title: Setting the bar: Standards for ecosystem services.
abstract: Progress in ecosystem service science has been rapid, and there is now a healthy appetite among key public and private sector decision makers for this science. However, changing policy and management is a long-term project, one that raises a number of specific practical challenges. One impediment to broad adoption of ecosystem service information is the lack of standards that define terminology, acceptable data and methods, and reporting requirements. Ecosystem service standards should be tailored to specific use contexts, such as national income and wealth accounts, corporate sustainability reporting, land-use planning, and environmental impact assessments. Many standard-setting organizations already exist, and the research community will make the most headway toward rapid uptake of ecosystem service science by working directly with these organizations. Progress has been made in aligning with existing organizations in areas such as product certification and sustainability reporting, but a major challenge remains in mainstreaming ecosystem service information into core public and private use contexts, such as agricultural and energy subsidy design, national income accounts, and corporate accounts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Economics and Department of Ecology, Evolution & Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108; polasky@umn.edu htallis@tnc.org breyers@csir.co.za.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Polasky
authors.affiliation: The Nature Conservancy, Santa Cruz, CA 95060; and polasky@umn.edu htallis@tnc.org breyers@csir.co.za.
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tallis
authors.affiliation: Natural Resources and the Environment, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Stellenbosch 7599, South Africa polasky@umn.edu htallis@tnc.org breyers@csir.co.za.
authors.forename: Belinda
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Reyers
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D003657:Decision Making; D004463:Ecology / Q000592:standards* / Q000639:trends; D017753:Ecosystem; D004777:Environment; D006801:Humans; D011050:Policy Making; D014481:United States
keywords: accounting; mainstreaming; natural capital; service provision; value