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References (14)
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(2014)
Green water credits – exploring its potential to enhance ecosystem services by reducing soil erosion in the Upper Tana basin, Kenya, 10
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(2015)
Assessment of vegetation response to grazing management in arid rangelands of southern Tunisia, 11
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(2012)
Modeling benefits from nature: using ecosystem services to inform coastal and marine spatial planning, 8
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(2014)
Does landscape-scale conservation management enhance the provision of ecosystem services?, 10
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(2014)
Payment for ecosystem services: possible instrument for managing ecosystem services in Nepal, 10
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(2015)
Impacts of livestock grazing on plant species composition in Montane forests on the northern slope of Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, 11
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(2011)
Assessing the soil erosion control service of ecosystems change in the Loess Plateau of China, 8
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(2010)
Managing water in agriculture for food production and other ecosystem services, 97
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(2013)
Safeguarding biodiversity and ecosystem services of sacred groves – experiences from northern Western Ghats, 9
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(2013)
Impacts of forest management on liana abundance and liana–tree relationships in a tropical forest in Malaysia and implications for conservation, 9
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(2015)
A methodological framework to facilitate analysis of ecosystem services provided by grassland-based livestock systems, 11
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(2013)
More than just trees – animal species diversity and participatory forest monitoring in the Ecuadorian Amazon, 9
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(2015)
Ecosystem services and livelihoods in a changing climate: understanding local adaptations in the Upper Koshi, Nepal, 11
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(2015)
The ‘hollow-middle’: why positive community perceptions do not translate into pro-conservation behaviour in El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve, Mexico, 11
- Publisher
- Taylor & Francis
- Copyright
- © 2015 Taylor & Francis
- ISSN
- 2151-3732
- eISSN
- 2151-3740
- DOI
- 10.1080/21513732.2015.1037571
- Publisher site
- See Article on Publisher Site
Abstract
International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services & Management, 2015 Vol. 11, No. 2, 85–88, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21513732.2015.1037571 ecosystem service concept (e.g. Plant & Ryan 2013; In this editorial to the second Issue of Volume 11 (2015), we Bhatta et al. 2014; Spangenberg et al. 2014). provide insight into the Journal’s statistics of 2014 and Importantly, the Journal’s papers are being picked up provide a short overview of the papers that make up the and cited increasingly by authors submitting to excellent Issue. other Journals in the field, such as Landscape Ecology, We welcome two new Editorial Board members who Ecological Indicators, Progress in Physical Geography, joined the Journal at the end of last year: Dr. Graciela PLOS One, Applied Geography and Ecological Rusch, terrestrial ecologist at the Norwegian Institute for Economics. The most frequently downloaded papers in Nature Research in Trondheim (Norway), and Dr. Bas 2014 deal with mapping and modelling of ecosystem ser- Amelung, environmental scientist with background in cli- vices (e.g. Guerry et al. 2012; Martínez-Harms & Balvanera mate change and tourism, based at the Environmental 2012;Schulp etal. 2012). The trend of continued increasing Systems Analysis group, Wageningen University (The citations indicates that IJBESM is establishing itself as an Netherlands). important platform for exchanging results and conceptual We are also very pleased that Sara Mulder (researcher thinking on ecosystem service modelling and mapping in at the Foundation for Sustainable Development, The relation to management. IJBESM is currently not ISI-listed, Netherlands, based at Wageningen University) joined the but looking at citations to the Journal in 2014 in relation to Editorial Team. articles published in 2012 and 2013, it would have a ‘mock Finally, IJBESM is strengthening its ties with the impact factor’ of around 1.2 (1.07 in 2013). Ecosystem Services Partnership (www.es-partnership.org) An increasing number of authors are submitting to the and many of our contributing authors will attend the 8th Journal, as compared to the previous years. Around 70% ESP World Conference in Stellenbosch, South Africa more submissions were received compared to 2013 and (9–13 November 2015). The overarching theme of the the authors’ origins are highly diverse. Most submissions conference is ‘Ecosystem