EcoService Models Library (ESML)

Document: Mapping ecosystem service indicators of a Great Lakes estuarine Area of Concern (Doc-332)

332
Authors
Ted R. Angradi, David W. Bolgrien, Jonathon J. Launspach, Brent J. Bellinger, Matthew A. Starry, Joel C. Hoffman, Mike E. Sierszen, Anett S. Trebitz, and Tom P. Hollenhorst
Year
2016
Title
Mapping ecosystem service indicators of a Great Lakes estuarine Area of Concern
Document Type
Journal Article
Journal
J. Great Lakes Research
Volume
42
Issue
3
Pages
717-727
Abstract
Estuaries provide multiple ecosystem services from which humans benefit. Many Great Lakes estuaries in the United States and Canada have a legacy of chemical contamination, degraded habitat, and non-point-source pollution, and are designated as Great Lakes Area of Concern (AOC). For an AOC to be delisted, it is generally necessary to restore aquatic habitats, among other actions. Ecosystem services mapping and assessment can inform AOC restoration and management. We describe an approach, with examples, for assessing how local-scale actions affect the extent and distribution of coastal ecosystem services, using the St. Louis River estuary (SLRE) of western Lake Superior as a case study. We based our approach on simple models applied to spatially explicit biophysical data that allow us to map the providing area of ecosystem services at high resolution (10-m^2) across aquatic and riparian habitats. We mapped 26 services in the SLRE (e.g., views, power boating, sailing, shore and boat fishing, hunting, trapping, park, trail, and beach recreation, flood protection, wild rice, wildlife populations, nutrient processing, cultural resources). Most aquatic pixel locations had 5-8 overlapping services; riparian locations had fewer mapped services. Mean service richness varied more with depth than geographically across the estuary. To examine tradeoffs in services, we quantified the changes in the area of the AOC providing each ecosystem service for a set of scenaiors based on planned habitat restoration projects. Aspects of our approach can be adapted by communities for use in support of local decision-making."
URL Exit
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S038013301630034X
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