Ecosystems Services

Purpose – This article examines peer-to-peer sharing platform business models, their sources of competitive advantage, and the roles, motivations, and behaviors of key actors in their ecosystems.
Design/methodology/approach – This paper uses a conceptual approach that is rooted in the service, tourism and hospitality, and strategy literature.
Findings – First, this paper defines key types of platform business models in the sharing economy and describes their characteristics. In particular, we propose the differentiation between sharing platforms of capacity-constrained versus capacity-unconstrained assets and advance five core properties of the former. Second, we contrast platform business models with their pipeline business model counterparts to understand the fundamental differences between them. One important conclusion is that platforms cater to vastly more heterogeneous assets and consumer needs, and therefore, require liquidity and analytics for high quality matching. Third, we examine the competitive position of platforms and conclude that their widely taken “winner takes it all” assumption is not valid. Primary network effects are less important once a critical level of liquidity has been reached and may even turn negative if increased listings raise friction in the form of search costs. Once a critical level of liquidity has been reached, a platform’s competitive position depends on stakeholder trust and service provider and user loyalty. Fourth, we integrate and synthesize the literature on key platform stakeholders of platform businesses (i.e. users, service providers, and regulators) and their roles and motivations. Finally, directions for further research are advanced.
Practical implications – This article helps platform owners, service providers, and users understand better the implications of sharing platform business models and how to position themselves in such ecosystems.
Originality/value – This article integrates the extant literature on sharing platforms, takes a novel approach in delineating their key properties and dimensions, and provides insights into the evolving and dynamic forms of sharing platforms including converging business models.

Actions directed at saving the remaining natural resources, be it forests, biodiversity, or
whole ecosystems should be expected to increase as levels of environmental degradation increase. This expectation is consistent with the comment of Dudley et al(1999) that there is an excellent outlook for protected area increases; and with information indicating that since 1962 protection of public areas has increased tenfold(Molnar 2005). For example, most countries have already protected or are planning to protect a percentage of their resource base, and pressures from NGOs seeking maximum protection are right now strong. Conservation International reports that in 2005 it has projects in 40 countries(Seligmann 2005). Also, the conflict between social goals and preservation goals should be expected to increase as the levels of natural resources available for traditional social uses decrease. For example, as environmental stakeholders press for more resource protection, social stakeholders will press for their right to exploit their available resources, especially, sustainably. This should not be a surprise as the conflict between conservation and the people or communities affected by it is known(Wright1996; Stolton and Dudley 1999) and it is now more widely recognized(Molnar 2005).

In order to assess environmental impacts from tourism in the Wulingyuan Scenic Area, China more thoroughly, this study complemented conventional environmental impact assessments (EIAs) with ecosystem service valuation (ESV). It did so by assessing changes in ecosystem services (ESs) and their values, based on changes in environmental components already assessed by existing conventional EIAs. The ESV method was benefit transfer. Tourism can enhance aesthetic and recreational ESs, but some existing damage to vegetation reduced ES value by $1.2 million/yr in the worst situations. While reforestation that generates ES value at $1.8 million/ yr can offset the damage, the cost of existing population decline of macaque monkeys was $728 million in 2010. Potential land encroachment would cause permanent and temporary environmental costs at $0.5 million/yr and $0.09 million/yr, respectively. Nevertheless, potentially artificial soil treatment system would increase ES values by $0.25 million/yr. Surface runoff and waste gas have negligible impacts. While complementing conventional EIAs with ESV has limitations, doing so can assess environmental impacts more comprehensively, link environmental impacts to human wellbeing, and improve information. Sustainable tourism requires conserving biodiversity and culturally valuable ecosystems.

