The capacity of ecosystems to supply services depends on their condition.
🌳 For example, a thriving forest ecosystem can provide high levels of carbon sequestration and recreational services, while a degraded forest ecosystem might struggle to provide such services. 🌳
The System of Environmental Economic Accounting (SEEA) is the international statistical framework developed to estimate and monitor changes in ecosystem extent, condition, and flows of ecosystem services.
However, in the current version of the SEEA, the authors discuss the concept of ecosystem capacity but recognised it as a topic needing further development as part of the SEEA’s research agenda.
In this context, an expert global team, including our Director, Carl Obst, has considered the definition and measurement of ecosystem capacity in greater depth and through case studies. A specific aspect of the work was the development of a methodology for an ecosystem capacity index. The ecosystem capacity index aims to better link the data recorded in ecosystem condition and ecosystem services accounts.
Congratulations to authors Francesco Martini, Kathleen Conroy, Emma King, Dr Catherine Farrell, Mary Kelly-Quinn, Carl Obst, Yvonne Buckley and Jane Stout on the development of this methodology that will help inform future iterations of the SEEA.
Want to know more about how this works in practice?
Read our article and download the paper here:
https://lnkd.in/gFKZTKVk
