mediterranean Basin" (LaSeR-Med), which focusses on integrated socio-ecological modelling. The duration of the contract is initially one year, with a possible extension for a second year, depending on the initial results. The post-doc will be based within the Mediterranean Institute of marine and terrestrial Biodiversity and Ecology (IMBE) in Aix-en-Provence, France. The project is part of the Labex OT-Med (http://www.otmed.fr/).

Applicants should hold a doctoral degree in physics, chemistry, microbiology, geosciences, environmental sciences or a related field of science. They should be familiar with modelling biogeochemical interactions between ecosystems and capable to further develop existing numerical ecosystem models. Programming skills (C) and modelling experience are therefore mandatory. Knowledge of R and of Unix/Linux environment will be an advantage. The candidate should have good written and oral communication skills. For work, good skills in the English language will be essential.

The project:

Terrestrial and marine ecosystems are connected through groundwater, river discharge and nutrient outflows (especially N and P). River catchments in the Mediterranean are N-intensive regions, mostly due to intensive agriculture in the North and to crop N2 fixation or food & feed import in the South. The fraction of nutrient reaching the sea constitutes significant anthropogenic forcing of many marine biological processes. For simulating the dynamics of the first levels of the marine food web (from nutrients to jellyfishes), the ocean biogeochemical model, Eco3M-MED, used and developed by the Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography (MIO) within OT-Med, currently uses N and P measurements at river mouths, e.g. for the Rhône.

Your application:

Applications should contain a suitable motivation letter describing your anticipated role in the project, a CV, a list of scientific publications and the names of at least two scientists that can be contacted for references. They must be sent to Ms. Gabriela Boéri (gabriela.boeri@imbe.fr). Please prepare your application as a single file in pdf-format.

Questions about the project or the position can be directed to Dr. Alberte Bondeau (alberte.bondeau@imbe.fr). The position will be filled as soon as a suitable candidate has been found – work should start soon after that date. The salary and contract conditions will be determined according to standards set by Aix-Marseille University – questions in this regard can be directed to Sophie Pekar (pekar@otmed.fr).

Assessing ecosystem services: Increasing the impact on decision making

Thu, 05 Nov 2015 18:14:00 +0200

Assessments of ecosystem services (ES), aiming at informing decisions on land management, are increasing in number around the globe, but only in a few cases recommendations are then applied by decision-makers in real life. In a new paper published in the journal Ecology and Society a team of researchers aims to bridge the gap between scientific research and policy needs, by providing a new step-by-step problem-oriented approach for informing land-use decisions.

Often ES assessments are found to fall short in targeting information needs by decision makers. To improve their applicability in practice, the research team suggests a problem-oriented approach, putting the real-life needs and issues faced by stakeholders at the core of an ES assessment.

This picture shows irrigated rice fields in the Sapa region, Vietnam; Credit: Pavel Stoev

The scientists compared existing ES assessments concepts with focus on informing land use decisions, identifying opportunities for enhancing the relevance of ES assessments for decision making. Building on extensive experience of four projects in Brazil, China, Madagascar, and Vietnam, they developed a step-wise approach for better focussing ES assessments on the information needs in land use decisions, throughout the decision process:

Scoping phase (A): structuring ES information according to land use problems identified by stakeholders,
Assessment phase (B): collecting context-specific ES information as needed by decision makers, and assessing relevant management options,
Implementation phase (C): Synthesising, integrating and presenting information for decision support.

The development of each of them is broken down into several steps to provide an easy to follow workplan oriented towards maximum relevance for stakeholders.

Achieving a shared understanding of the role of ES within the social-ecological context can already be beneficial for the decision-making process. ES assessments are learning processes within which the design is refined and re-adjusted in the course of the assessment process and in response to newly acquired knowledge.

"To paraphrase Albert Einstein, assessments should be as simple as possible, but no simpler. We recognize that stepwise approaches are a simplification of the process required to fully understand the complexities involved in social-ecological systems." comments the lead author Johannes Förster. "However, our approach is meant to provide pragmatic guidance for making ES assessments more policy-relevant by focusing the design of assessments on particular land-use problems, stakeholder priorities, and information needs to explore options for more sustainable land management."

###

Additional information:

This paper is partly based on and supported by the LEGATO project. LEGATO stands for 'Land-use intensity and Ecological Engineering - Assessment Tools for risks and Opportunities in irrigated rice based production systems' and aims to advance long-term sustainable development of irrigated rice fields, against risks arising from multiple aspects of global change. The overall objective is the elaboration and testing of generally applicable principles within the frame of ecological engineering - an emerging discipline, concerned with design, monitoring and construction of ecosystems.

Original Source:

Förster, J., J. Barkmann, R. Fricke, S. Hotes, M. Kleyer, S. Kobbe, D. Kübler, C. Rumbaur, M. Siegmund-Schultze, R. Seppelt, J. Settele, J. H. Spangenberg, V. Tekken, T. Václavík, and H. Wittmer. 2015. Assessing ecosystem services for informing land-use decisions: a problem-oriented approach. Ecology and Society 20(3):31. http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-07804-200331

USA governmenent provides direction to agencies on Incorporating Natural Infrastructure and Ecosystem Services in Federal Decision-Making

Mon, 02 Nov 2015 18:21:00 +0200

Like the European Commission in their Biodiversity Strategy from 2011, now also the USA government recognises that nature provides vital contributions to economic and social well-being and publsihes a memorandum that provides direction to agencies on incorporating ecosystem services into Federal planning and decision making.