By their biophysical conditions, tropical forests have a large ability to provide
ecosystem services. The Paranaense Forest, one of the most threatened tropical
rainforests of South America, has now reached 1,200,000 has., mainly preserved in
Argentina and to a lesser extent in Brazil and Paraguay. This work aims to analyze
the loss of regulation services from the assessment of the deforestation process and
land use change between 2001 and 2011 in an Argentinean-Brazilian Binational
Basin, the San Antonio River Basin (SArB). The surface of the basin (117,348 has.),
which is part of the Iguazú River, is distributed similarly in both countries. However,
the classification of satellite images (Landsat 5 TM sensor) reveals that, in 2011,
Argentina retains 61.7% of forested areas prevailing regulatory services, while Brazil
25%. Nevertheless, the average annual total deforestation (R) and the annual
change rate (q) in the period were significantly higher in the Argentinean sector (R:
8.143, q: 0.02) than in Brazil (R: 1.493, q: 0.01). The temperature data provided by
the satellite (band 6) indicate a direct relationship between lower temperatures and
the forest area, which coincides with the classification made. It is considered
essential to deepen the analysis of the links between the ability to provision
ecosystem services and social demands, as well as of the development of
methodologies for valuation services in border areas.
Keywords: regulation and supply services, deforestation and annual change rates,
border areas, integrated watershed management.

Achieving cleaner water for rural and suburban communities in a sustainable way requires approaches tailored to the unique socioeconomic, ecological, and historic contexts embedded in a particular community and place. Water quality trading (WQT) is a payment for ecosystem services style policy that is currently popular across North America as a mechanism to reduce water pollution from rural communities. Yet this approach is failing to generate markets with enough trades to measurably improve waterways. Some failures are attributed to poor program design and others to stakeholder communities who are averse to the premise or morality of WQT. However, rural communities are not homogenous and many are in fact amenable to payment for ecosystem services policies such as WQT. Although our case study identified Tennessee watersheds as "feasible" locations , we present evidence that the typical program design parameters would fail, despite having a willing population of farmers. We argue that identifying amenable communities or feasible locations simplifies the agency of stakeholders and is ultimately insufficient to make ecosystem services programs work unless the design and implementation phases of the programs include local stakeholders. [water quality, agriculture, payment for ecosystem services, policy, economics]

This paper has the aim to analyze the implications of the transition of ecosystem services based on
urban agro ecology. It advances on the debate over the negative effects of the traditional and industrial
oriented agricultural production on the ecosystem services, food systems, climate change, etc. and
analysesthe principles, methods, and some practicesthatsupport the transition to urban agro ecology.
The method employed is the analytical of the theoretical and empirical literature review. It concludes
that a transition from traditional and industrial-oriented agriculture towards more urban agro ecology
isinevitable to improve the ecological and environmentalservices, the economic efficiency, the social
equity and justice, and the environmental sustainability of cities.

This report summarises key results of the INCA project. INCA delivered an integrated system of ecosystem accounts for the EU. The report provides an introduction to ecosystem accounting and presents ecosystem extent accounts, initial ecosystem condition accounts and ecosystem services accounts for EU28, before the withdrawal of the UK. The report shows practical examples of possible uses of ecosystem services accounts and existing policy applications. The report is intended for a broad audience — policy makers, researchers, compilers of ecosystem accounts and other expert and non-expert users who wish to learn how ecosystems and their services support our society, what changes in ecosystems and ecosystem services took place in the EU in the past couple of decades and how all this can be measured in a standardised and comparable way.

Birds are one of the most diverse groups of ecosystem
service providers, whose ecological functions range
from creating soil to shaping primate behavior, Nevertheless,
the impression that birds have little influence on
ecological processes has been hard to change. Given the
ongoing declines in avian functional groups, there is a
pressing need to compare avian ecological functions to
those of other taxa, to understand how these functions
translate to ecosystem services and to estimate the
ecological implications of bird declines. Here, I review
the ecological functions of birds, link them to ecosystem
services and outline research priorities for understanding
avian contributions to ecosystem functioning.

