Watershed services of tropical forests: from hydrology to economic valuation to integrated analysis

Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability

Volumn 1, Issue 2, 2009, Pages 148-155

  Lele, Sharachchandra ^a  

^a ASHOKA TRUST FOR RESEARCH IN ECOLOGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT   (India)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ANTHROPOGENIC EFFECT; ECONOMIC ANALYSIS; FOREST ECOSYSTEM; HYDROLOGY; INTEGRATED APPROACH; LOW FLOW; SOIL EROSION; TROPICAL FOREST; WATER QUALITY; WATERSHED;

AFRICA; ASIA; EURASIA;

EID: 70449728102     PISSN: 18773435     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.cosust.2009.10.007     Document Type: Review

References (63)

1. Bonell M.J., and Bruijnzeel L.A. Forests Water and People in the Humid Tropics: Past Present and Future Hydrological Research for Integrated Land and Water Management (2004), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
2. In: Krishnaswamy J., Lélé S., and Jayakumar R. (Eds). Hydrology and Watershed Services in the Western Ghats of India (2006), Tata McGraw-Hill, New Delhi
3. Mertz O., Ravnborg H.M., Lovei G.L., Nielsen I., and Konijnendijk C.C. Ecosystem services and biodiversity in developing countries. Biodivers Conserv 16 (2007) 2729-2737
4. Wendland KJ, Honzák M, Portela R, Vitale B, Rubinoff S, Randrianarisoa J: Targeting and implementing payments for ecosystem services: Opportunities for bundling biodiversity conservation with carbon and water services in Madagascar. Ecol Econ 2009, In Press.
5. Verma M. Economic valuation of forests of Himachal Pradesh. Report on Economic Component of Himachal Pradesh Forestry Sector Review 7 (2000), International Institute for Environment and Development and Himachal Pradesh Forest Department, London
6. Kumar P., Sanyal S., Sinha R., and Sukhdev P. Accounting for the Ecological Services of India's Forests: Soil Conservation, Water Augmentation, and Flood Prevention. Monograph 7, Green Accounting for Indian States and Union Territories Project (2005), TERI Press (The Energy and Resources Institute), New Delhi
7. Naidoo R., Balmford A., Costanza R., Fisher B., Green R.E., Lehner B., Malcolm T.R., and Ricketts T.H. Global mapping of ecosystem services and conservation priorities. Proc Natl Acad Sci 105 (2008) 9495-9500
8. Corbera E., Kosoy N., and Martinez Tuna M. Equity implications of marketing ecosystem services in protected areas and rural communities: Case studies from Meso-America. Glob Environ Change - Human Policy Dimen 17 (2007) 365-380
9. Douglas E.M., Wood S., Sebastian K., Vörösmarty C.J., Chomitz K.M., and Tomich T.P. Policy implications of a pan-tropic assessment of the simultaneous hydrological and biodiversity impacts of deforestation. Water Resour Manag 21 (2007) 211-232
10. Pagiola S. Payments for environmental services in Costa Rica. Ecol Econ 65 (2008) 712-724
11. Southgate D., and Wunder S. Paying for watershed services in Latin America: a review of current initiatives. J Sustain Forest 28 (2009) 497-524
12. Tallis H., Kareiva P., Marvier M., and Chang A. An ecosystem services framework to support both practical conservation and economic development. Proc Natl Acad Sci 105 (2008) 9457-9464
13. Chomitz K.M., and Kumari K. The domestic benefits of tropical forests: a critical review. World Bank Res Observ 13 (1998) 13-35. This is the first rigorous review of the interdisciplinary literature on economic valuation of forest ecosystem services, including hydrological services. The authors point out the oversimplifications involved in the notion of forests as 'sponges', errors in attributing certain benefits (such as soil fertility) to forests, and the variation in economic values observed in the literature.
14. Dixon JA: Analysis and management of watersheds. In The Environment and Emerging Development Issues: Volume 2. In: Dasgupta P, Mäler K-G (Eds): Clarendon Press; 1997:371-398. UNU/WIDER Studies in Development Economics.
