Get reliable rangeland science

ASSESSING TRADE-OFFS AMONG ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IN A PAYMENT-FOR-WATER SERVICES PROGRAM ON FLORIDA RANCHLANDS
Author
Reeves, Justin
Derner, Justin D.
Sanderson, Matt
Hendrickson, John
Kronberg, Scott
Jenkins, David G.
Kiker, Greg
Quintana-Ascencio, Pedro F.
Shukla, Sanjay
Swain, Hilary
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
2014
Body

Enhancing ecosystem services provided by agricultural lands is of much interest, but little research has examined how management for specific services affects others. We evaluated trade-offs among ecosystem services in an existing payment for ecosystem services (PES) pilot program in the Northern Everglades that is paying ranchers to retain water on their lands.  In addition to water storage, ranchlands offer multiple ecosystem services, including forage production, a mosaic of wetland and upland habitats, and associated biodiversity. Our objectives were to: (1) quantify biodiversity and forage production in 15 wetlands on four ranches, three of whom were participating in the pilot PES program, the Florida Ranchland Ecosystem Services Project (FRESP); (2) evaluate whether enhanced water storage created synergies or trade-offs for the ecosystem services of biodiversity or forage production; and (3) determine whether enhancing water services affects stressors such as pests (mosquitoes) and invasive plants and animals, thus detracting from services provided. A spatially distributed hydrological model (MIKE_SHE) was used to evaluate the baseline,PES, and other alternate water management scenarios (different discharge elevations) on surface and groundwater fluxes and inundation (upland and wetland) characteristics. Spatially explicit water level and flow predictions were used to summarize water depth, inundation area and hydroperiod in the 15 wetlands under alternate water management scenarios. We analyzed the relationships of species richness and abundance of biodiversity measures (macroinvertebrates, amphibians, fish, native plants,) and stressors (mosquitoes, non-native plants) to hydrological variables. The relationships and the associated impacts on production (forage), biodiversity and stressors will be used within a decision support system for trade-off analysis of ecosystem services and water storage.  Ultimately, our data will refine decision tools to evaluate trade-offs among multiple ecosystem services at scales relevant to ranchers and decision makers.

Language
English
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Conference Name
SRM Orlando, FL
Collection
SRM Annual Meeting Abstracts