Jayne Belnap (USA), Laura K. Brown (Canada), Ernesto Brugnoli (Uruguay), Jana E. Compton (USA), Richard H. Coupe (USA), Marcello Hernández-Blanco (Costa Rica), Forest Isbell (USA), Julie Lockwood (USA), Juan Pablo Lozoya Azcárate (Uruguay), David McGuire (USA), Anibal Pauchard (Chile), Ramon Pichs-Madruga (Cuba), Ricardo Ribeiro Rodrigues (Brazil), Gerardo Arturo Sanchez-Azofeifa (Costa Rica/Canada), Alvaro Soutullo (Uruguay), Avelino Suarez (Cuba), Elizabeth Troutt (Canada)

Protection of water catchment areas is becoming more critical given the rise in human populations and the high demand for water resources. The Mau Forest Complex, one of the major water towers in Kenya, is of both national and regional importance being the source of many rivers draining into Lakes Victoria, Baringo, Nakuru and Natron. In addition, the forest is a source of many ecosystem goods and services to communities living within and in the adjoining areas. However, high human population growth and the subsequent encroachment on the forest have  led to degradation of water resources . Plans to reverse the situation and restore disturbed areas are being put in place. However, lack of baseline data that can be used to assess the extent of disturbance and resistance by people occupying prohibited areas to move out are major hindrances. As a result forceful eviction of people from encroached areas has been conducted by government agencies undertaking the restoration. This command-and-control approach has not been received well by residents who have lived with the forest for a long time and whose traditional forest use practices have been carried out on a sustainable basis. This study investigates the effects of deforestation on water resources in the Sondu-Miriu River Basin by utilizing aquatic macroinvertebrate communities as indicators of water quality. At the same time data on community perspectives are presented by documenting how the community has been living with the forest, viz a vis its conservation and use. Responses in macroinvertebrate communities bear signals of perturbation arising from land use change from forestry to agriculture. The community members feel that these changes are not sustainable and should be halted. It is, thus, appropriate that participatory management approaches should be adopted in lieu  of the command-and-control approach whose outcomes have not proved  successful elsewhere.

Resumo: Os serviços ecossistêmicos (SE) são definidos como sendo todos os benefícios diretos e indiretos que a população humana obtém da natureza. Tanto o bem-estar, como a própria sobrevivência da nossa espécie, depende significativamente desses serviços que são fornecidos pela natureza. Esses ?SE? incluem a formação dos solos, o controle contra erosão, regulação do clima, o armazenamento de carbono, a ciclagem de nutrientes, o provimento de recursos hídricos em quantidade e qualidade, a manutenção do ciclo de chuvas, a proteção da biodiversidade, a proteção contra desastres naturais, elementos culturais, a beleza paisagística, a manutenção de recursos genéticos, entre muitos outros. Banhada pelos rios Paraná (ao Norte) e Paranapanema (ao Sul), Teodoro Sampaio também abriga o maior fragmento de Mata-Atlântica do interior do estado de São Paulo, responsável por refugiar diversas espécies animais e vegetais ameaçadas de extinção. Toda essa riqueza natural, confere ao município, importância fundamental no fornecimento e manutenção dos ?SE?, e por manter o equilíbrio ecológico na região. Estudos pretéritos demonstraram que o toda a região onde se localiza a área de estudos se encontra ambientalmente bastante fragilizada, em decorrência das características fisiográficas, associadas às atividades econômicas desenvolvidas no local (produção hidrelétrica, agropecuária extensiva e a expansão do agronegócio ligado às atividades do agrohidronegócio, associadas sobretudo, ao capital estrangeiro, na forma de neoextrativismo colonial. Algumas porções do estrato geográfico podem apresentar níveis maiores de fragilidade ou de susceptibilidade às intervenções antrópicas e, por isso, o objetivo do trabalho foi realizar um diagnóstico da fragilidade ambiental das áreas produtoras de serviços ecossistêmicos de suporte e provisão no interior da área de estudos. A Fragilidade Ambiental é o resultado da combinação entre a Fragilidade Potencial mais o Uso e Ocupação do Solo. Para realizar o mapeamento da fragilidade ambiental da área, utilizou-se as temáticas de geomorfologia, clima, pedologia e uso e ocupação da terra. Em cada variável desses mapas temáticos foram atribuídos os valores 1, 2 ou 3, correspondendo, respectivamente, ao grau de fraca, média ou forte fragilidade. Esses dados foram cruzados no formato raster com o mapa de uso e ocupação no mesmo formato, através de análise multicritério proporcionada pela ferramenta Weighted Sum Raster Overlay, no software Qgis 3.4, com peso de 50% para cada um dos mapas. O resultado foi o mapa de Fragilidade Ambiental, permite a identificação de níveis que variam de Muito Fraco, Fraco, Médio, Forte e Muito Forte quanto aos processos de erosão linear e, consequentemente, a incapacidade dos ecossistemas de fornecer bens e serviços necessários para o desenvolvimento da região.


