Location: National
Type: Apps & Tools
Link: Visit Website
EcoServ-GIS is a Geographic Information System (GIS) toolkit for mapping ecosystem services at a county or regional scale. It uses input GIS/map data to generate fine-scale maps that illustrate human need or demand for ecosystem services as well as the capacity of the natural environment to provide them.
EcoServ-GIS adopts a ‘service-based’ approach, using information about natural processes and how they deliver services in the environment. Compared with InVEST, EcoServ-GIS uses more simplified process models, reducing the need for academic or specialist input.
EcoServ-GIS overlays spatial datasets incorporating aspects of the physical landscape (e.g. habitat) and socio-economic factors (e.g. health deprivation). This combination allows the user to identify where ecosystem services occur, where there is high demand for a service, and where there is high capacity to provide a service.
Capacity and Demand map outputs can be overlaid to visualise areas where they coincide (“benefiting areas”), or where action is needed to improve service delivery (“management zones”). The outputs can also be used to create Ecological Habitat Network maps (to show where areas are more or less connected to a wider network of sites for focal species) and Biodiversity Opportunity Area Maps (to identify areas where habitat creation or habitat buffering might be suitable).