Awareness,concern and willingness to adopt biosecure behaviours: public perceptions of invasive tree pests and pathogens in the UK

The growing incidence of invasive tree pest and disease outbreaks is recognised as an increasing threat to ecosystem services and human wellbeing. Linked to global trade, human movement and climate change, a number of outbreaks have attracted high public and media attention. However, there is surprisingly little evidence characterising the nature of public attentiveness to these events, nor how publics might respond to evolving outbreaks and the management actions taken. This paper presents findings from an online questionnaire involving 1334 respondents nationally-representative of the British public to assess awareness, concern and willingness to adopt biosecure behaviours. Despite revealing low levels of awareness and knowledge, the results indicate that the British public is concerned about the health of trees, forests and woodlands and is moderately willing to adopt biosecure behaviours. A key finding is that membership of environmental organisations and strong place identity are likely to engender higher awareness and levels of concern about tree pests and diseases. Further, those who visit woodlands regularly are likely to be more aware than non-visitors, and gardeners are more likely to be concerned than non-gardeners. Women, older respondents, those with strong place identity and dependence, members of environmental organisations, woodland visitors and gardeners were most likely to express a willingness to adopt biosecure behaviours. A comparison with findings from a survey conducted by the authors 3 years previously shows a decline over time in awareness, concern and willingness.     

Soil health in agricultural systems

Soil health is presented as an integrative property that reflects the capacity of soil to respond to agricultural intervention, so that it continues to support both the agricultural production and the provision of other ecosystem services. The major challenge within sustainable soil management is to conserve ecosystem service delivery while optimizing agricultural yields. It is proposed that soil health is dependent on the maintenance of four major functions: carbon transformations; nutrient cycles; soil structure maintenance; and the regulation of pests and diseases. Each of these functions is manifested as an aggregate of a variety of biological processes provided by a diversity of interacting soil organisms under the influence of the abiotic soil environment. Analysis of current models of the soil community under the impact of agricultural interventions (particularly those entailing substitution of biological processes with fossil fuel-derived energy or inputs) confirms the highly integrative pattern of interactions within each of these functions and leads to the conclusion that measurement of individual groups of organisms, processes or soil properties does not suffice to indicate the state of the soil health. A further conclusion is that quantifying the flow of energy and carbon between functions is an essential but non-trivial task for the assessment and management of soil health.     

"社会-经济-自然复合生态系统"中的鼠害治理

在自然生态系统中,鼠类并非完全有害,作为生态系统中的一个组成部分和物流与能流的一环,有其存在的必然性。只有在与人类的生活和生产发生冲突时,鼠类才表现出其危害,生态系统的失衡是鼠类暴发成灾最根本的原因。目前,害鼠对工农业生产造成严重的危害,并威胁着人们的身体健康,害鼠防治的异化则对生态环境造成严重的影响。对鼠害的治理是一项社会性的工程,当地政府的政策法令、组织管理、人们的科学化素质以及科技普及程度,对害鼠的控制有着重要的作用。从长远发展来讲,随着社会的进步,经济的发展,人民生活水平的提高,害鼠种群数量将会受到控制而趋于下降。但中短期而言,社会经济建设的某些活动可能引发局部或大面积害鼠种群的暴发。因此在实施那些措施时,若能注意害鼠种群的发生发展,或对有关项目可能对鼠类生存环境的影响进行预测,并采取有效措施控制害鼠种群,将会减少害鼠带来的各种损失,更有利于我们的经济建设。由此提出,可适时地采用“社会—经济—自然复合生态系统”的思维,并关注目前社会经济活动中重大举措对鼠类群落的影响,科学地制定鼠害控制对策。     

Impacts of species-led conservation on ecosystem services of wetlands: understanding co-benefits and tradeoffs

Biodiversity conservation organisations have recently begun to consider a wider ecosystem services context for their activities. While the literature suggests the potential of ‘win–win’ situations where biodiversity conservation and the delivery of ecosystem services overlap, empirical evidence is wanting. Here we explore the role that species-led management for the benefit of biodiversity in cultural landscapes can play in the delivery of wider ecosystem services. We use UK lowland wetlands as a case study and show how successful delivery of species-led conservation through management interventions relies on practices that can affect greenhouse gas fluxes, water quality and regulation, and cultural benefits. In these wetlands, livestock grazing has potentially large effects on water and greenhouse gas related services, but there is little scope to alter management without compromising species objectives. Likewise, there is little potential to alter reedbed management without compromising conservation objectives. There is some potential to alter woodland and scrub management, but this would likely have limited influence due to the relatively small area over which such management is practiced. The management of water levels potentially has large effects on provision of several services and there does appear to be some scope to align this objective with biodiversity objectives. A comprehensive understanding of the net costs and benefits to society of these interventions will require fine-grained research integrating ecological, economic and social science research. However, a less analytic understanding of the potential costs and benefits can highlight ways by which land management principally to achieve biodiversity conservation objectives might be modified to enhance delivery of other ecosystem services.     