Services for Nature, People in 2014 have come from authors working in India, and Prosperity’. The conference will host over 40 work- Australia, the US, Italy and China. In addition, papers shops and sessions, and provides a platform that connects from over 50 other countries have been submitted. science with policy and practice. The conference provides Despite the high diversity in topics of submitted manu- an excellent opportunity for exchanging ideas and prepar- scripts, submitting authors receive the decision within ing papers and Special Issues for IJBESM. IJBESM read- 40 days on average. The average time between submission ers and contributors are encouraged to register at www. and final acceptance is around 38 weeks, but a clear peak espconference.org. can be seen around 25 weeks. We are grateful to the editors and reviewers who have contributed to these excel- IJBESM in 2014 lent statistics. Last but not least, the author survey (N = 34) yielded Compared to the very successful year 2013 (see Van very positive results as well, which were similar to last Oudenhoven & De Groot 2014 for more information), year’s. ‘Satisfaction with the refereeing process’ scored 9 the statistics of 2014 indicate that the Journal continues (on a scale of 1–10) on average, and authors were further- to be on the rise in terms of subscriptions, downloads, more satisfied with the speed of review (score 8), the final citations and article submissions. The number of institu- article (score 10) and overall experience of publishing an tions with access to the Journal went up by 5% compared article (score 9). We thank the authors who participated in to 2013. The number of full-text downloads increased by the survey and look forward to any other feedback from almost threefold compared to the same year. In particular, either authors or reviewers. institutions from Northern and Central Europe (31%), Asia (13%), Northern America (12%), Africa (11%), Eastern Europe (11%) and South Asia (8%) frequently down- This Issue loaded papers. The most frequently downloaded papers Of the eight papers that make up this Issue, two papers in 2014 deal with (participatory) biodiversity conservation deal with relations between management and forest biodi- (e.g. Krause & Zambonino 2013; Villarreal et al. 2013; versity. Three other papers cover ecosystem services and Hodder et al. 2014) and operationalization of the © 2015 Taylor & Francis 86 Editorial biodiversity related to livestock management, whereas the grasses, shrubs and herbs contributed to this high species final three papers deal with social aspects of ecosystem richness and diversity. Evaluating biodiversity effects of service provision and biodiversity conservation. livestock grazing in addition to additional outcomes (i.e. Attention has increased on the important role played ecosystem services) is important because most of the land is by lianas (woody vines) in forest regeneration, species communal and people living on the lower slopes depend on diversity and ecosystem-level processes (Schnitzer & other ecosystem services of Mount Kilimanjaro than just Bongers 2002). However, different views exist on appro- those provided by livestock grazing. priate manners to manage lianas (Addo-Fordjour et al. Livestock farmers in Europe are encouraged to reduce 2013), especially considering that forest regeneration can environmental impacts and enhance ecosystem services be slowed down after perturbation. In this Issue, Sfair provision by policymakers. In this Issue, Duru et al. et al. (2015) mathematically simulated management stra- (2015) developed a methodological framework which tegies that focused on (a) abundant liana species and (b) uses easily defined indicators to analyse responses to the largest lianas, contrasting both strategies with random environmental and management drivers, and effects on liana removal for a region in southeastern Brazil. Sfair ecosystem services. The framework was then applied to et al. (2015) found that removing larger lianas was just farms that differed in their orientation and in their manage- as effective as randomly cutting them. This management ment intensity. Duru et al. (2015) relate their results to strategy was found suboptimal, especially considering that different grass functional types and conclude that their larger lianas were not aggressive. Conversely, cutting the methodological framework allows summarising relations most abundant lianas proved more effective than randomly between environmental and management drivers and eco- cutting lianas, especially in the light of accelerating forest system services, as well as examining trade-offs between regeneration. ecosystem services. Impacts of other forest management activities were Mountain ecosystems and the people depending on analysed in a community-managed forest in Nepal by Oli agro-ecosystems in these regions are particularly sensitive and Subedi (2015, this Issue). The studied management to ongoing climate change (Schroth et al. 2009; Gordon activities related to restricting access, conservation and et al. 2010; Bhatta et al. 2014). In this Issue, Bhatta et al. targeting economically beneficial forest plant