Ecosystem services value of wetland in Suzhou Taihu Lake

Based on a comprehensive analysis on various classifications of natural resource values,this paper summarizes an ecological services system of constructed wetland（CW） ecosystems for the accounting of ecological economic value.With the research,the wetland ecosystem services can be classified into six categories,that is waste treatment,food and material production,water supply,gas regulations,disturbance and water regulations,habitat and refuge provision.For decision making in terms of environmental economics for wetland construction,ecosystem services value for the wetland in Suzhou Taihu Lake National Tourist and Holiday Resort is accounted for 7,088,769 USD/yr through Environmental Economics Analysis.Ecosystem services value of waste treatment is 825,000 USD/yr,that of food and material production is 1,430 USD/yr,that of water supply is 4,752,000 USD/yr,that of gas regulation is 2,251USD/yr,that of disturbance and water regulations is 1,3721 USD/yr,and that of habitat and refuge provision value is 1,494,367 USD/yr.The ecosystem services values of a pilot constructed wetland in Suzhou are compared with those of other wetlands as a mean and of a typical human-interfered wetland in Wenzhou of China.Results show that in both finite and infinite time horizons considered,the wetland in Suzhou Taihu Lake National Tourist and Holiday Resort has the largest services value.This paper analyzes all the probability that may weaken the value of the Suzhou Taihu Wetland in order to provide some advices for the wetland protection.     

Appraisal of the vegetation-based services for cropland ecosystems： a case study of a high-yielding county in North China

1. Introduction Ecosystem services are explicitly defined as “the natural environmental conditions and effects upon which people rely for existence that are formed and maintained by ecosystems and ecological processes” [1] . The valuation of ecosystem goods and services has become an important issue in the field of envi- ronmental protection and sustainable development, which also represents one aspect of the United Na- tions Millennium Assessment. At present, the re- search associated wit…     

Economic valuation of gas regulation as a Service by rice-duck-fish complex ecosystem

Valuating the fimction of ecosystem services is crucial for accounting green GDP, making a conservation policy of ecological environment and the decision of regional development as well as sustainable development strategy. R ice-duck-fish symbiosis has been promoted in several developing countries as a way of increasing incomes for rice farmers, but investigations of its value have mainly focused on direct economic＇ benefits, such as food and raw material production. Few studies have been conducted on the estimation of indirect services provided by rice-duck-fish complex ecosystem. The gas regulation service and its economic values provided by rice-duck-fish complex ecosystem were studied in Wuhan, China. The major components of gas regulation are O2 emission and greenhouse gases （GHGs, CO2） regulation. The results show that O2 emission from different treatments （including rice-duck （RD）, rice-fish （RF）, rice-duck-fish （RDF） and rice （CK）） ranged from 26,370 kg/ha to 33,910 kg/ha per year. with an economic value of 10,050-12,920 yuan/ha per ）,ear （Chinese currency： 1 euro =10.2475 yuan, August 28, 2007）. The net GHGs exchange varied from 1,200 to 3,320 kg/ha per year; and its economic value ranged from 1,040 yuan/ha to 2,900 yuan/ha per year Consequently, the total economic value of gas regulation provided by symbiosis complex ecosystems ranged from 11,090 yuan/ha to 15,820 yuan/ha per year. and the maximum overall economic value of gas regulation was provided by RDF complex ecosystem. The work will be useful for further understanding of the functions of rice-duck-fish complex ecos.vstem services and supplying the theoretical references to agricultural policy.     

Regulating services in poverty-ecosystems dynamics： evidences from South Asia

Valuation of ecosystem services has been sought as effective tools that enable the decision makers in designing the cost effective response policies for management of ecosystems towards alleviating the poverty especially in economically poor regions like South Asia. Various directions and linkages between poverty and degradation of ecosystem and reduced flow of ecosystem services can better be understood if the regulating services like hydrological flow and carbon sequestration by forest, and nutrient cycling and bioremediation： by wetlandv can be captured in monetary unit. South Asian Countries including India. Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh are the hotspots of poverty where poor depend upon various ecosystem services for their livelihoods and allocation of resource for conservation of ecosystems would have additional merit if regulating services are captured and internalized into the pubtic policy.The paperfirst raises problematic issues in valuation of regulatig ecosystem services, and attempts to link it withthe dependence of poor. Second, complexities of poverty-ecosystem dynamics are discussed. Thirdly, the possible in-tervention to achieve poverty alleviation goal is analyzed with the help of some examples from accounting and valua-tion of regulating services of lndian forest. Finally, the paper suggests that greater attention is needed to do credibleand better valuation of regulating Services so that insight from these ean be used in understanding the impact of degradation of ecosysterns On poor people.     

Investments in Human Capital： Elements of Investments, Their Valuation, and the Related Financial Performance Ratios

Investments in human capital （employees） include investments in the direct assurance of working abilities, investments in health and well-being, and investments in loyalty to the company. These investments are crucial for the long-term existence and development of a company, but their value is not disclosed on the assets side of the classical balance sheet. The most important argument of the mentioned approach＇s promoters is that the economic benefits stemming from such investments are uncertain. However, investments in human capital are those with the highest long-term benefits for the company. Therefore, human capital is the only element of the business process that can add value. Other elements （equipment, materials, and services） just transfer their value to products and services. In this paper, the elements of investments in human capital and the methods used to evaluate these investments are addressed. In addition, uniquely shaped financial performance ratios related to investments in human capital are presented along with the system of integrated ratios.     