Pathogens,Pests, and Economics: Drivers of Honey Bee Colony Declines and Losses

The Western honey bee (Apis mellifera) is responsible for ecosystem services (pollination) worth US$215 billion annually worldwide and the number of managed colonies has increased 45% since 1961. However, in Europe and the U.S., two distinct phenomena; long-term declines in colony numbers and increasing annual colony losses, have led to significant interest in their causes and environmental implications. The most important drivers of a long-term decline in colony numbers appear to be socioeconomic and political pressure on honey production. In contrast, annual colony losses seem to be driven mainly by the spread of introduced pathogens and pests, and management problems due to a long-term intensification of production and the transition from large numbers of small apiaries to fewer, larger operations. We conclude that, while other causal hypotheses have received substantial interest, the role of pests, pathogens, and management issues requires increased attention.     

Pest suppression by bats and management strategies to favour it: a global review

Fighting insect pests is a major challenge for agriculture worldwide, and biological control and integrated pest management constitute well-recognised, cost-effective ways to prevent and overcome this problem. Bats are important arthropod predators globally and, in recent decades, an increasing number of studies have focused on the role of bats as natural enemies of agricultural pests. This review assesses the state of knowledge of the ecosystem services provided by bats as pest consumers at a global level and provides recommendations that may favour the efficiency of pest predation by bats. Through a systematic review, we assess evidence for predation, the top-down effect of bats on crops and the economic value of ecosystem services these mammals provide, describing the different methodological approaches used in a total of 66 reviewed articles and 18 agroecosystem types. We also provide a list of detailed conservation measures and management recommendations found in the scientific literature that may favour the delivery of this important ecosystem service, including actions aimed at restoring bat populations in agroecosystems. The most frequent recommendations include increasing habitat heterogeneity, providing additional roosts, and implementing laws to protect bats and reduce agrochemical use. However, very little evidence is available on the direct consequences of these practices on bat insectivory in farmland. Additionally, through a second in-depth systematic review of scientific articles focused on bat diet and, as part of the ongoing European Cost Action project CA18107, we provide a complete list of 2308 documented interactions between bat species and their respective insect pest prey. These pertain to 81 bat species belonging to 36 different genera preying upon 760 insect pests from 14 orders in agroecosystems and other habitats such as forest or urban areas. The data set is publicly available and updatable.     

Plant health and global change – some implications for landscape management

Global change (climate change together with other worldwide anthropogenic processes such as increasing trade, air pollution and urbanization) will affect plant health at the genetic, individual, population and landscape level. Direct effects include ecosystem stress due to natural resources shortage or imbalance. Indirect effects include (i) an increased frequency of natural detrimental phenomena, (ii) an increased pressure due to already present pests and diseases, (iii) the introduction of new invasive species either as a result of an improved suitability of the climatic conditions or as a result of increased trade, and (iv) the human response to global change. In this review, we provide an overview of recent studies on terrestrial plant health in the presence of global change factors. We summarize the links between climate change and some key issues in plant health, including tree mortality, changes in wildfire regimes, biological invasions and the role of genetic diversity for ecosystem resilience. Prediction and management of global change effects are complicated by interactions between globalization, climate and invasive plants and/or pathogens. We summarize practical guidelines for landscape management and draw general conclusions from an expanding body of literature.     