The memorandum directs agencies to develop and institutionalize policies that promote consideration of ecosystem services, where appropriate and practicable, in planning, investment, and regulatory contexts. It also establishes a process for the Federal government to develop a more detailed guidance on integrating ecosystem-service assessments into relevant programs and projects to help maintain ecosystem and community resilience, sustainable use of natural resources, and the recreational value of the Nation’s unique landscapes.

This memorandum complements Ecosystem-Service Assessment: Research Needs for Coastal Green Infrastructure, a report released by the Administration in August that outlines Federal research priorities to inform the integration of coastal green infrastructure and ecosystem services considerations into planning and decision-making. Read more.

Special Issue Ecosystem Services Journal (ESS): Call for Papers

Mon, 26 Oct 2015 09:33:00 +0200

The Call for Papers for a new Special Issue - Putting Ecosystem Services (ES) into practice. Assessment tools and indicators for land management - is now announced. The issue planned to be published in the Ecosystem Services Journal will aim to present novel approaches to implement ecosystem service frameworks putting them into practice towards sustainable land management.

This could be by coupling ecosystem services with land use change models, stakeholder approaches to introduce newly developed tools and to address user needs and requests regarding thefuture course of assessment tools and development of indicators. Specific application of the ES framework within different decision support systems, from planning, impact assessment, project implementation and policy making are also welcomed. The application of these tools/indicators will be ideally discussed in specific case studies. Discussion could be focused on the currently addressed issues as well as technical and methodological challenges, helping in putting the ES framework into practical applications for land management.

Important dates

Final Submission deadline: 01 of March 2016
Final publication decisions (after peer review): 01 of October 2016
Expected publication date of the Special Issue: 01 of February 2017

Contact

For further questions please feel free to contact: Luis Inostroza, Inostroza@technotope.org or Hannes

König, hkoenig@zalf.de

For more information, please see the official call PDF.

Call to host the ecoSERVICES international project office

Wed, 21 Oct 2015 16:10:00 +0300

ecoSERVICES is seeking a new host institution to establish its international project office from 2016. Expressions of interest will be examined with the scientific steering committee on the week of 30 November 2015.

Currently hosted at the Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d’Ecologie (IMBE) in France, ecoSERVICES is seeking a new host for its international project office from 2016

The ideal host institution works on scientific issues related to biodiversity, ecosystem services and human well-being, at various scales from local or national to global; and meets a few practical specifications via direct funding or in-kind support for establishment of a fully operational office.

Expressions of interest need to be sent to Karine Payet-Lebourges by email with subject "ecoSERVICES IPO – Offer".

Applications will be examined with the scientific steering committee on the week of 30 November 2015.

More information here.

ESMERALDA meets key stakeholders from EU member states in Riga

Mon, 19 Oct 2015 13:56:00 +0300

View from Riga, Latvia where the workshop tool place. Credit: I. Kuzmova

The event, organised by the ESMERALDA partners Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE) and the Baltic Environmental Forum (BEF), was attended by over 70 participants - policy and decision makers, as well as other professionals working in the field of ecosystem services, from across EU member states.

Group photo, more that 70 participants from across EU Member states. Credit: I. Kuzmova

ESMERALDA aims at supporting national stakeholders in order to fulfil their tasks within the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2020. Target 2 Action 5 of the strategy asks all EU member states to map and assess ecosystems and the services they provide within their national territories. ESMERALDA further aims to develop a flexible methodology for mapping of ecosystems and ecosystem services to provide building blocks for pan-European, regional and local assessments as contributions to the EU Biodiversity Strategy.

ESMERALDA will provide:

a set of practical policy recommendations, among others based on thematic case studies carried out in the project;
a set of recommendations for the future development and implementation of related policies;
practical guidance, data and tools for using biodiversity and ecosystem-related data in other policies.

Stakeholder engagement is therefore key for ESMERALDA in order to identify needs within the individual member states and to provide the right support and coordination for related activities, to fulfil requirements of policy making and to integrate them into the project research.

Top: Project coordinator B. Burkhard passes the ESMERALDA Workshop symbol 'the ESMERALDA Bottle' to the local organizers; Left: Participants at the meeting; Right: Joachim Maes presenting during the workshop. Credit: I. Kuzmova

Presentations form the meeting:

General overview of ESMERALDA activities_B.Burkhard

Welcome words by the host Baltic Environmental Forum Latvia_K.Veidemane

Stakeholder network and mapping and assessment activities _L.Kopperoinen

Update biodiversity strategy and MAES_J.Maes

Final discussion on recommendations for how to get forward_B.Burkhard

Collaboration for healthier ecosystems in Europe

Mon, 05 Oct 2015 14:31:00 +0300

September was an eventful month for ESMERALDA. In the middle of the month, the project held a series of key meetings to set the foundation for future collaboration not only within the project itself, but also with key stakeholders and related projects.

