&EPA
www.epa.gov/ecology
science in ACTION
BUILDING A SCIENTIFIC FOUNDATION FOR SOUND ENVIRONMENTAL DECISIONS
ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
RESEARCH PROGRAM
ECOSYSTEM SERVICES RESEARCH IN COMMUNITIES:
SOUTHWEST PROJECT
Issue:
EPA's Ecosystem Services
Research Program (ESRP) in the
Office of Research and
Development has undertaken a
comprehensive research effort to
study ecosystem services and the
benefits they provide to human
well-being. The benefits include
water supply and protection of
water quality, flood protection,
wildlife habitat support, and food
and fiber.
The landscape of the
Southwestern United States,
particularly that of California,
Nevada, and Arizona, is highly
diverse with significant portions
of desert, shrub and grasslands,
forest, agriculture, and urban
development. This area is facing
unprecedented pressures from
population growth and climate
change. Based on U.S. Census
data, over the past 90 years the
population in the southwestern
United States has increased 1,500
percent. Changes in climate are
projected to increase in the
frequency and intensity of
drought. The sustainability of
basic ecosystems services vital to
human health and well-being may
be becoming compromised.
Scientific Objective:
The Southwest Ecosystem
Services Project (SwESP) is one
of five community-based research
projects in ESRP. Earth, life, and
social scientists are collaborating
with other federal agencies,
communities, tribes and
organizations to develop and
implement the methods, models
and tools to map, and assess the
expected changes in quality and
magnitude of ecosystem services
under a variety of alternative
future scenarios. Specific research
areas are:
• Identify, locate, and inventory
ecosystem services and establish
the value of these services,
Santa Cruz Watershed
| | San Pedro Watershed
| Study Area
including the costs to society
resulting from the loss of these
services.
• Using available data, map the
current condition of ecosystem
services (e.g., provisioning of
water, food, habitat, and cultural
services, supporting nutrient
continued on back
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development
-------
&EPA
www.epa.gov/ecology
science in ACTION
BUILDING A SCIENTIFIC FOUNDATION FOR SOUND ENVIRONMENTAL DECISIONS
ECOSYSTEM SERVICES RESEARCH PROGRAI
continued from front
cycling, and regulating soil
erosion).
• Quantify the response of
ecosystem services to current and
projected conditions and drivers
(e.g., climate change, human
development).
• Determine the linkages and
trade-offs among bundles of
ecosystem services in response to
climate change and human
development.
• Model response of ecosystem
services based on alternative
scenarios of land use, climate
change, water availability, and
human development.
• Determine how changes in
ecosystem services affect human
well-being.
• Develop decision support
systems to help decision makers
in the Southwest apply the
information and methods
developed by this project.
Application and Impact:
Research will be conducted
through several integrated, multi-
disciplinary, multi-agency
partnerships:
The interagency project,
Assessment of Goods and
Valuation of Ecosystem Services
(AGAVES), will conduct an
ecosystem services assessment of
the San Pedro River Basin and
adjacent watersheds in
southeastern Arizona.
The Santa Cruz Watershed
Ecosystem Portfolio Model
Project, an interagency effort, will
develop a decision-support tool
that will integrate natural science
and economic information in
order to conduct a cost-benefit
analysis of climate change and
urban growth impacts on the U.S.
and Mexico Border.
The Native American Ecosystem
Services Tribal Pilot Study by
EPA and others will determine
how an ecosystem services
assessment can be linked with
traditional knowledge to improve
natural resource management and
to identify decision support
options.
The Southwest Wetlands
Ecosystem Services Study
(SWESS), a component of the
nationwide wetland research
project by EPA's Ecosystem
Services Research Program, will
investigate the services of
southwestern coastal and inland
wetlands and compare them with
wetlands of North America.
Ultimately, these efforts will be
integrated with other community-
based ecosystems services
projects by EPA to create a
transferable suite of methods and
tools for evaluating ecosystem
services. Using these tools,
decision makers can implement
proactive policy and management
decisions to conserve and
enhance ecosystem services vital
to human health and well-being
and support sustainable planning
for current and future generations.
CONTACT
Nita Tallent-Halsell, Ph.D., National Exposure
Research Laboratory, EPA's Office of Research
and Development, 702-798-2567,
tallent-halsell.nita@,epa.gov
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development
------- |