HydroServ
Vulnerability of hydrological ecosystem services: Integrative analysis under changes of climate and socio-economy with an emphasis on adaption
Climate change as well as growing socio-economic pressures are expected to have a strong impact on the hydrological cycle. Political decisions entail changes in land use and land cover, which directly affect the provision of hydrologic ecosystem services (HES). In order to secure HES provision, regional stakeholders need to develop adaption and mitigation strategies. The project aims at a better understanding of the full value chain of HES.
In cooperation with the UNESCO Biosphere Entlebuch an interdisciplinary team of researchers from the ETH Zurich, IDHEAP Lausanne, and the University of Bayreuth are working on this project. This project is part of the NRP 61 «Sustainable water management».
An integrative framework combines the hydrological, ecological, and economic aspects of the water resource supply chain and portrays these in various scenarios and different time steps to close the feedback loop between land use, hydrology, and HES.
These results constitute first steps in the development of the framework designed to assist policy makers in their decision-making through the design of innovative instruments for the public and private sectors and institutional regulations, which will be required to respond to the anticipated changes while preserving a balance between demand and supply of HES.
An integrative framework combines the hydrological, ecological, and economic aspects of the water resource supply chain and portrays these in various scenarios and different time steps to close the feedback loop between land use, hydrology, and HES.
- Better understanding of the HES flows and trade-offs
- Economic valuation of HES as well as differences in stakeholders’ readiness to assume risk
- Model of the feedback loop between land use practices and ecohydrology under changing climate and socio-economic conditions integrating HES and their economic value
- Land use model including the analysis of the decision making processes
- Innovative policy instruments elaborated for the study area
Project data
Involved People
Prof. Dr. Adrienne Grêt-Regamey
Andrea Ryffel
Enrico Celio
In collaboration with:
Institute of Environmental Engineering (ETHZ)
Institute of Terrestrial Ecosystems
Chair of Forest Ecology (ETHZ)
Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration
Chair “Public Policies & Sustainability” (IDHEAP)
Professorship of Ecological Services
(University of Bayreuth)
Duration
04.2010 - 03.2013