Ecosystem Services最新文献

{"title":"A framework based on payments for ecosystem services to support the delivery of high integrity carbon and biodiversity credits","authors":"Julian Clifton ,&nbsp;Kathleen Schwerdtner Mánez","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101724","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101724","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>There is an urgent need to address the gap in funding between existing governmental commitments to combat the twin global crises of climate change and biodiversity loss and the finances required to meet globally agreed targets in these areas. Carbon and biodiversity credit schemes are increasingly recognised as a means to mobilise private sector contributions towards this shortfall whilst enabling innovative mitigation and adaptation to the impacts of climate change and biodiversity decline. Furthermore, it is widely recognised that natural resource management programmes must achieve the active support of local communities if they are to realise their intended outcomes.</div><div>However, there are no guiding principles relating to how carbon and biodiversity credit schemes can address this requirement. This paper contributes towards this objective through providing the first framework to inform the design of carbon and biodiversity credit schemes which incorporate the rights, needs and preferences of local individuals and communities. Adoption of this framework will help to facilitate the flow of ‘high integrity’ credits in the carbon and biodiversity markets which are essential if these schemes are to meet their full potential.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51312,"journal":{"name":"Ecosystem Services","volume":"73 ","pages":"Article 101724"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143768055","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Payments for ecosystem services in Mexico: Two decades of progress and challenges between research and practice","authors":"Santiago Izquierdo-Tort ,&nbsp;Andrea Alatorre ,&nbsp;Elizabeth Shapiro-Garza ,&nbsp;Esteve Corbera ,&nbsp;Jimena Deschamps-Lomelí ,&nbsp;Véronique Sophie Ávila-Foucat ,&nbsp;Julia Carabias ,&nbsp;Jérôme Dupras ,&nbsp;Vijay Kolinjivadi ,&nbsp;Juan Manuel Nuñez ,&nbsp;Maria Perevochtchikova ,&nbsp;Katharine Sims ,&nbsp;Gert Van Hecken","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101720","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101720","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As some of the world’s largest, longest lasting and most researched initiatives that reward individual and communal landowners for conserving forests and associated ecosystem services, Mexico’s Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) programmes provide a significant opportunity to examine questions of how, where, and by whom scholarship has been produced and the potential gaps revealed when comparing research insights with implementation patterns. To address these questions, we assembled the most up-to-date and comprehensive database of PES peer-reviewed publications and programme data in a single country. Our study includes a systematic analysis of relevant scientific literature in English and Spanish through 2022 (N = 140) and an assessment of the spatial and temporal distribution, timing, focus, and scope of all federally funded PES programmes at national, subnational, and local levels between 2003 and 2022. We find that variations in the spatial coverage of programme implementation have been associated with proportional levels of research interest over time and that studies represent multiple themes, spatiotemporal scales, and disciplinary and methodological approaches. With some variation, there is congruence among research findings that programmes have produced mostly positive ecological effects and mixed social effects. However, research has been disproportionately concentrated in specific geographic regions and Mexican scholarship has had considerably less global visibility and impact than European and U.S.-based research. By focusing our analysis on PES research and practice within a country-specific context and including literature produced in the local language, our analysis provides greater nuance than previous PES reviews regarding how knowledge is produced and by whom. We identify permanence of programme effects in Mexico as a key emerging issue for future research and, at a global scale, for the need to conduct such nuanced and inclusive assessments of other specific PES programmes to help identify and address key drivers of knowledge gaps in incentive-based environmental policies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51312,"journal":{"name":"Ecosystem Services","volume":"73 ","pages":"Article 101720"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143734921","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Regenerative organic agriculture and soil ecosystem service delivery: A literature review","authors":"Greta Colombi ,&nbsp;Enrico Martani ,&nbsp;Dario Fornara","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101721","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101721","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Regenerative Organic Agriculture (ROAg) can have several beneficial effects on soil health and the delivery of important soil ecosystem services. Yet, the net effect of multiple ROAg practices (i.e. minimum soil disturbance, crop rotation, cover cropping, organic fertilization, etc.) on soil health and ecosystem service delivery has been rarely assessed. The challenge remains to compare how diverse ROAg practices <em>vs.