On 15 Sep, in Brussels, ESMERALDA had the fifth of its regular Executive Board meetings, designed to bring together project partners and set objectives for the next period. On the next day, 16 Sep, followed the first Science-Policy-Society Advisory Board (SPSAB) meeting, as well as the first of a series of meetings designed to bring ESMERALDA in the same room with related projects, representatives from the European Commission and relevant initiatives to discuss future axes of collaboration.

Images from the 5th Executive Board meeting in Brussels. Credit: B. Burkhard

While the routine Executive Board meeting was targeted at keeping in check past tasks and set a working plan for the next couple of months, the SPSAB meeting on the next day was a first of its kind for the project. The role of the multidisciplinary SPSAB is to advise the ESMERALDA Executive Board on the project performance, progress and on international developments in the scientific field. The Board consists of international key science and policy professionals working in relevant fields, and acts as a peer-review panel with respect to new project proposals, the research results as a whole and the training and communication activities.

The 16 Sep was a date marked by another important project workshop where ESMERALDA met key European projects and initiatives. This was a first of a series of workshops aimed to develop ESMERALDA communication with relevant initiatives to foster future collaboration and visibility of results.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en" align="center>
@ESMERALDA_H2020 meets with http://t.co/ZDP9A9BLpq and http://t.co/gl6oZtBM3y to see how #MAES results can feed these information systems
— Joachim Maes (@MaesJoachim) September 16, 2015

During this first workshop ESMERALDA met with representatives from the OPPLA and BISE online platforms, designed to collect information and foster collaboration between EU projects in the spheres of Biodiversity, Ecosystem services, and Ecology. More information about the two platforms and other relevant projects and initiatives is available here.

On 17 Sep, several project partners participated in the 10th Meeting of the EU Working Group on Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services (MAES). MAES is highly relevant and ESMERALDA has been designed to significantly support the Working Group’s activities. The MAES meeting was followed by a meeting on how MAES can support the deployment of Green Infrastructure in Europe on 18 Sep in Brussels.

8th ESP World Conference

Thu, 24 Sep 2015 18:48:00 +0300

The 8th World Conference of the Ecosystem Services Partnership (ESP) will be held in Stellenbosch, South Africa, 9-13 November 2015. In addition to 37 sessions organised by the ESP working groups and key-partners (e.g. UNEP, UNCCD, TEEB, GIZ, Natural Capital Coalition and many others) on a wide range of topics, the conference will focus on the use of ecosystem services "for Nature, People and Prosperity", including the role in Conservation, Livelihoods and Business, which will be introduced, and discussed by well-known keynote speakers.

The conference will be held at Spier Conference Centre & Wine Farm near Cape Town.

For information on the conference: http://www.espconference.org
For information on ESP: www.es-partnership.org

SEP: Benefits of constructed wetland ecosystem services worth more than double the costs

Tue, 15 Sep 2015 12:02:00 +0300

A new study featured in Science for Environment Policy (SEP) - "Phosphorus removal performance of a large-scale constructed treatment wetland receiving eutrophic lake water.", published in Ecological Engineering, looks at the benefits of constructed wetland ecosystem services.

The economic benefits of the ecosystem services provided by constructed wetlands far outweigh the costs of maintaining them, the new research has confirmed. Analysis of a wetland that treats the third largest lake in Florida, US, shows that it provides ecosystem services worth $1.79 (€1.64) million per year, against costs of less than half that figure.

Eutrophication, an excess of nutrients within water, has become a significant environmental problem. Nitrogen and phosphorus pollution enters waterways as a result of run-off of agricultural fertilisers, and can be damaging for aquatic wildlife. Wetlands, which filter pollutants from water before they reach lakes, streams and oceans, can mitigate this problem. Although they occur naturally, artificial wetlands can also be constructed, and are now in use all over the world.

This study assessed the effectiveness of a large constructed wetland in the US. The researchers assessed the ability of the marsh flow-way in Florida, which filters Lake Apopka — the third largest lake in the state — to remove phosphorus from lake water.

Using estimates provided by ecological economics, which give monetary value to ecosystem services such as water pollution control, the researchers were able to estimate that the marsh flow-way provides a value of $1.79 (€1.64) million per year, many times greater than its annual running costs.

However, the researchers say that this is a crude estimate, which should be used to give an idea of the benefits of a wetland approach rather than a precise valuation.

As well quantifying costs and performance, the researchers also considered the ecological benefits of the wetland to assess management of the flow-way. The authors recommend that, when assessing system performance, wetland managers use a cost benefit approach that considers ecosystem services. They say this could lead to more effective and more sustainable water resource management.

SEP: Mediterranean countries use more natural resources than their ecosystems provide

Tue, 15 Sep 2015 11:49:00 +0300

The latest issue of Science for Environment Policy (SEP) fetures a new study looking at Mediterranean countries and their use of natural resources - "Physical limits to resource access and utilisation and their economic implications in Mediterranean", published in Environmental Science & Policy.

