Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Ecosystem services relationships'

The biosphere integrity boundary of the Planetary Boundaries Framework seeks to highlight biodiversity loss and its effect on humanity's 'safe operating space'. Biodiversity plays a critical role in sustaining ecosystem function and by extension, the ecosystem services on which human wellbeing depends. As currently conceptualized, biodiversity and the provisioning and regulating ecosystem services with which it is associated, is not adequately captured in the boundary. Literature searches for data-synthesis were carried out to identify and assess the balance of evidence for the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem services. The change in global ecosystem service trends over time were assessed along with the interactions between ecosystem services. Twelve provisioning and 9 regulating ecosystem services associated with biodiversity were identified in the literature. Biocontrol and carbon sequestration were the most studied services. The Fischer exact test showed that there was a significant difference between the extent to which provisioning versus regulating ecosystem services are studied. Mann-Whitney U tests showed non-significant relationships between provisioning services and regulating services for trend and effect size data. All provisioning services showed increasing trends over time. The results for regulating services were mixed. Of the 115 ecosystem service interactions assessed, 66 were trade-offs and 49 were synergies. Crop yield and climate-related ESS (carbon sequestration and carbon storage) represented almost one-third of these interactions (n = 22) while crop yield and erosion control represented over a quarter (n = 19). These interactions alone accounted for 36% of the total interactions. This paper provides an initial database which could be refined and expanded. It also demonstrates a comprehensive approach to assessing biodiversity ecosystem service relationships, providing a tangible approach to assessing a safe operating space for humanity. Further, it provides a platform for future research on biodiversity-ecosystem services human well-being links, which will provide better insights to policymakers, managers and practitioners.

The presentation was done via Zoom during Covid 19 when Stockholm University was closed. 

The ecosystem services (ES) concept is meant to facilitate consideration of the value of nature in conservation and landscape management processes by translating ecosystem functions into human benefits. Incorporating the ES concept into policy and decision-making has proven difficult due to challenges in identifying, measuring, and locating services and in predicting the impacts of decisions upon them. ES mapping offers a key solution to increase our understanding of the spatial patterns of ES supply and demand and the spatial relationships between them, but may be challenging to implement given a lack of spatial data related to ES or existence of such data at coarse resolution that may not facilitate accurate ES quantification, mapping and modeling. This issue is particularly acute in urban settings where landscapes are highly heterogeneous and fragmented. This research seeks to improve our understanding of urban ES supply, demand and the relationships between them, as well as the impacts of spatial scale, input data quality and method choice on ES mapping in urban landscapes. The dissertation is composed of three studies. In the first study, I introduce a spatially-explicit framework for quantifying and mapping ES supply and demand using carbon storage and sequestration services as an example. This framework assesses supply based on biophysical conditions and demand based on socioeconomic characteristics, allowing for more integrative ES assessments in urban areas. In the second study, I evaluate the sensitivity of ES maps to input spatial data resolution and method choice (ecosystem component-based and land-cover proxy-based methods) in a heterogeneous urban landscape using biomass carbon storage as an example. I find that ES map accuracy is highly dependent on analytical scales and input data representativeness. ES estimates based on ecosystem-component data are more accurate than those based on land-cover proxies. The accuracy of land-cover proxy-based maps, however, can be increased by using high-resolution land-cover maps. The third study aims to increase understanding of ES supply, demand, and supply-demand balance in urban contexts. To this end, I create a high-thematic-resolution land-cover dataset and combine it with the InVEST pollination model to assess the capacity of urban ecosystems to supply pollination services to satisfy the demands of urban agriculture. I find using land-cover dataset at a higher thematic resolution enhances the accuracy of pollination estimates, highlighting the importance of considering scale and land-use dependencies in urban ES mapping. Combined, these studies advance our knowledge of ES supply, demand and the relationships between them, and provide new insight into the impacts of input data spatial and thematic resolution and method choice on the accuracy of urban ES maps.

