An ecosystem services approach to the quantification of shallow mass movement erosion and the value of soil conservation practices

E.J. Dominati, A. Mackay, B. Lynch, N. Heath and I. Millner

Ecosystem Services, 2014, vol. 9, issue C, 204-215

Abstract: This study characterises the loss of ecosystem services from a grazed pasture following shallow mass movement erosion and subsequent recovery of services. The influence of space-planted trees, a soil conservation practice, on the provision of services, was also assessed. The economic value of the services provided by an uneroded steep pasture grazed by sheep and cattle was estimated at NZD 3717ha−1yr−1. This value dropped by 65% when the topsoil was lost in a single shallow mass movement. Fifty years after erosion, the services only recovered to 61% of uneroded value. In contrast, the same landscape type planted with soil conservation trees provided, after 20 years, additional (+22% in dollar value) services from the similar unprotected landscape.

Keywords: Soil change; Ecosystem services; Natural capital; Erosion recovery; Soil conservation; Benefit cost analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecoser:v:9:y:2014:i:c:p:204-215

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2014.06.006

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