Rangeland ecosystem services: nature’s supply and humans’ demand

TitleRangeland ecosystem services: nature’s supply and humans’ demand
Publication TypeBook Chapter
Year of Publication2017
AuthorsSala O.E, Yahdjian L, Havstad K, Aguiar M.
Book TitleRangeland Systems: Processes, Management and Challenges
Chapter14
Pagination467-489
PublisherSpringer
CityNew York
ISBN978-3-319-46709-2
Accession NumberJRN54687
ARIS Log Number331885
Keywordscultural, ecosystem services, human well-being, provisioning, regulation, stakeholders, trade-offs, win–win
Abstract

Ecosystem services are the benefits that society receives from nature and they include the regulation of climate, the pollination of crops, the provisioning of intellectual inspiration and recreational environment, as well as many essential goods such as food, fiber, and wood. Rangeland ecosystem services are often valued differently by different stakeholders interested in livestock production, water quality and quantity, biodiversity conservation, or carbon sequestration. The supply of ecosystem services depends on biophysical conditions and land use history and it is assessed using surveys of soils, plants and animals. The demand for ecosystem services depends on educational level, income and location of residence; and it is assessed with stakeholder interviews and questionnaires/surveys. Rangeland management affects the supply of different ecosystem services by producing tradeoffs among services. Tradeoffs result when an increase in one service is associated with a decline in another and win-win situations occur when an increase in one service is associated with an increase in other services. This chapter provides a conceptual framework in which range management decisions are seen as a challenge of reconciling supply and demand of ecosystem services.

URLfiles/bibliography/17-008.pdf
DOI10.1007/978-3-319-46709-2_14