15. Krieger D.J. Economic Value of Forest Ecosystem Services: A Review (2001), The Wilderness Society, Washington, DC p. 30
16. Brauman K.A., Daily G.C., Duarte T.K., and Mooney H.A. The nature and value of ecosystem services: an overview highlighting hydrologic services. Annu Rev Environ Resour 32 (2007) 67-98
17. Bishop J, Landell-Mills N: Forest environmental services: An overview. In Selling Forest Environmental Services: Market-based Mechanisms for Conservation and Development. In: Pagiola S, Bishop J, Landell-Mills N (Eds): Earthscan; 2002:15-36.
18. Lélé S., and Venkatachalam L. Assessing the socio-economic impact of changes in forest cover on watershed services. In: Krishnaswamy J., Lélé S., and Jayakumar R. (Eds). Hydrology and Watershed Services in the Western Ghats of India (2006), Tata McGraw-Hill 215-248
19. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: Ecosystems and Human Well-being. Washington, D.C.: Island Press; 2005.
20. Fisher B., Turner R.K., and Morling P. Defining and classifying ecosystem services for decision making. Ecol Econ 68 (2009) 643-653. The authors provide a rigorous taxonomy and conceptual framework for thinking about ecosystem services.
21. Aylward B. Towards watershed science that matters. Hydrol Process 19 (2005) 2643-2647
22. Chan K.M.A., Shaw M.R., Cameron D.R., Underwood E.C., and Daily G.C. Conservation planning for ecosystem services. PLOS Biol 4 (2006) 2138-2152
23. Bruijnzeel L.A. Hydrological functions of tropical forests: not seeing the soil for the trees?. Agric Ecosyst Environ 104 (2004) 185-228. This is the most comprehensive and detailed review till date of the multiple dimensions of the research on the forest cover-hydrological process linkage, although with a slight bias towards the southeast Asian literature.
24. Vanclay J.K. Managing water use from forest plantations. Forest Ecol Manag 257 (2009) 385-389
25. van Dijk A.I.J.M., and Keenan R.J. Planted forests and water in perspective. Forest Ecol Manag 251 (2007) 1-9
26. Sun G., Zhou G.Y., Zhang Z.Q., Wei X.H., McNulty S.G., and Vose J.M. Potential water yield reduction due to forestation across China. J Hydrol 328 (2006) 548-558
27. Tanaka N., Kume T., Yoshifuji N., Tanaka K., Takizawa H., Shiraki K., Tantasirin C., Tangtham N., and Suzuki M. A review of evapotranspiration estimates from tropical forests in Thailand and adjacent regions. Agric Forest Meteor 148 (2008) 807-819. This is a detailed review of recent advances in estimating evapotranspiration - a major unknown in most forest hydrological studies - from tropical forests in southeast Asia.
28. Makarieva A.M., and Gorshkov V.G. Biotic pump of atmospheric moisture as driver of the hydrological cycle on land. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 11 (2007) 1013-1033
29. Pielke R.A., Adegoke J., Beltran-Przekurat A., Hiemstra C.A., Lin J., Nair U.S., Niyogi D., and Nobis T.E. An overview of regional land-use and land-cover impacts on rainfall. Tellus Series B-Chem Phys Meteor 59 (2007) 587-601
30. van der Molen M.K., Dolman A.J., Waterloo M.J., and Bruijnzeel L.A. Climate is affected more by maritime than by continental land use change: a multiple scale analysis. Glob Planet Change 54 (2006) 128-149
31. Lélé S, Vaidyanathan J, Hegde S, Venkatesh B, Krishnaswamy J: Influence of forest cover change on watershed functions in the Western Ghats: A coarse-scale analysis. Project report submitted to UNESCO Man & Biosphere Programme. Bangalore: Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Environment and Development; 2007.
32. Wei X.H., Sun G., Liu S.R., Jiang H., Zhou G.Y., and Dai L.M. The forest-streamflow relationship in China: A 40-year retrospect. J Am Water Resour Assoc 44 (2008) 1076-1085
33. Locatelli B., and Vignola R. Managing watershed services of tropical forests and plantations: Can meta-analyses help?. Forest Ecol Manag 258 (2009) 1864-1870
