Drivers of environmental change:
Natural capital assets:
| Likely response | Effect of variability on services provision | Human action or natural variation | Timescale | Spatial Characteristics |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alters conditions: temperature, humidity, rainfall | Pollution may alter presence and conditions of urban and suburban vegetation, may diminish plants’ capacity of gas absorption. | Human action | Short-Mid-term | Global |
| Altered wind dynamics and the ability of wind to disperse seeds | Decreased dispersal distance of seeds by wind | Human action | Short term | Local |
| Microbiota are sensitive to metal pollution. Toxicity of heavy metals displaces exchangeable nutrients from binding sites. | Acid rain and pollution, acidity in air, etc. alters weathering agents in the environment (water, soil, air). | Human action | Long term | Local-Global |
| Suppressed rainfall in highly polluted areas due to reduced efficiency of clouds at releasing precipitation. | Decreased water balance and disrupted hydrological cycle in polluted areas | Human action | Short term | Local |
| Likely response | Effect of variability on services provision | Human action or natural variation | Timescale | Spatial Characteristics |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reduction in dilution service potential. | Both point and non-point source pollutants results in eutrophication and coastal economic damage, e.g. beach closures. | Human action | Short term | Coastal ecosystems |
| Habitat loss due to overfertilization and toxics contamination | Habitat loss due to clouding of coastal waters by sediment from run-off and toxics which leads to contamination. | Human action | Short-Mid-term | Local-Regional |
| Lower quality of groundwater. | Lower quality of groundwater. | Human action | Medium term | Local |
| Alters conditions: temperature, humidity, rainfall | Pollution may alter presence and conditions of urban and suburban vegetation, may diminish plants’ capacity of gas absorption. | Human action | Short-Mid-term | Global |
| Altered wind dynamics and the ability of wind to disperse seeds | Decreased dispersal distance of seeds by wind | Human action | Short term | Local |
| Microbiota are sensitive to metal pollution. Toxicity of heavy metals displaces exchangeable nutrients from binding sites. | Acid rain and pollution, acidity in air, etc. alters weathering agents in the environment (water, soil, air). | Human action | Long term | Local-Global |
| Microbiota are sensitive to metal pollution. Toxicity of heavy metals displaces exchangeable nutrients from binding sites. | Pollution inhibits litter decomposition. Decomposition is sensitive to pollution and metals contaminants at the microbial level. Metal pollution also makes plant matter difficult to decompose. May lead to algal blooms. | Human action | Short-Long term | Local-Global |
| Alterations to nutrient cycles and balances resulting from pollution due to human activities. | Reduced quality of water resources. | Human action | Short term | Global |
| Suppressed rainfall in highly polluted areas due to reduced efficiency of clouds at releasing precipitation. | Decreased water balance and disrupted hydrological cycle in polluted areas | Human action | Short term | Local |
| Alteration of chemical composition of salt water bodies and decreased pH of salt water. | Decreased quality of salt water. | Human action | Short term | Global |
| Alteration of nutrient cycles (e.g. leading to algal blooms and eutrophication), pH level, and changes to chemical composition of salt waters. Algal blooms smother sea grass. Eutrophication leads to creation of “dead zones” in the ocean, which are areas that are entirely deprived of oxygen. | Decreased chemical quality of salt water. | Human action | Short term | Local |
| Increases in nutrients, sediments and changes in chemical composition of freshwater bodies, decreased species survival. | Decreased chemical condition of freshwaters. | Human action | Short term | Regional |
| Likely response | Effect of variability on services provision | Human action or natural variation | Timescale | Spatial Characteristics |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Habitat degradation and reduction or interruption of algal species’ ability to perform bio-remediation. | Decreased bio-remediation due to decreased ability of algae to perform bio-remediation. | Human action | Short term | Local |
| Excess nutrient loads and sunlight cause imbalances in micro algae concentrations. Harmful toxins produced by the bloom kill beneficial cyanobacteria. | Any services arising from the algae will be diminished or stopped. | Human action | Short term | Global |
