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Ecosystem services in risk assessment and management
Author(s) -
Munns Wayne R,
Poulsen Veronique,
Gala William R,
Marshall Stuart J,
Rea Anne W,
Sorensen Mary T,
von Stackelberg Katherine
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
integrated environmental assessment and management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.665
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1551-3793
pISSN - 1551-3777
DOI - 10.1002/ieam.1835
Subject(s) - ecosystem services , risk assessment , european union , environmental planning , environmental resource management , business , risk management , environmental quality , risk analysis (engineering) , environmental impact assessment , ecosystem , environmental science , political science , computer science , ecology , computer security , finance , law , biology , economic policy
The ecosystem services (ES) concept holds much promise for environmental decision making. Even so, the concept has yet to gain full traction in the decisions and policies of environmental agencies in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere. In this paper we examine the opportunities for and implications of including ES in risk assessments and the risk management decisions that they inform. We assert that use of ES will: 1) lead to more comprehensive environmental protection; 2) help to articulate the benefits of environmental decisions, policies, and actions; 3) better inform the derivation of environmental quality standards; 4) enable integration of human health and ecological risk assessment; and 5) facilitate horizontal integration of policies, regulations, and programs. We provide the technical basis and supporting rationale for each assertion, relying on examples taken from experiences in the United States and European Union. Specific recommendations are offered for use of ES in risk assessment and risk management, and issues and challenges to advancing use of ES are described together with some of the science needed to improve the value of the ES concept to environmental protection. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2017;13:62–73. © 2016 SETAC.