TY - JOUR

T1 - Conceptualizing the link between marine ecosystem services and human well-being

T2 - The case of offshore wind farming

AU - Busch, Malte

AU - Gee, Kira

AU - Burkhard, Benjamin

AU - Lange, Marcus

AU - Stelljes, Nico

N1 - Funding Information: The research presented in this paper was carried out within the research project ‘Zukunft Küste – Coastal Futures’ which was affiliated to the Land–Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone (LOICZ) project and funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF FKZ 03F0476 A-C) during the period 2004–2010. The authors thank all project partners for contributing to the understanding of change induced by offshore wind farms presented in this paper. Copyright: Copyright 2017 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2011/9/1

Y1 - 2011/9/1

N2 - Although the concept of ecosystem services has drawn a prolific amount of recent research, little work has been done on the links between marine ecosystem services and coastal human well-being at a regional scale. Key questions in this context are that of appropriate categories for assessing human well-being and how to link different determinants of human well-being to specific ecosystem services supplied in adjacent marine areas. This paper presents the results of a case study that links tangible and intangible ecosystem benefits to a range of material and immaterial factors constituting human well-being. Determinants of human well-being were defined and indicators selected to make these linkages traceable. Ecosystem services were assessed for the offshore environment along the west coast of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, based on the assumption of strong future development of offshore wind farming and considering the environmental and socio-economic impacts of such developments on the coastal region. This paper illustrates some conceptual problems in linking ecosystem benefits to human well-being. Based on an economic analysis and a questionnaire survey, two examples are presented where an evidence-based link could be demonstrated between an ecosystem service impacted by offshore wind farming and change in human well-being. The results presented should be understood as an analytic framework and precondition for gathering empirical data.

AB - Although the concept of ecosystem services has drawn a prolific amount of recent research, little work has been done on the links between marine ecosystem services and coastal human well-being at a regional scale. Key questions in this context are that of appropriate categories for assessing human well-being and how to link different determinants of human well-being to specific ecosystem services supplied in adjacent marine areas. This paper presents the results of a case study that links tangible and intangible ecosystem benefits to a range of material and immaterial factors constituting human well-being. Determinants of human well-being were defined and indicators selected to make these linkages traceable. Ecosystem services were assessed for the offshore environment along the west coast of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, based on the assumption of strong future development of offshore wind farming and considering the environmental and socio-economic impacts of such developments on the coastal region. This paper illustrates some conceptual problems in linking ecosystem benefits to human well-being. Based on an economic analysis and a questionnaire survey, two examples are presented where an evidence-based link could be demonstrated between an ecosystem service impacted by offshore wind farming and change in human well-being. The results presented should be understood as an analytic framework and precondition for gathering empirical data.

KW - human well-being

KW - marine ecosystem services

KW - objective living conditions

KW - offshore wind farming

KW - quality of life

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84859736140&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/21513732.2011.618465

DO - 10.1080/21513732.2011.618465

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84859736140

VL - 7

SP - 190

EP - 203

JO - International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services and Management

JF - International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services and Management

SN - 2151-3732

IS - 3

ER -