973项目“重大农业害虫猖獗危害的机制及可持续控制的基础研究”简介

2006年9月,国家重点基础研究发展计划(973)农业领域2006年度项目“重大农业害虫猖獗危害的机制及可持续控制的基础研究”经科技部批准正式立项启动。该项目以全系统管理思想为指导,在基因、个体、种群、生态系统等不同层次,阐明我国重大农业害虫种群分化与暴发的分子基础,解析害虫与寄主作物及天敌间的相互作用机制,建立害虫监测与预警系统,提出重大农业害虫可持续控制的新途径和新方法,为我国农业减灾、经济的可持续发展奠定科学基础。项目的主要研究内容包括:害虫生长发育与生殖调控的分子机制;害虫对环境胁迫的适应机制;杀虫药剂诱导害虫再猖獗的机制;害虫与寄主植物的协同进化;天敌与害虫的互作及控害机制;作物-害虫-天敌食物网关系及其调控机理;重大害虫区域性暴发监测与预警。项目的总体目标为:阐明害虫生长发育、种群分化的分子基础,揭示害虫种群调节的内在机制;解析作物、害虫及天敌间的互作机制,丰富和发展植物-害虫-天敌协同进化理论;阐明主要害虫区域性灾变机理,发展害虫预警新技术;发展与环境相容的、增强自然控害功能的新技术,提出重大农业害虫可持续控制的新途径和新方法;凝炼一支害虫控制基础研究的创新团队,丰富和发展我国害虫管理的科学理论与实践,提升我国有害生物防控的原始创新和集成创新能力,扩大国际影响。     

Landscape changes have greater effects than climate changes on six insect pests in China

In recent years, global changes are the major causes of frequent, widespread outbreaks of pests in mosaic landscapes, which have received substantial attention worldwide. We collected data on global changes(landscape and climate) and economic damage caused by six main insect pests during 1951–2010 in China. Landscape changes had significant effects on all six insect pests. Pest damage increased significantly with increasing arable land area in agricultural landscapes. However, climate changes had no effect on damage caused by pests, except for the rice leaf roller(Cnaphalocrocis medinalis Guenee) and armyworm(Mythimna separate(Walker)), which caused less damage to crops with increasing mean temperature. Our results indicate that there is slight evidence of possible offset effects of climate changes on the increasing damage from these two agricultural pests. Landscape changes have caused serious outbreaks of several species, which suggests the possibility of the use of landscape design for the control of pest populations through habitat rearrangement. Landscape manipulation may be used as a green method to achieve sustainable pest management with minimal use of insecticides and herbicides.     

Outbreaks of forest defoliating insects in Japan, 1950-2000

In Japan, several forest-defoliating insects reach outbreak levels and cause serious defoliation. Stand mortality sometimes occurs after severe defoliation. However, in general, tree mortality caused by insect defoliation is low because of the prevailing moist climate in Japan. Evergreen conifers are more susceptible to tree mortality as a result of insect defoliation whereas deciduous broad-leaved trees are seldom killed. Insect defoliation occurs more frequently in man-made environments such as among shade trees, orchards, and plantations than in natural habitats. Outbreaks of some defoliators tend to occur in stands of a particular age: e.g. outbreaks of the pine caterpillar, Dendrolimus spectabilis Butler (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae) occur more frequently in young pine plantations. In contrast, defoliation caused by outbreaks of lepidopterous and hymenopterous pests in larch plantations is more frequent with stand maturation. There is a relationship between outbreaks of some defoliators and altitude above sea level. Most outbreaks of forest defoliators were terminated by insect pathogens that operated in a density-dependent fashion. Since the 1970s, Japan has been prosperous and can afford to buy timber from abroad. More recently, there has been an increasing demand for timber in Japan, that coincides with a huge demand internationally, so that the country will need to produce more timber locally in the future. The increasing pressure on the forestry industry to meet this demand will require more sophisticated methods of pest control coupled with more sustainable methods of silviculture.     

Ecosystem services provided by armadillos

Awareness of the natural ecological processes provided by organisms that benefit human well‐being has significantly progressed towards the goal of making conservation a mainstream value. Identifying different services and the species that provide them is a vital first step for the management and maintenance of these so‐called ecosystem services. Herein, we specifically address the armadillos, which play key functional roles in terrestrial ecosystems, including as ecosystem engineers, predators, and vectors of invertebrates and nutrients, although these roles have often been overlooked. Armadillos can control pests, disperse seeds, and be effective sentinels of potential disease outbreaks or bioindicators of environmental contaminants. They also supply important material (meat, medicines) and non‐material (learning, inspiration) contributions all over the Americas. We identify key gaps in the understanding of ecosystem services provided by armadillos and areas for future research required to clarify their functional role in terrestrial ecosystems and the services they supply. Such information will produce powerful arguments for armadillo conservation.     

