New paper: A capacity index to connect ecosystem condition to ecosystem services accounts

Ecosystems have different capacities to supply ecosystem services. A plantation forest might be ideal for supply of timber but the supply of habitats for wildlife may be poor. The ForES team has published research showing how accounts of ecosystem capacity to supply ecosystem services can be incorporated into standard Ecosystem Accounts. Here our post-doc Francesco Martini explains more...

Figure 1: Representation of the methodology to develop capacity accounts. The advancement of this study is the “capacity” to deliver diverse ecosystem services, which allows the link between the ecosystem characteristics underpinning the condition and capacity to supply ecosystem services, and the final ecosystem services of interest, to be made explicit.

The System of Environmental Economic Accounting - Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EA) is a spatially explicit statistical framework to standardise reporting of the ‘flows’ of ecosystem services, alongside the extent and condition of ‘stocks’ of ecosystems. The condition of an ecosystem asset is calculated by comparing a range of selected characteristics, representative of the condition of ecosystems (e.g. soil quality, number of species, density of trees) to what can be considered a “natural” state, usually referred to a pristine condition free of human interventions. The ecosystem service accounts then illustrate the range of services that are provided by the ecosystem.

Building on the SEEA EA guidelines to develop condition accounts for forest sites, the ForES team proposed a methodology to create an ecosystem capacity index and related capacity accounts (see Figure 1 above). As a result, capacity scores are assigned to each ecosystem asset (i.e., an area of a certain ecosystem type), each corresponding to the capacity to supply a different ecosystem service.

This methodology attempts to bridge the gap between condition and services accounts in the SEEA EA. The capacity accounts could also be more useful to land managers compared to condition accounts, because they can show potential supply of different ecosystem services given the current values of selected variables. For example, a Sitka spruce plantation would likely have low values of condition (compared to a “natural” state, which would already be complex to establish for a country like Ireland, but this is a different story), yet it would still be able to supply valuable services, such as timber provisioning and climate regulation. The capacity accounts could assist reassessment of management objectives in circumstances where there may be a mismatch between ecosystem capacity and management goals in terms of delivery of ecosystem services.

Read more in the full article in the Ecological Indicators journal: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2024.112731 by Francesco Martini, Kathleen Conroy, Emma King, Catherine A. Farrell, Mary Kelly-Quinn, Carl Obst, Yvonne M. Buckley, Jane C. Stout

The ForES project is funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s Competitive Research Funding Programme.

Forests: a tool in the fight against climate change

Climate change is having profound effects on Earth’s systems. Its effects can be seen on every continent, with some areas being affected more severely than others. Now, researchers are looking more seriously at forests to be a tool in the fight against climate change, writes Kathleen Conroy, of Trinity College Dublin.

Climate change is having profound effects on Earth’s systems. Its effects can be seen on every continent, with some areas being affected more severely than others (e.g., permafrost melting in Greenland, island nations such as Tuvalu threatened by sea level rise).

The climate on Earth naturally fluctuates over time. It has experienced periods of cold (glacial periods, also known as Ice Ages) and periods of warmth (interglacial periods). We are currently in an interglacial period. However, the accelerated rate in which this warming is occurring is unprecedented and is a cause for great concern. This warming trend origin has been linked to the onset of the Industrial Revolution of the late 19th Century.

Since that turning point, humanity has advanced on a number of fronts including medicine, technology and mechanics. In reaching these milestones, fossil fuels have been and continue to be consumed in unsustainable quantities. Fossil fuels (e.g., coal, oil) are great energy sources, however, when they are burned to release this energy, they also produce large amounts of greenhouse gases, most notably carbon dioxide.

There are a number of different gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect, but carbon dioxide is the most abundant, stays in the atmosphere for an exceedingly long time (estimates between 300-1000 years) and is very good at insulating. As the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increases, a greenhouse effect occurs which traps heat on Earth. The heat from the Sun penetrates the atmosphere in the form of visible light. Normally, the Earth reflects much of the light back into space in the form of infrared light. However, the extra carbon dioxide blocks the infrared light from reflecting and traps the heat on Earth. This is the premise of climate change.

Carbon dioxide is naturally in the atmosphere. Animals respiring, oceanic gas balancing, forest fires, volcanos, are all examples of carbon dioxide production. Although there is disagreement, generally, it is acknowledged that 350 parts per million is a safe amount of carbon dioxide to have in the atmosphere. At the time of this writing, there are 422 parts per million carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. According to the EEA Europa, the last time that the Earth had a safe level of carbon dioxide was 1986.

