Challenges Entailed in Applying Ecosystem Services Supply and Demand Mapping Approaches: A Practice Report

Abstract

The Ecosystem Services (ES) concept has been acknowledged by scientists, policy-makers and practitioners to have the potential to support sustainable policy- and land-use decision-making. Therefore, a growing number of research activities are investigating the integration potential of the ES concept into real-world policy- and decision-making processes. These research activities are often confronted with conceptual challenges and methodological obstacles when applying different ES mapping approaches. This study is reporting those challenges encountered during a research project in Germany. In this research project, two urban regions, Rostock and Munich, were selected as case-study areas. In both urban regions, dynamic urbanisation processes occur across the urban administrative boundaries and threaten the supply of multiple ES in the periurban landscapes. The research project invited local stakeholders from the two urban regions to workshops and online meetings to discuss ES-related topics. For those events, maps visualising the spatial patterns of multiple ES were needed for communication and awareness-raising of the ES concept. We chose commonly used and relatively easy-to-apply mapping methods such as: (1) expert-based ES matrix approach, (2) simple GIS mapping with proxy indicators and data, and (3) simple ES models such as InVEST. We encountered several challenges during the mapping processes: The expert-based matrix approach provided valuable results for ES supply, but had limitations in assessing expert estimates for ES demand. Alongside other factors, evolving barriers related to the conceptual complexity of ES demand. Data unavailability/inaccessibility resulted in difficulties mapping all selected ES with proxy indicators at the targeted regional scale. So far, only a few individual ES can be modelled with InVEST models. Despite these challenges, the resulting maps were helpful for communication with local stakeholders. The discussions with stakeholders provided valuable insights into the future needs for ES research and identified existing barriers and challenges. We want to summarise and share our experiences and provide recommendations for future research on mapping ES supply and demand in urban regions.