- Title
- Unpacking Pandora’s box: Understanding and categorising ecosystem disservices for environmental management and human wellbeing
- Creator
- Shackleton, Charlie M, Ruwanza, Sheunesu, Sinasson Sanni, Gisele, Bennett, S, De Lacy, Peter, Modipa, Rebone D, Mtati, Nosiseko, Sachikonye, Mwazvita T B, Thondhlana, Gladman
- Subject
- To be catalogued
- Date
- 2016
- Type
- text
- Type
- article
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/182113
- Identifier
- vital:43801
- Identifier
- xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-015-9952-z"
- Description
- Research into the benefits that ecosystems contribute to human wellbeing has multiplied over the last few years following from the seminal contributions of the international Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. In comparison, the fact that some ecosystem goods and services undermine or harm human wellbeing has been seriously overlooked. These negative impacts have become known as ecosystem disservices. The neglect of ecosystem disservices is problematic because investments into the management or reduction of ecosystem disservices may yield better outcomes for human wellbeing, or at a lower investment, than management of ecosystem services. Additionally, management to optimise specific ecosystem services may simultaneously exacerbate associated disservices. We posit that one reason for the neglect of ecosystem disservices from the discourse and policy debates around ecosystems and human wellbeing is because there is no widely accepted definition or typology of ecosystem disservices. Here, we briefly examine current understandings of the term ecosystem disservices and offer a definition and a working typology to help generate debate, policy and management options around ecosystem disservices. We differentiate ecosystem disservices from natural hazards and social hazards, consider some of their inherent properties and then classify them into six categories. A variety of examples are used to illustrate the different types of, and management strategies to, ecosystem disservices.
- Format
- computer, online resource, application/pdf, 1 online resource (14 pages), pdf
- Publisher
- SpringerLink
- Language
- English
- Relation
- Ecosystems, Shackleton, C.M., Ruwanza, S., Sanni, G.S., Bennett, S., De Lacy, P., Modipa, R., Mtati, N., Sachikonye, M. and Thondhlana, G., 2016. Unpacking Pandora’s box: understanding and categorising ecosystem disservices for environmental management and human wellbeing. Ecosystems, 19(4), pp.587-600, Ecosystems volume 19 number 4 p. 587 2016 1435-0629
- Rights
- Publisher
- Rights
- Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the SpringerLink Terms of Use Statement ( https://link.springer.com/termsandconditions)
- Rights
- Open Access
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Collections
Thondhlana, Gladman (Dr)
RU DST/NRF SARChI for Interdisciplinary Science in Land and Natural Resource Use for Sustainable Livelihoods
RU Department of Environmental Science
Shackleton, Charles Michael (Distinguished Prof)
SDG 11. Sustainable Cities and Communities
SDG 15. Life On Land
SDG 03. Good Health and Well-Being
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
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| View Details | SOURCE1 | Unpacking Pandora’s box understanding and categorising ecosystem disservices for environmental management and human wellbeing.pdf | 541 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details |