What Climate Change Means?

Climate change is so much more than just warmer temperatures. It means increased number and intensity of storms. Climate change increases the number and intensity of droughts, leading to water scarcity and food shortages. It causes glacial melting and sea level rise, threatening coastal communities. It is a leading factor in the biodiversity loss crisis, shifting habitat conditions rapidly causing extinction in many species. The range of some tree species is shifting, as their current range is becoming inhabitable to the species. The temperature of the Earth will increase as well. As of 2015, it is 1C higher than pre-industrial times. The consequences of climate change will only get worse as that temperature increases.

What Can Be Done?

A number of things can still be done to manage climate change. Education, lowering consumption of fossil fuels, policies and increased use of alternative energies (e.g., wind) are all important measures to combat climate change. However, most measures are to prevent new carbon from accumulating in the atmosphere. To begin to really fight climate change, carbon dioxide needs to be removed from the atmosphere (carbon sequestration) and it needs to be stored for long periods of time and not allowed to re-enter the atmosphere

(carbon storage). A great way to remove carbon dioxide is by planting trees.

All plants require carbon dioxide to photosynthesize. The carbon dioxide is transformed into glucose which the plant uses as its energy source. Carbon dioxide can be stored away as biomass (the living part of the plant). As trees grow larger, they require more carbon dioxide to generate enough glucose and can store larger amounts of carbon away. Forest soils are

also great carbon sequesters, with estimates of 50% of forest carbon being stored below ground. A well functioning, healthy forest would be known as a carbon sink, pulling in large amounts of carbon and storing it for long periods of time. However, if a forest is mismanaged, unhealthy and greatly disturbed (by forest fires, logging, etc) then it can become a carbon source, emitting large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere. In this regard, forests must be closely monitored and managed to make sure they are acting as a sink and not as a source.

Different tree species can sequester carbon at different rates. In general, faster growing conifers are able to sequester more carbon quickly, especially when they are young. However, in general, hardwoods are often able to store carbon longer as they are growing more slowly. The use of the forest is important as well. If trees are cut down for timber processing then they should be used in construction, furniture or some other type of

long-term storage. If immediately used as firewood, then all that carbon is released back into the atmosphere.

Climate change can be overwhelming and can make some people feel hopeless. However, by taking small steps and using nature-based solutions like forestry as carbon sinks, the effects of climate change can be slightly mitigated. Forestry is also multifunctional. While sequestering carbon dioxide, it can also provide habitat to endangered species, regulate water flow and prevent flooding during the more intense storms seen in climate change. Not only can forests help fight climate change directly, but it can also alleviate some of the problems that climate change causes.

New paper: A decision methodology for site-level ecosystem accounting

The ForES team, in collaboration with the Nature + Energy project and the IDEEA group, published a discussion paper on the application of the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EA) at site-level, led by Dr. Courtney Gorman. Here, co-author Francesco Martini, Trinity College Dublin postdoc, outlines some key findings...

The SEEA EA (System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Ecosystem Accounting) is the internationally recognised standard to report extent and condition of ecosystems, and the flow of ecosystems services. It provides a consistent framework to monitor the state of our natural capital and its connections to society and the economy.

So far, the SEEA EA has been mostly applied at national or regional scale. Now the ForES project and Nature + Energy are exploring its application at small spatial scales, where typically environmental decisions are taken and management actions implemented. Nature+Energy is developing new ways of accounting for the value of nature on wind farms, while ForES is working at Coillte forestry sites in Ireland.

In this paper, the authors describe the steps involved in developing ecosystem accounts at site-level for both projects and discuss the different decisions and approaches between them (see Figure 1, above).

Their main conclusions are:

•  Site-level ecosystem accounting is highly context-dependent.

•  Close collaboration with stakeholders is key to develop accounts that can support their objectives.

• The availability of high-quality data is a limitation that needs to be overcome in the future.

As ecosystem accounting continues to develop and grow in uptake globally, this article provides a timely perspective and recommendations to all practitioners and stakeholders interested in developing accounts at local level.

Read the full article 'A decision methodology for site-level ecosystem accounting' Courtney E. Gorman, Francesco Martini, Kathleen Conroy, Emma King, Reiss Mcleod, Carl Obst, Jane C. Stout, Ian Donohue, Yvonne M. Buckley: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.121814

The ForES project is funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s Competitive Research Funding Programme.