Els boscos proveeixen d’una àmplia varietat de serveis ecosistèmics (SE). Entendre com i per què aquests SE es distribueixen en el paisatge és essencial per dotar a les polítiques d’informació per protegir, millorar i restaurar aquests ecosistemes. A més, l’efectivitat de les Àrees Protegides (AP) en el manteniment dels SE i la biodiversitat encara no està clara, i els boscos estan cada vegada més sotmesos a la pressió del canvi climàtic, amb canvis en el règim de pertorbacions (com ara els incendis). Predir on aquestes pertorbacions tindran lloc en el futur i fins a quin punt els SE dels boscos s’hi veuran afectats són reptes fonamentals en la recerca. L’objectiu general d’aquesta tesi és analitzar la distribució espacial dels SE als boscos, la seva rellevància en la conservació i la seva vulnerabilitat i risc enfront pertorbacions del canvi climàtic, especialment els incendis forestals. Per això, 1) hem analitzat la distribució espacial dels estocs de carboni i la biodiversitat, així com la relació entre ells i les seves causes, en boscos de dues regions i cinc subclimes; 2) hem determinat el rol de les AP en la preservació dels SE i la biodiversitat a Catalunya; 3) hem desenvolupat un marc conceptual per avaluar la vulnerabilitat dels boscos i el seu risc de pèrdua de SE; i 4) hem avaluat els patrons espacials i les causes de la vulnerabilitat dels boscos a incendis i el risc associat de pèrdua de SE a Catalunya. La relació entre els estocs de carboni i la biodiversitat és en general positiva, amb valors més elevats al nord d’Espanya i al sud del Québec. Valors de densitat i diversitat estructural elevats han afavorit al mateix temps els estocs de carboni, la biodiversitat d’arbres i la biodiversitat global. Respecte a les AP, hem trobat més estocs de carboni, cobertura d’hàbitats d’interès comunitari, hàbitats prioritaris i llocs d’interès geològic a l’interior de les AP que a les seves àrees d’influència (o buffer zones), però cap dels indicadors de biodiversitat (riquesa d’arbres i d’aus) ha mostrat diferències entre les AP i les àrees d’influència. Hem proposat un marc conceptual per avaluar la vulnerabilitat dels boscos i el risc de pèrdua de SE, basat en els components d’exposició, magnitud de la pertorbació, susceptibilitat i manca de capacitat adaptativa. Finalment, hem aplicat aquest marc general als incendis forestals de Catalunya. Els resultats han mostrat que la magnitud de la pertorbació és el component més important que defineix el risc de pèrdua de SE degut a incendis. El tipus funcional de bosc - especialment les coníferes no Mediterrànies que tenen poca capacitat adaptativa - és el factor més important sota condicions extremes. L’augment de risc més gran s’ha trobat en boscos relativament humits que actualment tenen un risc baix, situació que segons les tendències climàtiques actuals passarà a ser més comuna en un futur. En general, aquesta tesi ha augmentat l’evidència científica de la relació positiva entre els estocs de carboni i la biodiversitat en cinc subclimes. També ha mostrat que la conservació a Catalunya només és efectiva en el manteniment d’alguns dels SE i variables de conservació considerades. També ha contribuït amb un marc conceptual innovador sobre la vulnerabilitat dels boscos i el risc de pèrdua de SE degut a pertorbacions del canvi climàtic, assentant les bases per avaluar la vulnerabilitat i el risc d’una manera operativa i sistemàtica. L’aplicació d’aquest marc conceptual als incendis forestals ha mostrat implicacions rellevants en el risc de pèrdua de SE, fet que podria contribuir en el desenvolupament de polítiques futures mitjançant l’anticipació del risc, i ser una guia per la gestió forestal eficient.
Los bosques proveen una amplia variedad de servicios ecosistémicos (SE). Entender cómo y por qué estos SE se distribuyen en el paisaje es esencial para proteger, mejorar y restaurar estos ecosistemas. Además, la efectividad de las Áreas Protegidas (AP) en el mantenimiento de los SE y la biodiversidad aún no está del todo clara, y los bosques están cada vez más sometidos a la presión del cambio climático, con cambios en el régimen de perturbaciones (como incendios). Predecir en qué lugares estas perturbaciones se darán en un futuro y hasta qué punto los SE se verán afectados son retos fundamentales de investigación. El objetivo general de esta tesis es analizar la distribución espacial de los SE de los bosques, su relevancia en la conservación y su vulnerabilidad y riesgo frente a perturbaciones del cambio climático, especialmente los incendios forestales. Para cumplir este objetivo, 1) hemos analizado la distribución espacial de los stocks de carbono y la biodiversidad en los bosques, así como la relación entre ellos y sus causas, en dos regiones y cinco subclimas; 2) hemos determinado el rol de las AP en la preservación de los SE y la biodiversidad en Cataluña; 3) hemos desarrollado un marco conceptual para evaluar la vulnerabilidad de los bosques y su riesgo de pérdida de SE; y 4) hemos evaluado los patrones espaciales y las causas de la vulnerabilidad de los bosques a incendios y el riesgo asociado de pérdida de SE en Cataluña. La relación entre los stocks de carbono y la biodiversidad es en general positiva, con valores más elevados en el norte de España y en el sur del Québec. Valores de densidad y diversidad estructural elevados han favorecido los stocks de carbono, la biodiversidad de árboles y la biodiversidad global. Respecto a las AP, hemos encontrado más stocks de carbono, cobertura de hábitats de interés comunitario, hábitats prioritarios y lugares de interés geológico dentro de las AP que en sus áreas de influencia (o buffer zones), pero ninguno de los indicadores de biodiversidad ha mostrado diferencias entre las AP y sus áreas de influencia. Las AP con niveles de protección más elevados no han proveído de más SE y biodiversidad, o viceversa. Además, hemos propuesto un marco conceptual para evaluar la vulnerabilidad de los bosques y el riesgo de pérdida de SE, basado en los componentes de exposición, magnitud de la perturbación, susceptibilidad y ausencia de capacidad adaptativa. Finalmente, hemos aplicado este marco general a los incendios forestales en Cataluña. Los resultados muestran que la magnitud de la perturbación es el componente más importante que define el riesgo de pérdida de SE debido a incendios. El tipo funcional de bosque - especialmente las coníferas no Mediterráneas que tienen una menor capacidad adaptativa - es el factor más importante bajo condiciones extremas. El aumento de riesgo más grande está en bosques relativamente húmedos, situación que según las tendencias climáticas actuales pasará a ser más común en un futuro. En general, esta tesis ha contribuido a aumentar la evidencia científica de la relación positiva entre los stocks de carbono y la biodiversidad. También ha mostrado que la conservación en Cataluña solo es efectiva para mantener algunos SE y variables de conservación. También ha contribuido con un marco conceptual innovador sobre la vulnerabilidad de los bosques y el riesgo de pérdida de SE debido a perturbaciones del cambio climático. La aplicación de este marco conceptual a los incendios forestales ha demostrado implicaciones en el riesgo de pérdida de SE, que podrían servir para el desarrollo de políticas futuras de anticipación del riesgo, pudiendo servir de guía para la gestión forestal eficiente.
Forest ecosystems provide a wide variety ecosystem services (ES). Understanding how these ES are distributed across the landscape and identifying their main drivers is essential to inform policy to protect, enhance and restore these ecosystems. Besides, protected areas (PAs) are fundamental for biodiversity conservation and the provision of ES, yet their effectiveness in maintaining ES and biodiversity is still unclear. Currently, forests are increasingly under pressure from climate change, resulting in changes in disturbance regimes (e.g., wildfires, drought, insect-outbreaks and windstorms). Predicting where these natural hazards will occur in the future and to what extent forest ES will be affected are also fundamental research challenges. The general objective of this thesis is to analyze the spatial distribution of forest ES, their relevance in conservation and their vulnerability and risk to climate change hazards, especially wildfires. To do so, 1) we have analyzed the spatial distribution, relationship and drivers of forest carbon stocks and biodiversity in two regions and five subclimates; 2) we have determined the role of PAs in preserving ES and biodiversity in forests and shrublands of Catalonia; 3) we have developed a general framework of forest vulnerability and risk of losing ES due to different climate change hazards; and 4) we have assessed the spatial patterns and drivers of forest vulnerability to wildfires and the corresponding risk of losing ES in Catalonia. We have found a general positive relationship between carbon stocks and biodiversity, with the highest values in northern Spain (humid Mediterranean subclimate) and southern Quebec (temperate subclimate). High density and structural diversity have simultaneously favored carbon stocks, tree and overall biodiversity. The variables positively affecting carbon and biodiversity have been also driving their hotspots, emphasizing the viability of ‘win-win’ solutions. Regarding PAs, we have found more carbon stocks, coverage of community-interest habitats, priority-habitats and geological-interest sites in PAs than in buffer zones, but none of the biodiversity variables considered have showed differences between PAs and buffer zones. PAs with higher degree of protection have not provided higher levels of ES and biodiversity, or vice versa. Furthermore, we have proposed a general framework to assess forest vulnerability and risk based on the components of exposure, hazard magnitude, susceptibility and lack of adaptive capacity. Finally, we have applied this general framework to the particular case of wildfires in Catalonia. The results have indicated that hazard magnitude is the most important factor defining ES at risk from wildfires. Climate is the main driving factor of ES at risk under average conditions, but forest functional type - in particular non-Mediterranean conifers that have low adaptive capacity - have gained importance under extreme conditions. The highest increases in risk have been found in relatively wet forests with currently low risk, which according to climate trends will become common in the future. Overall, this thesis has gained evidence on the positive relationship between carbon stocks and biodiversity and their main drivers in five subclimates, and has showed that the conservation strategy in Catalonia is only effective at maintaining some of the ES and conservation variables considered. It has also contributed with an innovative conceptual framework of forest vulnerability and risk of losing ES due to climate change hazards, constituting a basis for a systematic operationalization of forest risk and vulnerability. The application of this framework to the case of wildfires has showed relevant implications on the future risk of losing ES due to wildfires, which could contribute to future-oriented policies by anticipating conditions associated with particularly high risks and guiding efficient forest management.

