Chapter 14 – Ecosystem Service Assessments: Science or Pragmatism?

This chapter challenges the capability of the ecosystem service to obtain sustainable development beyond awareness raising, based on the urgency to deliver sound results for implementation versus the large uncertainties inherent in the different research fields involved and their integration. The authors identify ten main sources of uncertainty that may affect policy and management decisions, and propose three independent strategies for individual researchers, commissioners and stakeholders to account for methodological risks and best practices in methodologies, dissemination, or application of results, even under restricted budgets or project goals. The chapter argues for a clear and transparent ecosystem services research policy on methodology development, uncertainty acknowledgment, and communication.