DE-3.5 :: Ecosystem services

In the light of the overview of the problems present in rural areas and the resulting societal challenges that are related to these, there is hope that a foundational paradigm change and strategic starting point from which to steer land use in rural areas can be created through the recognition and evaluation of ecosystem services. In particular, the functions and services of soil can be evaluated with ecosystem services and be understood as a foundation for knowledge diffusion and decision-making. For this to happen, ecosystem services must be evaluated in combination with, for example, regulation services (e.g. microclimate regulation), the importance of soil functions (in line with the natural sciences) as well as socio-economic services. Research questions are:
• How can sectoral approaches of agricultural research and general research be connected to the topic of ecosystem services?
• What impact does agriculture have upon the landscape and how can the integration of production and ecosystem services be improved?
• What importance do ecosystem services have in their relations to one another? Ecosystem services should be considered together and standards and/or indicators should be developed. In order for this to happen, synergies and ecosystem services trade-offs must be understood.
• How can the “bundle” of ecosystem services be gathered and evaluated (overview of social, ecological and economic ecological services)? The combination of various types of ecosystem services is important to be considered, since the services they provide are widely different and can have a significant effect on soil quality.
In summary, research should consider and help change the transition taking place in rural areas as well as support the actors, especially the citizens, with intergrated methods. Promising forms of research are offered in the form of transdisciplinary methods as well as the research of transformation (establishments of ""Reallabore"")