| Reduction in the ability of habitats to filter or capture pollutants. | Decreased filtration, adsorption, or accumulation of pollutants at the ecosystem level. | Human action | Short term | Local |
| Habitat loss due to overfertilization and toxics contamination | Habitat loss due to clouding of coastal waters by sediment from run-off and toxics which leads to contamination. | Human action | Short-Mid-term | Local-Regional |
| Alters conditions: temperature, humidity, rainfall | Pollution may alter presence and conditions of urban and suburban vegetation, may diminish plants’ capacity of gas absorption. | Human action | Short-Mid-term | Global |
| Microbiota are sensitive to metal pollution. Toxicity of heavy metals displaces exchangeable nutrients from binding sites. | Pollution inhibits litter decomposition. Decomposition is sensitive to pollution and metals contaminants at the microbial level. Metal pollution also makes plant matter difficult to decompose. May lead to algal blooms. | Human action | Short-Long term | Local-Global |
| Suppressed rainfall in highly polluted areas due to reduced efficiency of clouds at releasing precipitation. | Decreased water balance and disrupted hydrological cycle in polluted areas | Human action | Short term | Local |
| Likely response | Effect of variability on services provision | Human action or natural variation | Timescale | Spatial Characteristics |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microbiota are sensitive to metal pollution. Toxicity of heavy metals displaces exchangeable nutrients from binding sites. | Acid rain and pollution, acidity in air, etc. alters weathering agents in the environment (water, soil, air). | Human action | Long term | Local-Global |
| Microbiota are sensitive to metal pollution. Toxicity of heavy metals displaces exchangeable nutrients from binding sites. | Pollution inhibits litter decomposition. Decomposition is sensitive to pollution and metals contaminants at the microbial level. Metal pollution also makes plant matter difficult to decompose. May lead to algal blooms. | Human action | Short-Long term | Local-Global |
| Likely response | Effect of variability on services provision | Human action or natural variation | Timescale | Spatial Characteristics |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Habitat degradation and reduction or interruption of algal species’ ability to perform bio-remediation. | Decreased bio-remediation due to decreased ability of algae to perform bio-remediation. | Human action | Short term | Local |
| Excess nutrient loads and sunlight cause imbalances in micro algae concentrations. Harmful toxins produced by the bloom kill beneficial cyanobacteria. | Any services arising from the algae will be diminished or stopped. | Human action | Short term | Global |
| Reduction or interruption in the ability of micro-organisms to filter, sequester, store or accumulate pollutants. | Decreased filtration, adsorption, or accumulation of pollutants by micro-organisms. | Human action | Mid-Long term | Local |
| Lower species survival (or local extinctions) and reduction or interruption of their ability to perform filtration, sequestration, storage, and accumulation of pollutants. | Decreased filtration, sequestration, storage, and accumulation of pollutants by animals. | Human action | Mid-Long term | Local |
| Reduction of algae’s capacity to filter or capture pollutants | Decrease capture or filtration of pollutants by algae. | Human action | Mid-Long term | Local |
| Plant death and a resulting reduction in their ability to perform filtration and sequestration | Decreased filtration and sequestration of pollutants by plants. | Human action | Short term | Local |
| Habitat loss due to overfertilization and toxics contamination | Habitat loss due to clouding of coastal waters by sediment from run-off and toxics which leads to contamination. | Human action | Short-Mid-term | Local-Regional |
| Alters conditions: temperature, humidity, rainfall | Pollution may alter presence and conditions of urban and suburban vegetation, may diminish plants’ capacity of gas absorption. | Human action | Short-Mid-term | Global |
| Altered wind dynamics and the ability of wind to disperse seeds | Decreased dispersal distance of seeds by wind | Human action | Short term | Local |
| Microbiota are sensitive to metal pollution. Toxicity of heavy metals displaces exchangeable nutrients from binding sites. | Acid rain and pollution, acidity in air, etc. alters weathering agents in the environment (water, soil, air). | Human action | Long term | Local-Global |
| Microbiota are sensitive to metal pollution. Toxicity of heavy metals displaces exchangeable nutrients from binding sites. | Pollution inhibits litter decomposition. Decomposition is sensitive to pollution and metals contaminants at the microbial level. Metal pollution also makes plant matter difficult to decompose. May lead to algal blooms. | Human action | Short-Long term | Local-Global |