A framework for assessing ecological quality based on ecosystem services

Existing environmental legislation and ecological quality definitions such as ecosystem integrity tend to rely on measures that, either implicitly or explicitly, utilize naturalness as a key criterion. There are marked practical difficulties with employing the concept of naturalness in human dominated landscapes, and the management of such ecosystems is inevitably going to need to take account of human needs and expectations. We propose that ecological quality could be assessed by its ecosystem service profile (ESP): the overlap between societal expectations for, and the sustainable provision of, suites of ecosystem services. The status for each individual ecosystem service is defined by the ratio of its sustained provision to the expected level of provision for the service. The ESP measure is a multi-criterion, context-specific assessment of the match between expectation for and sustainable supply of ecosystem services. It provides a flexible measure of quality which takes into account that the “ideal” ecosystem state is largely dependent on the specific management context. The implementation of ESPs challenges us to develop indicators for the sustained provision of individual ecosystem services, much better understanding of the trade-offs among services, and practical tools for gauging societal demands. All of which are challenging problems. The proposed framework can help to strategically address research needs and monitoring requirements and foster a more integrative approach to ecosystem assessment and management in the future. The need for this follows from the fact that the undisturbed reference state represents only one aspect of an ecosystem and that ecological quality in human dominated landscapes will, ultimately, be determined by the value society places on the sustainable provision of multiple ecosystem services.     

Ecosystem services provided by waterbirds

Ecosystem services are ecosystem processes that directly or indirectly benefit human well‐being. There has been much recent literature identifying different services and the communities and species that provide them. This is a vital first step towards management and maintenance of these services. In this review, we specifically address the waterbirds, which play key functional roles in many aquatic ecosystems, including as predators, herbivores and vectors of seeds, invertebrates and nutrients, although these roles have often been overlooked. Waterbirds can maintain the diversity of other organisms, control pests, be effective bioindicators of ecological conditions, and act as sentinels of potential disease outbreaks. They also provide important provisioning (meat, feathers, eggs, etc.) and cultural services to both indigenous and westernized societies. We identify key gaps in the understanding of ecosystem services provided by waterbirds and areas for future research required to clarify their functional role in ecosystems and the services they provide. We consider how the economic value of these services could be calculated, giving some examples. Such valuation will provide powerful arguments for waterbird conservation.     

The significance of tree-tree interactions for forest ecosystem functioning

Global change exposes forest ecosystems to many risks including novel climatic conditions, increased frequency of climatic extremes and sudden emergence and spread of pests and pathogens. At the same time, forest landscape restoration has regained global attention as an integral strategy for climate change mitigation. Owing to unpredictable future risks and the need for new forests that provide multiple ecosystem services, mixed-species forests have been advocated for this purpose. However, the successful establishment of mixed forests requires intrinsic knowledge of biodiversity's role for forest ecosystem functioning. In this respect, a better understanding of tree-tree interactions and how they contribute to observed positive tree species richness effects on key ecosystem functions is critical. Here, we review the current knowledge of the underlying mechanisms of tree-tree interactions and argue that positive net biodiversity effects at the community scale may emerge from the dominance of positive over negative interactions at the local neighbourhood scale. In a second step, we demonstrate how tree-tree interactions and the immediate tree neighbourhood's role can be systematically assessed in a tree diversity experiment. The expected results will improve predictions about the effects of tree interactions on ecosystem functioning based on general principles. We argue that this knowledge is urgently required to guide the design of tree species mixtures for the successful establishment of newly planted forests.     

Insect pest management in African agriculture: Challenges in the current millenium