species. (2015) describe participatory research methods used to Species richness, diversity and distribution patterns, and analyse impacts of climate change on ecosystem services forest stand structure were analysed. Oli and Subedi and livelihoods, and possible adaptation strategies of local (2015) showed that the degree to which access to the peoples in the mountains of central Nepal. Climate change community-managed forest is restricted is key to regulat- impacts included reduced precipitation combined with ing forest stand structure. The study highlights the need irregular rainfall patterns, which affect food production. for finding synergy between biodiversity conservation and Bhatta et al. (2015) observed that, despite the increased conservation outcome. potential for and interest in forest ecosystem services, their Over one billion people rely directly on rangelands for availability has actually decreased because of a strict reg- their livelihoods, mostly through livestock grazing (65%) ulation on forest goods extraction and new invasive spe- and agriculture (25%) in semi-arid regions (MA 2005;UN cies preventing regeneration of preferred, local forest. 2011). Impacts of livestock grazing on (semi-) arid range- Local adaptation strategies that were deemed efficient lands can include increasing soil erosion and runoff and include changing both agricultural practices and water reducing rangeland productivity and biodiversity (Marques harvesting and management. et al. 2007;Fuetal. 2011;Kauffmanetal. 2014). In this This Journal has frequently features studies on sacred Issue, Gamoun et al. (2015) and Kikoti and Mligo (2015) groves in India and surrounding countries (e.g. Nagaraja assessed livestock grazing impacts on vegetation composi- et al. 2011; Blicharska et al. 2013). These studies mainly tion in Tunisian arid rangelands and Kenyan montane ran- focused on the groves’ role in conserving biodiversity, gelands, respectively. Gamoun et al. (2015)compared providing ecosystem services and different management continuously grazed areas to areas that had been rested practices to ensure this. In this Issue, Sinha and Mishra regularly. Their results suggest that overgrazed rangelands (2015) provide a more in-depth study into people’s per- can be resilient and recover if given rest periods. However, ceptions of various ecosystem services in the Garhwal lightly to moderately grazed rangelands were found to Himalayas, India. Their methods included contingent improve considerably faster compared to continuously valuation to calculate the willingness to pay for different grazed rangelands. Considering a rangeland’s carrying capa- ecosystem services. Six direct and seven indirect ecosys- city is thus crucial when deciding on a livestock grazing tem services were identified and valued highly by the local management strategy (Gamoun et al. 2015). Kikoti and people living in villages adjoining the sacred landscape, Mligo (2015, this Issue) studied the slopes of Mount but their willingness to pay for landscape conservation Kilimanjaro (Kenya), which are affected by increased live- was the lowest. This discrepancy was attributed to the stock grazing due to prolonged drought and agricultural difference in education and rights related to rituals and expansion. The authors found that plant species diversity access to resource use. Improved participation and envir- was higher in moderately and lightly grazed areas as com- onmental awareness may be achieved by including adjoin- pared to heavily and ungrazed slopes. However, mainly ing villages in access rights and rituals and adapting a International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services & Management 87 grassland-based livestock systems. Int J Biodivers Sci more transparent way to manage available funds (Sinha & Manage. 11:128–144. Mishra 2015). Fu B, Liu Y, Lü Y, He C, Zeng Y, Wu B. 2011. Assessing the soil Community perceptions in relation to potential conser- erosion control service of ecosystems change in the Loess vation benefits were studied by Hill et al. (2015, this Plateau of China. Ecol Complex. 8:284–293. Issue). The authors studied which conditions would guar- Gamoun M, Patton B, Hanchi B. 2015. Assessment of vegetation response to grazing management in arid rangelands of south- antee successful participation of local communities in con- ern Tunisia. Int J Biodivers Sci Manage. 11:106–113. servation. Hill et al. (2015) investigated perception– Gordon LJ, Finlayson CM, Falkenmark M. 2010. Managing behaviour relationships in El Vizcaíno Biosphere water in agriculture for food production and other ecosystem Reserve, Mexico. Although stakeholders supported nature services. Agric Water Manage. 97:512–519. reserve designation and recognized threats to the reserve, Guerry AD, Ruckelshaus MH, Arkema KK, Bernhardt JR, Guannel G, Kim C-K, Marsik M, Papenfus M, Toft JE, these perceptions did not translate into pro-conservation Verutes G, et al. 2012. Modeling benefits from nature: behaviour. The authors argue that the limited capacity of using ecosystem services to inform coastal and marine spatial management institutions and local government agencies planning. Int J Biodivers Sci Manage. 