Ecosystems Interactions - Scaling issues

Report contains data that can be used under Open Government Licence. The project seeks to define key interactions between ecological systems which need to be taken into account for decision making and will consider the importance of scale. The work specifically focuses on interactions between land management and water quality (as the focus of the Loweswater work) but will also explore the data more fully to look at other key services delivered by landscapes including the delivery of cultural services (see e.g. Smart et al 2010, Norton et al 2011). The project builds on work already carried out under the CS Integrated Assessment investigating water quality impacts and ecosystem service trade-offs under different water quality scenarios. Work draws on the RELU study at Loweswater (and work with catchment stakeholders including Natural England, Environment Agency, National Trust and the Lake District National Park) to understand key interactions between institutional frameworks and impacts on policy and delivery. The project complements other work being conducted in this area under such programmes as BESS and the VNN and works alongside Knowledge Exchange Networks on ecosystem (Defra) and catchment (NERC) studies to explore synergies and identify common approaches for successful integrated service delivery.