Are the economic valuations of marine and coastal ecosystem services supporting policymakers? A systematic review and remaining gaps and challenges

With the increasing adoption of the ecosystem approach as integral to sustainable development policies, the economic valuation of marine and coastal ecosystem services (ESs) has become relevant for informing decision-making processes. Through an integrated approach encompassing bibliometric, network...

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Main Authors: Andrea Mattia Pacifico, Luca Mulazzani, Giulio Malorgio
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-01-01
Series:Frontiers in Marine Science
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2024.1501812/full
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author Andrea Mattia Pacifico
Luca Mulazzani
Giulio Malorgio
author_facet Andrea Mattia Pacifico
Luca Mulazzani
Giulio Malorgio
author_sort Andrea Mattia Pacifico
collection DOAJ
description With the increasing adoption of the ecosystem approach as integral to sustainable development policies, the economic valuation of marine and coastal ecosystem services (ESs) has become relevant for informing decision-making processes. Through an integrated approach encompassing bibliometric, network, and content analyses, this review is aimed at analyzing the evolution trend, the main research clusters, and the research gaps of the scientific literature in the field of economic valuation of marine and coastal ESs. The bibliometric results showed that the research field is experiencing an evolving positive trend and represents a challenging research topic. From the network and overlay visualization of keyword co-occurrences, it emerged that the research clusters comprehensively address the key policy-relevant issues. In the content analysis, an examination of the estimated ESs and the economic valuation methods used by studies with the highest impact on scientific research was conducted. The findings suggest that while studies provide valuable data and insights, their practical applicability in policymaking is limited, due to contextual relevance and bias issues. Overall, the review underscores the need for a paradigm shift to better inform real-world policy decisions, identifying the Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) process as a key framework for bridging these gaps in future research and policy implementation.
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spelling doaj-art-70847d62757f488cb82818a470e9b4ae2025-01-20T05:23:43ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Marine Science2296-77452025-01-011110.3389/fmars.2024.15018121501812Are the economic valuations of marine and coastal ecosystem services supporting policymakers? A systematic review and remaining gaps and challengesAndrea Mattia PacificoLuca MulazzaniGiulio MalorgioWith the increasing adoption of the ecosystem approach as integral to sustainable development policies, the economic valuation of marine and coastal ecosystem services (ESs) has become relevant for informing decision-making processes. Through an integrated approach encompassing bibliometric, network, and content analyses, this review is aimed at analyzing the evolution trend, the main research clusters, and the research gaps of the scientific literature in the field of economic valuation of marine and coastal ESs. The bibliometric results showed that the research field is experiencing an evolving positive trend and represents a challenging research topic. From the network and overlay visualization of keyword co-occurrences, it emerged that the research clusters comprehensively address the key policy-relevant issues. In the content analysis, an examination of the estimated ESs and the economic valuation methods used by studies with the highest impact on scientific research was conducted. The findings suggest that while studies provide valuable data and insights, their practical applicability in policymaking is limited, due to contextual relevance and bias issues. Overall, the review underscores the need for a paradigm shift to better inform real-world policy decisions, identifying the Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) process as a key framework for bridging these gaps in future research and policy implementation.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2024.1501812/fullmarine and coastal ecosystemsecosystem serviceseconomic valuationdecision-makingbibliometric analysisnetwork analysis
spellingShingle Andrea Mattia Pacifico
Luca Mulazzani
Giulio Malorgio
Are the economic valuations of marine and coastal ecosystem services supporting policymakers? A systematic review and remaining gaps and challenges
Frontiers in Marine Science
marine and coastal ecosystems
ecosystem services
economic valuation
decision-making
bibliometric analysis
network analysis
title Are the economic valuations of marine and coastal ecosystem services supporting policymakers? A systematic review and remaining gaps and challenges
title_full Are the economic valuations of marine and coastal ecosystem services supporting policymakers? A systematic review and remaining gaps and challenges
title_fullStr Are the economic valuations of marine and coastal ecosystem services supporting policymakers? A systematic review and remaining gaps and challenges
title_full_unstemmed Are the economic valuations of marine and coastal ecosystem services supporting policymakers? A systematic review and remaining gaps and challenges
title_short Are the economic valuations of marine and coastal ecosystem services supporting policymakers? A systematic review and remaining gaps and challenges
title_sort are the economic valuations of marine and coastal ecosystem services supporting policymakers a systematic review and remaining gaps and challenges
topic marine and coastal ecosystems
ecosystem services
economic valuation
decision-making
bibliometric analysis
network analysis
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2024.1501812/full
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AT giuliomalorgio aretheeconomicvaluationsofmarineandcoastalecosystemservicessupportingpolicymakersasystematicreviewandremaininggapsandchallenges