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The term 'concept' as normally used by geomorphologists refers to defined ideas in the corpus of knowledge, World 3 of Popper. However, psychologists and philosophers regard them as parts of mental processes that take place in memory, World 2. A World 3 perspective demands clarity and definition of ideas, whereas a World 2 perspective is about fluidity and power of association with other ideas. In memory, concepts act as mnemonics. Taking a World 2 perspective has implications for research and teaching. It helps us to understand the use of concepts in the development of ideas, through imagination and conjecture, as well as matters of problem selection and mode of argument. Testability, though not an intrinsic aspect of concepts, is also intimately bound up with conceptualisation of problems and method. These notions of concepts have implications for research and teaching since they affect how we understand and practice geomorphology as a knowledge domain and how we address the mental skills of memory, imagination and creativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Incidence Function Model (IFM) has been put forward as a tool for assessing conservation plans. A key benefit of the IFM is low data requirements: widely available species occurrence data and information about land cover. Citizen science is a promising source of such data; however, to use these data in the IFM there are typically two problems. First, the spatial resolution is too coarse, but existing approaches to downscaling species data tend not to extend to patch level (as required by the IFM). Second, widely available citizen science data typically report species' presences only. We devise ten different downscaling methods based on theoretical ecological relationships (the species–area relationship and the distance decay of similarity), and test them against each other. The better performing downscaling methods were based on patch area, rather than distance from other occupied patches. These methods allow data at a coarse resolution to be used in the IFM for comparing conservation management and development plans. Further field testing is required to establish the degree to which results of these new methods can be treated as definitive spatially-explicit predictions. To address the issue of false absences, we present a method to estimate the probability that all species have been listed (and thus that a species' absence from the list represents a true absence), using the species-accumulation curve. This measure of confidence in absence helps both to objectively identify a habitat network for fitting the IFM, and to target areas for further species recording. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ecosystem approach is used to analyse four case studies from England to determine what kind of ecosystem knowledge was used by people, and how it shaped their arguments. The results are reported across decision-making venues concerned with: innovation, conflict management, maintenance of ecosystem function, and recognising the environment as an asset. In each area we identify the sources and uses of conceptual, instrumental, political, and social knowledge. We found that the use of these knowledges can benefit the process as well as the quality of outcomes, and so 'add value' to the decision-making process. However, the case studies did not exhibit any simple linear- rational model of knowledge use. Ecosystems thinking took many forms and depended on different institutional settings. As an argument-making device, the ecosystem approach must be seen in the context of a wider set of social and political processes, which involves a range of complex strategies and motives that explain the apparent 'messiness' of environmental decision making. The paper demonstrates that as a conceptual framework, the ecosystem approach provides a valuable theoretical template to help us discover how and what knowledge is used in deliberative styles of decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study develops an approach to mapping indicators of the potential of ecosystems to supply ecosystem services, and the impact of changes in land cover and use upon them. The study focuses on the EU-25 plus Switzerland and Norway, and develops the methodology proposed by , which uses expert-and literature-driven modelling methods. The methods are explored in relation to mapping and assessing four of the ecosystem services: “Crop-based production”; “Wildlife products”; “Habitat diversity”; and “Recreation”. The potential to deliver services is assumed to be influenced by (a) land-use, (b) net primary production, and (c) bioclimatic and landscape properties such as mountainous terrain, adjacency to coastal and wetland ecosystems, as well as adjacency to landscape and nature protection zones. The novel aspect of this work is an analysis of whether the historical and the projected land use changes for the periods 1990–2000, 2000–2006, and 2000–2030 are likely to be