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Mapping Ecosystem Services: From Biophysical Processes to (Mis)Uses

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The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Physical Geography

Abstract

Critical Physical Geography has two fundamental ambitions: to link deeply biophysical processes and social relationships and to increase reflexivity in scientific practice. Thus, it provides a powerful framework to analyze how general concepts such as ecosystem services are used in natural science and environmental management. Over the last decade, this concept has become a crucial component for justifying and implementing environmental policies. In this chapter, we aim to demonstrate the relevance of a Critical Physical Geography for improving identification of potentials and limitations of the concept of ecosystem services. We demonstrate that a thorough understanding of the biophysical processes that generate services and indicator choices has a strong influence on the ability to quantify and to map them.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank N. Jégou for a very helpful advice on statistical analysis, the AMAZ ES team (P. Lavelle, T. Decaens, etc.) for field data and anonymous reviewers. This research was funded by the French ANR project “Approche géographique des services écosystémiques” (2011–2013) and by a grant to S. Le Clec’h from the Institut des Amériques.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Université Rennes 2/CNRS LETG, Rennes, France

    Simon Dufour & Johan Oszwald

  2. Institut Claude Laugénie, CNRS PASSAGES, Pau, France

    Xavier Arnauld de Sartre & Monica Castro

  3. IRD BIOEMCO, Bondy, France

    Michel Grimaldi

  4. ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Solen Le Clec’h

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  1. Simon Dufour
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  2. Xavier Arnauld de Sartre
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  3. Monica Castro
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  4. Michel Grimaldi
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  5. Solen Le Clec’h
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN, USA

    Rebecca Lave

  2. University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Christine Biermann

  3. Université de Lausanne, Gryon, Switzerland

    Stuart N. Lane

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Dufour, S., Arnauld de Sartre, X., Castro, M., Grimaldi, M., Le Clec’h, S., Oszwald, J. (2018). Mapping Ecosystem Services: From Biophysical Processes to (Mis)Uses. In: Lave, R., Biermann, C., Lane, S. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Physical Geography. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71461-5_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71461-5_13

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