Marianna Siegmund-Schultze

Assessing ecosystem services for informing land-use decisions: a problem-oriented approach

Assessments of ecosystem services (ES), that aim at informing decisions on land management, are increasing in number around the globe. Despite selected success stories, evidence for ES information being used in decision making is weak, partly because ES assessments are found to fall short in targeting information needs by decision makers. To improve their applicability in practice, we compared existing concepts of ES assessments with focus on informing land use decisions and identified opportunities for enhancing the relevance of ES assessments for decision making. In a process of codesign, building on experience of four projects in Brazil, China, Madagascar, and Vietnam, we developed a step-wise approach for better targeting ES assessments toward information needs in land use decisions. Our problem-oriented approach aims at (1) structuring ES information according to land use problems identified by stakeholders, (2) targeting context-specific ES information needs by decision makers, and (3) assessing relevant management options. We demonstrate how our approach contributes to making ES assessments more policy relevant and enhances the application of ES assessments as a tool for decision support.

Balancing ecosystem services and societal demands in a highly managed watershed: setup and progress of a comprehensive research project

Corresponding address: Marianna Siegmund-Schultze Technische Universität Berlin – Secr. EB 5 – Straße des 17. Juni 145 – 10623 Berlin – Germany – E-mail: m.siegmund-schultze@tu-berlin.de ABSTRACT The INNOVATE project, a comprehensive Brazilian-German research collaboration, addresses sustainable land management in the São Francisco watershed and its Itaparica reservoir. The project studies management options, which promote sustainable ecosystem services and economic viability in climate change conditions. At basin scale, questions of water quantity and quality prevail, including resource allocation and governance. Local and regional studies investigate natural land processes and water resources in addition to their management post dam construction. Consortium researchers are confronted with a multitude of expectations, ranging from knowledge production to interacting with stakeholders and scientists of different disciplines and cultures. As an overview, we predicted potential changes of studied ecosystem services under different conditions within possible scenarios. Further integration of results is ongoing, as is the conversion of scientific results into guidance for stakeholders.

Unraveling the water and land nexus through inter- and transdisciplinary research: sustainable land management in a semi-arid watershed in Brazil’s Northeast

For decades, large reservoirs have been built for hydropower plants in Brazil’s São Francisco River Basin. Rural development has been a simultaneous goal with a primary focus on irrigation. Irrigated agriculture, however, has suffered from poor soils, insufficient water management strategies, and a disregard for integrating grazing-based smallholdings outside of the irrigation schemes. Recurrent droughts are distressing all sectors. This synthesis assessed sustainable land management options by investigating the aquatic and terrestrial land use systems alongside their underlying ecosystem functions and services. Decisions about the allocation of scarce water proved to be both the major issue of land use discourses and driver of practices. The primarily hydroelectricity-focused water management practice cannot be maintained at the same level in the long run, as it has become ever more adverse towards competing water usages. The increasing use of the water and adjacent land also constitutes a major potential threat to water quality. Managed water level fluctuations should generally mimic natural patterns. Wind and solar power generation are suitable complements to agricultural land use. Cycling scarce nutrients between aquatic and terrestrial sectors is ambitious but promising, ultimately improving the generally poor soils in the area. Smart management of biodiversity can foster intensively-irrigated cropping, although the non-irrigated Caatinga ecosystem needs better management of its conflicting uses. Aims and responsibilities of multi-level planning and management require clarification and coordination between sectors, while practices of public participation should be revised in order to better support a comprehensive and transparent transition towards sustainability.

Improving food security and safety through use of edible by-products from wild game

Game harvesting in South Africa generally leaves behind edible by-products, which could be a low-cost source of protein for poor people in rural areas. Seven professional and nine recreational hunters were interviewed, a game harvest and trophy hunt attended and literature reviewed, in order to describe the food value chain for game and ways in which edible by-products could be legally channelled into the human food chain, rather than being left in the field for scavengers. Practices of informal vendors (nxa0=xa051) were assessed using structured interviews, observation and microbiological analysis. In an experiment, inspected game by-products (shinbones from impala and springbok) were provided to eight informal traders for cooking at an informal market and microbiological analysis was done before and after preparation. The results showed that providing edible by-products to poor consumers appears to be culturally acceptable, affordable, accessible and safe. A crossover from formal to informal marketing is recommended as it would enhance traceability and safety of the product and minimise the risk of poaching. It is suggested that methods should be developed which make the distribution of edible by-products to vulnerable rural communities feasible.

