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The use of meta-analyses to evaluate and map ecosystem services
Meta-analyses seem to be an interesting alternative to overcome the lack of data available to assess ecosystem services. A state of the art of research on the use of meta-analysis would be of interest to identify gaps and contributions of such approachs.
Keywords: Ecosystem services assessment; meta-studies; quantitative literature review
Description:
Ecosystems services are the benefits that ecosystems provide to society, such as climate regulation, food production, air quality regulation or water purification (Costanza et al. 1997, Daily 1997, Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005). The concept of ecosystem services is nowadays seen as an important component of the environmental management. Its quantification and spatial representation are ways to Description:
Ecosystems services are the benefits that ecosystems provide to society, such as climate regulation, food production, air quality regulation or water purification (Costanza et al. 1997, Daily 1997, Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005). The concept of ecosystem services is nowadays seen as an important component of the environmental management. Its quantification and spatial representation are ways to implement it in decision making (Daily and Matson 2008). However, the availability of data can be a problem for systematic quantitative and/or spatial assessments. Meta-analyses can be useful to quantify the supply of ecosystem services while overcoming the lack of data.
Methods:
Literature analysis with a quantitative component
Literature:
Costanza, R., R. d'Arge, R. de Groot, S. Farber, M. Grasso, B. Hannon, S. Naeem, K. Limburg, J. Paruelo, and R.V. O'Neill. 1997. "The value of the world's ecosystem services and natural capital." Nature 387:253-260.
Daily, G. 1997. Nature's Services: Societal Dependence On Natural Ecosystems. Washington DC: Island Press.
Daily, Gretchen C., and Pamela A. Matson. 2008. "Ecosystem services: From theory to implementation." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105 (28):9455-9456. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0804960105.
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, . 2005. Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Synthesis. Washington DC: Island Press.
Description: Ecosystems services are the benefits that ecosystems provide to society, such as climate regulation, food production, air quality regulation or water purification (Costanza et al. 1997, Daily 1997, Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005). The concept of ecosystem services is nowadays seen as an important component of the environmental management. Its quantification and spatial representation are ways to Description: Ecosystems services are the benefits that ecosystems provide to society, such as climate regulation, food production, air quality regulation or water purification (Costanza et al. 1997, Daily 1997, Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005). The concept of ecosystem services is nowadays seen as an important component of the environmental management. Its quantification and spatial representation are ways to implement it in decision making (Daily and Matson 2008). However, the availability of data can be a problem for systematic quantitative and/or spatial assessments. Meta-analyses can be useful to quantify the supply of ecosystem services while overcoming the lack of data.
Methods: Literature analysis with a quantitative component
Literature: Costanza, R., R. d'Arge, R. de Groot, S. Farber, M. Grasso, B. Hannon, S. Naeem, K. Limburg, J. Paruelo, and R.V. O'Neill. 1997. "The value of the world's ecosystem services and natural capital." Nature 387:253-260. Daily, G. 1997. Nature's Services: Societal Dependence On Natural Ecosystems. Washington DC: Island Press. Daily, Gretchen C., and Pamela A. Matson. 2008. "Ecosystem services: From theory to implementation." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105 (28):9455-9456. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0804960105. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, . 2005. Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Synthesis. Washington DC: Island Press.
Goal of the thesis is to give a literature overview of the use of meta-analyses in the quantification and the mapping of ecosystem services. To this end, a relevant pool of scientific articles should be identified, followed by a comprehensive literature review. This review should be based on the extraction of quantitative and qualitative information, related, for instance, to the type of evaluation, of ecosystem services, ecosystems, the location of the study site, or the spatial level of analysis. Finally the general trends of the literature should be discussed in order to identify gaps and contributions of the approach.
Goal of the thesis is to give a literature overview of the use of meta-analyses in the quantification and the mapping of ecosystem services. To this end, a relevant pool of scientific articles should be identified, followed by a comprehensive literature review. This review should be based on the extraction of quantitative and qualitative information, related, for instance, to the type of evaluation, of ecosystem services, ecosystems, the location of the study site, or the spatial level of analysis. Finally the general trends of the literature should be discussed in order to identify gaps and contributions of the approach.