Valuation of groundwater-dependent ecosystems: a functional methodology incorporating ecosystem services
Brad R. Murray A B C , Grant C. Hose A , Derek Eamus A B and Damian Licari A BA Institute for Water and Environmental Resource Management, University of Technology Sydney, NSW 2065, Australia.
B Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, NSW 2065, Australia.
C Corresponding author. Email: Brad.Murray@uts.edu.au
Australian Journal of Botany 54(2) 221-229 https://doi.org/10.1071/BT05018
Submitted: 1 February 2005 Accepted: 4 July 2005 Published: 5 April 2006
Abstract
Groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs) are ecosystems that must have access to groundwater to maintain their ecological structure and function. Rapidly expanding numbers of humans are placing increased demands on groundwater for consumption, industry and agriculture. These demands alter groundwater regimes of GDEs that have evolved over millennia, resulting in the degradation of ecosystem health. As a consequence, the goods and services (ecosystem services) that GDEs provide for humans, which include food production and water purification, are at serious risk of being lost. Effective management of GDEs and their ecosystem services requires prioritisation of the most valuable ecosystems, given that increasing human demands and limited time and money preclude complete protection of all GDEs. Here, we provide an eight-step method for the valuation and initial prioritisation of GDEs. The proposed methodology improves on previous, primarily subjective methods for the valuation of GDEs by employing both economic valuation of the ecosystem services provided by GDEs, and ecological valuation of significant environmental attributes of GDEs. We apply the eight-step method to a hypothetical case study in order to demonstrate its applicability to a catchment containing a range of GDEs of different sizes, each possessing its own suite of threatened taxa. The major benefit of the valuation methodology presented here is that it can be used at three levels of complexity: (1) a full-desktop study, (2) a semi-desktop study requiring stakeholder consultation, and (3) a full field-based study, according to the time and money available for initial prioritisation efforts.
Acknowledgments
We thank Raymond Hessel for reading a draft of the manuscript. For providing funds under the Science Lectureship Program, BRM thanks the Commonwealth Department of Environment, Science and Technology (DEST), Sinclair Knight Merz, Department of Land and Water Conservation (NSW), Department of Natural Resources and Environment (Victoria), Department of Natural Resources (Queensland), Department of Lands, Planning and Environment (Northern Territory) and Perpetual Trustees Ltd. BRM also thanks Rob McLaughlan and students of Ecosystem Valuation for discussions that assisted in the development of some of the ideas presented in this article.
van den Bergh J,
Barendregt A,
Gilbert A,
van Herwijnen M,
van Horssen P,
Kandelaars P, Lorenz C
(2001) Spatial economic-hydroecological modelling and evaluation of land use impacts in the Vecht wetlands area. Environmental Modeling and Assessment 6, 87–100.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Chee YE
(2004) An ecological perspective on the valuation of ecosystem services. Biological Conservation 120, 549–565.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Clifton, C ,
and
Evans, R (2001). A framework to assess the environmental water requirements of groundwater dependent ecosystems. In ‘Proceedings of the 3rd Australian stream management conference’. pp. 149–156. (CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems: Brisbane)
Cline, WR (1992).
Cline, WR (2004).
Cork, S ,
Shelton, D ,
Binning, C ,
and
Parry, R (2001). A framework for applying the concept of ecosystem services to natural resource management in Australia. In ‘Proceedings of the 3rd Australian stream management conference’. pp. 157–162. (CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems: Brisbane)
Costanza R,
d’Arge R,
de Groot R,
Farber S,
Grasso M,
Hannon B,
Limburg K,
Naeem S,
O’Neill RV,
Paruelo J,
Raskin RG,
Sutton P, van den Belt M
(1997) The values of the world’s ecosystem services and natural capital. Nature 387, 253–260.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Daily GC,
Alexander S,
Ehrlich PR,
Goulder L,
Lubchenco J,
Matson PA,
Mooney HA,
Postel S,
Schneider SH,
Tilman D, Woodwell GM
(1997) Ecosystem services: benefits supplied to human societies by natural ecosystems. Issues in Ecology 2, 1–16.
