Integrating Ecosystem Services and Economic Theory: what can we do, what should we do, and what has been done?

Fisher, Brendan, Turner, Kerry, Zylstra, Matthew, Brouwer, Roy, de Groot, Rudolf, Farber, Stephen, Ferraro, Paul, Green, Rhys, Hadley, David, Harlow, Julian, Jerreriss, Paul, Kirkby, Chris, Morling, Paul, Mowatt, Shaun, Naidoo, Robin, Paavola, Jouni, Strassburg, Bernardo, Yu, Doug and Balmford, Andrew (2008) Integrating Ecosystem Services and Economic Theory: what can we do, what should we do, and what has been done? Ecological Applications, 18 (8). pp. 2050-2067.

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Abstract

It has become essential in policy and decision-making circles to think about the economic benefits (in addition to moral and scientific motivations) humans derive from well-functioning ecosystems. The concept of ecosystem services has been developed to address this link between ecosystems and human welfare. Since policy decisions are often evaluated through cost–benefit assessments, an economic analysis can help make ecosystem service research operational. In this paper we provide some simple economic analyses to discuss key concepts involved in formalizing ecosystem service research. These include the distinction between services and benefits, understanding the importance of marginal ecosystem changes, formalizing the idea of a safe minimum standard for ecosystem service provision, and discussing how to capture the public benefits of ecosystem services. We discuss how the integration of economic concepts and ecosystem services can provide policy and decision makers with a fuller spectrum of information for making conservation–conversion trade-offs. We include the results from a survey of the literature and a questionnaire of researchers regarding how ecosystem service research can be integrated into the policy process. We feel this discussion of economic concepts will be a practical aid for ecosystem service research to become more immediately policy relevant.

Item Type:	Article
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences Faculty of Science > School of Biological Sciences
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment (CSERGE) Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Resources, Sustainability and Governance (former - to 2018) Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Organisms and the Environment Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Environmental Social Sciences Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Collaborative Centre for Sustainable Use of the Seas
Depositing User:	Rosie Cullington
Date Deposited:	25 Feb 2011 10:55
Last Modified:	16 May 2023 00:32
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/24665
DOI:	10.1890/07-1537.1

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