Oral Abstract Details

Author(s):
Kathleen L. Wolf

Affiliation:
University of Washington

Presentation Type:
Oral

Topic Area:
Evaluating changes to ecosystem goods and services along urban-rural gradients

Abstract Text:
The empirical literature of ecosystem services now spans several decades, and includes classifications, typologies, and economic valuations. As the definition, estimation, and valuation of ecosystem services proceeds, it is important to recognize the variability of services across the landscape gradient from wildland to urban. This variability is expressed as relative importance of each of the broad classes of services (e.g. the Millenium Ecosystem Assessment’s four-part classification of supporting, provisioning, regulating, and cultural). Variability is also partially dependent on the socio-cultural context of different places along the gradient. For instance forest-generated services differ in kind and extent between larger, pristine forest tracts of more rural areas and smaller patch forests, or even individual trees, within cities. As economic markets are constructed or emerge to enable services exchange and trading, full consideration of all potential services is important. This paper will first provide a concise overview of ecosystem services classification. It will then proceed to itemize ecosystem service types and extent as associated with different conditions along the wildland urban interface. The paper will largely emphasize metro nature services that are provided by nearby nature and green infrastructure in high density built environments. Nearly 40 years of psychosocial research demonstrates that urban landscapes provide extensive human health and well-being benefits. Yet urban-based ecosystem services seem to be ever more narrowly described as environmental or biophysical functions, such as air quality and stormwater management. Meanwhile the evidence-based range of psychosocial benefits and services are not readily categorized using classifications that were derived largely while envisioning wildland or greenfield situations. Socially oriented services are not provisional, and are usually attributed to a cultural category, yet may be more accurately assigned as regulating and supporting services. This paper seeks to expand the conceptual basis of urban ecology and the role of nature in cities by addressing ecosystem services in two ways. First, a broader array of social and health oriented services will be described within the context of an adjusted ecosystem services classification that more directly acknowledges urbanized landscapes, and the full complement of human benefit provided by metro nature. Preliminary methods for economic valuation of human health and well-being services will also be proposed.