Quantifying and Mapping Ecosystem Services Supplies and Demands: A Review of Remote Sensing Applications

• Published in: Environmental science & technology Vol. 46; no. 16; pp. 8529 - 8541
• Main Authors: Ayanu, Yohannes Zergaw, Conrad, Christopher, Nauss, Thomas, Wegmann, Martin, Koellner, Thomas
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 21.08.2012
• Subjects: Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Costs and Cost Analysis; Decision making; Ecosystem; Ecosystems; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; General aspects. Techniques; Mapping; Models, Theoretical; Remote sensing; Remote sensing systems; Remote Sensing Technology; Services; Teledetection and vegetation maps; Ecosystem services; Remote sensing; Review
• ISSN: 0013-936X; 1520-5851
• DOI: 10.1021/es300157u

Ecosystems provide services necessary for the livelihoods and well-being of people. Quantifying and mapping supplies and demands of ecosystem services is essential for continuous monitoring of such services to support decision-making. Area-wide and spatially explicit mapping of ecosystem services based on extensive ground surveys is restricted to local scales and limited due to high costs. In contrast, remote sensing provides reliable area-wide data for quantifying and mapping ecosystem services at comparatively low costs, and with the option of fast, frequent, and continuous observations for monitoring. In this paper, we review relevant remote sensing systems, sensor types, and methods applicable in quantifying selected provisioning and regulatory services. Furthermore, opportunities, challenges, and future prospects in using remote sensing for supporting ecosystem services’ quantification and mapping are discussed.