Paper/Poster/Presentation Title
A new open source tool for monitoring ecosystem services from rangelands
Keywords
Livestock, Century, GRAZPLAN, earth observations, environmental modelling
Location
Colorado State University
Start Date
26-6-2018 5:00 PM
End Date
26-6-2018 7:00 PM
Abstract
While the ecosystem services concept provides an innovative framework within which to harmonize stakeholder perspectives across multiple goals, efficient monitoring is critical to ensuring that all stakeholders' objectives are addressed. Environmental modelling and remote sensing are two technologies that can powerfully extend field-based monitoring programs to link together multiple ecosystem services-related outcomes. Here we share preliminary results generated by a new software platform developed in a collaborative multi-stakeholder context. In the Gobi desert of Mongolia, one of the most important rangeland ecosystems worldwide, the Mongolian mining subsidiary Oyu Tolgoi (OT) is cooperating with Kering, an apparel conglomerate that sources cashmere from the region, to incentivize improved grazing practices. Our model-based monitoring platform provides crucial accountability and insight into the range of key ecosystem services impacted by changes in grazing management.
The InVEST Rangeland Production model is an open-source tool based on the Century ecosystem model and the GRAZPLAN ruminant physiology model. As part of the InVEST (Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs) software suite, the model is freely accessible and globally applicable. We demonstrate in the Mongolian context that by coupling this innovative process-based tool with earth observations data, we can predict likely changes in rangeland condition that are linked to multiple ecosystem services, including herder livelihoods, biodiversity, and habitat for wildlife.
A new open source tool for monitoring ecosystem services from rangelands
Colorado State University
While the ecosystem services concept provides an innovative framework within which to harmonize stakeholder perspectives across multiple goals, efficient monitoring is critical to ensuring that all stakeholders' objectives are addressed. Environmental modelling and remote sensing are two technologies that can powerfully extend field-based monitoring programs to link together multiple ecosystem services-related outcomes. Here we share preliminary results generated by a new software platform developed in a collaborative multi-stakeholder context. In the Gobi desert of Mongolia, one of the most important rangeland ecosystems worldwide, the Mongolian mining subsidiary Oyu Tolgoi (OT) is cooperating with Kering, an apparel conglomerate that sources cashmere from the region, to incentivize improved grazing practices. Our model-based monitoring platform provides crucial accountability and insight into the range of key ecosystem services impacted by changes in grazing management.
The InVEST Rangeland Production model is an open-source tool based on the Century ecosystem model and the GRAZPLAN ruminant physiology model. As part of the InVEST (Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs) software suite, the model is freely accessible and globally applicable. We demonstrate in the Mongolian context that by coupling this innovative process-based tool with earth observations data, we can predict likely changes in rangeland condition that are linked to multiple ecosystem services, including herder livelihoods, biodiversity, and habitat for wildlife.
Stream and Session
Stream C: Integrated Social, Economic, Ecological, and Infrastructural Modeling
C6: Ecosystem Services Values and Quantification: A Negotiation between Engineers, Economists, and Ecologists