Mapping supply and demand of ecosystem services in the Helge Å catchment area, Sweden
2016 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (Two Years)), 40 credits / 60 HE credits
Student thesis
Abstract [en]
Research on ecosystem services has accelerated the last few years, but there is a knowledge gap on how to integrate the concept into management in a way that is mindful of the complex, dynamic and non-linear dimensions of ecosystem services. Ecosystem services are often approached from a supply side, and more often than not services are approached individually without attempt to capture the trade-offs and synergies between services. The overall aim of this master’s thesis is to contribute to the operationalization of the ecosystem services concept, within a social-ecological systems framework. This is done through a case study of the Helge Å catchment in Southern Sweden, in which I use publically available data to map the supply and demand of a selection of locally relevant provisioning, regulating, and, to some extent, cultural ecosystem services. The thesis analyses some of the challenges of, as well as opportunities for, making tangible sense of this complex social-ecological concept in a way that can inform decision making on ecosystem services for sustainable development. The results show that mapping both supply and demand adds important dimensions to ecosystem service assessment that has value within management contexts. Especially important are the added social dimensions of ecosystem service provision, and the incorporation of societal demand as a factor in mapping. There are some obvious challenges still associated with this type of mapping, foremost associated with mapping of cultural ecosystem services and data availability, which have yet to be resolved through continued research efforts.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2016. , p. 29
Keywords [en]
ecosystem services, supply, demand, assessment, management
National Category
Other Natural Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:su:diva-131440OAI: oai:DiVA.org:su-131440DiVA, id: diva2:939337
Presentation
2016-06-15, Stockholm Resilience Centre, Kräftriket 2B, Roslagsvägen 101, Stockholm, 11:00 (English)
Supervisors
Examiners
2016-06-202016-06-192020-02-20Bibliographically approved