Abstract
Understanding and predicting rates of ecosystem processes (e.g., soil erosion, nutrient flux) across large heterogeneous landscapes is an enduring challenge in ecosystem and landscape ecology and underpins the knowledge base for managing ecosystem services. Many current problems in ecosystem services management (e.g., maintenance of water quality and reduction of soil erosion) occur over broad spatial scales and across ecosystem boundaries and thus are influenced by landscape pattern (Ecol indic 21:80–88, 2012). When scaling up, ecosystem ecologists and watershed hydrologists have often used fine-scale plot experiments to infer rates of ecosystem processes at broader scales (Science 195:260–262, 2012). This approach can present difficulties as the results of fine-scale studies may not reflect the heterogeneity evident in a larger area (Ecosystems 6:301–312, 2003). Because collection of ecosystem data at broad scales is often difficult and costly and many ecosystem services are difficult to measure directly, modeling is a vital tool for addressing both basic and applied questions in this realm. In this lab, you will examine several fundamental issues of modeling landscape-level ecosystem processes and services in order to.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Note: An asterisk preceding the entry indicates that it is a suggested reading.
References and Recommended Readings
Note: An asterisk preceding the entry indicates that it is a suggested reading.
*Bennett EM, Peterson GD, Gordon LJ (2009) Understanding relationships among multiple ecosystem services. Ecol Lett 12(12):1394–1404. A carefully considered framework for examining interactions among ecosystem services, with examples from a variety of landscape types.
Carpenter SR (2008) Phosphorus control is critical to mitigating eutrophication. Proc Natl Acad Sci 105(32):11039–11040
Carpenter SR, Caraco NF, Correll D et al (1998) Non-point pollution of surface waters with phosphorus and nitrogen. Ecol Appl 8(3):559–568
Correll DL, Jordan TE, Weller DE (1999) Effects of precipitation and air temperature on phosphorus fluxes from Rhode River watersheds. J Environ Qual 28:144–154
*Costanza R (2008) Ecosystem services: multiple classification systems are needed. Biol Conserv 141:350–352. A practical, brief overview of why and spatial characteristics of ecosystem services matter.
Daily G (1997) Nature’s services: societal dependence on natural ecosystems. Island Press, Washington, DC, p 392
de Groot R, Wilson MA, Boumans RM (2002) A typology for the classification, description and valuation of ecosystem functions, goods and services. Ecol Econ 41(3):393–408
Escobedo FJ, Kroeger T, Wagner JE (2011) Urban forests and pollution mitigation: analyzing ecosystem services and disservices. Environ Pollut 159(8):2078–2087
Haines-Young R, Potschin M (2010) The links between biodiversity, ecosystem services and human well-being. In: Raffaelli DG, Frid CLJ (eds) Ecosystem ecology: a new synthesis. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 110–139
Hoffmann CC, Kjaergaard C, Uusi-Kämppä J et al (2009) Phosphorus retention in riparian buffers: review of their efficiency. J Environ Qual 38(5):1942–1955
*Howarth R, Paerl HW (2008) Coastal marine eutrophication: control of both nitrogen and phosphorus is necessary. Proc Natl Acad Sci 105(49):103. A review of eutrophication problems globally with an emphasis on nitrogen fluxes with an emphasis on terrestrial, aquatic and marine interactions, as well as contrasts between N and P.
Kaufman L (1993) Catastrophic change in species-rich freshwater ecosystems. Bioscience 42:846–858
Keeler BL, Polasky S, Brauman KA et al (2012) Linking water quality and well-being for improved assessment and valuation of ecosystem services. Proc Natl Acad Sci 109(45):18619–18624
Lathrop RC, Carpenter SR, Stow CA et al (1998) Phosphorus loading reductions needed to control blue-green algal blooms in Lake Mendota. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 55(5):1169–1178
*Likens GE, Bormann RH (1995) Biogeochemistry of a forested ecosystem. Springer, New York. The Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study, began in 1963, has been foundational to the study of ecosystem processes at the scale of large watersheds and was been a pioneering scientific acheivement in broad-scale whole ecosystem experiments.
*Lovett GM, Jones CG, Turner MG et al (eds) (2005) Ecosystem function in heterogeneous landscapes. Springer, New York, p 489. Consider the very helpful book review by Carol Wessman describing the chapters and flow and of this exceptionally synthetic volume. Ecology, 88(3), 2007, pp. 803–804.
