Browsing by Author "Beevers, Lindsay"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Enhancing production and flow of freshwater ecosystem services in a managed Himalayan river system under uncertain future climate
    (Springer, 2020-08-29) Momblanch, Andrea; Beevers, Lindsay; Srinivasalu, Pradeep; Kulkarni, Anil; Holman, Ian P.
    Future climate change will likely impact the multiple freshwater Ecosystem Services (fES) provided by catchments through their landscapes and river systems. However, there is high spatio-temporal uncertainty on those impacts linked to climate change uncertainty and the natural and anthropogenic interdependencies of water management systems. This study identifies current and future spatial patterns of fES production in a highly managed water resource system in northern India to inform the design and assessment of plausible adaptation measures to enhance fES production in the catchment under uncertain climate change. A water resource systems modelling approach is used to evaluate fES across the full range of plausible future scenarios, to identify the (worst-case) climate change scenarios triggering the greatest impacts and assess the capacity of adaptation to enhance fES. Results indicate that the current and future states of the fES depend on the spatial patterns of climate change and the impacts of infrastructure management on river flows. Natural zones deliver more regulating and cultural services than anthropized areas, although they are more climate sensitive. The implementation of a plausible adaptation strategy only manages to slightly enhance fES in the system with respect to no-adaptation. These results demonstrate that water resource systems models are powerful tools to capture complex system dependencies and inform the design of robust catchment management measures. They also highlight that mitigation and more ambitious adaptation strategies are needed to offset climate change impacts in highly climate sensitive catchments
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Towards intangible freshwater cultural ecosystem services: informing sustainable water resources management
    (MDPI, 2021-02-19) Ncube, Sikhululekile; Beevers, Lindsay; Momblanch, Andrea
    Rivers provide a range of Cultural Ecosystem Services (CES) such as aesthetic values, sense of place and inspiration, which remain insufficiently studied due to challenges associated with the assessment of their subjective and intangible attributes. However, the understanding of CES remains important as they are strongly linked to human wellbeing. This study utilizes a questionnaire-based survey to capture views from two villages along the mainstream of the Beas River in India, to identify the CES it provides, to assess how local communities appreciate their importance and how they relate to river flows. In total, 62 respondents were interviewed. Findings show that the Beas River provides several CES but among these, spiritual/religious ceremonies and rituals, aesthetic values and inspiration benefits were indicated as absolutely essential to the local communities. Results also demonstrate that people’s perception of the quality of CES is sometimes linked to river flows. It can be concluded that the Beas River is crucial in the functioning and livelihoods of local communities as it lies within the core of their cultural, religious and spiritual practices. This study reinforces the need to consider the full suite of ecosystem service categories in sustainable water resources development, planning and decision making