Ecosystems, crucial for human survival

A geographic area where plants, animals, and other organisms, as well as weather and landscapes, work together in harmony is known as an ecosystem. There are two types of ecosystems, terrestrial and aquatic. Among the terrestrial ecosystems, the major types include forests, deserts, rain forests, grasslands, tundra, savanna and mountain ecosystems.

Evaluation of ecosystem services is now widely used by scientists and policy makers to highlight the importance of the environment (including biodiversity) in sustaining human livelihoods.

"Ecosystem services (ES) are defined as contributions of ecosystem structure and function (in combination with other inputs) to human well-being".

Ecosystems have the potential to supply a wide range of services that are of fundamental importance to human well-being, health, livelihoods and survival.

Classifying ecosystem services

Ecosystem services can be classified into four main categories:

•    Provisioning services – food, materials and energy, which are directly used by people;
•    Regulating services – those that cover the way ecosystems regulate other environmental media or processes;
•    Cultural services – those related to the cultural or spiritual needs of people.
•    Supporting services – ecosystem processes and functions that underpin other three types of services.

The evaluation of ES can help stakeholders understand the benefits of environmental conservation and can be greatly useful for environmental planning and management to maximise cost-benefit outcomes of land-use and management policies.

Mountain ecosystems

Mountain ecosystems are extremely valuable and people living in the mountains derive numerous essential ecosystem services (ES) from these regions. While the mountainous region of Ladakh is known to provide valuable ecosystem services to people, very few studies have been conducted in the region to illustrate and interpret the value of ESs supplied by the mountain ecosystems for the  well-being of people residing in the region.

This study titled 'Evaluation of ecosystem supply services and calculation of economic value in Ladakh, India' published in Regional Sustainability aimed at evaluating the provisioning ESs in the mountainous landscapes of Tai-Suru and Barsoo regions of Kargil District in India, Ladakh

The study focused on:

•    Identifying ESs of the mountain ecosystem
•    Evaluating individual ES by the direct market valuation method
•    Identifying plant species for various provisioning ESs
•    Determining the importance of provisioning services for residents' well-being.

Findings

Ecosystem services identified by people

Services such as freshwater, food, fuelwood, fodder, and grazing were important mountain ecosystem services identified by majority of the people followed by medicinal benefits. Fibre, secondary metabolite production, and timber were given lower priority as compared to others.

Freshwater services

In most villages, tap water for drinking was procured from the mountains through proper pipeline connections. However, agricultural lands were irrigated through the water obtained from the rivulets, springs and streams. The total estimated economic value of freshwater services for Barsoo and Tai-Suru regions were 30,985.78 and 56,318.45 USD/ a, respectively.

Food and medicinal services

Food and medicines were acknowledged by residents from both the regions for health and well being. The ecosystem service values of food resources derived from the mountains in Barsoo and Tai-Suru regions were 2601.04 and 2969.90 USD/a, respectively, and the values of medicinal services were 757.39 and 4430.94 USD/a, respectively.

Grazing and fodder

Grazing and fodder were the most vital provisioning ecosystem services for both regions, as the people primarily depended on cattle for their livelihoods. In both regions, almost every household has five small cattle (sheep and goat) and two big cattle. The grasslands owned by the residents were not enough to meet the demands of the cattle's fodder. Therefore, the residents from both regions took their cattle to the adjacent mountains to graze at least four to six months per year. The replacement value estimated for only grazing service costed as much as 482,346.43 USD/a for Barsoo region and 1,458,099.04 USD/a for Tai-Suru region. Grazing started in early spring and ended in late autumn in the area.

Households with a large number of cattle collected fodder from the mountains and agricultural lands. The total estimated economic value of fodder service in TaiSuru region was 110,886.06 USD/a. Compared to Tai-Suru region, the fodder service was considered more important in Barsoo region. Some villages such as Itchoo, Shergandi, and Bartoo collected more than 60 percent of fodder from the mountains. Therefore, households in these villages obtained more than 600 kg of fodder per year. The economic value of fodder service decreased as surveys moved down towards the city. However, Khandi and Bartoo villages had the highest fodder service values, at 31,729.79 and 16,654.50 USD/a, respectively.

The alpine meadows, shrublands, and pasturelands were found to be very useful for grazing. Alpine meadows in Ladakh are mostly found at elevations between 5200 and 5600 m a.s.l., whereas, shrublands and other pasturelands occur at lower levels. In addition to the fuelwood collected at homes, the residents often used fuelwood collected from the mountains, especially shephards while  trekking, night staying, and cooking in the mountains.

People needed to spend time and energy to procure these services. Some people used tractors and ploughing machines to carry out agricultural practices, while others used Dzos (local hybrid male mammals), yaks, donkeys, horses, and oxen to carry this produce. Dependence level of food and medicinal services was “low” in the entire region and collection of plants for medicinal and food purposes was rare.

Freshwater, the primary service vital for human livelihood, was valued high in the entire region. Residents with sufficient agricultural land and agro-plantations were less dependent on the mountain ESs such as food, fodder, and fuelwood. However, grazing was a vital aspect of livelihoods in tribal areas and was valued highly in the whole region. Further evaluation of ESs and preservation and conservation of numerous ESs provided by the mountain ecosystems is urgently needed in the region, argues the paper.