Abstract: Ecosystem services (ES) are defined as all the direct and indirect benefits that the human population obtains from nature. Both the well-being and the very survival of our species depend significantly on those services that are provided by nature. These 'ES' include soil formation, erosion control, climate regulation, carbon storage, nutrient cycling, the provision of water resources in quantity and quality, rain cycle maintenance, biodiversity protection, protection against natural disasters, cultural elements, landscape beauty, maintenance of genetic resources, among many others. Bathed in the Paraná (North) and Paranapanema (South) rivers, the city of Teodoro Sampaio is also home to the largest Atlantic Forest fragment in the interior of the state of São Paulo, responsible for taking refuge in several endangered animal and plant species. All this natural wealth gives the municipality fundamental importance in the supply and maintenance of the 'SE', and for maintaining the ecological balance in the region. Previous studies have shown that the entire region where the area of studies is located is environmentally quite fragile, due to the physiographic characteristics, associated with the economic activities developed on site (hydroelectric production, extensive agriculture and the expansion of agribusiness linked to sugar and alcohol activities associated, especially with foreign capital, in the form of "colonial neoextractivism". Some parts of the geographic stratum may present higher levels of fragility or susceptibility to anthropic interventions and, therefore, the objective of the work was to make a diagnosis of environmental fragility of the areas producing ecological support services and provision within the area of studies. To map the environmental fragility of the area, geomorphology, climate, pedology and land use and occupation were used. In each variable, these thematic maps were assigned values 1, 2 or 3, corresponding, respectively, to the degree of weak, medium or strong fragility. These data were crossed in the raster format with the map of use and occupation in the same format, through multicriteria analysis provided by the weight overlay tool, in the Qgis 3.4 software, with a weight of 50% for each of the maps. The result was the Environmental Fragility map, allowing the identification of levels ranging from Very Weak, Weak, Medium, Strong and Very Strong regarding linear erosion processes and, consequently, the inability of ecosystems to provide goods and services necessary for the development of the region.

Natural vegetation is important for ecosystem services (ESs) provision, but is decreasing rapidly due to human-driven land use change, especially rapid expansion of commercial plantations. This is leading to a decrease in ESs provision, so measures are urgently needed to protect natural vegetation. Human activities, especially commercial plantations, can also lead to differences in vegetation types and associated ESs provision. This feature varies with altitude, an issue which has received insufficient attention. In this study, four ESs relevant to stakeholders (carbon storage, nitrogen export, sediment retention and water yield) were assessed. InVEST models and statistical methods (ANOVA; exploratory hierarchical clustering) were used to analyse: 1) similarities/differences in ESs provision between different vegetation types and 2) spatial differences in ESs in different altitude zones in the Xishuangbanna region of China. The results showed that vegetation types in Xishuangbanna and their ESs supply capacity differed markedly, with the overall ESs supply capacity of natural forests exceeding that of commercial plantations. Promotion of mixed organic agriculture can be a balanced measure to secure future economic development and ecological protection. This study can act as reference for vegetation protection in other areas within and beyond China.

The infusion of data-driven services in manufacturing provides new opportunities for long-term competitive advantage; however, it also poses new challenges and entails tradeoffs among strategic options. Digital servitization changes intra-firm processes and customer relationships as well as overall ecosystem dynamics. Drawing on an extensive study of ABB Marine & Ports, a market-leading systems integrator, the concept of digital servitization is examined by analyzing its key characteristics, including opportunities and challenges for manufacturers. The resource integration patterns that connect actors and the dual role of technology in both increasing resource integration complexity and in facilitating the coordination of complexity are discussed. Advancing digital servitization requires fostering service-centricity and executing strategic change initiatives for both the internal organization and the broader ecosystem. Firms must undertake three interlinked changes: (1) digital, (2) organizational, and (3) ecosystem transformations. In addition to contributing to the service literature, these findings provide actionable insights for managers.