Applying Bayesian networks to evaluate small-scale farmers’ perceptions of native reforestation practices in Brazil’s Caatinga biome

In Brazil’s semi-arid Northeast, most rural dwellers derive income from the dry Caatinga forest through livestock farming, fruit collection, and firewood extraction. However, recurring droughts and inadequate land use practices jeopardize farmers’ livelihoods. The drought-resistant, endemic Umbuzeiro tree provides fruit for direct consumption and allows for the creation of transformed products. The planting of this native species can enhance the well-being of the ecosystem and establish future benefits for smallholdings. However, it is crucial that when taking up innovative practices to cope with environmental change, a willingness to apply them should be fostered among local farmers. We used constellation analysis as a transdisciplinary approach to identify elements of current land management which subsequently defined the nodes of a Bayesian network (BN). We developed probabilities of practice uptake that strengthen success, namely the conservation of natural resources while securing the incomes of smallholders. In collaboration with stakeholders and experts, 25 identified nodes for the BN were tested under various scenarios. Adopting all suggested innovative practices secures the final objectives—ecosystem health and farmer benefits (approx. 90%). The analysis quantified the relevance of single issues that may impede farmers to adopt the practices, such as having to cultivate seedlings or avoiding long-term investments. Further crucial actions include the fencing-off of livestock and marketing pathways. Affordable credit, research, and supportive farmers’ institutions can encourage farmers to implement innovative practices. The use of modeled scenarios can provide evidence, which might encourage sustainable land management.

Artisanal fisheries of the Itaparica reservoir, São Francisco River, Brazil: socioeconomic profile, environmental dynamics, and management recommendations

Currently, artisanal fisheries in fresh water reservoirs have been losing ground to commercial fish farming and a great deal of fishery resources are being threatened by human interventions, such as reservoir management and increasing net-cage aquaculture. This study aims to understand the impacts of environmental changes on fishery resources and analyse the migratory fish breeding season as a missing link for fishery management in the semi-arid area of the São Francisco River Basin. Among the 870 fishermen operating in the Pernambuco part of the Itaparica Reservoir, 10% were interviewed and affirmed that fish stocks have been compromised due to the closed fishing period’s incoherence, exotic species insertion, and changes to the river flow caused by reservoir construction and operation. A significant correlation was observed between the Reproductive Activity Index (RAI) and precipitation (pu2009=u20090.745) as well as between the RAI and the river’s flow (pu2009=u2009−0.909). This shows how important it is to consider both the semi-arid climate setting and reservoir operation in determining the closed period which should safeguard fish reproduction. Monitoring the fish reproduction period and research on the reproductive biology of native fish species is needed in the São Francisco River Basin’s different stretches in order to guarantee valuable fish stocks and fisheries maintenance. Integrated action between the fish resource users, civil society, and federal bodies/agencies is essential in order to mitigate impacts and improve fish production systems, not only in Brazil, but in other regions experiencing a similar scenario.

The legacy of large dams and their effects on the water-land nexus

Man-made river dams and reservoirs have increasingly been constructed to modify free-flowing rivers to benefit society through hydropower generation, irrigation, and other water supplies, navigation, and flood prevention. However, this ongoing global boom (Zarfl et al. 2015) also triggers harmful outcomes to local, directly affected stakeholder groups, and the environment. Particularly, profound social impacts of involuntary resettlement need alleviatingmeasures and room for remembrance. Restoring vital characteristics of aquatic ecosystems after artificial reservoir establishment, to any possible degree, may contribute to higher welfare and sustainability. Large reservoirs cause both particularly large positive and negative effects on society, the economy, and the environment. In Brazil, reservoirs were initially constructed for the primary purpose of hydroelectricity generation, to prevent flooding, and to provide irrigation capacities in the dryer parts of the country. However, an increasing number of users and usages have increased the pressure on stored and flowing water. Their requirements differ in terms of river discharge, water quality, and reservoir levels, most often reducing the options of the water users downstream. The resolution of conflicts over water allocation and management has been legally supported by the Brazilian Water Act since 1997, which introduced the paradigm of multiple and equally important water uses. Several of these water uses are closely linked to land-use practices, particularly irrigated agriculture. By law, domestic supply for the river basin’s residents sets a priority for water consumption during pronounced water scarcity. In terms of accessibility and water quality, water abstraction for domestic supply is being affected by water levels. Domestic water supply is also directly linked to water pollution through dilution of untreated wastewater in the river or reservoir. The intertwined and often divergent necessities and externalities of water and land use call for a coordinated management and governance approach to mitigate conflicts. Yet many of

Reservoir operation and environmental water demand: Scenarios for the Sub-Middle and Lower São Francisco River basin, Brazil: Reservoir operation and environmental water demand

Research Domain Climate Impacts and Vulnerabilities, Member of the Leibniz Association, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Potsdam, Germany Department of Water Quality Control, Technische Universität Berlin (TUB), Berlin, Germany Departamento de Engenharia Civil, Centro de Tecnologia e Geociências—CTG, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), Recife, Brazil Environmental Assessment and Planning Research Group, Technische Universität Berlin (TUB), Berlin, Germany Correspondence Hagen Koch, Research Domain Climate Impacts and Vulnerabilities, Member of the Leibniz Association, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), P.O. Box 601203, 14412 Potsdam, Germany. Email: hagen.koch@pik‐potsdam.de Funding information Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE); Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communication (MCTIC); Brazilian Council of Scientific and Technologic Development (CNPq); German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Grant/Award Numbers: 01LL0904 A and 01LL0904 D