34. Ilstedt U., Malmer A., Verbeeten E., and Murdiyarso D. The effect of afforestation on water infiltration in the tropics: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Forest Ecol Manag 251 (2007) 45-51. This review covers both English and French studies on infiltration in tropical forests-an understudied issue. From 14 studies that meet the authors' criteria of rigour, they find an approximately 3-fold increase in infiltration rates after afforestation. The review also points to the weaknesses of research design and statistical analysis in the excluded studies.
35. Bradshaw C.J.A., Sodhi N.S., Peh K.S.H., and Brook B.W. Global evidence that deforestation amplifies flood risk and severity in the developing world. Glob Change Biol 13 (2007) 2379-2395
36. van Dijk A, van Noordwijk M, CaldeR IR, Bruijnzeel SLA, Schellekens J, Chappell NA, Forest-flood relation still tenuous - comment on 'Global evidence that deforestation amplifies flood risk and severity in the developing world' by C. J. A. Bradshaw, NS Sodi, K. S.-H. Peh and BW Brook. Glob Change Biol 2009, 15:110-115.
37. Zhao B., Kreuter U., Li B., Ma Z., Chen J., and Nakagoshi N. An ecosystem service value assessment of land-use change on Chongming Island, China. Land Use Policy 21 (2004) 139-148
38. Viglizzo E.F., and Frank F.C. Land-use options for Del Plata Basin in South America: tradeoffs analysis based on ecosystem service provision. Ecol Econ 57 (2006) 140-151
39. Martínez M.L., Pérez-Maqueo O., Vázquez G., Castillo-Campos G., García-Franco J., Mehltreter K., Equihua M., and Landgrave R. Effects of land use change on biodiversity and ecosystem services in tropical montane cloud forests of Mexico. Forest Ecology and Management 258 (2009) 1856-1863
40. Vincent JR, Kaosa-ard M, Worachai L, Azumi EY, Tangtham N, Rala AB: The Economics of Watershed Protection: A Case Study of Mae Taeng. MANRES Project Report. Bangkok: Natural Resources and Environment Program, Thailand Development Research Institute; 1995. This is the earliest rigorous and interdisciplinary study of the downstream economic implications of hydrological (as against soil erosion) changes induced by replacement of natural tropical forest with pine plantations. It unambiguously shows a decline in streamflow as a result of afforestation with pine, and estimates the economic impacts on urban and agricultural water users.
41. Núñez D., Nahuelhual L., and Oyarzún C. Forests and water: the value of native temperate forests in supplying water for human consumption. Ecol Econ 58 (2006) 606-616
42. Aylward B, Echevarria J, Fernandez González A, Porras I, Allen K, Mejías R, Economic incentives for watershed protection: A case study of Lake Arenal, Costa Rica. CREED Final Report. London: IIED; 1998. This is perhaps the first integrated environmental economic assessment to point to the possibility of increased streamflow from forest conversion to pasture compensating for increased sediment from such conversion.
43. Pattanayak S. Valuing watershed services: concepts and empirics from southeast Asia. Agric Ecosyst Environ 104 (2004) 171-184
44. van Beukering P.J.H., Cesar H.S.J., and Janssen M.A. Economic valuation of the Leuser National Park on Sumatra, Indonesia. Ecol Econ 44 (2003) 43-62. This is one of the few studies that attempt to examine the integrated impact of forest cover change on several ecosystem services, disaggregated by stakeholders and thereby usefully demonstrating the tradeoffs that exist.
45. Barkmann J., Glenk K., Keil A., Leemhuis C., Dietrich N., Gerold G., and Marggraf R. Confronting unfamiliarity with ecosystem functions: the case for an ecosystem service approach to environmental valuation with stated preference methods. Ecol Econ 65 (2008) 48-62