There is an urgent need to address interlinked sustainability issues in a world challenged by inequality, finite resources and unprecedented changes across Earth’s systems. As Future Earth Fellows, based on our collective expertise in a diverse range of sustainability issues, here we identify a specific need to recognise and respond appropriately to the nexus between human health and wellbeing, urbanisation, and ecosystem services (the ‘WUE nexus’). This nexus is a priority area for research, policy and practice. In particular, it provides a useful pathway to meet the challenges of successful implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this brief, we present the following policy recommendations: 1. By emphasising urban-rural linkages, foster an integrated approach to ensure food security, food safety, and health promotion; 2. Secure resilient livelihoods for all, in particular for vulnerable groups; and 3. Integrate co-production of knowledge in science for decisi...

Jayne Belnap (USA), Laura K. Brown (Canada), Ernesto Brugnoli (Uruguay), Jana E. Compton (USA), Richard H. Coupe (USA), Marcello Hernández-Blanco (Costa Rica), Forest Isbell (USA), Julie Lockwood (USA), Juan Pablo Lozoya Azcárate (Uruguay), David McGuire (USA), Anibal Pauchard (Chile), Ramon Pichs-Madruga (Cuba), Ricardo Ribeiro Rodrigues (Brazil), Gerardo Arturo Sanchez-Azofeifa (Costa Rica/Canada), Alvaro Soutullo (Uruguay), Avelino Suarez (Cuba), Elizabeth Troutt (Canada)

The digital payments sector of India has matured at a magnifying rate during the last decade fostered by the evolution of paperless payment mechanisms such as UPI, BHIM, E-wallets, mobile banking, etc. The volume and value of Digital payments transactions in India in the last 5 years have comprehensively flourished at a CAGR of 61% and 19% respectively. While heading towards the digital path is not new for the Indian economy, the Covid-19 pandemic, however, has spurred the acceptance and usage of digital technologies. This study makes an effort to interpret the trends in the Indian Digital Payments Ecosystem during the covid era. NEFT, RTGS, UPI, BHIM, IMPS & Card payments have been used as benchmark measures to analyze the adoption and usage of digital payments during the covid era.

Birds’ ecological functions cover a wide spectrum, from creating soil to shaping primate behavior, and many species play key ecological roles, such as decomposition, predation, pollination, nutrient deposition, and seed dispersal. From an ecosystem functional perspective, birds are mobile links that are crucial for maintaining ecosystem function, memory, and resilience. The three main types of mobile links, genetic, process, and resource linkers, encompass all major avian ecosystem services. Rapid losses of tropical bird species may cause substantial reductions in certain ecosystem processes before we have time to study and understand the underlying mechanisms.

At the end of 19 th century, the removal of city walls and introduction of mass transport in European cities provided the opportunity to expand cities in green suburban areas. Colonies of small houses with garden plots and allotment gardens developed during this era thus represent a new type of settlement, where green infrastructure (gardens) and allotment dwellings are closely intertwined. The gardens in these settlements were originally based on the notion of subsistence economy, providing food and emergency accommodation in periods of crisis. This paper examines the evolution of allotments and particularly allotment dwellings in Germany and Austria by matching the actual practices of gardeners with the formation of and changes in the legal framework. The legislation and zoning regulations, which were predominantly established after the fact, reveal an ongoing process of negotiation between informal practices and planning authorities.

