© Kamla-Raj 2019 J Biodiversity, 10(1,2): 45-58 (2019) PRINT: ISSN 0976-6901 ONLINE: ISSN 2456-6543 DOI: 10.31901/24566543.2019/10.1-2.093 Valuation of Aghanashini Estuarine Ecosystem Goods and Services T.V. Ramachandra1,*, Rakhi. K. Raj1 and Bharath H. Aithal1, 2 1Energy & Wetlands Research Group, Center for Ecological Sciences [CES], Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka, 560 012, India Web URL: http://ces.iisc.ernet.in/energy; http://ces.iisc.ernet.in/foss 2RCG School of Infrastructure Design and Management, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur 721302, West Bengal, India KEYWORDS Cultural Services. Gross Domestic Product. Provisioning Services. Regulating Services ABSTRACT Valuation through the quantification goods and services aids in the wise use and prudent management of an estuarine ecosystem. The present study focusses on the valuation of goods and services from an estuary at Aghanashini, Uttara Kannada district, Karnataka. The provisioning services provided by this estuary is about 11,35,847 Rs/hectare/year, which highlights the significance of an estuarine ecosystem in sustaining livelihood of 6000 - 7500 families. The total economic value (provisioning, regulating, supporting and cultural services) of Aghanashini is 5 million Rs/hectare/year. This highlights the contributions by estuarine ecosystems in sustaining the economy of the district while supporting people’s livelihood. Quantification of ecosystem benefits would help in evolving appropriate strategies with the managerial decisions. This also emphasizes the need for green gross domestic product through incorporation of values of the natural goods in the national and regional accounting to ensure the sustainability of natural resources such as water, energy, land, etc. INTRODUCTION etc. between different ecosystems constitute the functional aspects of an ecosystem. Ecosystems Ecological values refer to the level of bene- can be broadly categorized as aquatic and ter- fits and services provided with the complex in- restrial ecosystems, on the basis of their major teractions among the biotic and abiotic compo- source and sink of nutrient, that is, water or land nents to sustain humans (Milon and Alvarez (Ramachandra et al. 2018a,b). Aquatic ecosys- 2019; Ramachandra et al. 2018a,b,c). Ecosystem tems with rich nutrient contents is substantially services include services and benefits such as different from terrestrial ecosystems and both food, erosion control; climate regulation; water these ecosystems are dependent upon each oth- purification; bioenergy, etc. and are very crucial er, as there is an overlap of the functional bound- for the biota’s survival (Ramachandra et al. ary between the two, irrespective of the physi- 2018b,d). The structural components of an eco- cal boundaries (Ramachandra et al. 2018c). system include physical features (such as land An estuary is a dynamic zone between land cover, water, sediment and soil profile, the gradi- and Sea with the salinity transitional to that of ent conditions in water body), biotic composi- marine and fresh water, which makes them tions (like species, number of individuals and unique in their ecological and biological func- their biomass), etc. Interactions between these tions (Anoop et al. 2008). Estuaries support wide elements, that is, the flow of nutrients, energy, range of terrestrial and aquatic life with the dis- tinctive ecological, geological, and biological *Address for correspondence: domains of vital importance (Wilson and Far- Dr. T.V. Ramachandra ber 2005). These are major specialized ecosys- Energy & Wetlands Research Group, CES TE15 tems where organic matter builds up in large Centre for Ecological Sciences, quantities and offers ideal biotic conditions to Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 019, sustain considerable aquatic population (Boom- Karnataka, India inathan et al. 2008; Rao and Suresh 2002). Estu- Phone: 080-22933099/22933503 Extn 107 aries are the transition zones with salinity gradi- Web URL: http://ces.iisc.ernet.in/energy ent where the water quality change from fresh E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] water to saline as landscapes change from land 46 T.V. RAMACHANDRA, RAKHI. K. RAJ AND BHARATH H. AITHAL to sea. These regions are protected by man- ysis of twelve year mangrove plantation in the groves, reefs, mud or sand, barrier islands and Gazy bay in Kenya account 379.17 USD/ha/yr land that define an estuaries seaward boundary towards extractable wood products, US$ 44.42/ and shield an estuary from the ocean waves, ha/yr with the carbon sequestration and US$ winds and storms (Ramachandra at al. 2018d). research and education services account to Most of the Western Ghats rivers join Arabian 770.23/ha/yr. The total economic