This is the first issue of the second year after the scope of the journal shifted towards using the concept of ecosystem services as a ‘bridge’ between Biodiversity Science and Ecosystem Management. Of course, such a shift takes time, but both the quality and quantity of papers addressing this topic are steadily increasing and as of this year we hope to produce four regular issues and one or two special issues per year.
Two such special issues are in an advanced state of preparation: one on quantifying and mapping of ecosystem services, another one on trade-offs and management aspects.
I am very pleased that two editorial board members have agreed to increase their involvement in the journal as associate editors to handle the increasing number of submitted papers: Dr. Neville Crossman of the Sustainable Ecosystems division, CSIRO, Australia, and Dr. Carsten Smith-Hall of the Danish Centre for Forest, Landscape and Planning, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
The editorial office team is further strengthened by Alexander van Oudenhoven, PhD student at the Environmental Systems Analysis Group, Wageningen University, who took up the position of managing editor with great enthusiasm and efficiency.
With this expanded editorial office team I am confident that the International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services & Management will further strengthen its position as one of the main journals in the rapidly expanding field of science on improving our understanding of the linkages between ecosystem function and the provision of services and how to use this knowledge for more sustainable ecosystem management.
Many of the articles included in this issue deal with different aspects of this central question.
Finally, I would like to draw attention to an international conference on this topic which is held from 4 to 7 October 2011 in Wageningen, The Netherlands, under the title: ‘Ecosystem services: integrating science and practice’ (www.espconference.org). This conference is organized by the Ecosystem Services Partnership (www.es-partnership.org), which is chaired by myself and several editorial board members are part of the organizing committee. This conference will present and discuss the latest state of the art in this field and will provide much material for future (special) issues of our journal.
Rudolf de Groot
Editor-in-Chief
Environmental Systems Analysis Group,
Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands