NESP Works on Ecosystem Services (ACES) Conference 

NESP members are helping to organize the ACES conference "Linking Science, Practice and Decision Making," December 8-11 in Washington, D.C. More than 500 participants are expected to discuss use of ecosystem services for natural resource management and policy.

At the meeting, NESP will release its  Federal Resource Management and Ecosystem Services Guidebook for federal agencies. 

EPA Releases Final Ecosystem Goods and Services (FEGS) Tool 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Research and Development has created a systematic approach to define and classify the components of nature that people care about. A report describing a classification system for these final ecosystem goods and services (FEGS) and an associated query tool are available at http://gispub4.epa.gov/FEGS.  

Partnership Presents Principles to Guide Assessments of Ecosystem Services Values

Together with scientists, natural resource managers, and policy makers, the Cascadia Ecosystem Services Partnership has developed a set of principles to guide assessments of the social, economic, and ecological benefits of ecosystem services. The principles were presented to federal agencies, congressional staff, and members of nonprofit organizations in Washington, D.C.: www.pdx.edu/sustainability/ecosystem-services-valuation-workshop. 

Duke University hosted two panels of natural resource management experts and practitioners describing how innovative cities are integrating ecosystem services into urban planning. Panelists discussed what worked, what didn't, and lessons for the transferability of their approaches to other cities. Speakers also offered insights into the environmental policy and market tools with which they've experimented. Watch video of panel one and panel two.   

MESP Webinars

The Marine Ecosystem Services Partnership recently held a webinar demonstrating the National Ocean Economics Program and Gulf of Mexico Ecosystem Services Valuation databases, which provide coastal and marine economic valuation data. The next three webinars planned by MESP are:

• February 5, 1 p.m. EST: "Ecosystem Services Harmonization in Theory and Practice."
• March 5, 6 p.m. EST: "NOAA's Data on the Ocean Economy."
• March 18, 1 p.m. EST: "WRI on Ecosystem Valuation in Caribbean Decision Making."

Securing Ocean Benefits for Society in the Face of Climate Change. Ecosystem Services Marketplace, December 31, 2013.   

Report Highlights Value of Forests. Eco-Business, December 13, 2013.   

Payments for Ecosystem Services: Costa Rica's Recipe. Eco-Business, December 4, 2013.   

The Challenge of Certifying Forest Ecosystem Services.  Forest News, November 14, 2013.      

Most Nations Lack Means to Assess Biodiversity, Key Ecosystem Services and their Value. Science Daily, November 7, 2013.   

Biodiversity "Hotspots" more likely to have Greater Ecosystem Co-Benefits. Reuters AlertNet, October 31, 2013.   

Climate Earth Launches Online Natural Capital Management System. Environmental Leader, October 17, 2013.

Cox, LM., Almeter, A.L, Saterson, K.A. 2013. Protecting our life support systems: An inventory of U.S. federal research on ecosystem services. Ecosystem Services 5:163-169. 

Electric Power Research Institute. 2013. Case Studies of Water Quality Trading Being Used for Compliance with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit Limits. Report No. 3002001454.

Engel, S., Schaefer, M. 2013. Ecosystem services - a useful concept for addressing water challenges? 

Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 5(6):696-707.

Gardner, R. C., Fox, J. 2013. The Legal Status of Environmental Credit Stacking. Ecology Law Quarterly 40(4):101-145. 

Gartner, T., Mulligan, J., Schmidt, R., Gunn, J. 2013.  Natural Infrastructure: Investing in Forested Landscapes for Source Water Protection in the United States. World Resources Institute: Washington, D.C. 

Loomis, D.K., Paterson, S.K. 2013.  The human dimensions of coastal ecosystem services: Managing for social values. Ecological Indicators. Online October 25, 2013.

Palm, C., Blanco-Canqui, H., DeClerck, F., Gatere, L., Grace, P. 2013. Conservation agriculture and ecosystem services: An overview. Agriculutre, Ecosystems & Environment. Online November 16, 2013. 

Portman, M. 2013. Ecosystem services in practice: Challenges to real world implementation of ecosystem services across multiple landscapes - A critical review. Applied Geography 45:185-192.

Ruckelshaus, M., McKenzie, E., Tallis, H., Guerry, A., Daily, G., Kareiva, P., Polasky, S., Ricketts, T., Bhagabati, N., Wood, S.A., Bernhardt, J. 2013.  Notes from the field: Lessons learned from using ecosystem services approaches to inform real-world decisions. Ecological Economics. Online August 23, 2013.

Scarlett, L., Boyd, J. 2013. Ecosystem services and resource management: Institutional issues, challenges, and opportunities in the public sector. Ecological Economics. Online December 2, 2013.

March 6-9. Soil Science Society of America: Soil’s Role in Restoring Ecosystem Services, Sacramento, CA.

May 6-9. National Mitigation & Ecosystem Banking Conference, Denver, Colorado.

May 29­-30. Triple Bottom Line Investing: Connecting the Dots, New York, NY.

September 8-12. 7th Annual ESP Conference, Costa Rica.

December 8-11. A Community on Ecosystem Services: Linking Science, Practice and Decision Making, Washington, D.C.

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NESP is an initiative of the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke University. Visit the NESP Digest on the web. To subscribe to the NESP Digest, click here . To unsubscribe, click here. 

NESP also maintains a listserv to help foster communication in the ecosystem services community. The address for this list is nesp-community@duke.edu. Please feel free to use this list to discuss ecosystem services issues or to exchange information about new papers, jobs, or grant opportunities.