A Systems-Based Approach to Ecosystem Services Valuation of Various Atmospheric Calcium Deposition Flows

Elena A. Mikhailova, Christopher J. Post, Mark A. Schlautman, Garth R. Groshans, Michael P. Cope and Lisha Zhang
Additional contact information
Elena A. Mikhailova: Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USA
Christopher J. Post: Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USA
Mark A. Schlautman: Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, Clemson University, Anderson, SC 29625, USA
Garth R. Groshans: Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USA
Michael P. Cope: Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USA
Lisha Zhang: Agricultural Sciences Department, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USA

Resources, 2019, vol. 8, issue 2, 1-14

Abstract: Atmospheric resources are very important for assessing ecosystem services at different administrative levels (e.g., state, region, etc.). Quantification of atmospheric calcium (Ca 2+ ) deposition on the total basis provides incomplete information about the ecosystem services flows (both “natural” and “human-derived”), therefore lacking a systems approach to guide sustainable management of the flows which support many ecosystem services. This study assessed the value of wet, dry, and total atmospheric calcium deposition flows in the contiguous United States (U.S.) by different spatial aggregation levels (e.g., state, region) using information from the National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NRSP-3) and commodity prices of human-derived materials: agricultural limestone (CaCO 3 ) and uncalcined gypsum (CaSO 4 •2H 2 O). The total provisioning ecosystem value of atmospheric calcium deposition flows was $66.7M (i.e., 66.7 million U.S. dollars) ($30M wet + $36.7M dry) based on an average 2014 price of $10.42 per U.S. ton of agricultural limestone (CaCO 3 ) or nearly $364M ($164M wet + $200M dry) based on an average 2014 price of $33.00 per U.S. ton gypsum (CaSO 4 •2H 2 O). The quantified spatial distribution of wet, dry, and total atmospheric calcium deposition could be used to identify areas with opportunities for more efficient use of “human-derived” materials since they are already being supplied by atmospheric deposition.

Keywords: agriculture; food security; gypsum; land use; liming; natural capital; replacement cost method; scale; soil inorganic carbon (SIC); STATSGO; stock (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9276/8/2/66/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9276/8/2/66/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jresou:v:8:y:2019:i:2:p:66-:d:220872

Access Statistics for this article

Resources is currently edited by Ms. Donchian Ma

More articles in Resources from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().