Ecological economics was formally established in 1989 with the ambitious vision of developing a new economic paradigm embedding the social and economic systems in the biophysical world. Ecological economics had its roots in the biophysical understanding of economics that pioneers of the field Georgescu-Roegen (1971), Odum (1971), Daly (1977), Jansson (1984), Martinez-Alier (1987) and others developed while studying the thermodynamic bedrocks shared by natural and social systems. Subsequently, however, ecological economics has explicitly but controversially adopted a ‘big umbrella’ approach to methodological pluralism, focusing more on topics such as valuing nature and its functions rather than attempting to understand and quantify the biophysical roots of economic activities. Biophysical economics was established in response to these concerns, focusing more on developing analyses and models of the transformations of nature to generate wealth and approached mostly from an energy and material flows perspective. The present paper argues that to achieve its original vision ecological economics must return to its biophysical roots. Collaboration between the two fields will help the next generation of thinkers to address the socio ecological challenges of the 21st century requiring an energy transformation called for by aspirations such as the Green New Deal and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The aim of this chapter is to assess evidence of the status and trends of the drivers that affect biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people. There are three wider categories of nature’s contributions to people: regulating, material and non-material contributions, that are similar to, but not identical to classifications of ecosystem services (see Chapter 1). Ecosystems are dynamic interacting networks of animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms, above and below ground and water-surfaces. These biodiverse networks of interacting organisms respond to a set of environmental factors such as climate, soil, or water conditions. Social-ecological systems also include human activities (direct drivers) that modify almost all of these ecosystem interactions and environmental factors, and the underlying societal (indirect) drivers of these activities. It is thus important to understand the status and trends of the direct and indirect drivers that affect biodiversity, including ecosystems and, thereby, affect nature’s contributions to people.

This opinion paper asks: Could civilization as we know it be fed directly from wild nature, substituting livestock for wildlife as a food source? A diversity of herbivores, hunted in the wild could act as a large-scale sustainable food supply, solving a host of secondary problems by swapping huge areas of monocultural fodder-crop fields for wild ecosystems. Dubbed the wild food-system (WFS)-hypothesis this novel form of land use, is approached as a potential alternative to the modern widespread systems of meat production. The technique is comparable to sustainable fishing on land. If proven sustainable and productive, WFS holds the potential of restoring enormous areas of farmland back into wild ecosystems. This could redefine the terms of land- distribution and be a gamechanger in biodiversity conservation, food security and carbon sequestration. In order to work, obviously, WFS would need to be sufficiently providing. Crucially, a new body of literature show that wild ecosystems until around the rise of agriculture might have supported wildlife in quantities and densities far higher than today. The “agricultural densities” of wildlife s rested on extirpated ecological functions that may be revived by active restoration and rewilding. This paper estimates the productivity of WFS from several anges: There are cases of productive and sustainable utilization of wildlife as food source on intermediate scale, indicating WFS could be possible. Furthermore, the defining traits of wild plant communities seem to boost net productivity and stability compared to agricultural plant communities. It is estimated that maximum sustainable yield for a wild food-system in Northern Europe roughly equates the yield/area in extensive livestock farming. It is concluded that by adhering to key ecological rules, the output of WFS could possibly be generous yet completely sustainable. Will WFS work? There are grounds to warrant further discussion and analysis of WFS´ potential, but lack of empirical data leaves the question open.

Studies in mangrove ecosystem are often focused on biological or ecological criteria and interdependency between mangroves and people is normally neglected. The situation is similar in Tamil Nadu; India which has a coastline of about 950 km. One of the major mangrove forests in Tamil Nadu is situated in Pichavaram, Cuddalore district. The present study was carried out in the seventeen hamlets, which are directly or indirectly dependent on the Pichavaram mangrove wetlands for their livelihood and survival. These seventeen hamlets consist of over 2600 households many of whom derive their principal income from fishing and related activities. Individual surveys were carried out for 10% of the households in each of the selected hamlets. Semi-structured questionnaires were used for surveys to study the attitude and perception of the community on the conservation and importance of mangrove wetlands and resources. The study was conducted to assess the awareness, attitudes and views of people dependent on the mangrove ecosystem towards conservation issues and development options. It was observed that a large percentage of the sampled population showed a positive inclination towards conservation of the ecosystem and were well aware of their responsibility towards it.

