Sustaining Environmental Capital Initiative (SECI)
The mission of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Sustaining Environmental Capital Initiative (SECI) is to develop and enhance science and research on ecosystem services in support of improving natural resource management. This effort is in response to the fourth recommendation of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) July 2011 report: "Federal agencies with responsibilities relating to ecosystems and their services [are] tasked with improving their capabilities to develop valuations for the ecosystem services affected by their decision-making and factoring the results into analyses that inform their major planning and management decisions."
Serving as the scientific backbone to the Federal Government’s ecosystem services priorities, the SECI builds upon the U.S. Geological Survey's existing programs and expertise related to water, fisheries, modeling, and economic valuation. The SECI consists of an interdisciplinary team of economists, social scientists, biologists, ecologists, modelers, programmers, and water quality experts. Success of the SEC Initiative is dependent upon interagency partner engagement to guide development, content, and functional application of products in decision-making. The effort builds on the USGS’s expertise and National Programs related to water, fisheries, modeling, ecosystem services, and economic valuation.
The SECI has developed a series of pilot studies designed to showcase multiple methods available to planners and scientists for assessing ecosystem services. Each pilot study focuses on a different region, and not only takes a unique approach to measuring ecological functions, but also implements different methods for estimating the value of ecosystem services. The studies leverage existing science efforts, interagency partnerships, and decision-making needs. The pilots will be used to demonstrate methods for assess ecosystem services that can be applied to other environments.
Estimating proximity effects to wildfire fuels treatments on house prices in Cibola National Forest, New Mexico, USA
An economic perspective on the relationship between wilderness and water resources
Sustaining Environmental Capital Initiative summary report
Valuation of the flood attenuation ecosystem service in Difficult Run, VA, USA
Improving confidence by embracing uncertainty: A meta-analysis of U.S. hunting values for benefit transfer
Towards globally customizable ecosystem service models
A method to quantify and value floodplain sediment and nutrient retention ecosystem services
Floodplains provide critical ecosystem services to local and downstream communities by retaining floodwaters, sediments, and nutrients. The dynamic nature of floodplains is such that these areas can both accumulate sediment and nutrients through deposition, and export material downstream through erosion. Therefore, estimating floodplain sediment and nutrient retention should consider the net flux
The mission of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Sustaining Environmental Capital Initiative (SECI) is to develop and enhance science and research on ecosystem services in support of improving natural resource management. This effort is in response to the fourth recommendation of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) July 2011 report: "Federal agencies with responsibilities relating to ecosystems and their services [are] tasked with improving their capabilities to develop valuations for the ecosystem services affected by their decision-making and factoring the results into analyses that inform their major planning and management decisions."
Serving as the scientific backbone to the Federal Government’s ecosystem services priorities, the SECI builds upon the U.S. Geological Survey's existing programs and expertise related to water, fisheries, modeling, and economic valuation. The SECI consists of an interdisciplinary team of economists, social scientists, biologists, ecologists, modelers, programmers, and water quality experts. Success of the SEC Initiative is dependent upon interagency partner engagement to guide development, content, and functional application of products in decision-making. The effort builds on the USGS’s expertise and National Programs related to water, fisheries, modeling, ecosystem services, and economic valuation.
The SECI has developed a series of pilot studies designed to showcase multiple methods available to planners and scientists for assessing ecosystem services. Each pilot study focuses on a different region, and not only takes a unique approach to measuring ecological functions, but also implements different methods for estimating the value of ecosystem services. The studies leverage existing science efforts, interagency partnerships, and decision-making needs. The pilots will be used to demonstrate methods for assess ecosystem services that can be applied to other environments.
Estimating proximity effects to wildfire fuels treatments on house prices in Cibola National Forest, New Mexico, USA
An economic perspective on the relationship between wilderness and water resources
Sustaining Environmental Capital Initiative summary report
Valuation of the flood attenuation ecosystem service in Difficult Run, VA, USA
Improving confidence by embracing uncertainty: A meta-analysis of U.S. hunting values for benefit transfer
Towards globally customizable ecosystem service models
A method to quantify and value floodplain sediment and nutrient retention ecosystem services
Floodplains provide critical ecosystem services to local and downstream communities by retaining floodwaters, sediments, and nutrients. The dynamic nature of floodplains is such that these areas can both accumulate sediment and nutrients through deposition, and export material downstream through erosion. Therefore, estimating floodplain sediment and nutrient retention should consider the net flux