*McClain ME, Boyer EW, Dent CL et al (2003) Biogeochemical hot spots and hot moments at the interface of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Ecosystems 6(4):301–312. Highly-cited classic paper examining spatial and temporal heterogeneity in ecosystem processes.
Newman EI (1997) Phosphorus balance of contrasting farm systems, past and present. Can food production be sustainable? J Appl Ecol 34:1334–1347
Nowak P, Shepard S, Weiland C (1996) Utilizing a needs assessment in water quality program implementation for the Lake Mendota watershed. The Farm Practices Inventory (FPI) Report #2. Available via Environmental Resources Center, University of Wisconsin
Omernick JM, Abernathy AR, Male LM (1991) Stream nutrient levels and proximity of agricultural and forest land to streams: some relationships. J Soil and Water Conserv 36:227–231
Osborne LL, Kovacic DA (1993) Riparian vegetated buffer strips in water quality restoration and stream management. Freshw Biol 29:243–258
Osborne LL, Wiley MJ (1988) Empirical relationships between land use/landcover and stream water quality in an agricultural watershed. J Environ Manage 26:9–27
Peterjohn WT, Correll DL (1984) Nutrient dynamics in an agricultural watershed: observations on the role of a riparian forest. Ecology 65:1466–1475
Qiu J, Turner MG (2013) Spatial interactions among ecosystem services in an urbanizing agricultural watershed. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 110(29):12149–12154
Renard D, Rhemtulla JM, Bennett EM (2015) Historical dynamics in ecosystem service bundles. Proc Natl Acad Sci 112(43):13411–13416
*Running SW, Nemani RR, Peterson DL et al (1989) Mapping regional forest evapotranspiration and photosynthesis by coupling satellite data with ecosystem simulation. Ecology 70:1090–1101. Landscape-level simulation model of annual evapotranspiration and net photosynthesis in a mountainous region by some of the original leaders in developing spatial ecosystem models linked to remotely-sensed data.
Schindler DW (1977) Evolution of phosphorus limitation in lakes. Science 195:260–262
Schindler DW (2012) The dilemma of controlling cultural eutrophication of lakes. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 283(1827):1–12
*Sklar FH, Costanza R (1991) The development of dynamic spatial models for landscape ecology: a review and prognosis. In: Turner MG, Gardner RH (eds) Quantitative methods in landscape ecology. Springer, New York, pp 239–288. A classic overview of spatial modeling as approached by both the social and natural sciences.
Sutherland I, Bennett EB, Gergel SE (2016) Recovery trends for multiple ecosystem services reveal non-linear responses and long-term tradeoffs from temperate forest harvesting. For Ecol Manage 374:61–70
*Syrbe RU, Walz U (2012) Spatial indicators for the assessment of ecosystem services: providing, benefiting and connecting areas and landscape metrics. Ecol Indic 21:80–88. Extremely thoughtful piece exploring how ecosystem services flow across large regions. Also introduces exciting ideas about how to link landscape metrics to ecosystem service provisioning.
*Tallis H, Polasky S (2009) Mapping and valuing ecosystem services as an approach for conservation and natural‐resource management. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1162(1):265–283. Overview of one of the earliest spatial models of ecosystem services, InVest, with some example applications. Further development of this software continues at a rapid pace.
Tomscha SA, Gergel SE (2016) Ecosystem service trade-offs and synergies misunderstood without landscape history. Ecol Soc 21(1):43
USEPA (1990) The quality of our nation’s water. U. S. Environmental Protection Agency 440/4-90-005. Washington, DC
USEPA (1997) Index of watershed indicators. U. S. Environmental Protection Agency -841-R-97-010. Washington, DC
Verhoeven JT, Arheimer B, Yin C et al (2006) Regional and global concerns over wetlands and water quality. Trends Ecol Evol 21(2):96–103
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer-Verlag New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Gergel, S.E., Reed, T. (2017). Modeling Spatial Dynamics of Ecosystem Processes and Services. In: Gergel, S., Turner, M. (eds) Learning Landscape Ecology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-6374-4_16
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-6374-4_16
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-6372-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-6374-4
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)