Conceptualizing the link between marine ecosystem services and human well-being: the case of offshore wind farming
Busch, M.; Gee, K.; Burkhard, B.; Lange, M.; Stelljes, N. (2011). Conceptualizing the link between marine ecosystem services and human well-being: the case of offshore wind farming. Int.J. Biodivers. Sci. Ecosys. Serv. Manag. 7(3): 190-203. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21513732.2011.618465
In: International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services & Management. Taylor & Francis: Abingdon, Oxfordshire UK. ISSN 2151-3732; e-ISSN 2151-3740, meer
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| Author keywords |
marine ecosystem services; offshore wind farming; human well-being; quality of life; objective living conditions |
| Auteurs | | Top |
- Busch, M.
- Gee, K.
- Burkhard, B.
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| Abstract |
Although the concept of ecosystem services has drawn a prolific amount of recent research, little work has been done on the links between marine ecosystem services and coastal human well-being at a regional scale. Key questions in this context are that of appropriate categories for assessing human well-being and how to link different determinants of human well-being to specific ecosystem services supplied in adjacent marine areas. This paper presents the results of a case study that links tangible and intangible ecosystem benefits to a range of material and immaterial factors constituting human well-being. Determinants of human well-being were defined and indicators selected to make these linkages traceable. Ecosystem services were assessed for the offshore environment along the west coast of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, based on the assumption of strong future development of offshore wind farming and considering the environmental and socio-economic impacts of such developments on the coastal region. This paper illustrates some conceptual problems in linking ecosystem benefits to human well-being. Based on an economic analysis and a questionnaire survey, two examples are presented where an evidence-based link could be demonstrated between an ecosystem service impacted by offshore wind farming and change in human well-being. The results presented should be understood as an analytic framework and precondition for gathering empirical data. |
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