46. Lélé S, Patil I, Badiger S, Menon A, Kumar R: The Economic Impact of Forest Hydrological Services on Local Communities: A Case Study from the Western Ghats of India. SANDEE Working Paper 36-08. Kathmandu: South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics; 2008. This is one of the few interdisciplinary studies that point to the possibility of 'dis-service' from forest regeneration that may result in specific contexts, in this case because irrigation depends upon early runoff from the forested catchment. It also shows the importance of investigating the 'agro-hydrology' that links the catchment to the downstream agricultural economy.
47. Lélé S., Srinivasan V., and Bawa K.S. Returns to investment in conservation: disaggregated benefit-cost analysis of the creation of a Wildlife Sanctuary. In: Ganeshaiah K.N., Shaanker R.U., and Bawa K.S. (Eds). Proceedings of the International Conference on Tropical Ecosystems: Structure, Diversity and Human Welfare. Oxford-IBH Publishing Co. (2001) 31-33
48. Sukhdev P. The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity: An Interim Report (2008), European Community, Brussels
49. O'Farrell P.J., Donaldson J.S., and Hoffman M.T. Local benefits of retaining natural vegetation for soil retention and hydrological services. South Afr J Bot 75 (2009) 573-583
50. Kramer R.A., Richter D.D., Pattanayak S., and Sharma N.P. Ecological and economic analysis of watershed protection in Eastern Madagascar. J Environ Manag 49 (1997) 277-295. This is an integrated analysis of the possible flood control benefits from forest conservation, using time-series data on forest cover (from remote sensing) and on streamflow at two scales.
51. In: Kadekodi G.K., Murthy K.S.R., and Kumar K. (Eds). Water in Kumaon: Ecology, Value and Rights Almora (2000), G B Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment & Development
52. Hodgson G, Dixon JA: Logging versus fisheries and tourism in Palawan: An environmental and economic analysis. East-West Environment and Policy Institute Occasional Paper 7. Honolulu: East-West Center; 1988.
53. Kumari K, An Environmental and Economic Assessment of Forest Management Options: A Case study in Malaysia. Environment Department Papers 026. Washington, D.C: The World Bank; 1995.
54. Shahwahid M.H.O., Awang Noor A.G., Abdul Rahim N., Zulkifli Y., and Razani U. Trade-offs between competing uses of a Malaysian forested catchments [sic]. Environ Dev Econ 4 (1999) 279-311
55. Kaiser B., and Roumasset J. Valuing indirect ecosystem services: the case of tropical watersheds. Environ Dev Econ 7 (2002) 701-714
56. Pattanayak S.K., and Kramer R.A. Worth of watersheds: a producer surplus approach for valuing drought mitigation in Eastern Indonesia. Environ Dev Econ 6 (2001) 123-146. Using data from a survey of large sample of farmers across 37 micro-watersheds, this integrated ecological-economic study clearly demonstrates that increased forest cover in this region leads to increased baseflow that in turn is significantly correlated with increased returns from agriculture.
57. Pattanayak S.K., and Kramer R.A. Pricing ecological services: willingness to pay for drought mitigation from watershed protection in eastern Indonesia. Water Resour Res 37 (2001) 771-778
58. Pattanayak S.K., and Wendland K.J. Nature's care: diarrhea, watershed protection, and biodiversity conservation in Flores, Indonesia. Biodivers Conserv 16 (2007) 2801-2819
59. Bernard F., de Groot R.S., and Campos J.J. Valuation of tropical forest services and mechanisms to finance their conservation and sustainable use: a case study of Tapantí National Park Costa Rica. Forest Policy Econ 11 (2009) 174-183
60. Quintero M., Wunder S., and Estrada R.D. For services rendered? Modeling hydrology and livelihoods in Andean payments for environmental services schemes. Forest Ecol Manag 258 (2009) 1871-1880
61. Guo Z.W., Xiao X.M., and Li D.M. An assessment of ecosystem services: water flow regulation and hydroelectric power production. Ecol Appl 10 (2000) 925-936
62. Guo Z., Xiao X., Gan Y., and Zheng Y. Ecosystem functions, services and their values-a case study in Xingshan County of China. Ecol Econ 38 (2001) 141-154
63. Croitoru L. How much are Mediterranean forests worth?. Forest Policy Econ 9 (2007) 536-545