8:107–121. has resulted in lacking awareness of conservation initia- Hill W, Byrne J, Pickering C. 2015. The ‘hollow-middle’: why tives, requiring external support to develop strong leader- positive community perceptions do not translate into pro- ship and other crucial capacities that are needed to involve conservation behaviour in El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve, Mexico. Int J Biodivers Sci Manage. 11:168–183. local actors in long-term conservation activities. Hodder KH, Newton AC, Cantarello E, Perrella L. 2014. Does land- scape-scale conservation management enhance the provision of Alexander P.E. van Oudenhoven ecosystem services? Int J Biodivers Sci Manage. 10:71–83. Kauffman S, Droogers P, Hunink J, Mwaniki B, Muchena F, Environmental Systems Analysis Group, Wageningen Gicheru P, Bindraban P, Onduru D, Cleveringa R, Bouma University, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, J. 2014. Green water credits – exploring its potential to The Netherlands enhance ecosystem services by reducing soil erosion in the Department of Conservation Biology, Institute of Upper Tana basin, Kenya. Int J Biodivers Sci Manage. 10:133–143. Environmental Sciences, Leiden University, Kikoti I, Mligo C. 2015. Impacts of livestock grazing on plant P.O. Box 9518, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands species composition in Montane forests on the northern slope of Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Int J Biodivers Sci Manage. Matthias Schröter 11:114–127. Environmental Systems Analysis Group, Wageningen Krause T, Zambonino H. 2013. More than just trees – animal University, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, species diversity and participatory forest monitoring in the The Netherlands Ecuadorian Amazon. Int J Biodivers Sci Manage. 9:225–238. Department of Ecosystem Services, Helmholtz Centre for MA. 2005. Ecosystems and human well-being: current state and trends. Vol. 1. Washington, DC: Island Press. 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Effects of management activities on vegetation diversity, dispersion pattern and stand structure of References community-managed forest (Shorea robusta) in Nepal. Int J Addo-Fordjour P, Rahmad ZB, Asyraf M. 2013. Impacts of forest Biodivers Sci Manage. 11:96–105. management on liana abundance and liana–tree relationships Plant R, Ryan P. 2013. Ecosystem services as a practicable in a tropical forest in Malaysia and implications for conser- concept for natural resource management: some lessons vation. Int J Biodivers Sci Manage. 9:13–20. from Australia. Int J Biodivers Sci Manage. 9:44–53. Bhatta LD, van Oort BEH, Rucevska I, Baral H. 2014. Payment for Schnitzer SA, Bongers F. 2002. The ecology of lianas and their ecosystem services: possible instrument for managing ecosys- role in forests. Trends Ecol Evol. 17:223–230. tem services in Nepal. Int J Biodivers Sci Manage. 10:289–299. Schroth G, Laderach P, Dempewolf J, Philpott S, Haggar J, Eakin H, Bhatta LD, van Oort BEH, Stork NE, Baral H. 2015. Ecosystem Castillejos T, Garcia Moreno J, Soto Pinto L, Hernandez R, et al. services and livelihoods in a changing climate: understanding 2009. Towards a climate change adaptation strategy for coffee local adaptations in the Upper Koshi, Nepal. Int J Biodivers communities and ecosystems in the Sierra Madre de Chiapas, Sci Manage. 11:145–155. Mexico. Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change. 14:605–625. Blicharska M, Mikusiński G, Godbole A, Sarnaik J. 2013. Schulp CJE, Alkemade R, Klein Goldewijk K, Petz K. 2012. Safeguarding biodiversity and ecosystem services of sacred Mapping ecosystem functions and services in Eastern Europe groves – experiences from northern Western Ghats. Int J using global-scale data sets. Int J Biodivers Sci Manage. Biodivers Sci Manage. 9:339–346. 8:156–168. Duru M, Theau JP, Martin G. 2015. A methodological frame- Sfair JC, Rochelle ALC, van Melis J, Rezende AA, Weiser V, work to facilitate analysis of ecosystem services provided by Martins FR. 2015. Theoretical approaches to liana 88 Editorial management: a search for a less harmful method. Int J UN. 2011. Global drylands: a UN system-wide response. Biodivers Sci Manage. 11:89–95. Geneva: United Nations (UN) Environment Management Sinha B, Mishra S. 2015. Ecosystem services valuation for enhan- Group (EMG). cing conservation and livelihoods in a sacred landscape of the Van Oudenhoven APE, De Groot RS. 2014. Editorial. Int J Indian Himalayas. Int J Biodivers Sci Manage. 11:156–167. Biodivers Sci Manage. 10:85–88. Spangenberg JH, Görg C, Truong DT, Tekken V, Bustamante JV, Villarreal ML, Norman LM, Boykin KG, Wallace CSA. 2013. Settele J. 2014. Provision of ecosystem services is determined Biodiversity losses and conservation trade-offs: assessing by human agency, not ecosystem functions. Four case studies. future urban growth scenarios for a North American trade Int J Biodivers Sci Manage. 10:40–53. corridor. Int J Biodivers Sci Manage. 9:90–103.
Journal
International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services & Management – Taylor & Francis
Published: Apr 3, 2015