Climate change effects on ecosystem services: Disentangling drivers of mixed responses.

Climate change is a pervasive hazard that impacts the supply and demand of ecosystem goods and services (EGS) that maintain human well-being. A recent review found that the impacts of climate change on EGS are sometimes mixed, posing challenges for managers who need to adapt to these changes. We exp...

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Main Authors: Marcy C Delos, Ciara G Johnson, Sarah R Weiskopf, Janet A Cushing
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2025-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0306017
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author Marcy C Delos
Ciara G Johnson
Sarah R Weiskopf
Janet A Cushing
author_facet Marcy C Delos
Ciara G Johnson
Sarah R Weiskopf
Janet A Cushing
author_sort Marcy C Delos
collection DOAJ
description Climate change is a pervasive hazard that impacts the supply and demand of ecosystem goods and services (EGS) that maintain human well-being. A recent review found that the impacts of climate change on EGS are sometimes mixed, posing challenges for managers who need to adapt to these changes. We expand on earlier work by exploring drivers of varying responses of EGS to climate within studies. We conducted a systematic review of English-language papers directly assessing climate change impacts on the supply, demand, or monetary value of 'provisioning EGS', 'regulating EGS', or 'cultural EGS'. Ultimately, 44 papers published from December 2014 to March 2018 were analyzed. Nearly 66% of EGS were assessed for higher-income countries despite how lower-income countries disproportionately face negative climate impacts. Around 59% of observations or projections were mixed responses of EGS to climate change. Differences in climate impacts to EGS across space or climate scenarios were the most common causes of mixed responses, followed by mixed responses across time periods assessed. Disaggregating findings by drivers is valuable because mixed responses were often due to multiple drivers of variation. Carefully considering the decision context and desired outcome of a study will help select appropriate methodology to detect EGS variation. Although studies have often assessed relevant drivers of variation, assessing interactions of other sources of uncertainty and both climate and non-climate drivers may support more effective management decisions that holistically account for different values in the face of uncertainty.
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spelling doaj-art-ea992b324c9c46ab83572d2e844ed6eb2025-08-20T02:28:23ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032025-01-01202e030601710.1371/journal.pone.0306017Climate change effects on ecosystem services: Disentangling drivers of mixed responses.Marcy C DelosCiara G JohnsonSarah R WeiskopfJanet A CushingClimate change is a pervasive hazard that impacts the supply and demand of ecosystem goods and services (EGS) that maintain human well-being. A recent review found that the impacts of climate change on EGS are sometimes mixed, posing challenges for managers who need to adapt to these changes. We expand on earlier work by exploring drivers of varying responses of EGS to climate within studies. We conducted a systematic review of English-language papers directly assessing climate change impacts on the supply, demand, or monetary value of 'provisioning EGS', 'regulating EGS', or 'cultural EGS'. Ultimately, 44 papers published from December 2014 to March 2018 were analyzed. Nearly 66% of EGS were assessed for higher-income countries despite how lower-income countries disproportionately face negative climate impacts. Around 59% of observations or projections were mixed responses of EGS to climate change. Differences in climate impacts to EGS across space or climate scenarios were the most common causes of mixed responses, followed by mixed responses across time periods assessed. Disaggregating findings by drivers is valuable because mixed responses were often due to multiple drivers of variation. Carefully considering the decision context and desired outcome of a study will help select appropriate methodology to detect EGS variation. Although studies have often assessed relevant drivers of variation, assessing interactions of other sources of uncertainty and both climate and non-climate drivers may support more effective management decisions that holistically account for different values in the face of uncertainty.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0306017
spellingShingle Marcy C Delos
Ciara G Johnson
Sarah R Weiskopf
Janet A Cushing
Climate change effects on ecosystem services: Disentangling drivers of mixed responses.
PLoS ONE
title Climate change effects on ecosystem services: Disentangling drivers of mixed responses.
title_full Climate change effects on ecosystem services: Disentangling drivers of mixed responses.
title_fullStr Climate change effects on ecosystem services: Disentangling drivers of mixed responses.
title_full_unstemmed Climate change effects on ecosystem services: Disentangling drivers of mixed responses.
title_short Climate change effects on ecosystem services: Disentangling drivers of mixed responses.
title_sort climate change effects on ecosystem services disentangling drivers of mixed responses
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0306017
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AT janetacushing climatechangeeffectsonecosystemservicesdisentanglingdriversofmixedresponses