La ecología funcional es una aproximación a la comprensión de los procesos
ecológicos en los ecosistemas, el ensamblaje de las comunidades biológicas y la
evaluación de la vulnerabilidad frente a motores de cambio global, y aunque ha
sido muy utilizada para responder estas preguntas biológicas, el conocimiento
que genera puede y debe ser proyectado en la gestión integral de la biodiversidad
abordando problemáticas tan variadas como la identificación de áreas prioritarias
para la conservación, el manejo de las invasiones biológicas y la provisión de servicios
ecosistémicos –algunas de las preguntas orientadoras relacionadas se encuentran
resumidas en la Caja 1. Se han identificado cuatro grandes áreas de gestión de la
biodiversidad para las cuales la ecología funcional aporta información relevante y
que orientan la construcción de este capítulo.

En este momento Colombia tiene un gran reto frente a la polinización puesto que es uno de los países más biodiversos del mundo, lo que hace que se genere una relación estrecha de polinización entre muchas plantas y polinizadores. Esa relación tan estrecha entre las plantas con sus polinizadores hace que tengamos ecosistemas saludables que generan así bienestar humano a través de las contribuciones de la naturaleza.
Colombia es un país eminentemente agrícola, con cultivos de pancoger hasta cultivos tecnificados. En las distintas regiones agroecológicas del país se cultivan ají, algodón, berenjena, cacao, café, calabaza, caucho, cebolla, especies maderables, flores, diversos frutales, fríjoles, hortalizas, maíz, melón, mijo, ñame, pastos, pepino, pimiento, plátano, sandía, sorgo, yuca, zapallo, entre muchos otros. Cultivos tecnificados como aguacate, banano, café, cacao, caña de azúcar, limón, mandarina, naranja, palma aceitera, papa, soya, tomate. Acerca de estos cultivos se tiene mucha información sobre sus técnicas de manejo, requisitos agronómicos, control de plagas, técnicas de cosecha y postcosecha, quizás algo de la biología floral y la fructificación, pero poco acerca de sus agentes polinizadores y el proceso de polinización. Generalmente se usa Apis mellifera para cubrir esas necesidades, pero sin mayor información de cuáles son los polinizadores más efectivos para los diversos cultivos.
La necesidad de producción de alimentos para una población humana en permanente crecimiento, generó la intensificación agrícola (monocultivos), llevando a la disminución de la diversidad vegetal, incrementando el uso de agroquímicos, simplificando los paisajes y los hábitats locales y causando también la disminución de la diversidad de polinizadores.

We live in a world of hyperconnectivity with systems that connect people and things embedded in people’s lives, in themselves nested within societal living and the ecology of our planet.  As a service researcher, we need to interrogate the paradigmatic assumptions and consider the worldviews for conducting good service research. After such endeavours, we propose that service ecosystem is a timely worldview needed for service research for a connected, digital and data-driven economy. Service ecosystem allows the clarification of interactions not merely between actors, but within a system and between systems. This “ecosystem” view can provide a framework for studying wider systems, or the interaction and value co-creation among multiple service systems (Vargo and Lusch, 2011b).  The paper also demonstrates the need to apply service ecosystem worldview in such research areas as: (1) an increasingly-connected world; (2) designing future “Things”; and (3) the data economy.