</em> conventional agriculture might influence soil biogeochemical properties using replicated field experiments lasting at least few years.</div><div>We performed a systematic literature review based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) approach and selected English written peer-reviewed scientific papers focused on the effects that ROAg might have on soil health and soil ecosystem service delivery. Findings were analysed with a vote-count procedure and data extracted from comparative studies between conventional and regenerative organic agriculture were utilized to calculate an impact score. After screening 271 records, 24 studies met all the inclusion criteria. Among them, 17 research studies experimentally compared ROAg <em>vs.</em> conventional practices and quantitative data extracted from 63 observations were used for the impact assessment.</div><div>Our findings show that ROAg improved soil health and soil ability to deliver multiple ecosystem services. The vote-count including 45 observations from 24 selected studies, shows how ROAg had positive effects on soil ecosystem services in 64% of the total number of observations. The impact assessment analysis, which included quantitative data extracted from 63 experimental observations, also show positive effects on multiple soil ecosystem services and soil biogeochemical parameters. ROAg increased soil organic C (SOC; g kg⁻¹) by 22 %, soil total nitrogen (STN; g kg⁻¹) by 28 %, and soil microbial biomass carbon (MBC; g kg⁻¹) by 133 % compared to conventional agriculture. The highest number of positive ROAg effects were associated with supporting services (e.g. SOM dynamics, soil nutrient and water cycling). A negative ROAg effect was observed on the ‘food and fiber production’ provisioning service, where yields (food quantity) were 24 % lower when compared to conventional agriculture. However, the only data available on potential links between soil management and plant health, shows ROAg positive effects on plant nutrient density (food quality).</div><div>Our review demonstrates that ROAg has significant positive impacts on soil health and ecosystem service delivery and highlights the need for long-term comparative studies across world regions to address knowledge gaps and assess potential economic, social and human health benefits associated with a greater implementation of ROAg practices.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51312,"journal":{"name":"Ecosystem Services","volume":"73 ","pages":"Article 101721"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143724360","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Revealing driver-mediated indirect interactions between ecosystem services using Bayesian Belief Networks","authors":"Amanda M. Schwantes ,&nbsp;Carina Rauen Firkowski ,&nbsp;Andrew Gonzalez ,&nbsp;Marie-Josée Fortin","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101717","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101717","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Understanding the drivers mediating ecosystem service interactions is essential for supporting policy decisions aimed at sustaining synergies and mitigating trade-offs. Currently, most studies assessing ecosystem service interactions do not model them as a causal network. Here, we use Bayesian Belief Networks (BBNs) to assess how human activity intensity influences ecosystem service interactions (<em>e.g.</em>, trade-off, synergy, no effect). We quantify changes in interactions for two snapshots in time in Southern Quebec (Canada) among aboveground forest carbon regulation, maple syrup provisioning, livestock provisioning, landscape recreation, bird-watching recreation, and number of bird species per route (an Essential Biodiversity Variable). By comparing correlation analyses to BBNs with or without the driver of human activity intensity, we show that not accounting for human activity intensity results in incorrectly attributing a driver-mediated trade-off as a direct trade-off (<em>e.g.</em>, between bird-watching recreation and aboveground forest carbon regulation) and failure to detect direct interactions (<em>e.g.