Internship Vacancy: Ecosystem Services Quantification Database

The Environmental Systems Analysis Group is currently developing the Ecosystem Services Quantification Database, in close collaboration with the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) and Foundation for Sustainable Development (FSD). The aims of the current project are to finalise the structure of the database and analyse the provision of multiple ecosystem services in relation to land use and land management. Current work focuses on a) understanding the provision of ecosystem services by identifying key indicators, b) compiling quantitative and empirical information for these indicators, c) relating quantitative information on ecosystem services with newly developed categories of land management, land use and land cover.

The work is being done by Clara Veerkamp and Alexander van Oudenhoven from the Environmental Systems Analysis Group (Wageningen University). Dr Dolf de Groot and Dr Rob Alkemade are project leaders on behalf of, respectively, Wageningen University and PBL. The Ecosystem Services Quantification Database (ESQD) can become an important source of information for studies that aim to quantify, map, model and, ultimately, value the provision of ecosystem services.

We are looking for an internship student that will be actively involved in further development of the database, for a period of four months. Thereby he/she has the opportunity to do an in-depth analysis of the relation between land use/management and the provision of one or more ecosystem services (e.g. wood production, pollination, pest control, wild food provision, depending on the student’s preference and knowledge).

The in-depth analysis will consist of the following steps:

• Literature review on land use, land management and the targeted ecosystem service(s)
• Analysis of key indicators for the targeted ecosystem service(s)
• Development of ‘flow charts’, i.e. figures that illustrate linkages between different indicators for ecosystem service provision
• Development of a data table for the targeted ecosystem service(s)
• Adding new data from different case studies to the database
• Integrating already collected data into newly structured ecosystem service table
• OPTIONAL: analysing effects of land use and land management on the provision of the targeted ecosystem service(s)
• OPTIONAL: explore ways to integrate the ESQD with the ESVD (valuation database)
• OPTIONAL: collaboration on a scientific publication

Candidates

The desired candidate should meet the following requirements:

• In-depth knowledge on the field of ecosystem services
• Proficiency in Microsoft Access and/or Excel
• Proficiency in handling and organising data
• Can work independently
• Available from May 2014 for four months

The internship will formally be done with the FSD, but the candidate will work closely together with colleagues from the ESA group and PBL.

Further reading

• Alkemade et al. 2009. GLOBIO3: A Framework to Investigate Options for Reducing Global Terrestrial Biodiversity Loss. Ecosystems 12: 374-390.
• Alkemade et al. 2012. Assessing the impacts of livestock production on biodiversity in rangeland ecosystems. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
• Van Oudenhoven et al. 2014. Effects of different management regimes on mangrove ecosystem services in Java, Indonesia. Published by Wageningen University (Wageningen) and Wetlands International (Ede & Bogor). In draft.

Contact persons

Alexander van Oudenhoven & Clara Veerkamp

Foundation for Sustainable Development (FSD) and Environmental Systems Analysis Group, Wageningen University

Lumen Building (#100), Droevendaalsesteeg 3A, Wageningen

Email: alexander.vanoudenhoven@wur.nl , clara.veerkamp@wur.nl