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- Andersson, Erik, et al.
(författare)
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Measuring social – ecological dynamics behind the generation of ecosystem services
- 2007
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Ingår i: Ecological Applications. - : Wiley. - 1051-0761 .- 1939-5582. ; 17:5, s. 1267-1278
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The generation of ecosystem services depends on both social and ecological features. Here we focus on management, its ecological consequences, and social drivers. Our approach combined (1) quantitative surveys of local species diversity and abundance of three functional groups of ecosystem service providers (pollinators, seed dispersers, and insectivores) with (2) qualitative studies of local management practices connected to these services and their underlying social mechanisms, i.e., institutions, local ecological knowledge, and a sense of place. It focused on the ecology of three types of green areas (allotment gardens, cemeteries, and city parks) in the city of Stockholm, Sweden. These are superficially similar but differ considerably in their management. Effects of the different practices could be seen in the three functional groups, primarily as a higher abundance of pollinators in the informally managed allotment gardens and as differences in the composition of seed dispersers and insectivores. Thus, informal management, which is normally disregarded by planning authorities, is important for ecosystem services in the urban landscape. Furthermore, we suggest that informal management has an important secondary function: It may be crucial during periods of instability and change as it is argued to promote qualities with potential for adaptation. Allotment gardeners seem to be the most motivated managers, something that is reflected in their deeper knowledge and can be explained by a sense of place and management institutions. We propose that co-management would be one possible way to infuse the same positive qualities into all management and that improved information exchange between managers would be one further step toward ecologically functional urban landscapes.
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| 2. |
- Barthel, Stephan, 1968-, et al.
(författare)
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History and local management of a biodiversity-rich, urban cultural landscape
- 2005
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Ingår i: Ecology and Society. - : The Resilience Alliance. - 1708-3087. ; 10:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Urban green spaces provide socially valuable ecosystem services. Through an historical analysis of the development of the National Urban Park (NUP) of Stockholm, we illustrate how the coevolutionary process of humans and nature has resulted in the high level of biological diversity and associated recreational services found in the park. The ecological values of the area are generated in the cultural landscape. External pressures resulting in urban sprawl in the Stockholm metropolitan region increasingly challenge the capacity of the NUP to continue to generate valuable ecosystem services. Setting aside protected areas, without accounting for the role of human stewardship of the cultural landscape, will most likely fail. In a social inventory of the area, we identify 69 local user and interest groups currently involved in the NUP area. Of these, 25 are local stewardship associations that have a direct role in managing habitats within the park that sustain such services as recreational landscapes, seed dispersal, and pollination. We propose that incentives should be created to widen the current biodiversity management paradigm, and actively engage local stewardship associations in adaptive co-management processes of the park and surrounding green spaces. Copyright © 2005 by the author(s). Published here under license by the Resilience Alliance.
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| 3. |
- Barthel, Stephan, 1968-
(författare)
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Recalling Urban Nature : Linking City People to Ecosystem Services
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Societal development is dependent on the generation of ecosystem services (ES) to sustain it; however, many ES are degrading. This thesis investigates how social-ecological features behind practices of actor groups shape the generation of ES. The empirical basis is case studies in the urban landscape of Stockholm, Sweden, and the methodological approach is interdisciplinary. Paper I shows that the urban landscape owes it current flow of ES to co-evolutionary processes and that governance with the aim of sustaining ES must take into account historical property rights and the involvement of a diversity of actor groups, as well as ecological processes of the larger landscape. Paper II studies allotment gardens, cemeteries and city parks in relation to the generation of pollination, seed dispersal and pest regulation. Differences in social features behind practice are reflected primary as higher abundance of pollinators in the informally managed allotment gardens and as differences in the compositions of seed dispersers and insectivores’ birds. Thus, voluntary and often ignored actor groups, motivated by sense-of-place, support the generation of some ES here. Paper III shows how practice, linked to ES generation, is retained and stored among allotment gardeners, and modified and transmitted through time, by means of social-ecological memory (SE-memory). SE-memory is an emergent property of a dual process of participation and reification and it facilitates monitoring of local change and links practice, often in habits, to place specific processes that underlie provisioning ES. Paper IV explores how spatial scale mismatches between ecological process and processes of management can be bridged by a spatially explicit and flexible social network structure of governance. Urban ES are a product of human driven co-evolution, consequently sustaining ES in urban landscapes is not about conservation without people, but shaped by and dependent on management practice by people. Practice that links to generation of ES are facilitated by SE-memory of local actors that holds long term management rights. Consequently, local communities of ecosystem practice, which contribute to the production of ES should explicitly be taken into account in urban green governance.
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