Ekologisesti kestävät kaupunkiseudut ja niiden ekosysteemipalvelut
Year: 2008
Type: book
Abstract: In Finland urban housing and the transportation network servicing urban areas have spread out strongly to adjacent countryside and nature areas. As a consequence, the amount of carbon dioxide emissions has increased and nature areas have diminished and fragmented. This can not be considered as sustainable development. The purpose of this report is to discuss ecologically sustainable urban regions and ecosystem services. Urban regions are regions of integrated housing, local labor market and recreational services, and are defi ned mainly by travel-to-work areas. Nature of urban region in turn covers also ecological functionality and ecosystem services. Therefore, it can be larger than the basic urban region. Ecosystem services are the material and immaterial benefi ts that people obtain from nature. They can be divided simply in three categories: provisioning, cultural and regulating services. Many of the services are actually provided by a large area and different ecosystems. When considering an urban region through ecosystem services it is important to notice biological diversity, habitats, ecological corridors and factors threatening them (e.g. global warming and land use change). It is also important to consider an urban area and ecosystem services in different scales. There are a considerable amount of important ecosystem services in urban areas and two of them, ecosystem services provided by fresh water and carbon sequestration, are considered closer in this report. The ecosystem services provided by fresh water can be divided into two groups: ecosystem services of blue and green water. Blue water is liquid water in aquifers, lakes, streams and dams, and it is used in different purposes in situ or as extracted from water supply. Blue water has dominated the discussion of water management and planning, although the main water fl ow on earth is fl ow of green vapor from terrestrial biomass to the atmosphere. Green water resource is moisture in soil. The fl ow of green water is generated by evaporation and transpiration. Carbon sequestration is a very important ecosystem service which has gained a growing interest as a consequence of climate change. In Finland carbon is stored especially in forests (in tree biomass and soil) and in organic depositions of peat in mires. In this report many aspects of urban ecosystem services are discussed but there are still further research needs on characteristics and ecological prerequisites of ecosystem services and development of GIS-methods and land use planning related to ecosystem services.
Source: Työväentutkimus Vuosikirja
Author: Sanna‐Riikka Saarela
Language: Finnish
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2239904086