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British Ecological SocietyAccording to the European Union Water Framework Directive, river basin management plans must include a programme of measures, with a series of management actions aiming to achieve good ecosystem status of all water bodies within the basin. The design and later prioritization of these management actions is, in theory, done through cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA), which compares management action costs with expected improvements in ecosystem status. However, such an approach does not consider the effects of management actions on human well-being resulting from changes in the provision of ecosystem services. We propose to complement the current CEA approach with a cost–benefit analysis (CBA) integrating the effects of management actions on the provision of ecosystem services, therefore moving from a single-objective to a multiobjective approach. We propose a flexible methodological framework based on a combination of CEA and CBA that can be easily adapted to different case studies. To test the applicability of our approach, we applied it to an impaired basin, the Llobregat River basin (north-eastern Iberian Peninsula). The analysis considers management actions selected from the programme of measures under implementation: establishment of environmental river flows, improvement of river connectivity, treatment of urban wastewater and reduction in saline pollution; and the effects on a series of ecosystem services: water provisioning, waste treatment and habitat for species. Results revealed that management actions designed to improve ecosystem status do not necessarily improve human well-being through changes in the provision of ecosystem services. The implementation of the CEA and CBA allowed the identification of management actions providing the best trade-offs between improvements of ecosystem status and human well-being. For example, the establishment of environmental river flows in the upper Llobregat River was the management action that maximized the balance between gains in ecosystem status and human well-being. Synthesis and applications. Overall, the combination of cost-effectiveness analysis and cost–benefit analysis supports a more informed and transparent decision-making in the implementation of river basin management plans, better assisting stakeholders to prioritize those management actions providing the optimal win–win results ; This research was supported by the EC 7th Framework Programme (GLOBAQUA; 603629-ENV-2013-6.2.1) and the Juan de la Cierva subprogramme from the MINECO

British Ecological SocietyAccording to the European Union Water Framework Directive, river basin management plans must include a programme of measures, with a series of management actions aiming to achieve good ecosystem status of all water bodies within the basin. The design and later prioritization of these management actions is, in theory, done through cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA), which compares management action costs with expected improvements in ecosystem status. However, such an approach does not consider the effects of management actions on human well-being resulting from changes in the provision of ecosystem services. We propose to complement the current CEA approach with a cost–benefit analysis (CBA) integrating the effects of management actions on the provision of ecosystem services, therefore moving from a single-objective to a multiobjective approach. We propose a flexible methodological framework based on a combination of CEA and CBA that can be easily adapted to different case studies. To test the applicability of our approach, we applied it to an impaired basin, the Llobregat River basin (north-eastern Iberian Peninsula). The analysis considers management actions selected from the programme of measures under implementation: establishment of environmental river flows, improvement of river connectivity, treatment of urban wastewater and reduction in saline pollution; and the effects on a series of ecosystem services: water provisioning, waste treatment and habitat for species. Results revealed that management actions designed to improve ecosystem status do not necessarily improve human well-being through changes in the provision of ecosystem services. The implementation of the CEA and CBA allowed the identification of management actions providing the best trade-offs between improvements of ecosystem status and human well-being. For example, the establishment of environmental river flows in the upper Llobregat River was the management action that maximized the balance between gains in ecosystem status and human well-being. Synthesis and applications. Overall, the combination of cost-effectiveness analysis and cost–benefit analysis supports a more informed and transparent decision-making in the implementation of river basin management plans, better assisting stakeholders to prioritize those management actions providing the optimal win–win results ; This research was supported by the EC 7th Framework Programme (GLOBAQUA; 603629-ENV-2013-6.2.1) and the Juan de la Cierva subprogramme from the MINECO

British Ecological SocietyAccording to the European Union Water Framework Directive, river basin management plans must include a programme of measures, with a series of management actions aiming to achieve good ecosystem status of all water bodies within the basin. The design and later prioritization of these management actions is, in theory, done through cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA), which compares management action costs with expected improvements in ecosystem status. However, such an approach does not consider the effects of management actions on human well-being resulting from changes in the provision of ecosystem services. We propose to complement the current CEA approach with a cost–benefit analysis (CBA) integrating the effects of management actions on the provision of ecosystem services, therefore moving from a single-objective to a multiobjective approach. We propose a flexible methodological framework based on a combination of CEA and CBA that can be easily adapted to different case studies. To test the applicability of our approach, we applied it to an impaired basin, the Llobregat River basin (north-eastern Iberian Peninsula). The analysis considers management actions selected from the programme of measures under implementation: establishment of environmental river flows, improvement of river connectivity, treatment of urban wastewater and reduction in saline pollution; and the effects on a series of ecosystem services: water provisioning, waste treatment and habitat for species. Results revealed that management actions designed to improve ecosystem status do not necessarily improve human well-being through changes in the provision of ecosystem services. The implementation of the CEA and CBA allowed the identification of management actions providing the best trade-offs between improvements of ecosystem status and human well-being. For example, the establishment of environmental river flows in the upper Llobregat River was the management action that maximized the balance between gains in ...

