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TESSA: a toolkit for rapid assessment of ecosystem services at sites of biodiversity conservation importance

TESSA: a toolkit for rapid assessment of ecosystem services at sites of biodiversity conservation importance
TESSA: a toolkit for rapid assessment of ecosystem services at sites of biodiversity conservation importance
Sites that are important for biodiversity conservation can also provide significant benefits (i.e. ecosystem services) to people. Decision-makers need to know how change to a site, whether development or restoration, would affect the delivery of services and the distribution of any benefits among stakeholders. However, there are relatively few empirical studies that present this information. One reason is the lack of appropriate methods and tools for ecosystem service assessment that do not require substantial resources or specialist technical knowledge, or rely heavily upon existing data. Here we address this gap by describing the Toolkit for Ecosystem Service Site-based Assessment (TESSA). It guides local non-specialists through a selection of relatively accessible methods for identifying which ecosystem services may be important at a site, and for evaluating the magnitude of benefits that people obtain from them currently, compared with those expected under alternative land-uses. The toolkit recommends use of existing data where appropriate and places emphasis on enabling users to collect new field data at relatively low cost and effort. By using TESSA, the users could also gain valuable information about the alternative land-uses; and data collected in the field could be incorporated into regular monitoring programmes
climate regulation, cultivated goods, ecosystem-service tools, harvested wild goods, nature-based recreation, water-related services
2212-0416
51-57
Peh, Kelvin S.-H.
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Balmford, Andrew
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Bradbury, Richard B.
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Brown, Claire
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Butchart, Stuart H.M.
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Hughes, Francine M.R.
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Stattersfield, Alison
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Thomas, David H.L.
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Walpole, Matt
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Bayliss, Julian
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Gowing, David
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Jones, Julia P.G.
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Lewis, Simon L.
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Mulligan, Mark
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Pandeya, Bhopal
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Stratford, Charlie
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Thompson, Julian R.
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Turner, Kerry
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Vira, Bhaskar
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Willcock, Simon
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Birch, Jennifer C.
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Peh, Kelvin S.-H.
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Balmford, Andrew
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Bradbury, Richard B.
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Brown, Claire
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Butchart, Stuart H.M.
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Hughes, Francine M.R.
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Stattersfield, Alison
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Thomas, David H.L.
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Walpole, Matt
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Bayliss, Julian
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Gowing, David
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Jones, Julia P.G.
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Lewis, Simon L.
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Mulligan, Mark
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Pandeya, Bhopal
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Stratford, Charlie
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Thompson, Julian R.
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Turner, Kerry
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Vira, Bhaskar
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Willcock, Simon
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Birch, Jennifer C.
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Peh, Kelvin S.-H., Balmford, Andrew, Bradbury, Richard B., Brown, Claire, Butchart, Stuart H.M., Hughes, Francine M.R., Stattersfield, Alison, Thomas, David H.L., Walpole, Matt, Bayliss, Julian, Gowing, David, Jones, Julia P.G., Lewis, Simon L., Mulligan, Mark, Pandeya, Bhopal, Stratford, Charlie, Thompson, Julian R., Turner, Kerry, Vira, Bhaskar, Willcock, Simon and Birch, Jennifer C. (2013) TESSA: a toolkit for rapid assessment of ecosystem services at sites of biodiversity conservation importance. Ecosystem Services, 5, 51-57. (doi:10.1016/j.ecoser.2013.06.003).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Sites that are important for biodiversity conservation can also provide significant benefits (i.e. ecosystem services) to people. Decision-makers need to know how change to a site, whether development or restoration, would affect the delivery of services and the distribution of any benefits among stakeholders. However, there are relatively few empirical studies that present this information. One reason is the lack of appropriate methods and tools for ecosystem service assessment that do not require substantial resources or specialist technical knowledge, or rely heavily upon existing data. Here we address this gap by describing the Toolkit for Ecosystem Service Site-based Assessment (TESSA). It guides local non-specialists through a selection of relatively accessible methods for identifying which ecosystem services may be important at a site, and for evaluating the magnitude of benefits that people obtain from them currently, compared with those expected under alternative land-uses. The toolkit recommends use of existing data where appropriate and places emphasis on enabling users to collect new field data at relatively low cost and effort. By using TESSA, the users could also gain valuable information about the alternative land-uses; and data collected in the field could be incorporated into regular monitoring programmes

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 1 June 2013
e-pub ahead of print date: 9 July 2013
Published date: September 2013
Keywords: climate regulation, cultivated goods, ecosystem-service tools, harvested wild goods, nature-based recreation, water-related services
Organisations: Environmental

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 372342
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/372342
ISSN: 2212-0416
PURE UUID: 7db8de10-a9c3-435b-90ca-357de7e5cf57
ORCID for Kelvin S.-H. Peh: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-2921-1341

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Date deposited: 05 Dec 2014 09:02
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:44

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Contributors

Author: Andrew Balmford
Author: Richard B. Bradbury
Author: Claire Brown
Author: Stuart H.M. Butchart
Author: Francine M.R. Hughes
Author: Alison Stattersfield
Author: David H.L. Thomas
Author: Matt Walpole
Author: Julian Bayliss
Author: David Gowing
Author: Julia P.G. Jones
Author: Simon L. Lewis
Author: Mark Mulligan
Author: Bhopal Pandeya
Author: Charlie Stratford
Author: Julian R. Thompson
Author: Kerry Turner
Author: Bhaskar Vira
Author: Simon Willcock
Author: Jennifer C. Birch

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