In the Mediterranean region the demand for natural resources and ecological services is two and half times greater than ecosystems’ capacity to provide them, recent research has found. To meet this demand, countries rely on imports, exposing themselves to price volatility and potential resource shortages. According to the authors, a 10% increase in global prices would particularly impact vulnerable countries such as Jordan, which would see its trade balance worsening by 2.4% of its gross domestic product.

The recent study investigated consumption needs for natural resources and ecological services in the Mediterranean countries and their ability to satisfy such needs with domestic ecological assets. The methodology is based on Ecological Footprint accounting, which is a simple accounting tool used to summarise ecological resources and services contained in products made in, traded internationally, and consumed by a country. Resources include food and wood, while services include carbon dioxide locked in forests, which removes the gas from the atmosphere and helps to regulate climate.

The evidence provided shows the need for policymakers to recognise, measure and understand the interactions between ecological assets and economic performance in the Mediterranean area. The coexistence of limited bio-capacity and high footprint in the region, especially due to the carbon component (45%), might induce people in the countries to consider more sustainable consumption patterns. The researchers highlight the need to better manage natural resources and innovate for future wellbeing by, for example, encouraging new farming technology and coupling resource efficiency measures with considerations of the overall consumption levels.

Job Offer: Junior Researcher/PhD student – Landscape Planning and Ecology

Mon, 17 Aug 2015 10:17:00 +0300

The Institute of Environmental Planning at the Leibniz University Hannover invites applications for a position as a Junior Researcher/PhD student – Landscape Planning and Ecology to be appointed October 1, 2015. The position is limited to 3 years. The extent of the position is equivalent to 50% of the standard working time.

Responsibilities and duties include carrying out research in the sub-project "Assessing and Valuing Cultural Ecosystem Services) in the Research Project "River-Ecosystem-Service-Index" (RESI) funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The candidate is expected to strive for further scientific qualification (PhD).

For more information, please see the official job offer here.

Special issue: "Ecosystem services: building informed policies to orient landscape dynamics"

Fri, 14 Aug 2015 11:09:00 +0300

A new special issue "Ecosystem services: building informed policies to orient landscape dynamics" was recently pulished in the International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services & Management as an outcome of the Symposia "Ecosystem Services: Building Informed Policies to orient Landscape Dynamics" and "Land system change impacts on European landscapes" at the 2013 IALE European Congress - Changing European Landscapes.

In reaction to the failure of traditional environmental management approaches grounded on the paradigm "control change in systems", Ecosystem Services (ES) have emerged as a novel way of understanding ecosystem and landscape dynamics, including change, interactions and flows between human and natural systems.

ES can be interpreted as the result of a process of knowledge building and design, which has to be set according to some variables, as follows: (i) domain: identification of the territorial and temporal area of assessment and its boundaries according to landscape characteristics; (ii) potential: identification and calculation of ecosystem functions that such area can provide; (iii) beneficiaries: the end-users who will profit of the ES; (iv) providers: individuals or agents, as farmers, who are in charge to support and manage ES provision.

ES are currently being investigated with respect to the potential and the capacity of ecosystems to supply them, but the link to decision-making processes is related to another phase. Thus, the aim of the Special Issue is to discuss opportunities and challenges of applying ES in the dialogue between science and policy. This is especially relevant with regard to the European Biodiversity Strategy and its 2020 targets and clear focus on ecosystem services. Hence, the interaction and dialogue between different disciplines play a special role in the Special Issue.

Access the special issue here: http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/tbsm21/11/3#.VcxXKflqXLB

PhD position: Modelling of pollutant retention processes and related ecosystem services in rivers and floodplains, IGB

Fri, 07 Aug 2015 11:38:00 +0300

The Department of Ecosystem Research at the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) in Berlin has an opening for a PhD position: Modelling of pollutant retention processes and related ecosystem services in rivers and floodplains.

The position is offered part-time (50%), starting in 2015, and limited to three years. Salary is paid according to the TVöD. The position contributes to the collaborative projects "River Ecosystem Service Index" (RESI)" granted by the BMBF, and also to the collaborative EU project "AQUACROSS" (subject to final confirmation).

The successful candidate is expected to perform the following work in close collaboration with the head of the project, IGB colleagues and other project partners: a) Modelling of processes that result in the retention of matter (nitrogen, phosphorus and other compounds) in selected river catchments in Germany and within the whole Danube catchment using MONERIS under various scenarios. A special focus will be laid on floodplains, and on potential differences between short-term and long-term retention in such self-purification processes. For that, new algorithms for retention have to be developed. b) Derivation of involved ecosystem services, trade-offs and their assessment, and visualization of those in maps. c) Elaboration of literature summaries, project deliverables, scientific publication manuscripts. d) Communcation and close collaboration with related project partners.

For more information, see the official offer attached below.

Job Alert: Ecosystem Services To and From Agricultural Land, University of Leeds

Fri, 07 Aug 2015 11:35:00 +0300

The Scool of Biology at the University of Leeds is looking for relatively early-stage researchers (current postdocs or lecturers) to join in the studying of the effects of agricultural management practices and landscape context on farmland biodiversity and on ecosystem service provision to add to the growing initiative towards developing a critical mass of cutting edge agri-environmental expertise at Leeds.

