Quinto Ghermandi English Books
1 The values of goods and services provided by wetland ecosystems are examined through a meta‐analysis of an expanded database of wetland value estimates and with a focus on human‐made wetlands. This study extends and improves upon previous meta‐analyses of the wetland valuation literature in terms of the number of observations, geographical coverage, wetland class and integrity, and the measurement of the effects of scarcity and anthropogenic pressure. We find that water quality improvement, nonconsumptive recreation, and provision of natural habitat and biodiversity are highly valued services. Substitution effects are observed through the negative correlation between values and abundance of other wetlands. Wetland values are found to increase with anthropogenic pressure. An extended metaregression model with cross effects shows that the valuation of specific services varies with the type of wetland producing them.
Human‐made wetlands are highly valued for biodiversity enhancement, water quality improvement, and flood control. Introduction2 The recognition of the wide range of ecological and economic benefits that natural wetland ecosystems provide to humans has prompted increasing interest in the construction of human‐made wetland ecosystems, which simulate the functions of natural wetlands in order to support human use. Wetland ecosystems are generally constructed with the aim of replicating wetland processes such as water storage, flood retention, and water quality improvement for human benefit. They may also be created with the broader aim of mimicking the foregone ecological functions of lost natural wetland ecosystems and compensating the destruction of natural habitats, such as mitigation wetlands constructed under the “no net loss of wetlands” policy in the USA.3 Purposefully planned, designed and operated human‐made wetlands may provide a range of services well beyond the primary aim for their construction. Ancillary benefits of wastewater treatment wetlands may include, for instance, provision of habitat and wildlife diversity, support of recreational activities such as walking, bird and wildlife watching, water storage during periods of shortage and excess, and aesthetic value in urban environments ;;. Comparative studies investigating the ecological functions of both natural and human‐made wetlands suggest that they fulfill similar ecological functions, even though the latter tend to resemble degraded natural wetlands rather than undisturbed reference ecosystems ;;;.4 In this study, we use the technique of meta‐analysis to investigate the provision of services of wetland ecosystems from an economic perspective and with a focus on the valuation of human‐made wetlands.
The paradigm adopted is an anthropocentric one, in which ecosystems are regarded as steering forces of human well‐being insofar as they provide goods and services, and wetland values are determined by the consumption opportunities that they provide to humans. In this approach, the values of wetland ecosystems are to be clearly distinguished from their ecological functions ;.5 Meta‐analysis has been extensively used in environmental economics as a tool to synthesize the findings of primary valuation studies by means of a rigorous statistical analysis.
Best practice guidelines for meta‐analysis were developed ; in order to deal with potential issues related to the heterogeneity of the environmental resources and economic instruments considered , selection bias , heteroscedasticity, and correlation between observations. The potential of meta‐analysis in identifying the sources of variation in empirical value estimates ; and as a tool for value transfer ; is generally acknowledged. Three previous meta‐analyses of wetland values ;; provided a solid conceptual and empirical basis for the present investigation.6 The objectives of this study are twofold. First, we aim at improving the general understanding of both natural and human‐made wetland values by conducting a meta‐analysis that extends previous metaregression models with explanatory variables, such as the presence of substitute sites and the anthropogenic pressure exercised on the wetlands, which are chosen in order to get a better and more economically oriented explanation of observed differences in wetland valuations. Compared to previous studies, the meta‐analysis relies on a much more comprehensive data set comprising 418 value observations derived from 170 valuation studies and 186 wetland sites worldwide. Second, we explore the variation in the valuation of human‐made wetlands by means of a metaregression model that accounts for the interactions between wetland types and ecosystem services. We test formally whether human‐made and natural wetlands are equally valued for flood protection, water quality improvement, and water storage and supply, i.e., the three main objectives for wetland construction (Hypothesis 1).
We also assess whether ancillary benefits, such as support of recreational activities and biological diversity enhancement, provide a substantial contribution to the total economic value of human‐made wetlands (Hypothesis 2).7 The organization of the remainder of this paper is as follows. In the characteristics of the data set used are described by means of descriptive statistics , an overview is given of the economic valuation studies of human‐made wetlands , and the metaregression models are formulated.
Presents the results of a metaregression estimation. Interprets the results and concludes. Data Set of Wetland Valuation Studies8 The economic valuation of wetland services can proceed with different approaches depending on the type of service considered.
Information on prices, costs, and how they affect the welfare of people whose income depends on wetlands can provide an estimate of the value of market activities, such as commercial fishing and hunting, harvesting of natural materials, and fuel wood collection. The cost of replacing services such as water quality improvement and flood control with engineered solutions may provide a measure of their benefits. Often, however, wetland services do not affect markets and market data are not available to value them.
This holds for the welfare impact of recreational activities and aesthetic views, but also for passive benefits, such as the knowledge that a certain ecosystem exists or is protected for the benefit of future generations. In such cases, economic valuation may proceed by eliciting preferences from actual markets that are indirectly linked to the ecosystem service in question (as in the travel cost and hedonic pricing methods) or by simulating a market choice through a questionnaire administered to a sample of the affected population (as in the contingent valuation and in choice experiment methods).9 To support the analysis in this study we constructed a data set of wetland valuations consisting of 418 value observations from 170 valuation studies and 186 wetland sites. Illustrates the geographical distribution of wetland values in the data set.