Spanish DGCyT Ramon y Cajal fellowship ; Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) ; FAPEG ; Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) ; Portuguese Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia grant ; Spanish Ministry of Education FPU fellowship ; Spanish Government ; Biodiversity Conservation Plan from ENDESA S.A. ; CNPq: 563834/2010-2 ; CAPES: Auxpe 2036/2013 ; Portuguese Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia grantSFRH/BPD/70709/2010 ; Spanish Ministry of Education FPU fellowshipFPU12/00575 ; CNPq: 2011BR0071 ; Spanish GovernmentCGL2010-14841 ; Spanish Government427/2011 ; Biodiversity Conservation Plan from ENDESA S.A.6900014499 ; Macroecology studies large-scale patterns aiming to identify the effects of general ecological processes. Although lakes (and ponds) are particularly suited for macroecological research due to their discrete nature and non geographically-structured variability, the development of this discipline in lentic habitats is comparatively much smaller than for terrestrial environments. This is despite the interest of limnologists for large-scale phenomena, which results in the high level of development of some disciplines such as predictive limnology. Here we discuss how current state-of-the-art in macroecology may benefit from research in lentic habitats at five topics. First, by including an island biogeography analytical framework to incorporate the effects of lake origin and history on lentic biodiversity. Second, by studying local and regional effects on the latitudinal gradients of species richness. Third, by considering lakes and ponds altogether for the study of beta diversity and metacommunity structure, which is already common ground in limnological research. Fourth, by relating species traits with ecosystem structure and functioning; here we consider in particular the potential effects of body size-determined dispersal and competitive exclusion processes on lake-wide trophic organization. And fifth, by incorporating current research in functional (i.e., trait) and phylogenetic diversity to the study of community structure. We finally conclude that lentic habitats can be particularly important for the development of the most functional aspects of macroecology, due to the relative ease of studying the different biotic and abiotic components of the system separately, compared to most terrestrial systems. This can allow teasing apart many of the confounding factors that are characteristic of macroecological research, thus helping the development of future theoretical syntheses.

15 páginas, 2 figuras. ; Macroecology studies large-scale patterns aiming to identify the effects of general ecological processes. Although lakes (and ponds) are particularly suited for macroecological research due to their discrete nature and non geographically-structured variability, the development of this discipline in lentic habitats is comparatively much smaller than for terrestrial environments. This is despite the interest of limnologists for large-scale phenomena, which results in the high level of development of some disciplines such as predictive limnology. Here we discuss how current state-of-the-art in macroecology may benefit from research in lentic habitats at five topics. First, by including an island biogeography analytical framework to incorporate the effects of lake origin and history on lentic biodiversity. Second, by studying local and regional effects on the latitudinal gradients of species richness. Third, by considering lakes and ponds altogether for the study of beta diversity and metacommunity structure, which is already common ground in limnological research. Fourth, by relating species traits with ecosystem structure and functioning; here we consider in particular the potential effects of body size-determined dispersal and competitive exclusion processes on lake-wide trophic organization. And fifth, by incorporating current research in functional (i.e., trait) and phylogenetic diversity to the study of community structure. We finally conclude that lentic habitats can be particularly important for the development of the most functional aspects of macroecology, due to the relative ease of studying the different biotic and abiotic components of the system separately, compared to most terrestrial systems. This can allow teasing apart many of the confounding factors that are characteristic of macroecological research, thus helping the development of future theoretical syntheses. ; JH is funded by a Spanish DGCyT Ramón y Cajal fellowship. JCN is supported by CNPq (563834/2010-2), FAPEG and CAPES (Auxpe 2036/2013), AMCS by a Portuguese Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia grant (SFRH/BPD/70709/2010) and JC by Spanish Ministry of Education FPU fellowship (FPU12/00575). JH and AMCS obtained additional support from the CSIC-CNPq bilateral project 2011BR0071, and MV from the Spanish Government projects Fundalzoo (CGL2010-14841), Invasivefish (427/2011) and the Biodiversity Conservation Plan from ENDESA S.A. with the project number 6900014499. ; Peer reviewed