The ideal canditate will show strong publication records and at least some history of attracting research funding (e.g. personal fellowships, or helped draft successful grants with PIs) – and most importantly: the intelligence, creativity and enthusiasm to make exciting research contributions in the future. The "Academic Fellowships" involve substantially reduced teaching roles relative to standard academic appointments, and they are expected to lead to permanent posts.

The successful candidate would help deliver a critical mass of research expertise in an area that would cross-link two major research groupings in the School of Biology, while strengthening links to researchers in Geography (Water@Leeds) and Earth and Environment (SRI). He /she would also serve a vital role in helping design and implement landscape-scale experiments to help develop a unique agri-environmental research platform.

Details of the post can be found on the 250 Great Minds website:

http://250greatminds.leeds.ac.uk/faculty/faculty-of-biological-sciences/ (The top "Biology" project – and click "Show more details" to get to the topic list).

Application procedures are provided at: http://250greatminds.leeds.ac.uk/apply/

EU 2010 biodiversity baseline — adapted to the MAES typology (2015)

Tue, 28 Jul 2015 10:34:00 +0300

The report ‘EU 2010 biodiversity baseline - adapted to the MAES typology (2015)’ presents a revised overview of the EEA's EU 2010 biodiversity baseline report.

The revision is necessary because the typology of ecosystems used in the 2010 report has since been altered by a working group of biodiversity experts. The revised report provides recalculated information on the state and trends of the different biodiversity and ecosystem components, based on the new typology of ecosystems.

Find the report here.

Ecosystem Services – Concept, Methods and Case Studies: a book

Thu, 02 Jul 2015 09:46:00 +0300

An new book titled "Ecosystem Services – Concept, Methods and Case Studies" has just been publsihed.

This book explains the multifaceted concept of ecosystem services, provides a methodological framework for its analysis and assessment, and discusses case examples, particularly from Germany. It is addressed to scientists and practitioners in the administrative, volunteer and professional spheres, especially those who deal with environment, landscape management and nature conservation and regional and land-use planning. The target group includes experts from the business community, politicians and decision makers, students and all those interested in fundamental ecological, economic, ethical and environmental issues.

The book is available at: http://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783662441428#aboutBook

Earth Observation for Ecosystems Monitoring in Space and Time: A Special Issue in Remote Sensing

Tue, 23 Jun 2015 11:06:00 +0300

A new special issue "Earth Observation for Ecosystems Monitoring in Space and Time: A Special Issue in Remote Sensing" published in the open access journal Remote Sensing provides a collection of important researchers in the field, as well as the most challenging aspects of the application of remote sensing to study ecosystems.

The special issue represents a stimulating discussion concerning innovative techniques/approaches that are based on remote sensing data, which are used for the study of ecosystems at different spatial and temporal scales. Research scientists and other subject matter experts submitted innovative and challenging papers that showed advances in several topics:

estimating the spatial distribution of plant species richness by Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and hyperspectral data,
assessing habitat quality of forest corridor based on NDVI,
applying remote sensing to study (marine) coral ecosystems,
identifying ecosystem functional types,
distinguishing between different forest trunk size classes from remote sensing,
detecting changes in forest patterns,
applying light use efficiency models to estimate vegetation productivity,
classifying grassland successional stages by airborne hyperspectral images
proposing monitoring programs of grasslands based on multi-temporal optical and radar satellite images,
estimating the potential of remote sensing to capture field-based plants phenology.

Original Source:

Rocchini, D. (2015). Earth observation for ecosystems monitoring in space and time: a special issue in Remote Sensing. Remote Sensing, 7: 8102-8106. [IF: 2.623] [DOI | PDF]

The full collection of papers can be found here:
http://www.mdpi.com/journal/remotesensing/special_issues/ecosystemsmonitoring

European Environmental Agency (EEA) Annual Report 2014

Wed, 17 Jun 2015 17:24:00 +0300

The European Environmental Agency (EEA) has published its Annual Report describing the work carried out by the EEA in 2014.

The EEA annual report includes the EMAS environmental statement 2014. The EEA aims to support sustainable development and to help achieve significant and measurable improvement in Europe's environment through the provision of timely, targeted, relevant and reliable information to policymaking agents and the public.

Download the report here.

Green Week: stakeholders put nature in the spotlight

Thu, 04 Jun 2015 10:31:00 +0300

Stakeholders from across Europe are coming together at Green Week to discuss biodiversity and ecosystem services in Europe. The European Environment Agency (EEA) will present its latest findings, recently published in its reports 'State of nature in the EU' and 'The European Environment – state and outlook 2015'.

The European Environment Agency's recent assessments, including The European environment – state and outlook 2015 and State of Nature in the EU, show that Europe's biodiversity is still being eroded, despite significant local improvements. To halt the loss of biodiversity, stabilise and restore degraded ecosystems, the European Union has adopted the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020, which sets various targets and actions. An effective implementation of the strategy depends, among others, on the data and information available on biodiversity in Europe. Through its extensive network and close collaboration with partners, the EEA contributes extensively to the knowledge base on Europe's biodiversity.

