TY - JOUR
T1 - The relationship between ecosystem services and human modification displays decoupling across global delta systems
AU - Reader, Martin Oliver
AU - Eppinga, Maarten B.
AU - de Boer, Hugo Jan
AU - Damm, Alexander
AU - Petchey, Owen L.
AU - Santos, Maria J.
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported/funded by the University Research Priority Program on Global Change and Biodiversity of the University of Zurich. Thanks to Maartje Oostdijk for information on fisheries datasets, and Hanneke van ‘t Veen for assistance with code. Thanks to Amy Austin, Patricia Reader and the Earth System Science group for comments and discussion. Finally, thank you to all our reviewers for helping to improve our work.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
PY - 2022/4/28
Y1 - 2022/4/28
N2 - The ties between a society and its local ecosystem can decouple as societies develop and replace ecosystem services such as food or water regulation via trade and technology. River deltas have developed into important, yet threatened, urban, agricultural and industrial centres. Here, we use global spatial datasets to explore how 49 ecosystem services respond to four human modification indicators, e.g. population density, across 235 large deltas. We formed bundles of statistically correlated ecosystem services and examined if their relationship with modification changed. Decoupling of all robust ecosystem service bundles from at least one modification indicator was indicated in 34% of deltas, while 53% displayed decoupling for at least one bundle. Food-related ecosystem services increased with modification, while the other bundles declined. Our findings suggest two developmental pathways for deltas: as coupled agricultural systems risking irreversible local biodiversity loss; and as decoupled urban centres externalising the impact of their growing demands.
AB - The ties between a society and its local ecosystem can decouple as societies develop and replace ecosystem services such as food or water regulation via trade and technology. River deltas have developed into important, yet threatened, urban, agricultural and industrial centres. Here, we use global spatial datasets to explore how 49 ecosystem services respond to four human modification indicators, e.g. population density, across 235 large deltas. We formed bundles of statistically correlated ecosystem services and examined if their relationship with modification changed. Decoupling of all robust ecosystem service bundles from at least one modification indicator was indicated in 34% of deltas, while 53% displayed decoupling for at least one bundle. Food-related ecosystem services increased with modification, while the other bundles declined. Our findings suggest two developmental pathways for deltas: as coupled agricultural systems risking irreversible local biodiversity loss; and as decoupled urban centres externalising the impact of their growing demands.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85130422422&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s43247-022-00431-8
DO - 10.1038/s43247-022-00431-8
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85130422422
SN - 2662-4435
VL - 3
SP - 1
EP - 13
JO - Communications Earth and Environment
JF - Communications Earth and Environment
IS - 1
M1 - 102
ER -