De Groot RS,
Wilson MA, Boumans RMJ
(2002) A typology for the classification, description and valuation of ecosystem functions, goods and services. Ecological Economics 41, 393–408.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
DLWC (2002).
Eamus D,
Macinnis-Ng CMO,
Hose GC,
Zeppel MJB,
Taylor DT, Murray BR
(2005) Turner Review. Ecosystem services: an ecophysiological examination. Australian Journal of Botany 53, 1–19.
| Crossref |
Eamus D,
Froend R,
Loomes R,
Hose GC, Murray BR
(2006) A functional methodology for determining the groundwater regime needed to maintain health of groundwater-dependent ecosystems. Australian Journal of Botany 54, 97–114.
Evans R, Clifton C
(2001) Environmental water requirements to maintain groundwater dependent ecosystems. Environmental flows initiative technical report number 2. Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra.
Froend RH, Loomes R
(2004) Approach to determine interim ecological water requirements of groundwater dependent ecosystems in Western Australia. A report to the Water and Rivers Commission. Centre for Ecosystem Management, Edith Cowan University, Perth.
Groom PK,
Froend RH,
Mattiske EM, Koch B
(2000) Myrtaceous shrub species respond to long-term decreasing groundwater levels on the Gnangara Groundwater Mound, northern Swan Coastal Plain. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 83, 75–82.
Groom PK,
Froend RH,
Mattiske EM, Gurner RP
(2001) Long-term changes in vigour and distribution of Banksia and Melaleuca overstorey species on the Swan Coastal Plain. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 84, 63–69.
Herman JS,
Culver DC, Salzman J
(2001) Groundwater ecosystems and the service of water purification. Stanford Environmental Law Journal 20, 479–495.
Humphreys WF
(2006) Aquifers: the ultimate groundwater-dependent ecosystems. Australian Journal of Botany 54, 115–132.
Kaiser B, Roumasset J
(2002) Valuing indirect ecosystem services: the case of tropical watersheds. Environment and Development Economics 7, 701–714.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Leibold MA,
Holyoak M,
Mouquet N,
Amarasekare P,
Chase JM,
Hoopes MF,
Holt RD,
Shurin JB,
Law R,
Tilman D,
Loreau M, Gonzalez A
(2004) The metacommunity concept: a framework for multi-scale community ecology. Ecology Letters 7, 601–613.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Leys R,
Watts CHS,
Cooper SJB, Humphreys WF
(2003) Evolution of subterranean diving beetles (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae: Hydroporini, Bidessini) in the arid zone of Australia. Evolution 57, 2819–2834.
| PubMed |
Limburg KE,
O’Neill RV,
Costanza R, Farber S
(2002) Complex systems and valuation. Ecological Economics 41, 409–420.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Murray BR,
Zeppel MJB,
Hose GC, Eamus D
(2003) Groundwater-dependent ecosystems in Australia: it’s more than just water for rivers. Ecological Management and Restoration 4, 110–113.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
NLWRA (2001).
NCC (1999).
Shelton, D ,
Cork, S ,
Binning, C ,
Parry, R ,
Hairsine, P ,
Vertessy, R ,
and
Stauffacher, M (2001). Application of an ecosystem services inventory approach to the Goulburn Broken Catchment. In ‘Proceedings of the 3rd Australian stream management conference’. pp. 157–162. (CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems: Brisbane)
SoE
(2001)
Thrall, PH ,
Burdon, JJ ,
and
Murray, BR (2000). The metapopulation paradigm: a fragmented view of conservation biology. In ‘Genetics, demography and viability of fragmented populations’. pp. 75–95. (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK)
Thurgate ME,
Gough JS,
Clarke AK,
Serov P, Spate A
(2001) Stygofauna diversity and distribution in eastern Australian cave and karst areas. Records of the Western Australian Museum 64, 49–62.
Turner RK,
Paavola J,
Cooper P,
Farber S,
Jessamy V, Georgiou S
(2003) Valuing nature: lessons learned and future research directions. Ecological Economics 46, 493–510.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Zeppel MJB,
Murray BR, Eamus D
(2003) Potential for impact of dryland salinity on threatened species in New South Wales. Ecological Management and Restoration 4(Suppl.), 53–59.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