Biodiversity loss is occurring at an unprecedented rate and most of this loss is due to human induced pressure. This loss in biodiversity had led to concerns that the provision of ecosystem services that humans depend upon might be negatively affected. As such much modern conservation science focusses on preserving biodiversity whilst protecting priority ecosystem services. However, there may be spatial and temporal trade-offs between these services and the biodiversity that is considered important. Characterisation of such the relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem services is vital in order to improve management and policies which aim to protect and restore both biodiversity and ecosystem services. The broad aims of the thesis were to explore biodiversity-ecosystem service relationships in (1) ecosystems invaded by non-native plant species and (2) tropical forests affected by human exploitation and disturbance. Specifically this thesis aimed to answer the questions: 1. What effect do non-native plant invasions have on aboveground carbon storage, belowground carbon storage, carbon sequestration, water quality and water provision? 2. How do changes in species richness affect this ecosystem service provision? 3. How do these changes relate to the woodiness and traits of invasive and native dominant species, and the type of ecosystem invaded? 4. What factors drive differences in residual stand damage, biomass loss and species richness change following selective logging? 5. After deforestation how long do carbon stocks and plant biodiversity take to recover in tropical forests? 6. Do carbon and plant biodiversity differ in their recovery rates? 7. Which areas are priorities for restoration of tropical carbon? All chapters in this thesis make use of large datasets that I collated from the literature and other authors in order to draw broad conclusions about trade-offs and relationships between services and biodiversity In the section concentrating on invasive species my results suggest that non-native invasive plants generally increase the storage of carbon, whilst reducing water quality and availability. This may indicate a fundamental trade-off between services where increased biomass of plants results in higher evapotranspiration and thus water loss, while also enhancing the carbon cycle and nitrogen production of microorganisms. In addition my results suggest that aboveground carbon storage increases as species richness is reduced, showing the opposite relationship to that shown in many biodiversity ecosystem functioning experiments. This is the first time any such relationship has been found between community change and ecosystem level impacts in the context of species invasions. However, it seems likely that this relationship depends on the identity and traits of the species, with invasions in open habitats by woody species likely to drive a negative relationship between richness change and biomass change with the opposite true when grassy species invade woodlands. This result presents a trade-off between conservation priorities that managers will need to consider. In Chapter 3 I investigated the possibility of predicting the impact of non-native invasive plant impacts on ecosystem services by using characteristics and functional traits of both invasive and native species. This work suggested that aboveground carbon storage is most easily predicted by traits and characteristics of native and non-native species, with few other ecosystem services well explained by models. Results suggested that transition from woody to non-woody dominant species resulted in most dramatic changes in aboveground carbon storage. However, interestingly aboveground carbon storage also tended to increase where native species were replaced by species of similar woodiness. Similarly, given that woodiness and size of species are related, there was a positive relationship between the invasive species height and increases in aboveground carbon storage. However, all other ecosystem services were poorly predicted by species traits and characteristics. This work suggests that the most dramatic changes in carbon storage may result from shifts in ecosystems that resemble regime shifts. Future work addressing invasive species from this perspective is warranted as many invasions resemble such shifts. In Chapter 4 I investigated the relationships between logging intensity and methods and residual stem damage, biomass loss and species richness change in tropical logged forests. Many syntheses of the logging literature have made little distinction between logged sites, and only one has explored any of the mechanisms that may drive heterogeneity in logging impacts. This is particularly surprising given that Reduced Impact Logging (RIL) has been implemented relatively widely principally to reduce carbon loss from logged forests. My results from this chapter suggest that the principal driver of logging impacts is the intensity at which logging is carried out, showing broadly negative relationships with biomass and tree species richness change and a positive relationship with residual stem damage. Interestingly, RIL appeared to reduce residual stem damage slightly but evidence for this effect was weaker in other analyses. These analyses also suggest a slight increase in tree species richness at low logging intensities, showing some similarities to intermediate disturbance hypothesis type relationships. This is suggestive of a complex relationship between tree species richness and biomass changes during logging that deviated substantially from that suggested in grassland biodiversity-ecosystem function experiments. This is as far as I know the first time this relationship has been suggested in the context of logged forests. The result from this chapter also suggest that there is weak support that RIL reduces logging damage at low intensities but little evidence that this is reflected by changes in biomass. Further studies are needed to discern the effect of RIL over a wide range of logging intensities. Chapter 5 investigates tropical forest recovery following agricultural clearance. In this chapter I aimed to identify the recovery times of different above and belowground carbon pools and tree and epiphyte species richness as well as tree species composition using studies that had paired mature forest sites as comparators. Surprisingly this chapter represents the first attempt to generalise about this recovery rate. The results suggest that following clearance carbon and species richness of plants recovers relatively quickly (<100 years), but species indicative of old forests are rarely present in recovering forests and show few signs of recovery. Thus, while carbon recovery goals may be achievable full recovery of plant biodiversity may require centuries. This slow recovery may be aided by active restoration. Finally in Chapter 6 I investigated which areas should be considered as priorities when restoring tropical forests for carbon storage and bird biodiversity. In this chapter I found evidence of spatial trade-offs between carbon storage and bird species recovery. Empirical models suggested that carbon is accumulated most rapidly in forests with long growing seasons, while probability of bird species presence was primarily driven by habitat specificity, range size and forest cover. Model projections suggested that areas that should be considered a priority for restoration targeting carbon storage are found in the wet tropics while priorities for restoration of bird biodiversity are found in mountainous areas. These analyses indicated that there was no relationship between the two goals, but that by using model projections it was possible to identify areas that maximised both. In summary work in this thesis provides the best synthesis of the relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem services in the context of non-native invasive plants, and selective logging and recovery from tropical forest clearance to date. This is of particular value because such relationships have rarely been explored in these contexts despite widespread and of global importance for conservation.

