Key criteria for developing ecosystem service indicators to inform decision making

authored by

Alexander P.E. van Oudenhoven, Matthias Schröter, Evangelia G. Drakou, Ilse R. Geijzendorffer, Sander Jacobs, Peter M. van Bodegom, Laurent Chazee, Bálint Czúcz, Karsten Grunewald, Ana I. Lillebø, Laura Mononen, António J.A. Nogueira, Manuel Pacheco-Romero, Christian Perennou, Roy P. Remme, Silvia Rova, Ralf Uwe Syrbe, Jamie A. Tratalos, María Vallejos, Christian Albert

Abstract

Decision makers are increasingly interested in information from ecosystem services (ES) assessments. Scientists have for long recognised the importance of selecting appropriate indicators. Yet, while the amount and variety of indicators developed by scientists seems to increase continuously, the extent to which the indicators truly inform decision makers is often unknown and questioned. In this viewpoint paper, we reflect and provide guidance on how to develop appropriate ES indicators for informing decision making, building on scientific literature and practical experience collected from researchers involved in seven case studies. We synthesized 16 criteria for ES indicator selection and organized them according to the widely used categories of credibility, salience, legitimacy (CSL). We propose to consider additional criteria related to feasibility (F), as CSL criteria alone often seem to produce indicators which are unachievable in practice. Considering CSLF together requires a combination of scientific knowledge, communication skills, policy and governance insights and on-field experience. In conclusion, we present a checklist to evaluate CSLF of your ES indicators. This checklist helps to detect and mitigate critical shortcomings in an early phase of the development process, and aids the development of effective indicators to inform actual policy decisions.

Organisation(s)

Institute of Environmental Planning

External Organisation(s)

Leiden University
Helmholtz Zentrum München - German Research Center for Environmental Health
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig
International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation - ITC
Tour du Valat
Belgian Biodiversity Platform
Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle
Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IOER)
University of Aveiro
Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE)
University of Eastern Finland
University of Almeria
National Institute of Public Health and the Environment
University of Venice
University College Dublin
Universidad de Buenos Aires
Research Institute Nature and Forest (INBO)

Type

Comment/debate

Journal

Ecological Indicators

Volume

95

Pages

417-426

No. of pages

10

ISSN

1470-160X

Publication date

12.2018

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Decision Sciences(all), Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Ecology

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2018.06.020 (Access: Open)