Event

This framework will draw from the natural and social sciences and will address issues relating to:

1. defining ecosystem services for the purpose of enhancing clarity of communication and for supporting new research.
2. developing a provisional classification for approximately 10 ecosystem services drawn from the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment categories of provisioning, regulating, supporting, or cultural services.
3. Identifying a uniform process for conceptualizing the ecological production functions associated with these services.
4. developing spatial indicators for these selected ecosystem services in order to quantify the attributes of these services as stocks, rates, flows, or other measures. These spatial indicators can include individual services or “bundles” of services. These quantified ecosystem service attributes are intended to support estimates of ecosystem service values and trade-offs in both non-monetary and monetary terms.
5. exploring how spatial indicators of ecosystem services may be used for various applications:
   • “green accounting”
   • reporting trends in ecosystem services
   • Ecosystem Service Atlases
   • market innovations
   • national rule-making

This workshop is to assess and advance the state of the science in defining, quantifying, and mapping ecosystem services. Outcomes from the workshop are to suggest new partnerships for research and development, as well as publications for communication and outreach.