The Experts below are selected from a list of 10515 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Matthew Agarwala - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Natural Capital accounting and climate change
Nature Climate Change, 2014Co-Authors: Matthew Agarwala, Giles Atkinson, Christopher Baldock, Barry GardinerAbstract:Governments and businesses are beginning to account for Natural Capital, but must collaborate to promote sustainability, combat climate change and improve decision-making.
Mark Brady - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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managing soil Natural Capital an effective strategy for mitigating future agricultural risks
Agricultural Systems, 2014Co-Authors: Ronggang Cong, Katarina Hedlund, Hans Andersson, Mark BradyAbstract:Uncontrollable events such as adverse weather and volatile prices present considerable risks for arable farmers. Soil Natural Capital, which views the capacity of soil biodiversity to generate ecosystem services as a component of farm Capital, could be important for the stability and resilience of arable production systems. We investigate therefore whether managing soil Natural Capital could be an effective strategy for mitigating future agricultural risks. We do this by constructing a dynamic stochastic portfolio model to optimize the stock of soil organic carbon (SOC)—our indicator of soil Natural Capital—when considering both the risks and returns from farming. SOC is controlled via the spatial and temporal allocation of cash crops and an illustrative replenishing land use. We find that higher soil Natural Capital buffers yield variance against adverse weather and reduces reliance on external inputs. Managing soil Natural Capital has therefore the potential to mitigate two serious agricultural risks: energy price shocks and adverse weather events, both of which are likely to be exacerbated in the future due to, e.g., globalization and climate change.
Yvonne M Buckley - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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managing Natural Capital stocks for the provision of ecosystem services
Conservation Letters, 2017Co-Authors: Fleur J F Maseyk, Estelle Dominati, A D Mackay, Hugh P Possingham, Yvonne M BuckleyAbstract:Decision makers and land managers are increasingly required to manage landscapes for multiple purposes and benefits. However, despite progress in the development of frameworks linking Natural Capital to the provision of ecosystem services and human benefits there remains little guidance for how management interventions can improve ecosystem service provision. As ecosystem services cannot be directly influenced, interventions need to be directed toward Natural Capital stocks. We provide a framework that explicitly links Natural Capital stocks to ecosystem service provision and identify manageable attributes of Natural Capital stocks as the critical intervention point. A structured decision making process based on our framing of the ecosystem services concept can facilitate its application on the ground.
Barry Gardiner - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Natural Capital accounting and climate change
Nature Climate Change, 2014Co-Authors: Matthew Agarwala, Giles Atkinson, Christopher Baldock, Barry GardinerAbstract:Governments and businesses are beginning to account for Natural Capital, but must collaborate to promote sustainability, combat climate change and improve decision-making.
Estelle Dominati - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Natural Capital and ecosystem services of soils.
2020Co-Authors: Estelle Dominati, J. R. DymondAbstract:Estelle J. Dominati AgResearch, Grasslands Research Centre, Tennent Drive, Private Bag 11008, Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand ABSTRACT: The concepts of Natural Capital, ecological infrastructure, and ecosystem services are reviewed for soils and managed landscapes. Translating theoretical frameworks and insights addressing soil functioning into operational models and tools for resource management remains a challenge. Six general principles (steps) of a new methodology for quantifying soil ecosystem services are presented: differentiate soil services from the supporting processes; identify the key soil properties and processes behind each soil service; distinguish Natural Capital from added or built Capital; identify where and how external drivers affect Natural Capital stocks; analyse the impact of degradation processes on soil Natural Capital; base any economic valuation on measured proxies. The methodology is then demonstrated for a pastoral soil under dairy use. The methodology and examples presented here comprise a work in progress but represent an advance in defi ning and quantifying soil ecosystem services. Finally, applications of an ecosystems approach to resource management are discussed, including challenges and future options. The development of technologies for land use should, for example, switch from overcoming limitations to investing in ecological infrastructure that will increase the Natural Capital of soil and enhance the provision of ecosystem services.