value for Rhizo- Sea forming productive estuaries, which sus- phora plantation of twelve years old is estimat- tains the livelihood of millions of people. ed as 2902.87 USD/ha/yr. An economic valua- Fresh water influx and density difference tion of mangrove resource utilization in the Gaz between the two merging water entities, a con- and Hara delta, South Iran show the total eco- stant replenishment of nutrients and versatility nomic value as 10000-20000 US$/ha/year in their structure make it a nursery ground for (Ghasemi et al. 2012). many marine organisms (Ramachandra 2018e). Diverse estuarine habitats include shallow open Ecosystem Goods and Services waters, fresh water and salt marshes, sandy beaches, mud and sand flats, rocky shores, man- Ecosystem provides various vital benefits grove forests, river deltas, tidal ponds, sea grass and services, which are very crucial for the en- beds, etc. These habitats are essential for the durance of dependent biological organisms and survival of biota, which depend on the estua- welfare of the human society (Ramachandra et rine ecosystem for breeding, feed, living, etc. al. 2017a,b; MEA 2005). Ecosystem functions Marine organisms including fish species and include natural processes (hydrological, bio- oysters, during various stages of their lifecycle, geo-chemical cycling) that provide goods and depend on the estuarine ecosystem (Bhat et al. services supporting the society directly as well 2010; Ramachandra et al. 2018c,d; Wilson and as indirectly (de Groot and Vander Meer 2010; Farber 2005), while other species (salmon and MEA 2005). The ecosystem benefits include (i) shrimp) on a seasonal basis for reproduction provisioning services (food and water), (ii) reg- and growth depend on estuaries (Wilson and ulating services (flood and disease control), (iii) Farber 2005). cultural services (spiritual, recreational and cul- The valuation of goods and services from tural), and (iv) supporting services that is main- the global terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems taining conditions for sustaining life (Fischlin et (Costanza et al. 1997; Costanza and Folke 1997) al. 2007; Hassan et al. 2005; MEA 2005; Ram- reveals the annual value of 16 to 60 trillion USD achandra et al. 2017a; Wilson and Farber 2005). with an estimated average of 33 trillion USD ($), Estuarine and coastal ecosystems are vul- which is about 1.8 times higher than the current nerable natural systems (Barbier et al. 2011) with global gross national product (GNP). The rela- the intense anthropogenic stress, evident from tive share of marine compared to the terrestrial the loss (MEA 2005) of salt marshes (by 50%), (forests and wetlands) is about 62 percent. The mangroves (35%), coral reefs (30%), and sea mangrove vegetation contribute significantly in grasses (29%). In addition, propagation of inva- the regional socio-economic development sive species, declining water quality, and de- through commercial products, fishery resourc- creased coastal protection from flooding and es apart from the prospects of eco-tourism storm events, etc. have contributed to the loss (Kathiresan and Narayanasamy 2005; Prakash of biodiversity and ecosystem functions in es- et al. 2010). Mangroves provide habitat to a wide tuarine and coastal ecosystems (Barbier et al. array of diverse biota, which include bacteria, 2011). Insights of the ecosystem function would fungi, insects, fish, prawns, shrimps, birds, etc., aid in optimizing alternative uses of ecosystem including a variety of flora – sea weeds, small functions and services (Barbier et al. 2011; Cos- plants and creepers (Hirway and Goswami 2007). tanza et al. 1997; Costanza and Folke 1997). This Valuation of mangroves per household based would aid in evolving prudent policy and mana- on the avoided damage cost is estimated as gerial decisions in favor of environmentally pru- 116.28 USD and 983795.7 USD as land accretion dent practices (Barbier et al. 2011), which maxi- value over a period of 111 years. Economic anal- mizes societal welfare (Turpie et al. 2010; Ram- J Biodiversity, 10(1,2): 45-58 (2019) VALUATION OF ESTUARINE ECOSYSTEMS 47 achandra et al. 2017a,b; Ramachandra and Ra- (UNEP/GEF 2007; UNEP 2013; TEEB 2011). Fig- jinikanth 2003; Ramachandra et al. 2002). ure 2 outlines the framework for TEV of an estu- Figure 1 illustrates a framework for assessing arine ecosystem. Use value refers to the tangi- the ecosystem goods and services (Costanza et ble or physical aspects of resources, which pro- al. 1997; Costanza and Folke 1997; MEA 2005; vide direct (personal) utility or satisfaction and Ramachandra et al. 2017b), which are broadly clas- which have direct market prices for quantifica- sified into four different functions namely – regu- tion and indirect (consist of the various func-