supportive or degenerative in the capacity of ecosystems to deliver ecosystem services; we refer to these as ‘marginal’ or incremental changes. The latter are assessed by using land account data for 1990–2000 and 2000–2006 (LEAC, ) and EURURALIS 2.0 land use scenarios for 2000–2030. The results are reported at three spatial reporting units, i.e. (1) the NUTS-X regions, (2) the bioclimatic regions, and (3) the dominant landscape types. All mapped output has been compared with independently generated continent-wide assessments (maps of ecosystem services or environmental parameters/indicators), which revealed that the straightforward binary links work satisfactorily and generate plausible geographical patterns. This conclusion mainly holds for provisioning services. At the continental scale, the selected input parameters are thus valid proxies which can be used to assess the medium-term potential of landscapes to provide ecosystem services. For a subset of NUTS-x regions for which change trajectories for 1990–2000, 2000–2006 and 2000–2030 are available, trade-offs between the four services have been analyzed using cluster analyses. The latter allowed us to simultaneously analyze the state of the four services in year 2000 and the individual trajectories of each service over three time periods. As a result we obtained seven regions with distinct trade-off patterns. To our knowledge this is one of the first continental-wide analyses where land use trajectories are taken into account to construct an indicator to estimate the balance between a set or bundle of ecosystem services. The relationship between the outputs of this work and the development of rapid assessment and accounting frameworks is discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The ‘ecosystem service’ debate has taken on many features of a classic Kuhnian paradigm. It challenges conventional wisdoms about conservation and the value of nature, and is driven as much by political agendas as scientific ones. In this paper we review some current and emerging issues arising in relation to the analysis and assessment of ecosystem services, and in particular emphasize the need for physical geographers to find new ways of characterizing the structure and dynamics of service providing units. If robust and relevant valuations are to be made of the contribution that natural capital makes to human well-being, then we need a deeper understanding of the way in which the drivers of change impact on the marginal outputs of ecosystem services. A better understanding of the trade-offs that need to be considered when dealing with multifunctional ecosystems is also required. Future developments must include methods for describing and tracking the stocks and flows that characterize natural capital. This will support valuation of the benefits estimation of the level of reinvestment that society must make in this natural capital base if it is to be sustained. We argue that if the ecosystem service concept is to be used seriously as a framework for policy and management then the biophysical sciences generally, and physical geography in particular, must go beyond the uncritical ‘puzzle solving’ that characterizes recent work. A geographical perspective can provide important new, critical insights into the place-based approaches to ecosystem assessment that are now emerging. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The analysis of the relationships between people and nature is complex, because it involves bringing together insights from a range of disciplines, and, when stakeholders are involved, the perspectives and values of different interest groups. Although it has been suggested that analytical-deliberate approaches may be useful in dealing with some of this complexity, the development of methods is still at an early stage. This is particularly so in relation to debates around the concept of ecosystem services where biophysical, social and economic insights need to be integrated in ways that can be accessed by decision-makers. The paper draws on case studies to examine the use of Bayesian Belief Networks (BBNs) as a means of implementing analytical-deliberative approaches in relation to mapping ecosystem services and modelling scenario outcomes. It also explores their use as a tool for representing individual and group values. It is argued that when linked with GIS techniques BBNs allow mapping and modelling approaches rapidly to be developed and tested in an efficient and transparent way, and that they are a valuable scenario-building tool. The case-study materials also show that BBNs can support multicriteria forms of deliberative analysis that can be used to capture stakeholder opinions so that different perspectives can be compared and shared social values identified. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including ecosystem outputs' economic valuation, Sustainable Urban Drainage (SUDS), and on the impact of ecosystem services' tendency to commodify nature in biodiversity and equal access for its benefits.

