Niche theory improves understanding of associations between ecosystem services
Daniel R. Richards, Sandra Lavorel
Abstract
Trade-offs and synergies (or negative and positive associations) between ecosystem services are at the heart of many land-use conflicts. Substantial effort has been focused on modeling ecosystem service associations to inform land use decisions. Despite the importance of associations between ecosystem services, we lack an overarching conceptual framework for understanding and analyzing them. Here, we draw inspiration from species ecological niche theory, and outline an integrative conceptual framework; the ecosystem service niche. The ecosystem service niche is defined as the combination of socio-environmental variables and direct interactions that determine the provision of an ecosystem service. We highlight the potential for this framework in generating hypotheses about how the characteristics of individual ecosystem services give rise to positive or negative associations between them. Furthermore, we demonstrate two examples of quantitative tools from species ecological niche research that may be transferred to improve modeling of ecosystem services.