Linking biodiversity to ecosystem services supply: Patterns across aquatic ecosystems

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Environmental Science
• Conservation Biology

Background:

• Global initiatives emphasize integrating biodiversity and ecosystem services into decision-making.
• Accelerated biodiversity loss threatens ecosystem functioning and the services they provide.
• Comprehensive assessments are crucial for understanding nature's benefits to society.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify biodiversity-ecosystem service supply linkages in European aquatic ecosystems.
• To assess ecosystem service supply across freshwater, transitional, coastal, and marine realms.
• To inform spatial planning, management, and decision-making through ecosystem service evaluation.

Main Methods:

• Expert evaluation to identify flow linkages in the socio-ecological system.
• Case studies across eight European aquatic ecosystems (freshwater, transitional, coastal, marine).
• Using habitats and biota as proxies for biodiversity in linkage identification.

Main Results:

• Identified significant biodiversity-ecosystem service supply linkages.
• Statistical analysis confirmed the importance of mobile biota in habitat assessment.
• Revealed distinct and complementary ecosystem service supply patterns across aquatic realms, challenging previous literature.

Conclusions:

• The study provides a novel approach for integrated aquatic ecosystem service supply assessments.
• Findings support ecosystem-based management by detailing service provision across aquatic continua.
• Recognizes the critical role of both biological and abiotic factors in ecosystem service delivery.