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Ecosystem Services: Delivering Decision-Making for Salt Marshes

  • Special Issue: Concepts and Controversies in Tidal Marsh Ecology Revisited
  • Published:
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Abstract

Tidal marshes are one of the world’s most economically valuable habitats; yet, they have experienced large and persistent declines globally. Increased knowledge of the ecosystem services delivered by marshes has become a powerful tool to conserve and restore them. But hesitancies regarding valuations and their application in decision-making remain. Here we draw on the literature and collective experience of participants in the “Concepts and controversies in tidal Marsh ecology revisited” workshop, November 2 and 3, 2019, Mobile, AL, to provide a concise snapshot of the current field of salt marsh ecosystem service valuation, discuss the possible risks in salt marsh valuation, and the importance of stakeholder engagement to mitigate them. We provide examples of the application of valuation in conservation-related decision-making, illustrating the growing operationalization of ecosystem services in incentivizing salt marsh conservation and restoration. Ecosystem service quantification and valuation is already playing an important role in decision-making by coastal risk managers, insurers, engineers, and policy makers. While there are legitimate criticisms of valuation techniques and remaining uncertainties in ecosystem service delivery that arise both through natural variability across space and time and through differing and shifting cultural values, our perspective is that the rise of big data, the development of valuation techniques, a growing understanding and application of environmental justice practices, and increasing interdisciplinarity to tackle these complex issues are paving the way for valuation to play a critical role in decision-making around salt marshes.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful and constructive comments which resulted in a greatly improved manuscript.

Funding

This perspective arose from a meeting held at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab (DISL) 1–3 November 2019 as part of the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation (CERF) 2019 Conference Workshop Program. The meeting was funded by grants to RB from the University of South Alabama and DISL, and sponsorship from Mississippi-Alabama-, Georgia-, and Washington-Sea Grants, the Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, the DISL Foundation, and CERF. PSEzE acknowledges the support of The Nature Conservancy. SOSEzE acknowledges NERC’s EnvEast Doctoral Training Partnership [grant NE/L002582/1], in partnership with Balfour Beatty.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Changing Oceans Group, School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, James Hutton Rd, King’s Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3FE, UK

    Philine S. E. zu Ermgassen

  2. University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL, 36688, USA

    Ronald Baker & Debbrota Mallick

  3. Dauphin Island Sea Lab, Dauphin Island, AL, 36528, USA

    Ronald Baker & Debbrota Mallick

  4. Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, 95062, USA

    Michael W. Beck

  5. Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, 2109, Australia

    Kate Dodds

  6. Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK

    Sophus O. S. E. zu Ermgassen

  7. New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, Port Stephens Fisheries Institute, Locked Bag 1, Nelson Bay, NSW, 2315, Australia

    Matthew D. Taylor

  8. Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 70803, USA

    R. Eugene Turner

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  1. Philine S. E. zu Ermgassen
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Correspondence to Philine S. E. zu Ermgassen.

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zu Ermgassen, P.S.E., Baker, R., Beck, M.W. et al. Ecosystem Services: Delivering Decision-Making for Salt Marshes. Estuaries and Coasts 44, 1691–1698 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-021-00952-z

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