Towards systematic analyses of ecosystem service trade-offs and synergies: Main concepts, methods and the road ahead

• Published in: Ecosystem services Vol. 28; pp. 264 - 272
• Main Authors: Cord, Anna F., Bartkowski, Bartosz, Beckmann, Michael, Dittrich, Andreas, Hermans-Neumann, Kathleen, Kaim, Andrea, Lienhoop, Nele, Locher-Krause, Karla, Priess, Jörg, Schröter-Schlaack, Christoph, Schwarz, Nina, Seppelt, Ralf, Strauch, Michael, Václavík, Tomáš, Volk, Martin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.12.2017
• Subjects: ecological function; Ecosystem service bundles; Ecosystem service demand; Ecosystem service supply; ecosystem services; humans; issues and policy; landscapes; Optimization; planning; Spatio-temporal scales; Stakeholders; Stakeholders; Spatio-temporal scales; Ecosystem service demand; Ecosystem service supply; Optimization; Ecosystem service bundles
• ISSN: 2212-0416; 2212-0416
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2017.07.012

•We reviewed the growing body of literature on ecosystem service relationships.•Contrary to previous syntheses, we focused on the objectives of such studies.•Three major cross-cutting themes deserve increasing attention in future analyses.•We propose main directions that provide potential for innovative research. Ecosystem services (ES), the benefits that humans obtain from nature, are of great importance for human well-being. The challenge of meeting the growing human demands for natural resources while sustaining essential ecosystem functions and resilience requires an in-depth understanding of the complex relationships between ES. These conflicting (‘trade-offs’) or synergistic (‘synergies’) relationships mean that changes in one ES can cause changes in other ES. By synthesizing the growing body of literature on ES relationships, we identified the following four main study objectives: (i) the identification and characterization of co-occurrences of ES, (ii) the identification of drivers that shape ES relationships, (iii) the exploration of biophysical constraints of landscapes and limitations to their multifunctionality, and (iv) the support of environmental planning, management and policy decisions. For each of these objectives we here describe the key concepts, including viewpoints of different disciplines, and highlight the major challenges that need to be addressed. We identified three cross-cutting themes being relevant to all four main types of studies. To help guiding researchers towards more systematic analyses of ES trade-offs and synergies, we conclude with an outlook on suggested future research priorities.