Presentation Abstract
The aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems of the Salish Sea basin provide vital fish and wildlife habitat, serve as a foundation for food production, employment, and outdoor recreation, improve water and air quality, and reduce natural disaster risks, such as flooding. This year, Earth Economics conducted a geospatial Ecosystem Services Valuation (ESV) of the nonmarket value provided by ecosystems throughout the basin, updating and expanding on Earth Economics 2010 report, “Valuing the Puget Sound Basin,” which estimated the value provided by the US portion of the basin—cited in the Seattle Times as recently as 2019. The availability of transnational 30m spatial data from the 2015 North American Land Change Monitoring System (NALCMS) allows an expansion of the earlier analysis to the entire basin. By contextualizing ecosystems by factors known to affect the productivity and value of ecosystem services (e.g., old growth, riparian zones, proximity to urban areas and agricultural lands, shellfish harvesting) nuances in the subsequent valuation literature can be more fully addressed. Benefit Transfer was used to estimate the value of ecosystem services provided each year by each landcover type. Each year, the Salish Sea Basin provides US$91 billion to US$153 billion in benefits, with the lands and waters within the U.S. providing an average of US$60 billion per year, and the Canadian side of the basin providing an average of US$56 billion per year. The purpose of this work was to promote better understanding of the economic and social benefits provided by the basin’s ecosystems, and to inform both domestic and foreign policies regarding cooperative management of ecologically important lands. The presentation will include demonstration of a dynamic web map that will be publicly available following the presentation.
Session Title
Data Science 2
Conference Track
SSE1: Science for the Future
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2022 : Online)
Document Type
Event
SSEC Identifier
SSE-traditionals-340
Start Date
28-4-2022 8:30 AM
End Date
28-4-2022 10:00 AM
Type of Presentation
Oral
Genre/Form
conference proceedings; presentations (communicative events)
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Ecosystem services--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Ecosystem services--Georgia Basin (B.C. and Wash.)
Geographic Coverage
Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Georgia Basin (B.C. and Wash.)
Rights
Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author's written permission.
Type
Moving Image
Language
English
Format
Video
Included in
Fresh Water Studies Commons, Marine Biology Commons, Natural Resources and Conservation Commons
Nature’s Value in the Salish Sea: the Ecosystem Services of the Salish Sea Basin
The aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems of the Salish Sea basin provide vital fish and wildlife habitat, serve as a foundation for food production, employment, and outdoor recreation, improve water and air quality, and reduce natural disaster risks, such as flooding. This year, Earth Economics conducted a geospatial Ecosystem Services Valuation (ESV) of the nonmarket value provided by ecosystems throughout the basin, updating and expanding on Earth Economics 2010 report, “Valuing the Puget Sound Basin,” which estimated the value provided by the US portion of the basin—cited in the Seattle Times as recently as 2019. The availability of transnational 30m spatial data from the 2015 North American Land Change Monitoring System (NALCMS) allows an expansion of the earlier analysis to the entire basin. By contextualizing ecosystems by factors known to affect the productivity and value of ecosystem services (e.g., old growth, riparian zones, proximity to urban areas and agricultural lands, shellfish harvesting) nuances in the subsequent valuation literature can be more fully addressed. Benefit Transfer was used to estimate the value of ecosystem services provided each year by each landcover type. Each year, the Salish Sea Basin provides US$91 billion to US$153 billion in benefits, with the lands and waters within the U.S. providing an average of US$60 billion per year, and the Canadian side of the basin providing an average of US$56 billion per year. The purpose of this work was to promote better understanding of the economic and social benefits provided by the basin’s ecosystems, and to inform both domestic and foreign policies regarding cooperative management of ecologically important lands. The presentation will include demonstration of a dynamic web map that will be publicly available following the presentation.