As part of its contributions to this knowledge base, the EEA published today its new technical report 'European ecosystem assessment – concept, data, and implementation'. The report aims at supporting the implementation of EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020, more concretely to Target 2 Action 5 – Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services (MAES). It describes, among others, the conceptual framework to map and assess ecosystems in detail as well as the mapping and assessment process. By outlining a coherent framework, the report aims to support Member States and Commission services tasked to carry out ecosystem assessments and making use of the outcomes.

Read the full original news story on the EEA website.

New SEP In-Depth Report: Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity

Wed, 03 Jun 2015 11:21:00 +0300

Science for Environment Policy has published a new on-depth report "Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity". In-depth reports are a feature of SEP, introduced in 2012, which take a comprehensive look at the latest science for key policy topics.

Ecosystems provide a multitude of benefits to humanity, from food, clean water and flood protection to cultural heritage and a sense of place, to name but a few. However, many of these benefits, known as ‘ecosystem services’, are under severe threat from man-made pressures. Decision makers need clear information on how biodiversity underpins these services, the demand for them, the capacity of ecosystems to provide them and the pressures impairing that capacity. In this report we explore four core facets of the ecosystem services concept: the links between biodiversity and ecosystem services; current techniques for mapping and assessing ecosystems and their services; valuation of ecosystem services and the importance of considering all ecosystem services and biodiversity as part of an interconnected system.

Original Source:

Science for Environment Policy (2015) Ecosystem Services and the Environment. In-depth Report 11 produced for the European Commission, DG Environment by the Science Communication Unit, UWE, Bristol. Available at: http://bit.ly/1FHmcU2

Position open at SYKE: Researcher

Mon, 01 Jun 2015 11:47:00 +0300

SYKE is looking to employ a person on a one-year contract, fixed-term employment contract for the poition of researher in the Helsinki office.

The task is to carry out research on green infrastructure and ecosystem services as part of land use planning, to execute related GIS analysis and to participate in method development especially to support sustainable land use planning, and to participate in writing funding applications.

To be successful in the tasks, the applicant should have a suitable university degree, deep and versatile command of geoinformatics (geoinformatics or geography as a main subject), basic knowledge of natural sciences, several years' working experience of related tasks, good spoken and written knowledge of Finnish and English, as well as good collaborative, interaction and communication skills. Doctoral degree is an advantage.

Further information can be requested from Head of Unit Riikka Paloniemi, tel. +358 295 251 493 and Senior Researcher Leena Kopperoinen, tel. +358 295 251 296.

Applications including a CV (based on the template of the Finnish Advisory Board on Research Integrity http://www.tenk.fi/en/template-researchers-curriculum-vitae) and a list of publications should be sent by using the web service: www.valtiolle.fi by Monday 8 June 2015 at 15.15 (CET) at the latest.

Find out more information in the position offer attached below.

Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services: Trends in ecosystems and ecosystem services in the European Union between 2000 and 2010

Fri, 22 May 2015 14:48:00 +0300

A new report "Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services: Trends in ecosystems and ecosystem services in the European Union between 2000 and 2010" is now availavle via the EC Joint Research Centre.

Abstract:

This report presents an analysis of the trends in the spatial extent of ecosystems and in the supply and use of ecosystem services at the European scale between 2000 and 2010. In the EU urban land and forests increased while cropland, grassland and heathland decreased. Other ecosystem types underwent smaller changes. The main trends in provisioning, regulating and maintenance, and cultural ecosystem services were assessed using a set of 30 indicators assorted according to the CICES classification. More crops for food, feed and energy were produced in the EU on less arable land. More organic food was grown. Textile crop production and the total number of grazing livestock decreased. Water use relative to water availability remained stable. Timber removals increased but so, too, did the total timber stock. There was an increase in net ecosystem productivity (growing biomass). Several regulating services, but in particular those which are related to the presence of trees, woodland or forests, increased slightly. This was the case for water retention, forest carbon potential, erosion control, and air quality regulation. Pollination potential and habitat quality showed a negative trend. There was a positive trend in the opportunity for citizens to have access to land with a high recreation potential.

Plant characteristics can predict ecosystem services provided by green roofs

Fri, 22 May 2015 14:41:00 +0300

A new research featured in the latest issue of Science for Environment Policy (SEP) suggests that simple characteristics of plant species — such as height or leaf size — can be used to predict the ecosystem services provided by the green roofs they grow on. The researchers suggest that their method could be used to screen the thousands of potential plant species in order to optimize green roof design.

Green roofs on buildings are able to provide multiple ‘ecosystem services’ such as the reduction of heat loss from buildings in winter, the retention of stormwater and the provision of habitats. However, the delivery of such services may be dependent on the characteristics of the plant species grown on them.

For this study, the researchers investigated whether simple traits of plant species can be used to indicate the different ecosystem services that they might provide if they were part of a green roof. They measured four traits of 21 plant species in their natural habitats: plant height, the average leaf area and leaf weight of each species and the ‘specific leaf area’, which is the leaf’s area divided by its weight. The team then ran experiments with the 21 plant species grown separately in trays across a single green roof between 2007–2011.