</em>, between bird-watching recreation and livestock provisioning). BBNs provide a more complete understanding of interactions. In contrast to correlation analysis, which can only assess a relationship between two variables, BBNs can assess relationships among multiple variables and as such determine whether a relationship is due to a shared driver or whether the relationship is due to a direct synergy or trade-off among services. However, if relevant drivers are excluded, then direct interactions may be missed, and driver-mediated relationships may be incorrectly attributed as direct interactions. A better understanding of drivers that shape ecosystem service interactions could guide their management and provide targeted policy interventions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51312,"journal":{"name":"Ecosystem Services","volume":"73 ","pages":"Article 101717"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143641921","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Urban greenery services for noise attenuation, pollutant filtration, and temperature lowering: Supply potential, demand, and budgets in Poznań, Poland","authors":"Damian Łowicki ,&nbsp;Beata Fornal-Pieniak ,&nbsp;Axel Schwerk","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101713","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101713","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study aims to assess the spatial distribution of various types of urban greenery on the example of Poznań city (Poland), considering their potential to supply ecosystem services (ESs) and the demand for these services. Three ESs were assessed: noise attenuation, pollutant filtration, and temperature lowering. By determining both individual services and a bundle of them and considering biophysical and social demand, this study facilitates the integration of ESs in landscape planning and management. This study calculates a budget—the ratio of the supply potential and demand—to identify areas with the greatest need for ESs and gives clear advice to decision-makers. As expected, the results show that the analysis of individual ES generates different results, which suggests that they should be analysed in bundles. Although significant overlap was found between the potential to supply different services, the biophysical and social demands were much more diverse. The final budget showed a correlation between the need to create urban greenery and population and location relative to the city centre. The highest relationship was observed for noise attenuation, while the smallest was in the case of pollutant filtration. Although many studies show the effectiveness of urban greenery in increasing the level of ES and avoiding environmental problems in cities, only a few studies show how to select locations for activities, considering the present state as well as human and ecological needs. The clue of the presented approach is the mapping of structure–process relationships, which may easily translate into planning practice.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51312,"journal":{"name":"Ecosystem Services","volume":"73 ","pages":"Article 101713"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143601715","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Nature-related education and serious gaming to improve young citizens’ awareness about ecosystem services provided by urban trees","authors":"Maria Elena Menconi,&nbsp;Rosaria Abbate,&nbsp;Stefano Stocchi,&nbsp;David Grohmann","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101715","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101715","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A widespread challenge of international urban policies is to achieve nature-rich cities. To achieve this aim, scholars and urban planners are developing innovative methods for considering the heterogeneity and geo-specificity of the composition of green infrastructures and their related services in the design of the urban green system.</div><div>Particularly in urban contexts with a high-density population, urban policies need the engagement of conscious communities to become effective; thence, public administrations need innovative, tailored educational methods to improve inhabitants’ awareness. To help the municipalities achieve this goal, we developed a serious game called ESS-Hunt. The paper evaluates the game’s educational effectiveness and the suitability of municipal tree cadastre data as its source of information.</div><div>The game was developed on the Google Maps platform and was played in an urban park of an Italian city (Perugia) involving 135 children aged 10–14. The participants answered the same questionnaire before and after the game to evaluate the learning process, and the paired <em>t</em>-test showed learning progress for all the statements with statistical significance (30 %, p. value &lt; 0.05).