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Piloting urban ecosystem accounting for the United States

Author

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  • Heris, Mehdi
  • Bagstad, Kenneth J.
  • Rhodes, Charles
  • Troy, Austin
  • Middel, Ariane
  • Hopkins, Krissy G.
  • Matuszak, John

Abstract

In this study, we develop urban ecosystem accounts in the U.S., using the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Experimental Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EEA) framework. Most ecosystem accounts focus on regional and national scales, which are appropriate for many ecosystem services. However, ecosystems provide substantial services in cities, improving quality of life and contributing to resiliency for substantial parts of the population. Our models estimate energy savings for indoor cooling resulting from heat mitigated by trees and rainfall intercepted by trees. Both models cover major cities in the contiguous U.S. and report the results through physical supply and use tables for multiple accounting periods (2011 and 2016). Using conservative assumptions, urban trees provide substantial heat mitigation (4,098 and 4,229 GWh, valued at $523 and $539 million in 2011 and 2016, respectively) and rainfall interception (2,422 and 2,627 million m3, valued at $434 and $425 million for 2011 and 2016, respectively). Interannual differences largely reflect variations in weather patterns. Our work shows how Earth observation data can support urban ecosystem accounting. We provide model code within a public repository to facilitate model runs elsewhere, enabling the SEEA EEA and Earth observation user communities to reuse our models and provide feedback for improvement.

Suggested Citation

  • Heris, Mehdi & Bagstad, Kenneth J. & Rhodes, Charles & Troy, Austin & Middel, Ariane & Hopkins, Krissy G. & Matuszak, John, 2021. "Piloting urban ecosystem accounting for the United States," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoser:v:48:y:2021:i:c:s2212041620301686
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2020.101226
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Warnell, Katherine J.D. & Russell, Marc & Rhodes, Charles & Bagstad, Kenneth J. & Olander, Lydia P. & Nowak, David J. & Poudel, Rajendra & Glynn, Pierre D. & Hass, Julie L. & Hirabayashi, Satoshi & In, 2020. "Testing ecosystem accounting in the United States: A case study for the Southeast," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    2. Carl Obst & Lars Hein & Bram Edens, 2016. "National Accounting and the Valuation of Ecosystem Assets and Their Services," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 64(1), pages 1-23, May.
    3. Kong, Fanhua & Sun, Changfeng & Liu, Fengfeng & Yin, Haiwei & Jiang, Fei & Pu, Yingxia & Cavan, Gina & Skelhorn, Cynthia & Middel, Ariane & Dronova, Iryna, 2016. "Energy saving potential of fragmented green spaces due to their temperature regulating ecosystem services in the summer," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 1428-1440.
    4. McPhearson, Timon & Andersson, Erik & Elmqvist, Thomas & Frantzeskaki, Niki, 2015. "Resilience of and through urban ecosystem services," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 12(C), pages 152-156.
    5. Wentland, Scott A. & Ancona, Zachary H. & Bagstad, Kenneth J. & Boyd, James & Hass, Julie L. & Gindelsky, Marina & Moulton, Jeremy G., 2020. "Accounting for land in the United States: Integrating physical land cover, land use, and monetary valuation," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).
    6. Bagstad, Kenneth J. & Ancona, Zachary H. & Hass, Julie & Glynn, Pierre D. & Wentland, Scott & Vardon, Michael & Fay, John, 2020. "Integrating physical and economic data into experimental water accounts for the United States: Lessons and opportunities," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    7. Willcock, Simon & Martínez-López, Javier & Hooftman, Danny A.P. & Bagstad, Kenneth J. & Balbi, Stefano & Marzo, Alessia & Prato, Carlo & Sciandrello, Saverio & Signorello, Giovanni & Voigt, Brian & , 2018. "Machine learning for ecosystem services," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 33(PB), pages 165-174.
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    Cited by:

    1. Dennis Fixler & Julie L. Hass & Tina Highfill & Kelly M. Wentland & Scott A. Wentland, 2024. "Accounting for Environmental Activity: Measuring Public Environmental Expenditures and the Environmental Goods and Services Sector in the US," NBER Chapters, in: Measuring and Accounting for Environmental Public Goods: A National Accounts Perspective, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Bagstad, Kenneth J. & Ingram, Jane Carter & Shapiro, Carl D. & La Notte, Alessandra & Maes, Joachim & Vallecillo, Sara & Casey, C. Frank & Glynn, Pierre D. & Heris, Mehdi P. & Johnson, Justin A. & Lau, 2021. "Lessons learned from development of natural capital accounts in the United States and European Union," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    3. Ingram, Jane Carter & Bagstad, Kenneth J. & Vardon, Michael & Rhodes, Charles R. & Posner, Stephen & Casey, Clyde F. & Glynn, Pierre D. & Shapiro, Carl D., 2022. "Opportunities for businesses to use and support development of SEEA-aligned natural capital accounts," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    4. Susan C. Cook-Patton & C. Ronnie Drever & Bronson W. Griscom & Kelley Hamrick & Hamilton Hardman & Timm Kroeger & Pablo Pacheco & Shyla Raghav & Martha Stevenson & Chris Webb & Samantha Yeo & Peter W., 2021. "Protect, manage and then restore lands for climate mitigation," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 11(12), pages 1027-1034, December.
    5. Grover, Isobella & O'Reilly-Wapstra, Julianne & Suitor, Shaun & Hatton MacDonald, Darla, 2023. "Not seeing the accounts for the forest: A systematic literature review of ecosystem accounting for forest resource management purposes," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).

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