Ecosystem services assessment at Steart Peninsula, Somerset, UK

Vieira da Silva, Lia; Everard, Mark; Shore, Robert G.

Abstract

© 2014 Elsevier B.V. A systemic valuation was undertaken of marginal changes in ecosystem services assessed as likely to result from the Steart Coastal Management project, some in monetary terms and others semi-quantified. The Steart Coastal Management project entails allowing seawater once again to inundate formerly defended farmland, including modifications to the landform of to assist the re-creation of a range of wetland habitats on the Steart Peninsula. Primary drivers for this project include habitat creation and management of coastal flooding, although implications for a range of other connected services need also to be taken into account. Ecosystem services for which a market exists (typically traded goods with associated use values) were valued using market prices. For non-traded services, this study relied substantially on the economic valuation technique of 'value transfer'. Despite having to rely on some wide but transparently stated assumptions and uncertainties, a conservative, yet considerable, net annual benefit range of £491,155 to £913,752 was deduced. Research gaps that limited our ability to quantify and/or value several ecosystem services were identified.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Dec 1, 2014
• Deposit Date: Feb 18, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 14, 2016
• Journal: Ecosystem Services
• Print ISSN: 2212-0416
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 10
• Pages: 19-34
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2014.07.008
• Keywords: ecosystem services, economic valuation, value transfer, wetlands, coastal management, managed realignment
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/807388
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2014.07.008
• Additional Information: Additional Information : NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Ecosystem Services. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Ecosystem Services, [10, (December 2014)] DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2014.07.008
• Contract Date: Jun 14, 2016