Protecting biodiversity and safeguarding ecosystem services provision in a changing world

This last Issue of the International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services and Management of 2013 clearly shows the result of the shift in scope that the journal has undergone. The Issue includes short communications, research letters and full research papers, and the geographical spread of the contributing authors is considerable. In addition, the number and diversity of papers on ecosystem services assessments has increased over the recent years, while papers on both biodiversity and ecosystem services are characterised by having higher relevance for management and regional planning as illustrated in Van Oudenhoven and de Groot (2013). Management practices such as restoration, agroforestry, resource extraction, etc. strongly influence biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services provision, and recent contributions to this journal are increasingly exploring the trade-offs and synergies between them.

Reforestation effects on biodiversity

While many studies focus on the detrimental effects of deforestation on species diversity in the tropics, the effects of reforestation are less well known. Reforestation can occur by natural succession or replanting. Studies into population and diversity of birds are often used to assess or predict the effects of land-use change (Hughes et al. 2002). However, little is known about the response of bird communities to reforestation schemes in tropical regions, except for recent work by Lindell et al. (2012) in Costa Rica. In this Issue, Van Bael et al. (2013) describe results of a baseline survey on bird communities in response to a native species reforestation scheme. The authors found that birds were more abundant in mature forests, while natural succession areas had slightly higher relative species richness. In addition, reforestation areas in closer proximity to mature forests had greater abundance as compared to those further away. Van Bael et al. (2013) call this a baseline study because it should allow future studies to assess the speed at which forest restoration efforts will support abundant and diverse bird communities.

Begum et al. (2013) present the result of a study conducted in the Nepali Himalayas on the integrated effects of season, slope aspect and land use on faunal population density and diversity as well as soil quality. The importance of embedding soil quality measures in the planning and management of use has been recognised before (e.g. Mulder et al. 2005). Soil quality can be influenced by differences in land-use management intensity, land-use types and other more specific management practices. The Himalayas in central Nepal form an area in which relatively low human disturbance can have tremendous consequences on biodiversity and ecology. The effects on Nepal’s plant species diversity have been published earlier in this journal (Shrestha et al. 2012), but the effects on soil quality and faunal diversity have remained understudied, especially in relation to agriculture. In this Issue, Begum et al. (2013) report that faunal density and soil quality were higher during the post-monsoon season when compared with the pre-monsoon season. But, it also appeared that faunal population density during both seasons was higher on the northern rather than southern hill slopes. Other factors, including soil moisture, soil organic carbon, etc. were studied as well, and the authors also studied the relationship between the various soil quality indicators. All in all, season, slope and land use had significant effects on the soil quality indicators. Based on the results, it was concluded that the fertility and productivity of land would benefit from enhancing soil organic carbon contents through plant residue retention, farmyard manure application and mulching.

Pollination in tropical regions

Agricultural production depends strongly on pollination, as extensively reviewed by Aizen et al. (2009). However, this dependence has been better established for crop production in Europe and North America compared to other continents, due to the availability of data from long-term research. Recently, studies into the more ‘tropical crops’ such as coffee have also appeared (e.g. Otieno et al. 2011; Munyuli 2012), but more research and primary data is needed to discover and validate reliable indicators and proxies for pollination in the tropics. Meta-analyses into general patterns in crop pollination trends like the one done by Ricketts et al. (2008) are currently lacking. These studies are of high value to fellow researchers and land-use planners because indicators and reliable quantitative relationships could be used to determine the pollination potential of landscape elements or other natural land-cover types (Petz & van Oudenhoven 2012), even at continental scale (Schulp et al. 2012).

In this Issue, Munyuli (2013) answers the call for large-scale primary data on pollination, through a study into the drivers of the abundance of butterflies around coffee–banana agroforests in Uganda (only coffee plants are dependent on butterfly pollination, whereas banana plants are pollinated largely by bats). Apart from being important pollinators for wild and cultivated crops (Otieno et al. 2011), butterflies are also known to be indicator species for monitoring changes in biodiversity and environmental conditions (Howard et al. 2000). As such, they could also serve to indicate the impact of landscape management and human disturbance (Stork et al. 2003). A year-long study in 26 sites in Ugandan agricultural landscapes resulted in the collection of over 57,000 individuals, belonging to 331 species. But, more importantly, Munyuli (2013) found that butterfly abundance and species richness were significantly affected by climatic factors from previous years and richness and abundance of wild nectaring plants. Finally, species richness of butterflies decreased with increasing land use and distance to forest. This underlines the importance of forests and natural elements for the production of coffee. This statement is backed up by earlier research by Munyuli (2012), also in Uganda.

Social value of mangroves

The contribution by James et al. (2013, this Issue) deals with the social value of mangrove ecosystems in Nigeria. The social value here refers to the qualitative and non-monetary appreciation by local communication in the form of cultural ecosystem services and socio-cultural values attached to other ecosystem services and biodiversity. Mangroves are declining and degrading rapidly all over the world, as a result of continuous conversion into alternative land use and increasing human population pressure (Spalding et al. 2010; Feka & Ajonina 2011). This conversion can be largely attributed to the lack of appreciation of the many ecosystem services mangroves provide (Walters et al. 2005; Iftekhar 2008). In response to this, numerous studies have attempted to convey the economic value of the world’s mangrove ecosystem services (Barbier 2012; Brander et al. 2012). The nursery for fish and crustaceans as well as coastal protection (wave attenuation and storm surge protection) are among the most crucial services that are provided by mangroves (Rönnbäck 1999; Barbier 2006; Nagelkerken et al. 2008). However, regardless of their importance, the actual contribution of mangroves to these services is difficult to quantify, let alone value (Barbier 2006). It is therefore crucial to also explore alternatives to economic valuation that can help to convince policy-makers and land-use planners to conserve crucial mangrove areas.