Primary Approach to Water （Natural Monopoly） Industry Remodeling

Natural monopoly, because of its spontaneous or natural characteristics, most have some mysterious causes of reasonableness. Thus, the regulations to its efficiency loss would have a different way compared to other monopolies. That the characteristics of natural monopoly, in the case of water industry, are that the infrastructure investments are very large, most of which are used to build the transportation system? The webs for transporting their products to their customers, and the products are identity goods or services. By examining the characteristics of natural monopoly, this paper proposed a way to break up and remodel the industry of ““““““““natural monopoly‘. The main clue of remodeling is that the govemments, who represent the public and who ha ve the power to control over public resources, should build and maintain a public web platform for the goods‘ transportation uses, and break up the barrier of the entry so as to produce a market-oriented competitive structure, The running model and the condition of remodeling are put forward and the cost-revenue analysis of the operation is briefly under consideration.     

Payment for ecosystem services： emerging lessons

Market based initiatives for management of degrading ecosystems and their services have received the added attention as one of the innovative responses in the reent years. Those initiatives such as direct and indirect payment for ecosystem services like premium for rain forest honey, payment by the people at the lower reach to those at the upper reach for the watershed services etc. have drawn the attention of the decision makers as they have proved to be far more cost effective.This paper wynthesizes the key messages from some of the paper are carbon, watershed services and biodiversity, We find that while credible valuation of ecosystem services for all services remain a critical concern behind setting up the payment mechanism, absent of necessary institutional framework may seriously undermine this innovative response for management of ecosystems. In the paper, necessary institutional mechanisms enabling the market for those services have been sketched out, Key messages from those cases have been synthesized.     

Environmental hazard and ecological infrastructure construction of hilly city： a case of metropolitan area of Chongqing Municipality

This paper takes metropolitan area of Chongqing Municipality as an example, Chongqing, located at the tail area of the Three Gorges Reservoir; is a typically in-land hilly city in China. A series of serious eco-environmental hazard affecting hilly city, have appeared： the forest landscape has been fragmented; the stability of ecological system has nat been maintained： soil erosion has been serionus; geological disasters have become more and more frequented; the phenomenon of city ＂heat islands＂ is obvious： and environmental pollution is worsened with Iow physical self-puri- fication. All of the hazards above will affect ecological security of the tail area of the Three Gorges Reservoir and sustainable development of Changqing. In order to guarantee ecological security and health of Chongqing and the Three Gorges Reservoir, the eountermeasures for ecological infrastructure construction are put forward： quickly drawing up ecological infrastructure planning of Chongqing Municipality, strengthening the integration and continuation of hilly-water spatial pattern, maintaining the diversity and stability of local ecosystem, establishing the green space system in-cluding suburban.forest, farmland and green space. recovering wetland ecosystem, optimizing industrial structure and urban spatial distribution, developing recycling economy; establishing ecological infrastructure monitoring network and information forecast system, carrying out ecological management for Chongqing Municipality and so on.     

Study on the planning principles of urban forest

The urban forest is the main body for the urban forestry management. There are not unified rules and standards for the planning of the urban forest yet in China. This paper discusses the planning principles of the urban forest： the priority of the ecological function, the adaptation to local condilions, the optimization in the whole system, the mutual dependence of forest and city, the culturecontinuance and recreation satisfaction, sustainable development and operability, etc. This paper takes Changsha as an example to elaborate the planning principles of the urban forest. Firstly, Changsba urban forest ecosphere is composed of the eco-garden, the round-the-city forest belt, the ecological isolation belt, the green channel, the landscape of the rivers and streams, the forest park, the biodiversity reserve and the eco-forest in suburb area. It aims to make every kind of ecological essential factors organically merge into the complex city ecosystem to build an eco-city, to strengthen the connection of wide-open space with various habitats spots, to promote resident＇s accessibility, to perfect landscape ecology, and to make full use of the ecological function of urban forest. When we construct the urban forest, we must optimize the comprehensive benefit and make the urban forest structure and the layout in the best condition in order to buiM the harmonious green city for both man and nature to realize the whole optimization of the city system by the complex functions of the urban forest in ecology, environmental protection, landscape, recreation, etc.     

A theoretical model for assessing the sustainability Of ecosystem services

The Value of the World＇s Ecosystem Services and Natural Capital by Costanza in 1997 is generally regarded as a monumem for the research of valuing ecosystem services. However, the classification of ecosystem services, the method of various services summation and the purpose for static global value had be confronted by many criticisms. Based on the summary of these criticisms, suggestions, related function assessment and further study direction, the sustainability of ecosystem Services is presented. The two basic indicators in ecology, productivity and biodiversity, respectively charactering the ability of producing and self-organizing, not only represent the internal function of ecosystem, but also are proportioned to its external function of supporting and providing for human life. On presenting the general.form of ecosystem services assessment, this paper improves the mathematical formula by giving a function adjusting coefficient composea of productivity and biodiversity. Theoretically, the integration of the two indicators reflects the changes of ecosystem services at spatial and temporal scales, can physically assess the sustainability of ecosystem services, and build a firm scientific fundament of value assessment for ecosystem services. Objectively, its application should be strictly tested in next step.     

