Ecosystem service potentials, flows and demands-concepts for spatial localisation, indication and quantification

TLDR

The field of ecosystem services is marked by a wide array of categorisation systems, assessment frameworks, indicators, quantification methods, and spatial localisation approaches, yet this diversity also creates disagreements that hinder integration into environmental management. This article reviews the current state of the art in ecosystem service science concerning spatial localisation, indication, and quantification of multiple supply and demand. The authors present concepts and tables that define regulating, provisioning, and cultural ecosystem services, distinguish potential supply, flows, and demands, and provide indicators for quantification, elaborate spatial concepts of service units, benefitting areas, spatial relations, rivalry, and scales, and supply matrices linking CORINE land cover types to potentials, flows, demands, and budget estimates. The matrices reveal that landscape potentials differ from actual flows, particularly for provisioning ecosystem services.

Abstract

The high variety of ecosystem service categorisation systems, assessment frameworks, indicators, quantification methods and spatial localisation approaches allows scientists and decision makers to harness experience, data, methods and tools. On the other hand, this variety of concepts and disagreements among scientists hamper an integration of ecosystem services into contemporary environmental management and decision making. In this article, the current state of the art of ecosystem service science regarding spatial localisation, indication and quantification of multiple ecosystem service supply and demand is reviewed and discussed. Concepts and tables for regulating, provisioning and cultural ecosystem service definitions, distinguishing between ecosystem service potential supply (stocks), flows (real supply) and demands as well as related indicators for quantification are provided. Furthermore, spatial concepts of service providing units, benefitting areas, spatial relations, rivalry, spatial and temporal scales are elaborated. Finally, matrices linking CORINE land cover types to ecosystem service potentials, flows, demands and budget estimates are provided. The matrices show that ecosystem service potentials of landscapes differ from flows, especially for provisioning ecosystem services.