Angeler, David
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Abstract
Ecosystem services provided by soil include regulation of the atmosphere and climate, primary (including agricultural) production, waste processing, decomposition, nutrient conservation, water purification, erosion control, medical resources, pest control, and disease mitigation. The simultaneous production of these multiple services arises from complex interactions among diverse aboveground and belowground communities across multiple scales. When a system is mismanaged, non-linear and persistent losses in ecosystem services can arise. Adaptive management is an approach to management designed to reduce uncertainty as management proceeds. By developing alternative hypotheses, testing these hypotheses and adjusting management in response to outcomes, managers can probe dynamic mechanistic relationships among aboveground and belowground soil system components. In doing so, soil ecosystem services can be preserved and critical ecological thresholds avoided. Here, we present an adaptive management framework designed to reduce uncertainty surrounding the soil system, even when soil ecosystem services production is not the explicit management objective, so that managers can reach their management goals without undermining soil multifunctionality or contributing to an irreversible loss of soil ecosystem services. (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Keywords
Multifunctionality; soil functioning; structured decision making; biodiversity; ecological restoration; ecological restoration
Published in
Journal of Environmental Management
2016, volume: 183, number: 2, pages: 371-378
Publisher: ACADEMIC PRESS LTD- ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
SLU Authors
Associated SLU-program
SLU Plant Protection Network
Global goals (SDG)
UKÄ Subject classification
Environmental Sciences
Publication identifier
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2016.06.024
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/80771