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

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 ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3867-5807; Thompson, Julian R.; Turner, Kerry; Vira, Bhaskar; Willcock, Simon; Birch, Jennifer C.. 2013 TESSA: A toolkit for rapid assessment of ecosystem services at sites of biodiversity conservation importance. Ecosystem Services, 5. 51-57. 10.1016/j.ecoser.2013.06.003

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2013.06.003

Abstract/Summary

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.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1016/j.ecoser.2013.06.003
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Acreman
ISSN:	22120416
Date made live:	14 Mar 2019 14:53 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/522514

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

10.1016/j.ecoser.2013.06.003

UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:

Acreman

ISSN:

22120416

Date made live:

14 Mar 2019 14:53 +0 (UTC)

URI:

https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/522514