The provision of ecosystem services along a rural-urban gradient: a case study of Greater Manchester

The degradation and loss of vital ecosystem functions and services are an uncontested result of urbanisation. This has led to the need to quantify ecosystem services at a variety of temporal and spatial scales to aid in the conservation and enhancement of these services to increase quality of life and to work towards a sustainable future. Attempts to measure and value ecosystem services have been made, many of which attribute economic gain to an environmental characteristic, but such methods are subject to much debate which has led to a lack of consensus between academics and practitioners. Furthermore, there is a lack of knowledge surrounding the quantification of many cultural services, such as aesthetic and spiritual values, resulting in them receiving less attention. Current methods for ecosystem service quantification focus largely on the landscape and global scales; failing to appreciate services provided at the neighbourhood scale and at different levels of urbanisation. The authors critically examine a variety of extant methods for measuring ecosystem services at different temporal and spatial scales. They describe a new tool, based on an evaluation of previously used methods such as those used in the Green Flag Award and Residential Environment Assessment Tool, for quantifying a selection of ecosystem services at the neighbourhood scale. The new tool has been applied to the Greater Manchester conurbation to assess how ecosystem services at different levels of urbanisation. The results are presented and discussed. The uses of this method in planning for sustainable communities in an increasingly urbanised world are discussed