Enlisting Ecosystem Benefits: Quantification and Valuation of Ecosystem Services to Inform Installation Management
Abstract
An integrated understanding of the natural and social implications of land-use decisions can lead to more effective land management in the DoD using an ecosystem service approach developed by the Natural Capital Project. The approach provides estimates of the values of natural capital through iterative stakeholder engagement, scenario planning, biophysical and economic/social modeling with free, open-source InVEST (Integrated Valuation of Environmental Services and Tradeoffs) software, and synthesis of multi-service outputs. In coordination with installation personnel, we applied our approach to multiple-use landscape management at three DoD installations by evaluating ecosystem services under future scenarios that reflect alternative military missions and natural resource management strategies. The tested approach and tools are especially helpful in 1) offering a mechanism for incorporating ecosystem services into the existing ecosystem-based management framework employed by the DoD for spatial planning and resource management, 2) providing spatially explicit, quantitative estimates of current and future ecosystem services to complement field observations and qualitative measures common in current environmental impact assessments, and 3) demonstrating a flexible, modular structure to aggregate various types of information (e.g.,training activities, cultural resources) and tools (e.g., SWAT, HexSim)to support a more comprehensive assessment of changes in biodiversity and multiple ecosystem services.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 27, 2015
- Accession Number
- AD1002573
Entities
People
- Bradley A. Duggan
- Brynn W. Ziv
- Elizabeth Daily
- Gail M. Mcnally
- Gretchen C. Ruckelshaus
- Guy Conte
- Jennifer M. Ghile
- Marc N. Dennedy-frank
- Mary H. Ma
- Peter J. Rauer
- Shan Eichelberger
- Yonas Kaiser
Organizations
- Stanford University