• We propose two meta-indicators for improving the consistency of ES assessment. • Their 'position' with respect to the ecosystem service cascade model. • Their position in geographical space, whether they are 'anchored' at supply or demand. • We found many ES can be characterized by reference to a specific cascade level. • Most studies also consistently 'anchor' their ES maps to the source ecosystems. As the mapping and assessment of ecosystem services (MAES) becomes a widely used tool in environmental governance, there is an increasing need for structure and standardization. In this study we present a systematic review of European MAES studies focussing on two important, but rarely documented aspects of ecosystem service (ES) indicators: (1) their 'position' with respect to the ecosystem service cascade model, and (2) their 'position' in geographical space, i.e. whether the maps are 'anchored' at the locations of their supply or their demand. From the 82 papers reviewed we found 427 ES indicators, which represented 33 ES. Among these indicators there were 108 (25%) that were mapped. ES are quite different in terms of their relationship with the main conceptual model of ES assessment studies. Most ES are typically measured at a specific point in the cascade, which is more or less the same across the different studies. While some ES (including most of the regulating ES, e.g. bio-remediation, hydrological cycle maintenance, or soil fertility) can clearly be linked to the 'natural' endpoint of the cascade, some others (including all cultural and some provisioning ES, like cultivated crops, or wild animals) are more frequently measured as actual flows or benefits delivered to humanity. There are few ES that are markedly heterogeneous in their cascade levels (e.g. water provision, pest control) for which apparently different assessment approaches exist. Considering spatial anchor, we have found that mapping at the source predominates in ES mapping studies: 91% of the mapped indicators are clearly linked to the source ecosystems. There were relatively few studies that applied a mixed approach, whereas indicators clearly anchored at beneficiaries were extremely rare. These two aspects of ES indicators discussed in this paper are critical in the successful operationalization and standardization of MAES assessments, which have been neglected in the MAES literature so far, which might be seen as key components in the future standardization of mapping and assessment approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small islands are of special interest for sustainable development because of their unique characteristics and vulnerabilities. They are ecologically fragile, have limited resources, are susceptible to natural disasters and climate change. This study reviews the literature on island ecosystems, their contribution in the delivery of five key Island Ecosystem Services (IES) and acting pressures and trade-offs associated with IES management. From a set of 1630 potential relevant papers, 273 were selected for analysis. Most of the selected papers focused on cultural IES, in the form of recreation, eco-tourism and gene pool protection. However, provisioning and regulating IES were also well represented in the literature. Most of the studies discussed different management strategies and pressures arising from human use of IES. A small subset investigated the links between island biodiversity and IES, and the contribution of IES to human well-being. This review highlights knowledge gaps in the literature and identifies the need to develop approaches for IES assessments that are informed by local knowledge and which make use of empirical and spatial data for management that maximises the potential of island ecosystems to deliver IES whilst reducing trade-offs. EDITED BY Berta Martín-López [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A major strength of the ecosystem services (ESS) concept is that it allows a succinct description of how human well-being depends on nature, showing that the neglect of such dependencies has negative consequences on human well-being and the economy. As ESS refer to human needs and interests, values are to be considered when dealing with the concept in practice. As a result we argue that in using the concept there is a need to be clear about what different dimensions of value are involved, and be aware of ethical issues that might be associated with the concept. A systematic analysis of the ethical implications associated to the ESS concept is still lacking. We address this deficiency by scrutinising value dimensions associated with the concept, and use this to explore the associated ethical implications. We then highlight how improved transparency in the use of the ESS concept can contribute to using its strengths without succumbing to possible drawbacks arising from ethical problems. These problems concern the dangers that some uses of the concept have in obscuring certain types of value, and in masking unevenness in the distribution of costs and benefits that can arise in the management of ESS. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Landscapes generate a wide range of valuable ecosystem services, yet land-use decisions often ignore the value of these services. Using the example of the United Kingdom, we show the significance of land-use change not only for agricultural production but also for emissions and sequestration of greenhouse gases, open-access recreational visits, urban green space, and wild-species diversity. We use spatially explicit models in conjunction with valuation methods to estimate comparable economic values for these services, taking account of climate change impacts. We show that, although decisions that focus solely on agriculture reduce overall ecosystem service values, highly significant value increases can be obtained from targeted planning by incorporating all potential services and their values and that this approach also conserves wild-species diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a letter to the editor in response to the article "Bringing Ecosystem Services into Economic Decision Making: Land Use in the United Kingdom," by Ian J. Bateman and colleagues from the July 5, 2013 issue, as well as a reply from the authors.