Pest management on a global scale experienced a total revolution after World War II when synthetic organic compounds were in agriculture and public health. However, it soon became apparent that there were many limitations in the use of chemicals for pest management. In agriculture, problems of pest resurgence, secondary pest outbreaks, pest resistance and adverse effects of pesticides on the environment, including human poisoning and toxicity to other non-target organisms, led to the search for alternative approaches to the pest outbreak problem. The 1960s produced new ideas on integrated pest management (IPM) strategies, followed by intensification of the search for biological control agents, which could be incorporated into IPM programmes. New application technologies were developed in the 1970s and 1980s and ecological approaches to the pest problem were spearheaded in the developed world in the 1990s, with extensive studies focused on the whole ecosystem. Important advances in crop production have also taken place in Africa in this century, involving adoption of high yielding varieties, fertilizer application, intensification of crop protection approaches, less shifting cultivation and more mono-cropping systems. However, these advances have led to increasing pest problems which unless tackled imaginatively and intelligently, they could become the most important constraint in crop production in the present millennium. Africa has entered the current millennium with relatively underdeveloped agriculture on a global scale and little investment in research on new pest management technologies that could be used to reduce crop losses. We are still highly dependent on pesticides for pest management. Therefore, the greatest challenges in agriculture in Africa will be the switch from a pesticide based mode of reducing losses due to pests to one that is ecosystem based, making use of insect management techniques which are ecologically and economically sound. Specifically, some of the major challenges in pest management in agriculture in Africa include; (i) reducing the dependence on pesticides, thus avoiding the limitations observed in the past 50 years; (ii) overcoming ignorance of the pest species and their associated community of parasites and predators which has dire consequences on the whole ecosystem; (iii) keeping out exotic pests, which in this millennium have had a devastating blow on the production of some crops and (iv) developing indigenous technologies for pest management (IPM, biocontrol, etc.) and making available to farmers materials for pest management which are affordable, safe, effective and environmentally friendly (e.g. microbial, botanicals, pheromones, genetically engineered products etc.). Both legislative and quarantine measures will have a significant role to play in pest management in the next millennium, but only when practised on a wider geographical area. Information technology (IT) will affect the way we acquire and make use of pest management strategies. Africa is therefore faced with the challenge of building up and improving its infrastructure and expertise on IT if it is to benefit pest management on the continent.     

Nutrient emission reduction scenarios in the North Sea: An abatement cost and ecosystem integrity analysis

Economic cost–benefit appraisal (and its sub-set cost-effectiveness) of ecosystem conservation and/or pollution abatement strategies have proved to be powerful decision-making aids. But the monetary economic valuation of ecosystem goods and services (gains and losses) can only provide a good indication of social welfare impacts under certain conditions and in selective contexts. The values derived through this appraisal process will, for a number of measures, be underestimates of the full total system value [Turner, R.K., Paavola, J., Cooper, P. Farber, S., Jessamy, V., Georgiou, S., 2003. Valuing nature: lessons learned and future research directions. Ecol. Econ. 46, 493–510]. The economic analysis is best suited to assessing the value of ‘marginal’ gains and losses in ecosystem goods/services and not the total destruction of whole systems (including life support systems, the value of which is not commensurate with monetary values and/or is infinitely high). In this study economic costs and what we call ‘ecological risk’ analysis are used to appraise the implementation costs and ecological benefits of selected measures for combating eutrophication. Ecological risk is expressed in terms of ecosystem integrity and resilience. The paper presents three regional case studies dealing with the issue of nutrient emission reduction to the southern North Sea, namely the catchments/estuaries of the Humber (UK), the Rhine (Germany and The Netherlands) and the Elbe (Czech Republic and Germany). On the basis of these comparative regional examples, wider implications in the light of international management of the North Sea are presented.A range of nutrient reduction scenarios have been deployed within the overall OSPAR target agreement of 50% nitrogen and phosphorous reduction compared with 1985 levels. Each scenario assumes pollution reduction measures, characterised in terms of their overall implementation costs and nutrient-reduction effects. Specific policy instruments analysed were: the creation of more intertidal habitat via managed coastal realignment in the Humber area, farm-based land cover changes in the Rhine catchment and a mix of agricultural regime and wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) improvements in the Elbe area. The ecological consequences associated with each reduction scenario have been modelled [using the ERSEM model, see Baretta, J.W., Ebenhöh, W., Ruardij, P., 1995. An overview over the European Regional Sea Ecosystem Model, a complex marine ecosystem model. Neth. J. Sea Res. 33 (3/4), 233–246] for the coastal zones supplied from the rivers Elbe, Humber and Rhine. The modelled ecological quality indicators, which describe scenario effects on the coastal zone ecosystem, are then aggregated in terms of ecosystem integrity and ecological risk. The results are presented in terms of two selected key-indicators: implementation costs of the abatement measures and changes in ecological risk status, across the different catchments and assuming different scenarios. They thus provide a possible basis for international agreement negotiations at the North Sea scale.     