The Niger Delta region of Nigeria is faced with a number of environmental problems. These problems are gas flaring, oil spillage and ecosystems pollution and result from major oil and gas activities as well as the activities of groups or individual members of the Niger Delta communities. The Niger Delta contributes massively to economic and financial development of Nigeria through oil and gas production and ecosystems services, but receives little or no tangible benefit from the oil production. In an attempt to tackle these multi-faceted environmental pollutions and problems, the Nigerian federal government established environmental regulations and institutions. In 1991, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) established guideline and standards for the petroleum industry- EGASPIN to regulate the activities of the oil and gas companies in the Niger Delta. Also in 1992, the Nigerian government established an environmental regulatory framework in the form environmental impact assessment (EIA) to regulate developmental projects and to ensure sustainable development. The Nigerian Federal Ministry of Environment (FMENV) has been charged with the responsibility of enforcing, monitoring and implementing the environmental regulatory framework. Despite all these efforts, environmental pollution and non-compliance to the environmental laws in the Niger Delta persist.
This study has been undertaken to assess the state of environmental monitoring in the Niger Delta, by assessing the data deficiencies and needs that are required to be fed into environmental monitoring systems and to advice on improving the monitoring system.
This study adopts INDICAMP and Stakeholder Analysis as the methodologies to analyse the generated data. The data are generated through the methods of interviews conduction, questionnaires administration, literature review of existing work and stakeholder mapping.
The analysis of the results of this study reveals that there are host of factors militating against the effectiveness of environmental monitoring in the Niger Delta. These factors include administrative conflicts amongst the government agencies, poor funding of the agencies, poor quality of available information and poor communication of information on the state of the Niger Delta environment. And this study recommends appropriate funding of the agencies, enhancing information system for effective communication of information amongst agencies, further expanding and developing the staffs of the agencies and, last but not the least adopting a holistic framework for environmental monitoring as designed by USEPA 1992 in all the agencies, as the ways to improve environmental monitoring in the Niger Delta.
In conclusion, this study establishes that environmental monitoring in the Niger Delta currently does not have an effective communication system to disseminate information on the state of the environment to the necessary stakeholders. The environmental monitoring system does not have a specific and comprehensive mode of operation and adopts uncoordinated standards for regulating the operations of the oil and gas companies, and there is data deficiency for environmental monitoring.

The on-going climatic variability and climate change is modifying the environment, farming practices, farmer’s income and overall livelihoods of Bangladesh people particularly crucial for southern coastal region. A study was conducted to capture the farmer’s perception about climate change, climatic variation, soil salinity, tidal water effect, other bio-physical factors and adaptation measures against the changing environments. Six FGD was conducted in different villages of Jhalokati, Pirojpur, Bagerhat and Satkhira district of Bangladesh where climate change effect is more critical. Available climatic and soil salinity data was collected from concerned organizations for evaluation. For collating agricultural adaptation options different agricultural research organization scientists was contacted along with communities own experience and innovation. Community members(both men and women) believe that climate is continuously changing,  creating unbearable heat wave round the year except in short winter period, rainfall is erratic and often excessive rainfall in a day/week, more cyclonic storm, higher tidal water pressure and increased water height in rivers, canal, increased soil and water salinity which causing loss of lives, crops, cultured fish, trees, livestock,  houses and other properties. Farmers also reported very limited natural fish availability, increased pest and diseases of crops and diversified health hazards for human.
Climatic data revealed that there was no trend in rainfall over the years but variability among the year is prominent. South central Patuakhali has more average rainfall having six months >200 mm rainfall (May-October) while November to March is mostly dry period. While for Mongla (Bagerhat) > 200 mm rainfall is for 4 months (June-September) and dry months are five (Nov-March). For Satkhira the far south-west of Bangladesh >200 mm rainfall is only for four months (June-Sept) and dry period is maximum six months (Nov-April). Thus rainfall gradually decreased from eastern part to western part. There was also no trend in maximum or minimum temperature but April-May was the hottest months and Nov-March is suitable for growing high value rabi crops along with boro rice planting in late January. Cultivable lands are becoming more saline over the years along which high degree of salinity where crop growth is limited. In rabi season most of the land still remains fallow following T.aman for different reasons, though there is agronomic potentiality to grow high value crops in this season. Farmers and businessmen have developed different innovative measure to cope with the changing environment, water level and salinity. Some are good without damaging ecosystems and food security such as mixed Gher where fish, shrimp, rice and vegetable is grown at a time but brackish water shrimp Gher is badly damaging the whole ecosystems rendering the small and marginal farmers poorer and diseased losing all other livelihood options mostly promoted by outsider big businessmen. Researchers of different research institutions have developed good number of saline and heat tolerant cultivars of different crops including boro rice, wheat, homestead vegetable model, tower system of vegetable production and dozens of other crops and agronomic techniques which minimize the effect of salinity, water logging and water stress. Ring slab set in tidally flooded crop field saves the brooding fish and fish fry from extinction. For adaptation and dissemination of climate smart agriculture recommendation has been suggested for selecting climate smart villages in coastal region.
Based on FGD and associated information for  haor area of Kishoreganj (central Bangladesh)  socio-agro-economic condition has been described along with technology options for improvement in agriculture sector