Data Release for Testing ecosystem accounting in the United States: A case study for the Southeast - 2022 Updates (ver. 2.0, February 2023)
Dates
Publication Date
2020-04-10
Revision
2023-02-17
Citation
Warnell, K., Boos, E., and Olander, L.P., 2020, Testing ecosystem accounting in the United States: A case study for the Southeast - 2022 Updates (ver. 2.0, February 2023): U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9VET1YX.
Summary
Ecosystems benefit people in many ways, but these contributions do not appear in traditional national or corporate accounts so are often left out of policy- and decision-making. Ecosystem accounts, as formalized by the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Experimental Ecosystem Accounts (SEEA EEA), track the extent and condition of ecosystem assets and the flows of ecosystem services they provide to people and the economy. While ecosystem accounts have been compiled in a number of countries, there have been few attempts to develop them for the United States. We explore the potential for ecosystem accounting in the United States by compiling ecosystem condition and ecosystem services supply and use accounts for a ten-state region [...]
Summary
Ecosystems benefit people in many ways, but these contributions do not appear in traditional national or corporate accounts so are often left out of policy- and decision-making. Ecosystem accounts, as formalized by the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Experimental Ecosystem Accounts (SEEA EEA), track the extent and condition of ecosystem assets and the flows of ecosystem services they provide to people and the economy. While ecosystem accounts have been compiled in a number of countries, there have been few attempts to develop them for the United States. We explore the potential for ecosystem accounting in the United States by compiling ecosystem condition and ecosystem services supply and use accounts for a ten-state region in the Southeast. The pilot accounts include information related to air quality, water quality, biodiversity, carbon storage, recreation, and pollination for selected years from 2001 to 2015. Results from our pilot accounts illustrate how ecosystem accounts information can contribute to policy and decision-making. Using an example for Atlanta, we also show how ecosystem accounts can be considered alongside other SEEA accounts, such as land and water accounts, to give a more complete picture of a local area’s environmental-economic status. The process by which we determined where to place metrics within the accounting framework, which was strongly informed by the National Ecosystem Services Classification System (NESCS), can provide practical guidance for future ecosystem accounts in the U.S. and other countries, and for expanding the scope of U.S. ecosystem accounts. Finally, we identify knowledge and data gaps that limit the inclusion of certain ecosystem services in the accounts and suggest future research and data collection that can close these gaps and improve future ecosystem accounts in the U.S.
Version 2.0 (February, 2023) updates three of the datasets to support the second version of an ecosystem accounting case study for the southeast United States through 2019. This data release provides updates to the pollinator habitat, recreational birding, and water purification datasets.
Click on title to download individual files attached to this item.
Landing Page Metadata.xml Original FGDC Metadata
View
10.27 KB
application/fgdc+xml
RevisionHistory_Warnell.txt
1.94 KB
text/plain
Related External Resources
Type: Related Primary Publication
Warnell, K.J., Russell, M., Rhodes, C., Bagstad, K.J., Olander, L.P., Nowak, D.J., Poudel, R., Glynn, P.D., Hass, J.L., Hirabayashi, S. and Ingram, J.C., 2020. Testing ecosystem accounting in the United States: A case study for the Southeast. Ecosystem Services, 43, p.101099
Revision 2.0 by Katie Warnell on February 17, 2023. To review the changes that were made, see “RevisionHistory_Warnell.txt” in the attached files section.
