So You Want Your Research to be Relevant? Building the Bridge Between Ecosystem Services Research and Practice

Authors

Lydia Olander, Duke University
Stephen Polasky, University of Minnesota - Twin CitiesFollow
James S. Kagan, Portland State UniversityFollow
Robert Johnston, Clark UniversityFollow
Lisa Wainger, University of Maryland
David Saah, University of San Francisco
Lynn Maguire, Duke UniversityFollow
James Boyd, National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center
David Yoskowitz, Texas A&M University

Sponsor

This work was supported by the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) with funding received from the National Science Foundation DBI-1052875 and the David and Lucille Packard Foundation in support of the National Ecosystem Services Partnership.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-2017

Abstract

There is growing demand for information regarding the impacts of decisions on ecosystem services and human benefits. Despite the large and growing quantity of published ecosystem services research, there remains a substantial gap between this research and the information required to support decisions. Research often provides models and tools that do not fully link social and ecological systems; are too complex, specialized, and costly to use; and are targeted to outcomes that differ from those needed by decision makers. Decision makers require cost-effective, straightforward, transferable, scalable, meaningful, and defensible methods that can be readily understood. We provide illustrative examples of these gaps between research and practice and describe how researchers can make their work relevant to decision makers by using Benefit Relevant Indicators (BRIs) and choosing models appropriate for particular decision contexts. We use examples primarily from the United States, including cases that illustrate varying degrees of success in closing these gaps. We include a discussion of the challenges and opportunities researchers face in adapting their work to meet the needs of practitioners.

Description

© 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Locate the Document

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2017.06.003

DOI

10.1016/j.ecoser.2017.06.003

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/31179

Citation Details

Lydia Olander, Stephen Polasky, James S. Kagan, Robert J. Johnston, Lisa Wainger, David Saah, Lynn Maguire, James Boyd, David Yoskowitz, So you want your research to be relevant? Building the bridge between ecosystem services research and practice, In Ecosystem Services, Volume 26, Part A, 2017, Pages 170-182, ISSN 2212-0416, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2017.06.003.