</div><div>Regarding urban policies to improve citizens’ awareness about the role of the urban green systems in their well-being, our results highlight as overall principles (i) the suitability of municipal tree cadastre as a source of data to develop educational content, (ii) the effectiveness of serious games in the development of tailored, innovative learning solutions, (iii) and the need to develop differentiated and complementary educational methods to respond to the heterogeneity of local communities learning processes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51312,"journal":{"name":"Ecosystem Services","volume":"73 ","pages":"Article 101715"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143601716","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Uncertainties in ecosystem services assessments and their implications for decision support – A semi-systematic literature review","authors":"Franziska Walther ,&nbsp;David N. Barton ,&nbsp;Jonas Schwaab ,&nbsp;Jarumi Kato-Huerta ,&nbsp;Bart Immerzeel ,&nbsp;Mihai Adamescu ,&nbsp;Erling Andersen ,&nbsp;Martha Verónica Arámbula Coyote ,&nbsp;Ildikó Arany ,&nbsp;Mario Balzan ,&nbsp;Adriana Bruggeman ,&nbsp;Claudia Carvalho-Santos ,&nbsp;Constantin Cazacu ,&nbsp;Davide Geneletti ,&nbsp;Relu Giuca ,&nbsp;Miguel Inácio ,&nbsp;Erwann Lagabrielle ,&nbsp;Sabine Lange ,&nbsp;Solen Le Clec’h ,&nbsp;Zhi Yi Vanessa Lim ,&nbsp;Adrienne Grêt-Regamey","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101714","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101714","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Ecosystem services (ES) assessments are rarely integrated into decision-making processes, with uncertainties often cited as a major barrier. While various uncertainties, such as modelling and data uncertainties, are inherent in ES assessments, their role in uptake of ES assessment results in decision-making remains unclear. We conducted a semi-systematic literature review of scientific papers assessing ES to reveal how uncertainties in ES assessments relate to ES uptake, i.e., the potential use of ES assessment results by decision makers. We performed logistic regressions to analyse the influence of three main sources of uncertainty on ES uptake, i.e., (i) modelling uncertainties, (ii) uncertainties related to qualitative and quantitative descriptions of scenarios, and (iii) uncertainties related to the transfer of ES assessment results into decision-making. Furthermore, we investigated if stakeholder involvement plays a role in ES uptake. First, and most importantly, the results indicate that clarifying the policy context can decrease decision uncertainty and thus improve ES uptake. Referring to a specific policy, following a decisive study purpose and documenting the intended policy entry point are factors that significantly enhance ES uptake. Second, the way how ES are modelled is related to ES uptake. Our results show that using multiple models to assess ES significantly promotes ES uptake. Third, involving stakeholders in ES assessments is significantly associated with increased documented uptake. We discuss that explicitly anchoring the assessment in a policy context increases the salience and timeliness of an ES study, assessing model uncertainties can lead to more credible results, and involving stakeholders can provide more legitimacy, which together increase the potential for ES assessments and their results to be used in decision-making. This study encourages future ES assessments to integrate uncertainties in order to support informed decision-making and promote the conservation and sustainable management of ecosystems and their services.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51312,"journal":{"name":"Ecosystem Services","volume":"73 ","pages":"Article 101714"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143563728","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Unveiling the potential supply of cultural ecosystem services on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau: Insights from tourist hiking trajectories","authors":"Sheng Huang ,&nbsp;Jiawei Yi ,&nbsp;Yunyan Du ,&nbsp;Fuyuan Liang ,&nbsp;Rui Xu ,&nbsp;Nan Wang ,&nbsp;Jiale Qian ,&nbsp;Wenna Tu ,&nbsp;Peixian Luo ,&nbsp;Andrew Z.F. Xing","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101711","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101711","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) is globally recognized as a prime tourism destination, renowned for its unique plateau landscapes and rich cultural heritage. Assessing the supply of cultural ecosystem services (CES) in this vast, data-scarce region holds paramount significance for local sustainable tourism development. However, limited research has addressed this issue. This study harnessed over 60,000 outdoor hiking trajectories from tourists and outdoor enthusiasts (2017–2020) to map both the current and potential CES provision across the QTP. Our findings show that only about 16 % of the plateau currently offers CES experiences for tourists. This supply is unevenly distributed, with 39 % of the tourist visits concentrated in the coniferous forest ecoregions of eastern QTP. Using robust random forest models and advanced AI techniques, we identify key biophysical factors—landscape diversity and water bodies—as well as socioeconomic predictors, such as proximity to hotels and roads, that influence CES availability. We estimate that an additional 4.8 % of the QTP’s area could offer high CES supply, contrasting with the current 1.2 % realized CES supply. These high-potential zones are promising candidates for new tourist attractions and could benefit from targeted infrastructure investment. Our study highlights the potential of tourist-contributed Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) in assessing cultural services and informing tourism planning.