Implementing an Ecosystem Services Approach in the Delaware River Basin: Successes, Challenges, and Future Directions

The concept of ecosystem services (ES) to define, promote, and conserve natural resources has increased over the past decade. Loosely defined as the benefits that humans gain from the natural environment, the application of ES as a potential management tool is desirable. In theory, ES have the capacity to articulate and leverage key ecological processes, that otherwise may go unnoticed, into environmental policy and management decisions. By extension, this approach serves to justify conservation or restoration actions, and their associated benefits, that may be gained or lost given management intervention. In practice, ES are difficult to implement for three reasons: biophysical (ecosystem process) and societal (value) parameters are difficult to quantify; both vary across time, space, and proximity to human activity; and once parameterized, are difficult to translate to other systems. Here, we use biofiltration of water provisioned by freshwater mussels as a model system to highlight potential opportunities, caveats, and research needs associated with the valuation of natural capital