Master of Science
Biological & Agricultural Engineering
Stacy L. Hutchinson
Increasing attentiveness to climate change and the dependence of human life on natural resources has spurred awareness about the detrimental impacts of human activity on the environment. Ecosystem services, or the benefits that humans derive from ecosystems, have changed more in the past 50 years than in any other comparable period in human history (Carpenter et al., 2009).The dilemma of managing the trade-off between immediate human needs and maintaining the ability of the Earth to provide ecosystem services is considered to be one of the largest challenges of this century (Foley et al., 2005). The ecosystem service concept aims maximize the provision of services across an entire ecosystem to achieve overall ecosystem health through land management, policy, and economic decisions. The intent of this research was to improve such decisions by increasing the understanding about the relationship between urban best management practices and freshwater provision, erosion regulation, and flood regulation ecosystem services. Fifty-six land management scenarios with varying densities of BMP application were simulated using the Stormwater Management Model (SWMM). The ecosystem services resulting from these land management scenarios were quantified using indices developed by Logsdon and Chaubey (2013). Results demonstrate that the application of bioretention cells improve both freshwater provision and erosion regulation services immediately downstream from the implementation site, and an increase in erosion regulation services was observed at the greater watershed scale. There was no change in the provision of freshwater, erosion regulation, or flood regulation services observed by the application of green roofs or rain barrels at either scale of analysis.

This thesis investigates the relationship between ecosystem services and human well-being through a case study in Cornwall, UK. The study examines how aspects of the economic and socio-cultural environment interact and influence participants’ constructs of well-being, as well as mediate, through mechanisms of access, their ability to benefit from ecosystem services. The research design is informed by Sen’s capability approach as well as insights from literatures on access theory, human well-being, and ecosystem services. While Sen’s approach potentially offers a novel means to explore the ecosystem services and well-being relationship, it is currently underutilised in this research context. Adopting an in-depth qualitative research approach, data collection took place over 21 months with the same cohort of participants, who face various types of socio-economic disadvantage. Focus groups, life history interviews, photo elicitation, and semi-structured interviews were used to (a) elicit local constructs of well-being, (b) explore the role of ecosystem services for well-being, and (c) identify mechanisms of access that mediate participants’ ability to benefit from valued ecosystem services. The analysis shows that capabilities are interlinked and multidimensional. Therefore, existing socio-economic constraints have important implications for capability formation, and also lead to a series of trade-offs in converting capabilities into well-being. The findings deliver new insights into existing conceptualizations of the ecosystem services and well-being relationship, highlighting the role of cultural practices as sources of well-being, and identifying cultural ecosystem services as an overarching theme rather than a discrete service type. Four types of access mechanisms emerge from the data, including psychological mechanisms, demonstrating that physical distance is an insufficient indicator of exposure to ecosystem services. The thesis concludes by suggesting that developing a capability theory for ecosystem services could aid disaggregated analyses and deliver more nuanced insights into the complex links between ecosystem services and well-being, by shifting the focus from outcomes to opportunities and the processes that contribute to particular outcomes.

