In the central region of the Gulf of Mexico, urban growth occurs mainly to support tourism and results in loss of natural ecosystems and ecosystem services. Our objectives were to analyze land use changes and calculate the value of these changes in terms of lost ecosystem services. We selected...

Based on recent research on erosion of ecosystem services, planetary boundaries and predicted pace of urbanization, it is now apparent that humans need to reconnect to the biosphere and that cities in this context, properly managed, could provide great opportunities and arenas for social...

Migratory species support ecosystem process and function in multiple areas, establishing ecological linkages between their different habitats. As they travel, migratory species also provide ecosystem services to people in many different locations. Previous research suggests there may be spatial...

Cross Compliance (CC) is a mechanism for encouraging farmers to fulfill certain environmental conditions in return for governmental support payments. Introduced to United States (US) and European Union (EU) agricultural policy from the 80s onwards, upcoming new US (Farm Bill 2012) and EU (Common...

In recent decades conservation advocates have often emphasized the contributions of ecosystem services to the production of other products. A demonstration of the value of ecosystems as inputs into production would motivate their conservation. Such arguments often offer the observation that...

This article considers the importance of robust planning for green infrastructure in fast changing Southern African cities. A key theme is the extent to which ecosystem services are valued publicly, and the opportunity costs of not investing in the green infrastructure. We explore green...

Ecosystem services would be incorporated into decision making more often if researchers were to focus more on the demand for these services rather than the supply. This implies examining the economic, decision making and technological context of the end-user before trying to attribute economic...

The situation regarding the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services is now critical. Consequently, environmental targets have been determined and environmental legislations at every level tend to be more demanding. The result at local scale is that land planners have to take more rigorous...

While technological progress has fostered the conception of an urban society that is increasingly decoupled from ecosystems, demands on natural capital and ecosystem services keep increasing steadily in our urbanized planet. Decoupling of cities from ecological systems can only occur locally and...

Ecosystem services research has become a major academic field, drawing in various academic disciplines, perspectives, and research approaches. The multifaceted concept of “ecosystem services” includes a normative component, which has strong implicit links to the notion of sustainability....