When a Tree Dies in the Forest: Scaling Climate-Driven Tree Mortality to Ecosystem Water and Carbon Fluxes

Drought- and heat-driven tree mortality, along with associated insect outbreaks, have been observed globally in recent decades and are expected to increase in future climates. Despite its potential to profoundly alter ecosystem carbon and water cycles, how tree mortality scales up to ecosystem functions and fluxes is uncertain. We describe a framework for this scaling where the effects of mortality are a function of the mortality attributes, such as spatial clustering and functional role of the trees killed, and ecosystem properties, such as productivity and diversity. We draw upon remote-sensing data and ecosystem flux data to illustrate this framework and place climate-driven tree mortality in the context of other major disturbances. We find that emerging evidence suggests that climate-driven tree mortality impacts may be relatively small and recovery times are remarkably fast (~4 years for net ecosystem production). We review the key processes in ecosystem models necessary to simulate the effects of mortality on ecosystem fluxes and highlight key research gaps in modeling. Overall, our results highlight the key axes of variation needed for better monitoring and modeling of the impacts of tree mortality and provide a foundation for including climate-driven tree mortality in a disturbance framework.     

Climate change induces multiple risks to boreal forests and forestry in Finland: A literature review

Climate change induces multiple abiotic and biotic risks to forests and forestry. Risks in different spatial and temporal scales must be considered to ensure preconditions for sustainable multifunctional management of forests for different ecosystem services. For this purpose, the present review article summarizes the most recent findings on major abiotic and biotic risks to boreal forests in Finland under the current and changing climate, with the focus on windstorms, heavy snow loading, drought and forest fires and major insect pests and pathogens of trees. In general, the forest growth is projected to increase mainly in northern Finland. In the south, the growing conditions may become suboptimal, particularly for Norway spruce. Although the wind climate does not change remarkably, wind damage risk will increase especially in the south, because of the shortening of the soil frost period. The risk of snow damage is anticipated to increase in the north and decrease in the south. Increasing drought in summer will boost the risk of large‐scale forest fires. Also, the warmer climate increases the risk of bark beetle outbreaks and the wood decay by Heterobasidion root rot in coniferous forests. The probability of detrimental cascading events, such as those caused by a large‐scale wind damage followed by a widespread bark beetle outbreak, will increase remarkably in the future. Therefore, the simultaneous consideration of the biotic and abiotic risks is essential.     

Abundance of pest and benign Cerambycidae both increase with decreasing forest productivity

• 1 The sustainable use of forest resources requires an understanding of the influence of site conditions and forest health on both pest species and those species providing ecosystem services such as pollination and decomposition.
• 2 The beetle family Cerambycidae is diverse and contains both pest and nonpest species, with many species performing such ecosystem services.
• 3 We predicted that as hardwood tree productivity decreased, the proportion of pest Cerambycidae present would increase at a site. We used site index as a measure of hardwood tree productivity.
• 4 The proportion of species that were pests did not change with productivity because the abundance of both pest and nonpest species increased with declining productivity.
• 5 The findings of the present study have implications for both managing pest species and conserving the biodiversity of nonpest species.

     

Catchment management in England and Wales: the role of arguments for ecosystems and their services

This study uses document analysis and interviews to explore how the use of arguments for biodiversity and ecosystem services has evolved in recent years in the water industry in England and Wales, with a focus on investments in catchment management programmes. Changes to land management practices within catchment areas can lead to improved water quality and lower treatment costs, and also ancillary benefits to the natural environment and various stakeholders. Our analysis reveals the increasing effectiveness of arguments associated with ecosystem service values in enabling the industry regulator (Ofwat) to support water industry investments in catchment-level conservation projects. Ofwat has adopted a much more flexible approach to regulation, moving from initial resistance to ecosystem service framings and a dominant focus on financial benefits to customers, to acceptance that customers have a legitimate interest in environmental quality and a willingness to accept some ‘beneficiary pays’ solutions. Companies are now required by Ofwat to include environmental impacts in cost-benefit analysis of investments, alongside assessment of customer preferences and support. This has facilitated investments in catchment management with positive results for water companies, customers, farmers and the natural environment. The shift in arguments in this industry matches a broader shift at European and UK levels towards greater use of economic evidence and payment instruments. The challenge now is to stabilise a secure regulatory environment in which companies are encouraged to pursue innovative methods to benefit the wider interest of customers and the natural environment, today and in the future. Arguments based on the value of water quality improvements and of the wider associated ecosystem services benefits have been, and remain, a key tool for achieving the environmental improvements and economic efficiency gains associated with successful catchment management initiatives.