Doutoramento em Engenharia Florestal e dos Recursos Naturais - Instituto Superior de Agronomia. Universidade de Lisboa
Natura 2000 is the pan-European network of protected areas and classifies different habitat types, including shrub-grasslands as of conservation interest. The use and management to which these habitat types are subject potentially affect their conservation status and the ecosystem services they generated, including regulating services as carbon storage or wildfire prevention. Wildfire prevention is an important ecosystem service in the Mediterranean region and management practices such as grazing or prescribed burning have been applied in several shrub-grassland areas in Natura 2000. These practices are known to reduce fuel vegetation, but little is known about their effects on the conservation status of these habitats. The main goal of this thesis was to investigate if there are potential trade-offs between fire hazard reduction and conservation in different shrub-grassland habitat types. For this, we assessed changes on plant species composition, vegetation structure, aboveground biomass and potential fire behaviour in plots treated with grazing or prescribed burning in two Natura 2000 sites located in central-west Portugal. Moderate grazing has effectively contributed to the conservation of some shrub-grassland habitat types through reduction of wildfire hazard and maintenance of favourable conservation status. In contrast, higher grazing and browsing pressure negatively affected the conservation status by altering plant species composition and structure of the analysed habitat. Likewise prescribed burning reduced fuel loads and minimized short-term fire hazard, but negatively affected the conservation status of the habitat types considered. Results showed that there are potential management conflicts between fire prevention and conservation in Natura 2000 and that these trade-offs must be considered during fuel management decisions
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Governments adopt strategies to follow the objective Europe 2020 and focus on the development of Renewable Energy Technologies, RET, to improve the transition of the production of energy from fossil fuels sources to renewable energy sources, RES. More than decades before, the energy transition towards renewable energies emerges as a relevant objective of the European governments. The fluctuating prices of oil and the uncertainty on the future supply of fossil fuels open new challenges for communities to actuate an energy transition towards RES. The RET can afflict deeply the landscape structure and by this point of view the energy transition is one of the most relevant drivers in the landscape change of the last three decades. In several cases energy transition may face opposition from regions and communities because of the change that RET produce in local landscapes and related economic, cultural and ecological functions. This change has been defined as a conflict between the local narrative of the right to the landscape by local communities and the global narrative that aims at a low carbon future. Exploring the relationship between Ecosystem Services (ES) and Renewable Energy (RE), the conflict among a global perspective and a local perspective has been resumed by several authors as a trade-off among provisioning and regulating ES from one side and cultural ES from the other. The overcoming of this conflict can be based on bottom-up processes that enhance the energy transition starting by local organizations of communities that want to reach a self-sufficieny in renewable energy supply. Transition management is possible if we produce innovation at local scale. An ES approach supports the transition management and the envisioning future energy landscapes by offering transparent trade-offs, exposing risks and benefits. If societies produce clean energy it may happen that RET afflict other ES. The main paradigm for the sustainability of a energy landscape is that the introduction of RET should not cause crucial trade-offs among the other ES, this is why this research wants to study this relationship, as several authors have already stressed. By the literature review it is possible to state a general gap of knowledge in integrated approaches in the evaluation of RET, considering diverse RES and ES provided by the landscape and evaluating a trade-off through a participatory process. To fulfill such gap and produce an enhancement of knowledge, this research follows the main objective of introducing a trade-off analysis into a design approach to formulate long-term visions for sustainable energy landscapes. The results we got indicate that it is possible to plan and design with the ES sustainable energy landscape.This process facilitates a sustainable energy transition of communities through a participatory landscape design that reduce the trade-off between the Renewable Energy and the ES supplies.

Governments adopt strategies to follow the objective Europe 2020 and focus on the development of Renewable Energy Technologies, RET, to improve the transition of the production of energy from fossil fuels sources to renewable energy sources, RES. More than decades before, the energy transition towards renewable energies emerges as a relevant objective of the European governments. The fluctuating prices of oil and the uncertainty on the future supply of fossil fuels open new challenges for communities to actuate an energy transition towards RES. The RET can afflict deeply the landscape structure and by this point of view the energy transition is one of the most relevant drivers in the landscape change of the last three decades. In several cases energy transition may face opposition from regions and communities because of the change that RET produce in local landscapes and related economic, cultural and ecological functions. This change has been defined as a conflict between the local narrative of the right to the landscape by local communities and the global narrative that aims at a low carbon future. Exploring the relationship between Ecosystem Services (ES) and Renewable Energy (RE), the conflict among a global perspective and a local perspective has been resumed by several authors as a trade-off among provisioning and regulating ES from one side and cultural ES from the other. The overcoming of this conflict can be based on bottom-up processes that enhance the energy transition starting by local organizations of communities that want to reach a self-sufficieny in renewable energy supply. Transition management is possible if we produce innovation at local scale. An ES approach supports the transition management and the envisioning future energy landscapes by offering transparent trade-offs, exposing risks and benefits. If societies produce clean energy it may happen that RET afflict other ES. The main paradigm for the sustainability of a energy landscape is that the introduction of RET should not cause crucial trade-offs among the other ES, this is why this research wants to study this relationship, as several authors have already stressed. By the literature review it is possible to state a general gap of knowledge in integrated approaches in the evaluation of RET, considering diverse RES and ES provided by the landscape and evaluating a trade-off through a participatory process. To fulfill such gap and produce an enhancement of knowledge, this research follows the main objective of introducing a trade-off analysis into a design approach to formulate long-term visions for sustainable energy landscapes. The results we got indicate that it is possible to plan and design with the ES sustainable energy landscape.This process facilitates a sustainable energy transition of communities through a participatory landscape design that reduce the trade-off between the Renewable Energy and the ES supplies.