Earlier work on socio-cultural appreciation of mangroves and their services was done by Bosire et al. (2008), Rönnbäck et al. (2007) and Walters et al. (2005), and all come up with results that could be used to influence policy-making and management of (former) mangrove areas. James et al. (2013, this Issue) focus on different aspects of social value, namely therapeutic, amenity, heritage, spiritual and existence value. Affirmative responses to all aspects of social value could be discerned, but the authors also argue that increasing external pressures could decrease the social value of the Niger Delta’s mangroves rapidly. They call for the consideration of both social and other values of mangroves in policy-making.

Medicinal plants in India and Bangladesh

Studies on the use and potential value of medicinal plants have been published frequently in this journal. In this Issue, we present a short communication by Kuniyal et al. (2013) on the harvesting and marketing of medicinal plants from the Indian Himalayan region and a paper by Rahman et al. (2013) on medicinal plant usage by traditional medical practitioners in Bangladesh. Rahman et al. (2013) contribute to the ever increasing literature on medicinal plants in Bangladesh (e.g. Chowdhury et al. 2009; Rahman et al. 2011), and the same counts for Kuniyal et al. (2013) but then in the case of findings from India (Negi et al. 2010; Vidyarthi et al. 2013). In the light of this seemingly improved data availability on medicinal plants in Bangladesh and India, we would like to call for further research into (1) mainstreaming research methods (both ecological and social methods), (2) compiling the available data into more comprehensive and large-scale assessments and databases and (3) more generally applicable management implications. Medicinal plants are among the clearest examples of the direct benefits of biodiversity to human well-being, and papers in our journal can contribute to more informed decision-making in biodiversity-rich countries such as India and Bangladesh.

The Western Ghats are a mountain range in the west of India. This area is among the ‘hottest hotspots’ of biodiversity and has therefore been the subject of long-term research (e.g. Gadgil & Vartak 1976; Bossuyt et al. 2004; Roy et al. 2010). However, due to the area’s sheer size (it is stretched out almost along the entire Indian west coast) and limited large-scale monitoring, there are still quite a few underexplored regions in the Western Ghats. Particularly, socio-ecological research on sacred groves and other important but threatened biodiversity-rich locations is quite underdeveloped, at least not published in international scientific literature. The International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services and Management has published several interesting articles on the Western Ghats, focusing on ethnobotany and medicinal plants of the Tirunelveli hills (Ayyanar & Ignacimuthu 2011) as well as effects of harvesting of timber and non-timber forest products on local biodiversity in Kudremukh National Park (Nagaraja et al. 2011).

In this Issue, Blicharska et al. (2013) present a research letter, in which they share findings on sacred groves in northern Western Ghats, India. This is another example of a relatively unexplored system of sacred groves that is rich in biodiversity and provides key ecosystem services to local communities. In addition, the groves are highly valued for the cultural and spiritual value. However, the system is threatened by agricultural encroachment, increased resource use and renovations of temples that have damaged the environment. Blicharska et al. (2013) show that biodiversity hotspots and ecosystem services providing areas cannot be separated from the social context, which means that conservation and land-use planning should recognise the natural and social values of sacred groves. The authors furthermore recommend the development of incentives that are tailor-made for the local context as well as for participatory planning and implementation.

Options to reduce biodiversity loss

Options to reducing global biodiversity loss can be seen as the shared responsibility of both governments and the private sector. Earlier contributions to this journal focused on the contributions of the private sector to biodiversity protection (Bhattacharya & Managi 2012) as well as the challenges that the private sector faces in investing in biodiversity, ecosystem services and nature conservation (Lambooy & Levashova 2011). Both papers are among the most read in the journal, which is an indication that interest in this topic is considerable. In this Issue, Dellas and Pattberg (2013) assess the political feasibility of global options to reduce biodiversity loss. Although the technical feasibility of such options has been researched more often, the political feasibility has been rarely considered, surprisingly enough. Dellas and Pattberg (2013) assess a wide range of conventional and more outside-the-box options and conclude that the less technically advanced options to reduce biodiversity loss are more likely to be implemented in the short term. Another challenge would be to incorporate ecosystem services into policy-making, on which Perrings et al. (2011) have reflected extensively. A lot of the theory and associated frameworks are there, but the implementation of local and regional knowledge (e.g. Maynard et al. 2011; von Haaren & Albert 2011) is necessary if we are to bridge the worlds of natural science, economics, conservation and development and finally public and private policy (Daily & Matson 2008; Braat & de Groot 2012).

Rudolf S. de Groot

Environmental Systems Analysis Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands

Alexander P.E. van Oudenhoven

Environmental Systems Analysis Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands