Democratization of ecosystem services—a radical approach for assessing nature’s benefits in the face of urbanization
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Date
Authors
McHale, Melissa R.
Beck, Scott M.
Pickett, Steward T.A.
Childers, Daniel L.
Cadenasso, Mary L.
Rivers III, Louie
Swemmer, Louise
Ebersohn, L. (Liesel)
Twine, Wayne
Bunn, David N.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Taylor and Francis
Abstract
OBJECTIVES : (1) To evaluate how ecosystem services may be utilized to either reinforce or
fracture the planning and development practices that emerged from segregation and economic
exclusion; (2) To survey the current state of ecosystem service assessments and
synthesize a growing number of recommendations from the literature for renovating ecosystem
service analyses.
METHODS : Utilizing current maps of ecosystem service distribution in Bushbuckridge Local
Municipality, South Africa, we considered how a democratized process of assessing ecosystem
services will produce a more nuanced representation of diverse values in society and
capture heterogeneity in ecosystem structure and function.
RESULTS : We propose interventions for assessing ecosystem services that are inclusive of a
broad range of stakeholders’ values and result in actual quantification of social and ecological
processes. We demonstrate how to operationalize a pluralistic framework for ecosystem
service assessments.
CONCLUSION : A democratized approach to ecosystem service assessments is a reimagined
path to rescuing a poorly implemented concept and designing and managing future socialecological
systems that benefit people and support ecosystem integrity. It is the responsibility
of scientists who do ecosystem services research to embrace more complex, pluralistic
frameworks so that sound and inclusive scientific information is utilized in decision-making.
Description
Keywords
Ecosystem services, Socialecological systems, Heterogeneity, Landcover, Pluralistic, Deliberative
Sustainable Development Goals
Citation
Melissa R. McHale, Scott M. Beck, Steward T. A. Pickett, Daniel L. Childers,
Mary L. Cadenasso, Louie Rivers III, Louise Swemmer, Liesel Ebersohn, Wayne Twine & David N
Bunn (2018) Democratization of ecosystem services—a radical approach for assessing nature’s
benefits in the face of urbanization, Ecosystem Health and Sustainability, 4:5, 115-131, DOI: 10.1080/20964129.2018.1480905.