title: Application of ecosystem services in natural resource management decision making.
abstract: An ecosystem services (ES) approach to natural resource management (NRM) can provide the framework for balancing economic, ecological, and societal drivers in decision making. The efficacy of such an approach depends on the successful execution of several key activities, from early and continuous engagement with relevant stakeholders, to development and application of ecological production functions (EPFs), to explicit recognition of uncertainty in the process. Although there are obstacles to the implementation of an ES approach in NRM, including unclear regulatory and policy frameworks and the paucity of useful EPFs, many of the tools are currently available or sufficiently developed. An ES approach can and, in some cases, should involve qualitative rather than quantitative assessment when the stakes are not very high or when quantitative approaches would not be cost effective because of highly uncertain results. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2017;13:74-84. © 2016 SETAC.
authors.affiliation: Ramboll Environ, San Diego, California, USA.|Present address: USACE ERDC, Vicksburg, Mississippi, USA.
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.affiliation: Exponent, Inc., Bellevue, Washington, USA.
authors.forename: Pieter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Booth
authors.affiliation: Dow AgroSciences, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alix
authors.affiliation: SEA Environmental Decisions, Ltd., Little Hadham, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Sabine E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Apitz
authors.affiliation: Environment Agency, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Forrow
authors.affiliation: Instituto Potosino de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica, A.C., San Luis Potosi, Mexico.
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Huber-Sannwald
authors.affiliation: Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: Nishad
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jayasundara
mesh_terms: D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D003657:Decision Making; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods
keywords: Conservation; Decision framework; Ecosystem services; Land use; Restoration