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Modelling the provision of ecosystem services from soil Natural Capital
2020Co-Authors: Estelle Dominati, A D Mackay, Murray PattersonAbstract:Soil ecosystem services and Natural Capital are often unheralded and generally not well understood. This paper draws on our scientific understanding of soil forming processes, soil classification and functioning and on current thinking about ecosystem services to develop a framework for classifying and quantifying soil Natural Capital and ecosystem services. The framework consists of five main inter-connected components: (1) Natural Capital, characterised by standard ‘soil properties’; (2) Natural Capital Formation, Maintenance and Degradation Processes; (3) Provisioning, Regulation and Cultural Ecosystem Services; (4) Drivers (Anthropogenic and Natural) of soil processes and related services; (5) Human Needs fulfilled by soils’ services. We then show how such framework is being used to build a model of the provision of soils’ ecosystem services on New Zealand dairy farms.
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managing Natural Capital stocks for the provision of ecosystem services
Conservation Letters, 2017Co-Authors: Fleur J F Maseyk, Estelle Dominati, A D Mackay, Hugh P Possingham, Yvonne M BuckleyAbstract:Decision makers and land managers are increasingly required to manage landscapes for multiple purposes and benefits. However, despite progress in the development of frameworks linking Natural Capital to the provision of ecosystem services and human benefits there remains little guidance for how management interventions can improve ecosystem service provision. As ecosystem services cannot be directly influenced, interventions need to be directed toward Natural Capital stocks. We provide a framework that explicitly links Natural Capital stocks to ecosystem service provision and identify manageable attributes of Natural Capital stocks as the critical intervention point. A structured decision making process based on our framing of the ecosystem services concept can facilitate its application on the ground.
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soil Natural Capital quantification by the stock adequacy method
Geoderma, 2015Co-Authors: Allan Hewitt, Estelle Dominati, Trevor Webb, Tom CuthillAbstract:Abstract A method is presented for assessing soil Natural Capital based on the principles of land evaluation. Policymakers are adopting concepts of flows of ecosystem services, and the Natural Capital stocks that support them, to provide more integrated analyses of the trade-offs between environmental, economic, social and cultural outcomes from land use. Soil is frequently overlooked in these analyses. Techniques are needed to quantify and map soil Natural Capital and their potential to provide ecosystem services to enable the soil science community to more effectively engage with decision-makers. To support this engagement, these techniques need to use available soil survey maps and databases to provide extensive geographic coverage of soil Natural Capital estimates. The method presented estimates the adequacy of soil Natural Capital stocks to support the soil processes behind the provision of ecosystem services under a specific land use. A stock adequacy index estimates the degree to which the provision of services is limited by soil Natural Capital stocks or advantaged by a stock surplus under a given land use. Reference values are derived from a curve of the response of the provision of the service to key soil stocks for a specified land use. These curves are determined from land evaluation and soil quality literature, or by modelling. The method is essentially an extension of land evaluation in which the evaluations are calibrated using an ecosystem approach. The output indices provide information about potential ecosystem services provision, land-use suitability, soil resource use efficiency, and environmental performance. Outputs from the method are demonstrated for a range of soils under pastoral dairy land use in Wairarapa, New Zealand.
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Natural Capital and New Zealand’s Resource Management Act (1991)
2012Co-Authors: Brent Clothier, Alec Macay, Estelle DominatiAbstract:Quantifying Natural resources as Natural Capital and the valuation of the ecosystem services that flow from Natural Capital stocks are emerging areas of science. Are these developing concepts compatible with current resource management legislation? Can these ideas be used in judicial proceedings to protect Natural Capital and maintain the portfolio value of nature‟s ecosystem services? We describe two recent cases in New Zealand where Natural Capital concepts were used in the Environment Court to protect land from peri-urban creep and to protect receiving water quality through the allocation of a nutrient discharge allowance to land. Results have been mixed, with prospects appearing good.
