ESP secretariat

Jani Heino and others published the paper Lakes in the era of global change: moving beyond single-lake thinking in maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services. The article describes the vulnerability and importance of lakes. It also describes the differences in lakes and how these differences contribute to the dynamics of these systems. Factors such as lake connectivity in the waterscape and position in the landscape are described as determining the degree to which a lake is prone to invasion by non‐native species and accumulation of harmful substances. Lastly, the paper looks at monitoring and restoration of lake biodiversity and ecosystem services, and also the challenges that hinder adaptive management of lakes.

You can find the full paper here.

Anu Akujarvi and others published the paper Bridging mapping and simulation modelling in the ecosystem service assessments of boreal forests: effects of bioenergy production on carbon dynamics. First, the article highlights the advantages and disadvantages of bioenergy on carbon emissions and carbon stocks which both have an impact on climate. The authors then use a mapping framework and simulate key ecosystem service indicators related to the carbon cycle of forests. Three forest management scenarios were studied and estimates of carbon stocks and fluxes are presented over the studied landscape to illustrate their temporal variation. Lastly, the article describes the effects of bioenergy production on ecosystem services and also describes the evaluation of the mapping framework.

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ESP members Robert Costanza, MarcelloHernandez-Blanco and others published the paper Common Asset Trusts to Effectively Steward Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services at Multiple Scales. The article highlights how ecosystems (natural capital) can be better managed by using more nuanced private and community property rights and Common Asset Trusts (CATs). An explanation of property rights regimes, property rights to the commons and the public trust doctrine is given. The paper also describes examples of CATs at multiple geographic scales and suggests how Costa Rica can transform its existing payment for ecosystem services (PES) scheme into a national CAT. Lastly, the paper describes how CATs can facilitate more fair and effective public/private partnerships (PPPs) to invest in natural capital and ecosystem services.

You can find the full article here