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51312,"journal":{"name":"Ecosystem Services","volume":"73 ","pages":"Article 101711"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143549549","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Interoperability for ecosystem service assessments: Why, how, who, and for whom?","authors":"Kenneth J. Bagstad ,&nbsp;Stefano Balbi ,&nbsp;Greta Adamo ,&nbsp;Ioannis N. Athanasiadis ,&nbsp;Flavio Affinito ,&nbsp;Simon Willcock ,&nbsp;Ainhoa Magrach ,&nbsp;Kiichiro Hayashi ,&nbsp;Zuzana V. Harmáčková ,&nbsp;Aidin Niamir ,&nbsp;Bruno Smets ,&nbsp;Marcel Buchhorn ,&nbsp;Evangelina G. Drakou ,&nbsp;Alessandra Alfieri ,&nbsp;Bram Edens ,&nbsp;Luis Gonzalez Morales ,&nbsp;Ágnes Vári ,&nbsp;María-José Sanz ,&nbsp;Ferdinando Villa","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101705","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101705","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Despite continued, rapid growth in the literature, the fragmentation of information is a major barrier to more timely and credible ecosystem services (ES) assessments. A major reason for this fragmentation is the currently limited state of interoperability of ES data, models, and software. The FAIR Principles, a recent reformulation of long-standing open science goals, highlight the importance of making scientific knowledge Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable<em>.</em> Critically, FAIR aims to make science more transparent and transferable by both <em>people and computers</em>. However, it is easier to make data and models findable and accessible through data and code repositories than to achieve interoperability and reusability. Achieving interoperability will require more consistent adherence to current technical best practices and, more critically, to build consensus about and consistently use semantics that can represent ES-relevant phenomena. Building on recent examples from major international initiatives for ES (IPBES, SEEA, GEO BON), we illustrate strategies to address interoperability, discuss their importance, and describe potential gains for individual researchers and practitioners and the field of ES. Although interoperability comes with many challenges, including greater scientific coordination than today’s status quo, it is technically achievable and offers potentially transformative advantages to ES assessments needed to mainstream their use by decision makers. Individuals and organizations active in ES research and practice can play critical roles in creating widespread interoperability and reusability of ES science. A representative community of practice targeting interoperability for ES would help advance these goals.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51312,"journal":{"name":"Ecosystem Services","volume":"72 ","pages":"Article 101705"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143550792","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Global assessment of ecosystem services and disservices associated with owls","authors":"Anahí E. Formoso ,&nbsp;Pablo Plaza ,&nbsp;Sergio A. Lambertucci","doi":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101707","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101707","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Understanding the ecosystem services provided by biodiversity can be useful for its protection and for maintaining ecosystem health and human wellbeing. Although several studies have focused on services provided by some birds, little is known about the role of nocturnal top predators, such as owls (order Strigiformes), as ecosystem services providers. Given that few articles specifically evaluated owl ecosystem services, we reviewed published scientific information on the ecology and natural history of owls to assess their role as providers of ecosystem services and disservices worldwide. Our literature review revealed that owls provide a wide range of ecosystem services and, to a lesser extent, disservices. Regulating ecosystem services were the most frequently reported category (81.8 %), followed by cultural and provisioning ecosystem services, together accounting for 18.2 % of the analyzed articles. Half the studies were conducted in Europe (50 %), followed by South America (19.8 %) and North America (12.5 %); the remaining regions accounted for 17.7 %. The most studied genera were <em>Tyto</em> spp. (63.9 %) and <em>Asio</em> spp. (11.5 %), with regulating ecosystem services being the primary category reported for both genera. Owl ecosystem disservices were few in comparison with the number of ecosystem services. Negative perceptions promote the persecution and killing of owls, affecting their conservation and the services they provide. Owls play a vital role in maintaining ecosystem balance by controlling rodent populations, aiding in disease control, and enriching cultural and scientific knowledge.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51312,"journal":{"name":"Ecosystem Services","volume":"72 ","pages":"Article 101707"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143550793","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}