Les sols agricoles contribuent à fournir de nombreux services écosystémiques (SE) aux agriculteurs et à la société. Stockage et restitution d'eau verte et bleue, fourniture de nutriments, régulation de la qualité de l'eau, séquestration du carbone, etc. Or, la majeure partie des écosystèmes agricoles est encore cultivée de manière intensive via l'utilisation d'intrants de synthèse, sans réelle considération des effets négatifs de ces pratiques sur l'environnement et sur la capacité des sols à fournir ces SE. Un des enjeux de la transition agroécologique est de parvenir à concevoir des systèmes de production plus durables, qui limitent l'utilisation des intrants de synthèse, en favorisant notamment une agriculture basée sur la biodiversité et les SE supports de la production. Cela nécessite d'approfondir nos connaissances sur les interactions spatio-temporelles qui existent entre pratiques agricoles, production agricole, SE et impacts environnementaux. Ce manuscrit présente une synthèse des travaux de recherche réalisés dans le cadre d'un partenariat INRAE - ANDRA et qui avait pour but de répondre, du moins en partie, à cet enjeu. Ils furent structurés en deux grandes phases. La première consistait en une revue systématique de la littérature sur les relations qui existent entre la production agricole, les SE et les impacts liés au fonctionnement du sol, dans les systèmes de grandes cultures en climat tempéré. Afin de pouvoir comparer et synthétiser les résultats des 40 études sélectionnées, nous avons développé une nouvelle ontologie des SE et des impacts liés au fonctionnement du sol. Cette revue a permis de mettre en évidence que les relations entre la production de biomasse et les autres SE et impacts étaient majoritairement non significatives, confirmant qu'il n'y a pas d'antagonisme systématique entre production agricole et SE de régulation. Elle a également permis d'identifier des relations qui n'ont pas été étudiées dans les études synthétisées, comme celles entre la séquestration du C et la régulation de la qualité physique du sol ou le maintien de sa biodiversité. En outre, une analyse des effets des déterminants de ces services a révélé que les trois piliers de l'agriculture de conservation et la fertilisation organique semblent être des pratiques prometteuses pour promouvoir l'expression de bouquets équilibrés de SE. La seconde phase a été basée sur la modélisation et simulation de systèmes de culture actuels et agro-écologiques au sein du territoire de l'Observatoire Pérenne de l'Environnement de l'ANDRA. Elle avait comme objectifs d'évaluer les effets de systèmes visant une plus grande autonomie en azote et une atténuation du changement climatique sur les relations temporelles qui existent entre la production agricole, 5 SE et 3 impacts environnementaux liés au fonctionnement du sol. Ces systèmes de culture ont été conçus en mobilisant trois leviers agronomiques : a) les couverts intermédiaires avec légumineuse (trèfle incarnat), b) les légumineuses à grain (pois) et c) les légumineuses fourragères (luzerne). Pour évaluer les performances de ces systèmes, nous avons mobilisé le modèle de culture STICS, qui simule le fonctionnement du système sol-plante au pas de temps journalier. Cette analyse a été réalisée sur deux périodes de 20 ans : une première simulation en climat passé récent (2000-2021), et une seconde simulation, sous projection climatique RCP 8.5 (2036-2057). Si la plupart des relations temporelles analysées ressortent non significatives, il apparait que la mise en place de couverts intermédiaires longs dans la rotation permet de fournir les plus hauts niveaux de séquestration de carbone et de fourniture en azote minéral et parmi les plus bas niveaux de lixiviation d'azote
Agricultural soils provide many ecosystem services (ES) to farmers and Society such as green and blue water provision, nutrient provision to crops, water quality regulation, carbon sequestration etc. However, most cropping systems are still intensively managed, based on chemical inputs, with little to no consideration of the possible effects of such practices on the environment and the ability of soils to provide these ES. One issue of agroecological transition is to design more sustainable production systems, with limited use of chemical inputs, that provide and benefit from biodiversity and the ES support of agricultural production. We thus need to improve our knowledge on the spatio-temporal relationships that may exist between management practices, agricultural production, ES and environmental impacts. This manuscript synthesizes the results of a three years INRAE-ANDRA collaboration that aimed at providing key information on soil-crop functioning while facing this challenge. This work was structured into two parts. We first conducted a systematic literature review of the relationships between agricultural production, the ES and the impacts linked to soil functioning, within temperate annual production systems. In order to be able to compare the results of the 40 studies selected, we developed a new ontology of soil-based ES and impacts. This review evidenced mainly non-significant relationships between Biomass production and the ES and impacts investigated suggesting that there is no systematic trade-off between agricultural production and regulating ES. We also identified key relationships that have never been investigated in the studies selected as those between C sequestration and Physical soil quality regulation or Soil biodiversity. Also, an analysis of the effects of drivers of these ES revealed that the three pillars of conservation agriculture, as well as organic fertilization, seem promising practices to provide balanced bundles of ES. We then performed simulation analyses of actual and agroecological cropping systems of the French long-term Environmental Observatory of ANDRA. The objectives were to assess the effects of more N self-sufficient cropping systems, with a climate change mitigation purpose, on the temporal relationships between agricultural production, 5 ES and 3 impacts linked to soil functioning. These cropping systems were designed by implementing three agroecological management practices: a) long cover crops with legume (crimson clover), b) grain legumes (pea) and c) fodder legumes (alfalfa). To assess the performances of these systems, we used the STICS model, that simulates the functioning of the soil-crop system at a daily time-step. Simulations were run over two 20-years time periods: a first one for recent past climate (2000-2021) and a second one for future climate projection using RCP 8.5 (2036-2057). If most of the temporal relationships analysed were non-significant, results highlighted that the use of long cover crops in the rotation provided the highest values of N provision to crops and C sequestration and the lowest values of NO3 lixiviation

