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How To Model What Matters: FEGS and The EcoService Models Library
Citation:
Newcomer-Johnson, T., L. Sharpe, M. Harwell, G. Lomnicky, AND J. Wilson. How To Model What Matters: FEGS and The EcoService Models Library. A Community on Ecosystem Services (ACES) 2022, Washington, DC, December 12 - 15, 2022.
Impact/Purpose:
This presentation is part of a special session entitled, "The Final Ecosystem Goods And Services (FEGS) Voltron: The Power Of Tools Together" (STICS: #ORD-048953). The concept of final ecosystem goods and services (FEGS) are the aspects of the environment directly enjoyed, used, or consumed by humans. The central feature of FEGS is that ecosystems are viewed through the diverse ways people directly benefit from them. The USEPA has developed classification systems for these services, the latest version is the National Ecosystem Services Classification System (NESCS) Plus. The standardization made available by NESCS Plus allows other tools and databases developed with NESCS Plus categories to interact. This session provides an overview of USEPA-developed tools useful for implementing ecosystem services analysis. This presentation is on the EcoService Models Library (ESML) and it demonstrates how this EPA tool can be used to select ecological models to estimate the production of ecosystem services.
Description:
In an ideal world, there would be ample time and money to measure all final ecosystem goods and services (FEGS) that matter in a given scenario. In the real world, time and money are often limited. After using the FEGS Community Scoping Tool and the FEGS Metric report to identify the FEGS and metrics that matter the most in a given scenario, it may not be feasible to measure them all so modeling may be a useful alternative. The FEGS Voltron includes the EcoService Models Library (ESML, https://esml.epa.gov/) to help users find models to estimate the production of ecosystem goods and services. The ESML is a database containing descriptions of over 250 ecological models, their variables, and the source documents that describe them. Relationships potentially described as “ecological models” can vary widely in complexity, presentation and subject matter. Some are elaborate simulation tools with software, manuals and websites; others are simple equations not found beyond the pages of a journal article. Typically, an “ecological” model can draw from a single discipline (e.g., a predator-prey interaction in ecology) or many (e.g., including physical-chemical-biological, and potentially social-political-economic, elements). This presentation will include a demonstration of the ESML using the scenario of a community planning beneficial reuse of a capped landfill site. Models were found using the common language of the FEGS Voltron, the National Ecosystem Services Classification System (NESCS Plus), as well as several of the 20 other ESML filters. Models were compared and evaluated for applicability to this case study using a variety of detailed descriptors that help users understand the modeling approach, environmental context, level of effort and expertise required, and the level of uncertainty in the produced results. The ESML also features Variable Relationship Diagrams, which are available for each model in ESML. These Variable Relationship Diagrams are conceptual models that show the inputs required to run each model (referred to as “Predictor Variables”) and the outputs you get from running the model (“Response Variables”) as well as arrows that show the logic and interrelationships of the variables. Additionally, where potentially appropriate, ESML includes links to EnviroAtlas data layers that could be potentially useful as model inputs. For the landfill case study, the Ecosystem Services Identification and Inventory (ESII) Tool, Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) Carbon, InVEST Pollination, and Grassland Bird models were used to compare a native grassland revegetation scenario vs. the status quo to estimate differences in several different ecosystem services (e.g., erosion control, pollinators, birds, carbon storage).