Throughout the experiment the researchers recorded four properties of the green roof ecosystem: the density of the plant growth, the rate at which species covered the tray, the amount of sunlight reflected by the green roof and the accumulation of snow on the roof during winter (as this affects the temperature of the soil). The researchers could then relate the four simple measurements taken from the plants in their natural environments to the properties they would show as part of a green roof. For example, they found that taller plants were more likely to cover the roof at a faster rate.

The researchers also examined the ecosystem services provided, which were measured as the amount of stormwater captured, temperature changes in the soil during summer and winter, and changes to soil composition e.g. the amount of nitrate removed. In a final step the researchers used the four plant traits to predict ecosystem service provision. For example, leaf size could indicate the density of plant growth which would subsequently influence the temperature regulation provided by the green roof.

Read the full brief here.

Original source:

Lundholm, J., Tran, S. & Gebert, L. (2015). Plant functional traits predict green roof ecosystem services. Environmental Science and Technology 49 (4): 2366- 2374. DOI: 10.1021/es505426z

BiodivERsA3 2015 joint call

Thu, 21 May 2015 14:38:00 +0300

BiodivERsA3 has officially launched its 2015 pan-European joint call for research proposals. The call, co-funded by the European Commission, will focus on understanding and managing the biodiversity dynamics to improve ecosystem services and functioning.

BiodivERsA is a network of 29 research-funding agencies across 18 European countries. It is an ERA-NEt Co-fund, funded under the EU’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. BiodivERsA works to coordinate national research programmes on biodiversity across Europe and to organize international funding for research projects in this field.

The complete announcement on this call, including details on the topics, is listed here.

Scientific teams are invited to form international consortia comprising research groups from at least three countries participating in the BiodivERsA call. The complete list of participating countries can be found here.

The deadline for submission of pre-proposals (mandatory) is set on Monday 20 July 2015, 17:00 GMT +1:00. More information on the time schedule can be found here.

Mapping and assessing ecosystems and their services for policy and decision making

Fri, 15 May 2015 16:29:00 +0300

Humankind benefits in multitude ways from biodiversity, ecosystems and the services they provide. Such services include for example the provisioning of drinking water, food security, air quality regulation or recreation.

Esmeralda group photo; Credit: Christian Urban, Uni Kiel

The new collaborative EU Horizon 2020 funded project "ESMERALDA - Enhancing ecosystem services mapping for policy and decision making" looks into the needs of policy and decision-makers in EU member states for flexible methodologies, tools and data for sustainable management of ecosystems and their services.

The project held its official kick-off meeting from 5 to 7 May 2015 at Kiel University (CAU), Germany. Around 70 representatives, including scientists, experts and stakeholders of 25 partner organisations from 20 European countries met for the start of the three and a half year coordination and support action.

The ESMERALDA project is planned to serve as an important basis for implementing the European Commission's Biodiversity Strategy 2020, adopted in 2011, which aims to prevent the loss of biological diversity, and to improve the state of European species, living areas, ecosystems and ecosystem services.

The project will create flexible methodologies to provide the building blocks for pan-European and regional assessments of ecosystems and their services as an essential part for informed decision making and a core of the EU Biodiversity Strategy.

"The data collected during ESMERALDA will assist the European states involved towards reaching the goals of the EU Biodiversity Strategy, step by step," said the project coordinator, Dr Benjamin Burkhard, of the Institute for Natural Resource Conservation at Kiel University.

"This first meeting puts the initial building blocks into a three-and-a-half-year joint research initiative that will provide important milestones for a more sustainable future of our ecosystems and the services they provide to humankind.

Official ESMERALDA Project Kick-off Meeting

Tue, 05 May 2015 17:55:00 +0300

The EU H2020 funded ESMERALDA project kick-off meeting took place between 5 - 7 May 2015 at the University of Kiel, Germany. Around 70 representatives, including scientists, experts and stakeholders of 25 partner organisations from 20 European countries met for the start of the three and a half year coordination and support action

Project co-ordinator opening the kick-off meeting ; Credit: Christian Urban, Uni Kiel

The 3 day meeting presented an opportunity for partners to meet and discuss future plans for teh successful development of the project.

The meeting ended with an excursion to monitor ecosystem services around Kiel.

EMSERALDA Excursion: Credit: Linda Scholten

Esmeralda ICP

ESMERALDA's Results in Brief now available in six languages

The business of biodiversity: can we put a value on nature?

ESMERALDA MAES Explorer helps EU member states map and assess ecosystems and their services

ESMERALDA Meeting in Bulgaria: Future development of the national ecosystem service network

ESMERALDA Final Project Conference: A success story of science supporting policy

ESMERALDA at the 5th ECCB, Finland

Meeting Stakeholders in Eger: Testing methods for mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services in policy- & decision-making

ESMERALDA Workshop in Trento: Testing Final Methods for Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services in Policy- & Decision-making

Fifth MAES report on urban ecosystem condition is out.

ESMERALDA at the 9th ESP World Conference in Shenzhen, China

How to map ecosystems?