The largest number of observations is from North America (132), but significant numbers come from Asia (106), Europe (93) and Africa (53). South America (22) and Australasia (16) are somewhat underrepresented. Compared to the overall distribution of Ramsar wetlands of international importance, the geographical distribution of wetlands in the data set is skewed toward sites located at temperate Northern latitudes and in the equatorial region.
In particular, wetlands at latitudes higher than 45°N are underrepresented. The geographic dispersion of wetland studies with respect to the distribution of wetland ecosystems suggests the existence of a research priority bias in the wetland valuation literature. With respect to such geographical bias, the database used in this study represents nevertheless an improvement with respect to previous meta‐analyses of wetland values, which were considerably more biased toward North American wetlands. Such shift in the geographical distribution of studies reflects changes in the practice of wetland valuation, which has been shifting away from North America toward Europe, Asia and Africa. Number of observations of wetland values for 5 year intervals from 1974 to 2009 and for geographical locations of valued wetlands.10 To identify candidate studies, we rely on a more stringent definition of wetlands than given by the Ramsar Convention, according to which any area of “marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six meters” is to be considered a wetland site. This definition potentially encompasses permanently inundated ecosystems such as all areas of coral reefs, sea‐grass beds, most rivers and shallow lakes.
Such ecosystem types were excluded from this analysis not to overstretch the scope of the study and since their classification as wetland ecosystems is rather controversial. Furthermore, such ecosystems are of limited relevance for the analysis of human‐made wetlands values.11 The data set developed by provided the starting point for our analysis. The original data set was substantially enlarged with new observations from recent studies. Studies were retrieved through searching online valuation databases, libraries, and contacting authors. The wide range of market‐based and nonmarket valuation studies considered is described in.
Only primary valuation studies were included in the data set; that is, value transfer studies were not considered. The investigation also explored “grey literature”, including 86 reports for both public and private institutions, consultancy studies, and unpublished research results. Efforts to retrieve studies not published in the English language led to the inclusion of 16 more studies.
. Angeline Quinto admits she’s not a regular any more in ‘ ASAP Natin ‘To’. Angeline Quinto denies that it’s Regine Velasquez fault that she has her lesser exposure in ABS-CBN’s Sunday musical-variety show.
Along with K-Brosas, Angeline will have an upcoming concert this JuneThe ‘Star Power’ grand winner shared her sentiments on the issue that Regine Velasquez's addition to ‘ASAP Natin ‘To’ caused some Kapamilya stars exposure getting less. © Provided by LionhearTV.NetIt wasn’t so long ago that Asia’s Songbird Regine Velasquez became a Kapamilya, and one of the shows she’s part of is the Sunday’s noon time variety show, ‘ ASAP Natin ‘To’, and the ‘Star Power’ Grand Winner was also a regular of the show before. In the interview of Melba Llanera on her YouTube Channel, Angeline Quinto shared her sentiments about the issue, “ Marami ang nagtatanong kung bakit hindi na ako regular. Honestly, ako, gusto kong sabihin siguro sa mga nagtatanong sa akin na part talaga iyon ng trabaho namin. Sa showbiz talaga, hindi natin alam kung hanggang kailan (ka).”The actress honestly said that she isn’t a regular anymore, but she believes that ‘ASAP’ really wants to try different artists to capture the audience.“ Ako, sa pagiging honest lang din sa part ng trabaho namin, feeling ko, ang ASAP, gusto talaga nilang mag-try ng iba’t iba, e. Lalo ngayon na si Miss Reg, naging part na ng ASAP family at marami din kasing former GMA artists ang nandito.”She added that she’s still very happy that she’s still part of the ‘ASAP’ family, as this was her home since 2011.“ Ngayon, sobrang tuwang-tuwa ako kasi nandito pa rin ako. Siyempre, napaisip ako talaga.
Kasi, mula nang manalo ako ng Star Power 2011, lagi na akong nasa ASAP.”Angeline Quinto voiced out her opinion on the continuous links of her lesser exposure due to Regine Velasquez entry in ‘ASAP.’ © Provided by LionhearTV.Net“ Alam naman ng lahat na sobrang mahal ko si Miss Reg, Si Ms. Reg, hindi man yun nagsasalita, pero deep inside, masakit sa kanya yun, at huwag naman ganoon.”Angeline shared that it wasn’t really Regine’s fault and maybe the viewers weren’t just used to not seeing those who were regulars in ‘ASAP’ before.“Hindi naman kasalanan ni Miss Reg kung hindi na regular ang iba. Marami pa ring artists ang ASAP. Siguro lang, yung ibang nakasanayan ng mga tao, hindi na nila nakikita regularly.”She added that ‘ASAP’ just wants to do something new to the show for the audience, and Ms. Regine Velasquez-Alcasid doesn’t deserve all these issues.“So ngayon, ang sa akin lang, marami lang talagang gustong i-try ang team ng ASAP, kung ano yung bago, kung ano yung magiging bago sa paningin ng tao. Pero siyempre, hindi iyon kasalanan ni Miss Regine.”“So, hindi niya deserve iyon.”As of now, singer Angeline Quinto is preparing for her upcoming concert “Angeline K ‘To, Concert Namin ‘To” which will be held at the Araneta Coliseum on June 15, with Ms.
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K Brosas, where both of them will bring fun, laughter, and music on the concert stage!