Classifying ecosystem disservices and valuating their effects - a case study of Beijing, China. (October 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wu, Shuyao; Li, Binbin V.; Li, Shuangcheng
• Is Part Of: Ecological indicators. Volume 129(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-10
• Subjects: Ecosystem disservices -- Ecosystem valuation -- Classification -- Urban ecosystem -- Beijing; Environmental monitoring -- Periodicals; Environmental management -- Periodicals; Environmental impact analysis -- Periodicals; Environmental risk assessment -- Periodicals; Sustainable development -- Periodicals; 333.71405
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.107977
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1470-160X

Abstract

Highlights: Intermediate and final ecosystem disservices should be differentiated. Functional classification of disservices helps people studying their effects. Economic gains from services outweighed the losses from disservices in Beijing. Both services and disservices effects should be considered in planning. Abstract: Ecosystem disservices (EDS) is an important form of social-ecological interactions and can strongly influence people's perception of nature. However, compare to ecosystem services (ES), current studies on EDS are still very limited especially from the perspective of classification and valuation. Here, we firstly proposed a function-based classification system to better explain the general effects of EDS. Then, we used Beijing, the capital of China, as a case study to value three common urban EDS (excessive decrease in water quantity, plant-related diseases and infrastructure damage) there. The results suggested that the total EDS value of Beijing was approximately 10.54 billion RMB/year in 2019, which equaled about 5.13% of the total value of five important ecosystem services (food and raw material production, climate regulation, environmental quality regulation, soil retention and ecotourism). The finding showed that although EDS caused considerable financial loss, the potential economic gains from ecosystem services could still greatly outweigh the loss and therefore supported the current urban greening expansion policy in Beijing. Our study attempted to promote the bridging of ecosystem services and disservices studies and call for more equal consideration of both ES and EDS to create more compressive and sustainable planning.