Towards testing and implementing ESMERALDA’s flexible methodology

Job Alert: ECOPOTENTIAL opens two positions

ESMERALDA Workshop in Madrid: Integrating Data, Discussing Methods across European biomes and regions & Involving Stakeholders

Mapping Ecosystem Services: Collection of theories, methods and practical applications

Sharing Knowledge: Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services (MAES) in Europe’s Outermost Regions and Overseas Countries and Territories

Latest in our ESMERALDA Insider Rubric

Science in Action: ESMERALDA at the MAES Conference in Bulgaria

PhD position in the field of Ecosystem Services offered at Leibniz Universität Hannover

A new MOOC on Ecosystem Services available on Coursera

ESMERALDA ecosystem services mapping and assessment methods testing continues in three further practical case studies

Job offer: Two new positions at Institute Zittau / TU Dresden in Germany

Special Issue on Assessment and Valuation of Recreational Ecosystem Services of Landscapes: Submit Contributions

International Scientific Conference on Ecosystem Services, Sofia 2017

Threats and potentialities of urban and peri-urban ecosystems session at EGU 2017

SSS9.4/HS11.54/NH1.20 Threats and potentialities of urban and peri-urban areas: soil and water degradation, ecosystem services and risk management (co-organized)

The BEES Xmas Market is coming up

Job alert: Two Postdoc positions available at the Swedish Species Information Centre

Testing ecosystem services mapping and assessment methods across Europe

Latest in Insider: Marion Potschin-Young on incorporating ecosystem services in her research, at work and in everyday life

ESMERALDA Insider: Joachim Maes on science-policy dialogue and urban ecosystems

New Handbook on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in Impact Assessment

Call for abstracts: Assessment and Economic Valuation of Recreational Ecosystem Services (RES) of Landscapes in EU Member States

UNEP GEO-6 Assessment for the pan-European region

ESMERALDA Workshop in Nottingham: a video report

New ESMERALDA Insider rubric will introduce you to the members of our consortium

Special Issue "Agro(Eco)System Services—Supply and Demand from Fields to Society" published in LAND.

ESMERALDA country fact sheets now available on BISE

Towards a Europe-wide integrated framework for mapping and assessment of ecosystem services

Have Ecosystem Services Been Oversold? Scientists debate the future of the ES concept

Call for papers: Ecosystem services – methods, data and applications

Two PhD Positions at Kiel University

Job Offers: Two Research Fellows in Ecosystem Service Mapping

European Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Research & Innovation Strategic Science Dialogue

How to argue for biodiversity conservation: 2 guides from the FP7 EU project BESAFE

Workshop on "Customisation of CICES across Member States" at EEA in Copenhagen

New EEA Report: Mapping and assessing the condition of Europe's ecosystems

MapNat - The ecosystem service mapping smartphone App

One Ecosystem Journal: Innovation in ecology and sustainability research publishing

Four PhD positions offered by the Institute of Environmental Planning, Leibniz Universität Hanover

PhD position at UFZ: Plant functional traits as indicators for ecosystem services

Workshop "Mapping and assessment of ecosystem services in enlargement countries" at JRC Ispra

The Handbook of Ecosystem Services is now published

TUNESinURB project kick-off: Towards better understanding of ecosystem services in urban environments

The BEES X-mas market video

Job Offer: Associate Professor, School of Geography, University of Nottingham

Article Alert: Combining internal and external motivations in multi-actor governance arrangements for biodiversity and ecosystem services

Scientific support for managing biodiversity: ESMERALDA featured in EC news

Ecosystem services research and stakeholder involvement: Between theories and practice

First stakeholder workshop in Riga - a video review

ESMERALDA at the BEES Market: Wishing everyone Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Postdoctoral position: Modelling of the land-sea nutrient transfer to the Mediterranean sea under different land management scenarios

Assessing ecosystem services: Increasing the impact on decision making

USA governmenent provides direction to agencies on Incorporating Natural Infrastructure and Ecosystem Services in Federal Decision-Making

Special Issue Ecosystem Services Journal (ESS): Call for Papers

Call to host the ecoSERVICES international project office

ESMERALDA meets key stakeholders from EU member states in Riga

Collaboration for healthier ecosystems in Europe

8th ESP World Conference

SEP: Benefits of constructed wetland ecosystem services worth more than double the costs

SEP: Mediterranean countries use more natural resources than their ecosystems provide

Job Offer: Junior Researcher/PhD student – Landscape Planning and Ecology

Special issue: "Ecosystem services: building informed policies to orient landscape dynamics"

PhD position: Modelling of pollutant retention processes and related ecosystem services in rivers and floodplains, IGB

Job Alert: Ecosystem Services To and From Agricultural Land, University of Leeds

EU 2010 biodiversity baseline — adapted to the MAES typology (2015)

Ecosystem Services – Concept, Methods and Case Studies: a book

Earth Observation for Ecosystems Monitoring in Space and Time: A Special Issue in Remote Sensing

European Environmental Agency (EEA) Annual Report 2014

SSS9.4/HS11.54/NH1.20
Threats and potentialities of urban and peri-urban areas: soil and water degradation, ecosystem services and risk management (co-organized)