| Alteration of chemical composition of salt water bodies and decreased pH of salt water. | Decreased quality of salt water. | Human action | Short term | Global |
| Alteration of nutrient cycles (e.g. leading to algal blooms and eutrophication), pH level, and changes to chemical composition of salt waters. Algal blooms smother sea grass. Eutrophication leads to creation of “dead zones” in the ocean, which are areas that are entirely deprived of oxygen. | Decreased chemical quality of salt water. | Human action | Short term | Local |
| Increases in nutrients, sediments and changes in chemical composition of freshwater bodies, decreased species survival. | Decreased chemical condition of freshwaters. | Human action | Short term | Regional |
Natural capital assets:
| Likely response | Effect of variability on services provision | Human action or natural variation | Timescale | Spatial Characteristics |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resistance to biological control measures | Loss of efficiency of biological control agents against plant pathogens, e.g. fungicide resistance in fungal plant pathogens. | Natural variation | Long term | Global |
| Species, e.g. sea urchins, which predate or act as pests for the kelp components increase in | The service provision does not stop but slows down due to reduction in quality and quantity of the asset. | Natural variation | Long term | Global |
| Control of predator populations | Food availability through a finite source of prey limits nutritional resource for predators and declines in prey will constrain predator population size too. | Natural variation | Short-Mid-term | Global |
| Human-induced climate change is affecting pollinator species, mainly butterflies. Alterations in species richness and distributions. | Decreased pollination services where species are declining or moving away from areas and increased pollination in areas where species are moving to. | Human action | Short term | Local-Regional |
| Increases or decreases in local species richness, resulting in increased or decreased seed dispersal | Decreased seed dispersal by native species. Specialist plants (i.e. that rely on one particular species for dispersal) will be more severely affected. | Human action | Short term | Local-Regional |
| Extinction risk factors including habitat loss and microbial invasions lead to reduction in microbial populations and diversity. | Diminishes the ability of the microorganisms to consume VOCs and ventilate indoor air. | Human action | Short-Long term | Global |
Natural capital assets:
| Likely response | Effect of variability on services provision | Human action or natural variation | Timescale | Spatial Characteristics |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Displaces or reduces population of biota. Also reduces thickness of soil water films and inhibits enzymes. | Disturbance of biotic and abiotic factors pose environmental constraints that can temporarily or indefinitely affect decomposition sensitivity. Changes soil’s environment, modifying processes. | Human action | Long term | Local |
| Likely response | Effect of variability on services provision | Human action or natural variation | Timescale | Spatial Characteristics |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Displaces or reduces population of biota. Also reduces thickness of soil water films and inhibits enzymes. | Disturbance of biotic and abiotic factors pose environmental constraints that can temporarily or indefinitely affect decomposition sensitivity. Changes soil’s environment, modifying processes. | Human action | Long term | Local |
| Likely response | Effect of variability on services provision | Human action or natural variation | Timescale | Spatial Characteristics |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Displaces or reduces population of biota. Also reduces thickness of soil water films and inhibits enzymes. | Disturbance of biotic and abiotic factors pose environmental constraints that can temporarily or indefinitely affect decomposition sensitivity. Changes soil’s environment, modifying processes. | Human action | Long term | Local |
| Likely response | Effect of variability on services provision | Human action or natural variation | Timescale | Spatial Characteristics |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Displaces or reduces population of biota. Also reduces thickness of soil water films and inhibits enzymes. | Disturbance of biotic and abiotic factors pose environmental constraints that can temporarily or indefinitely affect decomposition sensitivity. Changes soil’s environment, modifying processes. | Human action | Long term | Local |