Australia is experiencing widespread ecosystem degradation, including dryland salinity, erosion and vegetation loss. Approximately 1 million hectares (5.5%) of the south-west agricultural zone of Western Australia is affected by dryland salinity and is predicted to rise to 5.4 million hectares by 2050. Such degradation is associated with many environmental outcomes that may impact on human health, including a decrease in primary productivity, an increase in the number of invasive species, a decrease in the number of large trees, overall decrease in biodiversity, and an increase in dust production. The resulting degradation affects not only farm production but also farm values. This study examines the effects of such severe and widespread environmental degradation on the physical and mental health of residents. Western Australia has an extensive medical record database which links individual health records for all hospital admissions, cancer cases, births and deaths. For the 15 diseases examined in this project, the study area of the south west of Western Australia (excluding the capital city of Perth) contained 1,570,985 morbidity records and 27,627 mortality records for the 15 diseases examined in a population of approximately 460,000. Environmental data were obtained from the Western Australian Department of Agriculture?s soil and landscape mapping database. A spatial Bayesian framework was used to examine associations between these disease and environmental variables. The Bayesian model detected the confounding variables of socio-economic status and proportion of the population identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. With the inclusion of these confounders in the model, associations were found between environmental degradation (including dryland salinity) and several diseases with known environmentally-mediated triggers, including asthma, ischaemic heart disease, suicide and depression. However, once records of individuals who had been diagnosed with coexistent depression were removed from the analysis, the effect of dryland salinity was no longer statistically detectable for asthma, ischaemic heart disease or suicide, although the effects of socio-economic status and size of the Aboriginal population remained. The spatial component of this study showed an association between land degradation and human health. These results indicated that such processes are driving the degree of psychological ill-health in these populations, although it remains uncertain whether this 4 is secondary to overall coexisting rural poverty or some other environmental mechanism. To further investigate this complex issue an instrument designed to measure mental health problems in rural communities was developed. Components of the survey included possible triggers for mental health, including environmental factors. The interview was administered in a pilot study through a telephone survey of a small number of farmers in South-Western Australia. Using logistic regression a significant association between the mental health of male farmers and dryland salinity was detected. However, the sample size of the survey was too small to detect any statistically significant associations between dryland salinity and the mental health of women. The results of this study indicate that dryland salinity, as with other examples of ecosystem degradation, is associated with an increased burden of human disease.

Sustainable land management (SLM) practices, as conservation agriculture (CA) and conventional tillage with cover crops (CC), aimed at balancing competitive agricultural production and environmental protection, have been encouraged throughout the EU through policy and subsidisation. Adoption of SLM practices that regulate biogeochemical cycles, however, requires further study, especially given the effects of local pedo-climatic variability and because middle and long-term effects are not fully understood and may differ from short-term outcomes. For these reasons, in this work, field experiments were conducted in three farms in the low-lying venetian plain, characterized by loamy soils, where CA and CC were compared to conventional intensive tillage system (CV) on trials established since 2010. The first objective of the thesis was to evaluate, by integrating experimental field results with model predictions, the potential ecosystem services provided by CA and CC practices on SOC dynamic, air quality and climate regulation, nutrition biomass and regulating of water conditions. In this experiment, CA and CC results contrasted according to the soil functions, the ecosystem service category and evaluation time span. The former was more effective in providing regulating services in the short term, and less consistent in the long term, at least for GHG mitigation. GHG control is only one of the numerous ecosystem services provided by conservation practices (e.g. reduction of erosion and P particulate loss). Many of these depend on the C content which are strongly affected by the C stratification processes. Cover crop adoption, on the contrary, showed promise in the long term, whereas short-term outcomes (two-year experiment) were negatively affected by poor cover crop growth. The second objective aimed to assess the SOC stock variation due to the adoption of CA and CC in comparison to CV within a large sample (i.e., 240) of 0-50-cm soil profiles, comparing two expansive soil sampling operations conducted in 2011 and 2017. The study showed that CA enhances SOC stratification rather than SOC accumulation, with high topsoil SOC that may have partly counteracted soil surface compaction. However, a comparison with previous SOC stock quantifications between CA and CV after three years of the experiment suggests that some SOC stock increase occurred, even at 50 cm, despite being not significant. The burial of fresh biomass-C with cover crops in arable systems (CC) enhanced SOC stock depletion most likely due to priming effects, suggesting that C input management is pivotal for its accumulation in agroecosystems with low soil fertility and low SOC protection capacity.

Detta examensarbete är ett projekt inom metodiken tjänstedesign som utforskar ekosystemet av aktörer i kedjan av trygghetslarm för äldre i Malmö Kommun. Syftet med detta examensarbete var att utforma förslag till tjänstekoncept som uppfyller de behov som användaren av trygghetslarmet upplever. Detta med hänsyn till alla involverade aktörer inom ekosystemet i kedjan av trygghetslarm för äldre. Dessa skulle utformas genom att identifiera de främsta problemområdena, samt relaterade primära behov, som uppstår i relationerna mellan de olika involverade aktörerna i den nuvarande tjänsten. Denna kvalitativa forskningsmetod har främst använts för att, utifrån insikter insamlade genom kundinteraktioner, designa om och utveckla en användarcentrerad tjänst. Parallellt har den tillika använts för att skapa en hållbar och konkurrenskraftig tjänst gentemot tjänsteleverantören. Denna metod utgår från en iterativ process där varje iteration består av fyra steg: kundinteraktioner, kundinsikter, idégenerering och triggermaterial. De kundinteraktioner som genomfördes genererade insikter som analyserades och användes för att generera konceptidéer som iterativt utvecklades under fyra iterationer till två slutkoncept.  Utifrån de identifierade problemområdena, med relaterade primära behov, identifierades två behovsgrupper; Ensamanvändare och Primäranvändare. Med hänsyn till de primära behoven för behovsgruppen Ensamanvändare utformades ett tjänstekoncept som benämndes Äldreguiden. För behovsgruppen Primäranvändare utformades riktlinjer för utveckling av det befintliga systemet som benämndes Design guidelines för Information. Slutsatsen av examensarbetet är att det framtagna förslaget för tjänstekoncept samt de utformade riktlinjerna ses ha potential att tillmötesgå de analyserade primära behov som de två identifierade behovsgrupperna upplevde.
This Master’s degree project is a project in the methodology of Service Design that explores the ecosystem of actors within the chain of security alarms for the elderly in Malmö Municipality. The purpose of this degree project was to draft proposals for service concepts that meet the needs of the security alarm user. This takes into account all involved actors in the ecosystem in the chain of security alarms for the elderly. These proposals would be designed by identifying the main problem areas, as well as related primary needs arising in the relationships between the various involved actors in the current service. This qualitative research method has been used primarily to design and develop a user-centered service based on insights collected through customer interactions. In parallel, it has also been used to create a sustainable and competitive service towards the service provider. This method is based on an iterative process where each iteration consists of four steps: customer interactions, customer insights, idea generation and triggers. The customer interactions conducted generated insights that were analyzed and used to generate concept ideas that were developed iteratively during four iterations into two final concepts. Based on the identified problem areas, with related primary needs, two needs groups were identified; Ensamanvändaren and Primäranvändaren. Considering the primary needs of the need group Ensamanvändaren, a service concept was developed, called Äldreguiden. For the Primäranvändaren need group, guidelines were developed for the development of the existing system, called Design guidelines för Information. The conclusion of the thesis is that the draft proposal for service concepts as well as the guidelines developed are seen as having the potential to meet the primary needs identified for the two analyzed needs groups.

