OpenNESS Glossary

This glossary was developed to provide some working definitions of terms related to ecosystem services and natural capital and their applications so that they could be 'tested' in the context of OpenNESS. The aim of OpenNESS is to operationalize the concepts of Ecosystem Services (ES) and Natural Capital (NC).

Ecosystems

Coastal
Continental shelf
Cropland
Grassland
Heathland and shrub
Marine inlets and transitional waters
Open ocean
Rivers and lakes
Sparsely vegetated land
Urban
Wetlands
Woodland and forest

Implementation

Adaptation
Adaptive management
Certification / standards
Development control
Ecosystem approach
Ecosystem management
Habitat creation
Litigation and enforcement
Market-based instruments
Marketing
Mitigation
No-net-loss
Offsetting
Payment for ecosystem services
Policy reform
Procurement
Protected area management
Regulation

Methods

Bayesian belief networks
Classification and typology
Cost-based valuation
Cost-benefit analysis
Ecosystem assessment
Hedonic property pricing
Impact assessment
Institutional analysis
Landscape character assessment
Life cycle analysis
Mapping/GIS
Modelling
Multi-criteria decision analysis/decision-support tools
Natural capital accounting
Off-setting
Participatory scenario analysis
Photo-elicitation surveys
Photo-series analysis
Policy analysis
Production function approach
Public participation
Risk assessment
Scenario development
Shadow pricing
Social impact assessment
Spread-sheet methods
Stakeholder analysis
Stakeholder involvement
State-and-Transition Models
Stated preference methods
Time use studies (valuation)
Travel cost methods
Valuation: deliberative
Valuation: monetary
Valuation: narrative
Valuation: non-monetary
Valuation: preference assessment surveys
Valuation: socio cultural
Valuation: value transfer

Regions

Atlantic

Constraints

In preparing the glossary we do not imply that all the terms listed were developed from the ES community, but that they are often used in the ES literature, and potentially within OpenNESS. Although some terms may have been used by other people in other disciplines our main concern is not to trace their origins but to identify their relevance and applicability for OpenNESS.

Product requirements

The glossary is full accessible online and in pdf format. No special requirements are needed for its use.

Advantages

The starting point was the set of ES/NC related terms developed through other initiatives such as the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA), the Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB), the UK National Ecosystem Assessment, and Rationalising Biodiversity Conservation in Dynamic Ecosystems (Rubicode). We consolidated the terms they defined into one list in early 2014, so that the similarities and differences could be reviewed and the applicability to OpenNESS discussed.
Through a three-month consultation process within the OpenNESS consortium, we asked for comments on the range of terms included in the glossary, the definitions themselves and suggestions for any additional terms.
The major changes made were to improve consistency and clarity, especially with the work done through the development of the OpenNESS Synthesis Papers.

Links

Contact details

Marion Potschin-Young
Director, CEM
Centre for Environmental Management
University of Nottingham
www.Nottingham.ac.uk/CEM

OpenNESS Glossary

Associated Oppla members