The Role of Non-Natural Capital in the Co-Production of Marine Ecosystem
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International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services & Management ISSN: 2151-3732 (Print) 2151-3740 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tbsm21 The role of non-natural capital in the co- production of marine ecosystem services Luis Outeiro, Elena Ojea, João Garcia Rodrigues, Amber Himes-Cornell, Andrea Belgrano, Yajie Liu, Edna Cabecinha, Cristina Pita, Gonzalo Macho & Sebastian Villasante To cite this article: Luis Outeiro, Elena Ojea, João Garcia Rodrigues, Amber Himes-Cornell, Andrea Belgrano, Yajie Liu, Edna Cabecinha, Cristina Pita, Gonzalo Macho & Sebastian Villasante (2017) The role of non-natural capital in the co-production of marine ecosystem services, International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services & Management, 13:3, 35-50, DOI: 10.1080/21513732.2017.1415973 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/21513732.2017.1415973 © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Published online: 29 Dec 2017. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 1035 View Crossmark data Citing articles: 6 View citing articles Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=tbsm22 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIODIVERSITY SCIENCE, ECOSYSTEM SERVICES & MANAGEMENT, 2017 VOL. 13, NO. 3, 35–50 https://doi.org/10.1080/21513732.2017.1415973 SPECIAL ISSUE: OPERATIONALISING MARINE AND COASTAL ECOSYSTEM SERVICES The role of non-natural capital in the co-production of marine ecosystem services Luis Outeiro a,b, Elena Ojeac,d, João Garcia Rodriguesd,e, Amber Himes-Cornellf, Andrea Belgranog,h, Yajie Liui, Edna Cabecinhaj, Cristina Pitak, Gonzalo Machod,l and Sebastian Villasantea,d,e aDepartment of Applied Economics, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain; bDepartment of Fisheries Ecology, Instituto de Investigacións Mariñas (CSIC), Bouzas, Vigo, Spain; cFuture Oceans Lab, University of Vigo, Vigo, Spain; dCampus Do*Mar – International Campus of Excellence, Vigo, Spain; eFaculty of Political and Social Sciences, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain; fAMURE/LABEX/IUEM, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, Brest, France; g(SLU) Department of Aquatic Resources, Institute of Marine Research, Lysekil, Sweden; hSwedish Institute for the Marine Environment (SIME), Gothenburg, Sweden; iDepartment of Economics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway; jDepartment of Biology and Environment, Centre for the Research and Technology of Agro-Environmental and Biological Sciences (CITAB), University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal; kDepartment of Environment and Planning & Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM), University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal; lDepartamento de Ecoloxía e Bioloxía Animal and Campus do Mar, Universidade de Vigo, Vigo, Spain ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY A growing concern is arising to recognize that ecosystem services (ES) production often Received 26 September 2016 requires the integration of non-natural capital with natural capital in a process known as co- Accepted 1 December 2017 production. Several studies explore co-production in different terrestrial ecosystems, such as EDITED BY agriculture or water delivery, but less attention has been paid to marine ecosystems. Coastal Evangelia Drakou activities such as aquaculture, shellfish harvesting, and small-scale fishing deliver important benefits for seafood provision, but are also inextricably linked to cultural and recreational ES. KEYWORDS The degree to which co-production can determine the provision of ES in marine systems has yet Marine ecosystem services; not been explored. This paper addresses this key topic with an exploratory analysis of case co-production; small-scale studies where marine ES are co-produced. We look at five small-scale fisheries that range from fisheries; shellfisheries; social-ecological intensive semi-aquaculture in Galicia (Spain), to wild harvesting in Northern Portugal, and systemsnatural capital; non- discuss to what extent co-production influences ES delivery. We find that a direct relationship natural capital exists between co-production level and ES delivery in the case of provisioning ES (e.g., fish harvest), but not necessarily in the delivery of other ES. We also find that management practices and property regimes may be affecting trade-offs between co-production and ES. 1. Introduction of ES. Ostrom (2009) defines a SES as a complex Ecosystem services (ES) have been mainstreamed in system ‘composed of multiple subsystems and inter- science and policy due to various global initiatives that nal variables within these subsystems at multiple evolved from the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment levels analogous to organisms composed of organs, (MA 2005), the Economics of Ecosystem Services and organs of tissues, tissues of cells, cells of proteins, Biodiversity (The Economics of Ecosystems and etc.’