海南岛自然生态系统服务价值评估

以卫星遥感影像为基础,运用"3S"技术,解译并统计了海南岛陆地自然生态系统的类型和面积,利用生态经济相关理论基础,评估计算出年海南岛陆地自然生态系统服务价值。结果表明,2008年海南岛自然生态系统服务价值约2198×108元,是当年全省GDP的1.5倍;森林生态系统的服务价值占四类生态系统(森林、草地、湿地和淡水)服务价值的81.77%,单位面积价值量达3260×104元/km2;自然生态系统在维持营养物质循环、水调节、大气调节等方面的间接使用价值约2076×108元,是直接使用价值的17.0倍。研究首次建立了针对海南岛陆地生态系统服务价值全面的评估体系,并在评估方法上择优、改进,对海南岛自然生态系统服务价值监测体系的构建及深入研究具有重要意义。     

Ecosystem services and regional development: An application to Sweden

This study carries out interregional comparisons of development and sustainable use of natural capital with and without inclusion of non-marketed ecosystem services. A simple dynamic model of an open economy shows that appropriate adjustment of conventional income accounts includes flow and stock components, but excludes explicit entrance of pollution. Calculations are made for Swedish regions and for two types of ecosystem services — pollution sequestration and recreational services — provided by three types of ecosystems: forests, agricultural landscape and wetlands. When comparing the adjusted and non-adjusted regional income accounts it is shown that the two measurements generate significantly different pictures of regional income and growth; regions that are traditionally considered as relatively less growth promoting are shown to hold important sources of wealth from natural capital, while counties that are rich in conventional accounts fall behind when adjusting for values of changes in natural capital.     

Mapping community values for natural capital and ecosystem services

Whilst biophysical, and increasingly economic, values are often used to define high priority hotspots in planning for conservation and environmental management, community values are rarely considered. The community values mapping method presented in this paper builds on the concept of natural capital and ecosystem services and the landscape values methodology to link local perception of place to a broader measure of environmental values at the landscape level. Based on in-depth interviews and a mapping task conducted with 56 natural resource management decision-makers and community representatives, we quantified and mapped values and threats to natural capital assets and ecosystem services in the South Australian Murray-Darling Basin region. GIS-based techniques were used to map the spatial distribution of natural capital and ecosystem service values and threats over the region and analyse the proportional differences at the sub-regional scale. Participants assigned the highest natural capital asset value to water and biota assets primarily for the production of cultural, regulating and provisioning services. The most highly valued ecosystem services were recreation and tourism, bequest, intrinsic and existence, fresh water provision, water regulation and food provision. Participants assigned the highest threat to regulating services associated with water and land assets. Natural capital asset and ecosystem service values varied at both sub-regional and place-specific scales. Respondents believed people were integral to the environment but also posed a high threat to natural capital and ecosystem services. The results have implications for the way values toward natural capital and ecosystem services may be integrated into planning for environmental management.     

梅州市森林生态系统服务价值评估

森林是陆地生态系统的主体,森林生态系统服务功能是森林生态系统与生态过程所形成及所维持人类赖以生存的自然环境条件与效用。文章采用产量—价格法、直接市场法、影子工程法、机会成本法等研究方法,评估了梅州市森林生态系统服务价值。结果表明：梅州市森林生态服务年流量价值180.679×10^8元,其中年生态价值为177.679×10^8元,是直接经济价值3.00×10^8元的59倍,社会价值只有14.89×10^8元。文章旨在强调森林的生态功能,对梅州市的环境保护和生态建设及森林生态系统的管理具有一定的参考价值。     

Classifying and valuing ecosystem services for urban planning

While technological progress has fostered the conception of an urban society that is increasingly decoupled from ecosystems, demands on natural capital and ecosystem services keep increasing steadily in our urbanized planet. Decoupling of cities from ecological systems can only occur locally and partially, thanks to the appropriation of vast areas of ecosystem services provision beyond the city boundaries. Conserving and restoring ecosystem services in urban areas can reduce the ecological footprints and the ecological debts of cities while enhancing resilience, health, and quality of life for their inhabitants. In this paper we synthesize knowledge and methods to classify and value ecosystem services for urban planning. First, we categorize important ecosystem services and disservices in urban areas. Second, we describe valuation languages (economic costs, socio‐cultural values, resilience) that capture distinct value dimensions of urban ecosystem services. Third, we identify analytical challenges for valuation to inform urban planning in the face of high heterogeneity and fragmentation characterizing urban ecosystems. The paper discusses various ways through which urban ecosystems services can enhance resilience and quality of life in cities and identifies a range of economic costs and socio‐cultural impacts that can derive from their loss. We conclude by identifying knowledge gaps and challenges for the research agenda on ecosystem services provided in urban areas.