Using ecosystem services to inform decisions at multiple scales of governance

Background/Question/Methods Ecosystem service concepts can be used to inform decisions related to a variety of 21^st century challenges.  We are focusing on Narragansett Bay RI and its associated watershed (RI, MA, and CT) and airshed as part of the new Safe and Sustainable Waters Research Program.  Our goal is to inform decisions that affect nutrients and fresh and estuarine water resources in order to achieve more sustainable and cost effective solutions to problems with environmental consequences. Issues related to knowledge transfer, related computational tools, and environmental reporting related to ecosystem services at different governance scales as well as collaborating and communicating with the public and stakeholders will be addressed.  Prototype knowledge transfer tools help inform specific governance decisions such as air policy, land management (conservation planning), markets, technology (grey and green infrastructure), water policy (criteria and incentives), and NGO actions will be discussed.  A key aspect of this new research endeavor incorporates both end-user needs assessments and the ecosystem service tradeoffs associated with decisions across multiple scales.

Results/Conclusions

There are a variety of relevant decision contexts to inform. For example, in RI comprehensive land use planning is required at municipal and state levels, and recent amendments require consideration of climate change in future land use plans.  Also, new construction proposals involving wetland or storm water permits are required to consider Low Impact Development (LID). More effective GIS Server applications are being analyzed and designed to supply “knowledge services” for conservation planning related to a variety of valued ecological features & services.  We are developing desk top tools to conduct web-based spatial analyses for ease of use by decision makers. However, key land parcel boundary information that could be managed in the Rhode Island Geographic Information System (RIGIS) system and used by municipalities in such applications is limited and will be challenging to overcome.  

A common need at multiple scales of governance is for decision makers to understand tradeoffs between costs and benefits of specific decisions affecting valued ecological structure and function..  In addition, decision makers at different governance scales may need to access more specific information on data accuracy and precision, for example when specific decisions are challenged.  We are finding that a very solid information management/information technology foundation is essential to support researcher collaborations in ways that will help build useful and computationally reproducible decision support applications that match end user needs and capacities.