. ES and their benefits, on the other hand, are Biodiversity 2010), the United Kingdom National defined as an ecosystems’ contribution to human Ecosystem Assessment (UK NEA 2011), and the well-being (MA 2005). Recent studies indicate that Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and when applying a SES framework, we clearly and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) framework (Díaz et al. openly recognize the relationships between human 2015). Each of these initiatives have been increasingly and natural systems and can therefore establish impacting policy and science, and are changing the way improved policy targets and indicators that better we manage natural resources and understand address the complex nature of ES provisioning sustainability. (Reyers et al. 2013; Leslie et al. 2015). However, Under this context, scholars have recently raised standardized methods for operationalizing frame- attention to the interactions between social and eco- works for ES provision within SES are not yet uni- logical factors in the production of ES (e.g., Reyers versal (Partelow and Winkler 2016) and further et al. 2013; Guerry et al. 2015; Partelow 2015; Díaz applications of scientific evidence into policy advice et al. 2015; Palomo et al. 2016). This claim flows from are needed. Although the underlying mechanisms the incorporation of the Social-Ecological Systems and interactions between SES for the provision and (SES) approach (Ostrom 2009) to the understanding delivery of ES are still under discussion (Fischer and CONTACT Luis Outeiro [email protected] © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. 36 L. OUTEIRO ET AL. Eastwood 2016), there seems to be a widespread associated with the provision of marine ES consensus that co-production of ES refers to joint (Carpenter et al. 2009) by analyzing case studies from processes between humans and ecosystems (e.g., marine SES in Northern Portugal and Galicia (Spain), Palomo et al. 2016). The provision of benefits derived two regions where marine activities are highly relevant from ES depends, therefore, on the joint contribution for coastal communities (PRESPO 2012;Surís- of nature and anthropogenic assets, as stated in the Regueiro and Santiago 2014). We analyze five marine IPBES conceptual framework (Díaz et al., 2016); as harvesting systems: two small-scale fisheries in well as the multidimensionality of the different per- Northern Portugal and three small-scale shellfisheries spectives and values of Nature’s Contributions to in Galicia. The latter show an intensity gradient from People (Pascual et al. 2017). These assets include intensive semi-aquaculture1 to wild harvesting. Jointly human-engineered components (Guerry et al. 2015), assessing these five case studies may allow us to test human capabilities and management practices whether co-production increases from wild fisheries to (Reyers et al. 2013), and in a broader sense include semi-aquaculture. One of the main questions regard- the legacies of past and current societies and cultures ing co-production is to what extent social–ecological (Church et al. 2011). In fact, benefits derived from ES interactions can deliver ES in a sustainable way. In can arise from ecosystems of any type, including fact, trade-offs among ES can favor one service over natural pristine ecosystems to human-altered ecosys- the other with a subsequent degradation of the system tems (Polasky et al. 2015). that can lead to the detriment of other ES (Villasante ES depend on different forms of capital or capital et al. 2016). Despite the relevance of co-production assets (Guerry et al. 2015). Capital assets can take the processes for marine SES, little is known about how form of manufactured capital (e.g. buildings and various interactions between ecological and social sys- machines), human capital (e.g. knowledge, skills, tems determine ES provision. We argue that special experience, and health), social capital (e.g. relation- care needs to be placed on the concept of co-produc- ships and institutions), and financial capital (e.g. tion so that the sustainability of human interactions monetary wealth), as well as natural capital (e.g. fish with ecosystems can be assessed. This may have stocks) (Emery