碩士
國立臺北大學
都市計劃研究所
107
Ecological function is generated by the landscape structure, and human lives rely on it. Agricultural systems with production and regulating services are most controlled by people among all the types of ecosystems. However, promoting the agricultural land productivity may affect ecological functions/ cycle adversely. In order to reduce these negative impacts from production, eco-friendly agricultural management is important to maintain sustainable development of environment and resources. Pei-shi river watershed is regulated by Water Supply Act and Taipei Water Resource Domain Plan. Tea production is the main source of income in this watershed. Thus maintaining freshwater resources, protecting natural ecological environment, and maintaining economic benefit and farmers’ rights are crucial to the development of this area. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to discuss the land use management involved with the watershed that can maintain ecological function and the economic benefit of agriculture. This study uses the map of Land Use Survey to analysis the changes of agricultural land use in years, and selects the Sediment Delivery Ratio Model, Nutrient Delivery Ratio Model, Water Yield Model of the InVEST Model to estimate the water ecosystem services. By the former analyses, this study discusses the relationship between agricultural land use and water ecosystem services in the watershed. Further, the land use management scenarios are based on the management strategy of forest restoration and organic agriculture, and estimate the water ecosystem services by InVEST Model in the management. This study also estimates tea production and economic benefit. By comparing the increase and decrease of ecological benefit, production and economic benefit of scenarios, a better way of management which maintaining water ecosystem service and agricultural economic benefit may be figured out. The result of study shows that tea cultivation pollutes water significantly. If the tea cultivation turn into organic farming, it will improve water quality in Pei-shi watershed significantly. While the tea production reduced, the revenue still stabilize. Land use needs not to be restricted, which can protect farmers' rights. However, there are some difficulties that organic agriculture has to overcome: the higher cost of man-power resources and unstable harvest. As a consequence, it needs payment and innovative technique of organic agriculture to maintain clean water resources and reduce the difficulties of organic agriculture. If Feitsui Reservoir watershed maintain sustainable and protect natural resources in urban-region ring, it will promote the sustainability of Taipei metropolitan. While farmers pay efforts to protect the freshwater resources, the citizens who use the water resources is also ought to support the agricultural management. This study also suggest that the land use management and planning can be based on the watershed, considering characteristics of the environment and resources in the watershed.

Text in Afrikaans
The aim of this study was to identify and describe the components of a parent support program for the parent of children with mental retardation in the ELSENunits of Parow Preparatory School. This study is the first step in compiling a parent support program for full service schools, since it can be utilise in the establishment of such a program. This study does not address composition of such a parent support program. A qualitative approach was used. Empirical data was gathered through the use of focus groups consisting of 28 parents of children in the ELSEN-unit of Parow Preparatory school. An interview scedule consisting of semi-structured questions were used during the focus groups. Themes were identified and dealt with in accordance with relevant existing literature and literature control. Conclusions and recommendations were made in connection with the components of a parent support program for the parent of children in the ELSEN-units of Parow Preparatory School .
Social Work
M.Ed. (Kurrikulumstudies)

This study explores trainees' experiences of power dynamics within a ritualised training context, with reference to the three major aspects of the study: training, ritual and power. The psychotherapeutic training took place at Agape, a community-based counselling service in Mamelodi, whose theoretical approach to training included a mixture of postmodern, ecosystemic and African traditions. A substantial literature survey examines the major concepts and issues related to the research subject, such as psychotherapeutic training approaches, the philosophies and theories that may inform training procedures, ritual practices in psychotherapy, and organisational and power aspects of psychotherapeutic training. The research process was executed using the qualitative, interpretive research methodology. A sample of six of the trainees who had completed their training at this placement was interviewed, and two of the trainers. The researcher's reflections on her own training experiences are woven into the material. Using the interview technique and through asking a series of open-ended questions, the researcher obtained an account of the subjective, sacralised training interactions at Agape. Themes were identified that had emerged during the interview process. In brief, the themes referred to trainees' theoretical and practical experiences in the training placement, how they made sense of the sacralised therapeutic experiences, and comments on their relationship with trainers and fellow trainees. The most common theme that emerged was that of power. The end product of this study portrays the trainees' understandings of power within a sacralised psychotherapeutic context and their responses to this. This study makes explicit the links between ritualisation and power within an evaluative psychotherapeutic training context, and the consequences of this for training.
Psychology
M.A. (Clinical Psychology)