Ecological State Protocols

Description

Regen Network:

"An Ecological State Protocol is a context-specific assessment of ecological health using a localized and universal set of indicators like GIS and remote-sensing. ESPs output either one or multiple quantifications of a shift in measurable ecological outcomes, such as pollinator density. Thus, it represents a basket of different indicators appropriate and applicable to the local context. The outcome is not a defined final number, but a holistic approach to defining a shift in the ecological state.

...

The health of an ecosystem can be assessed by analyzing changes in different ecological indicators, such as Soil Organic Carbon, for example. Ecological State Protocols (ESPs) are deployed to analyze the health of our planet’s ecosystems.

In other words, an ESP allows a person, organization, or business to track a shift in an ecological state (an ecological outcome).

...

ESPs are an approach aiming to transcend and include the current approach of verifying practices and use models to assume the impacts. An ESP studies both the immediate, short-term, visible impact (in order to assess regeneration on a local and bioregional scale: Did this practice occur — yes or no? And at which scale? For which amount of time? In which location?) and the longer-term ecological indicators (AGB, NPP, SOC…).

This combined approach of identifying a land management practice (like no-till agriculture or mixed agroforestry) while tracking its various different ecological outcomes (AGB, SOC, etc.) creates a unique opportunity to contribute to the global wisdom about the real-world impact of land and ocean stewardship.

It is possible for ESPs to target either just short-term or long-term impact, such as sediment runoff or soil organic carbon, respectively. But more commonly, the two will be observed simultaneously as part of a process to understand the full-spectrum impact of a particular set of practices."

(https://medium.com/regen-network/ecological-state-protocols-1c7e97dadeae)

Examples

Regen Network:

Examples of Regen Foundation ESPs include Biodiversity, Above Ground Biomass (AGB), Soil Organic Carbon (SOC), Net Primary Productivity (NPP), Water Quality, Pollinator Density and many more. All of these ESPs are built to analyze specific datasets, and from such data sets, derive the information necessary to identify changes in the indicators specified by that particular protocol."

(https://medium.com/regen-network/ecological-state-protocols-1c7e97dadeae)

Directory

of participating protocols:

1. 2.1 Endangered Species Habitat Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2. 2.2 Pollinator Density Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3. 2.3 Water Quality Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
4. 2.4 Habitat Quality Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5. 2.5 Erosion and Sediment Delivery Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
6. 2.6 Urban Tree Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
7. 2.7 Aquifer Carbon Sinks Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
8. 2.8 Air Quality Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Carbon Sequestration Indicators

1. 3.1 Soil Carbon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2. 3.2 Biological Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3. 3.3 Above Ground Biomass (AGB) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4. 3.4 Surface Water Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
5. 3.5 Water and Nutrient Runoff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
6. 3.6 Land Conversion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
7. 3.7 Biodiversity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
8. 3.8 Sediment Delivery and Soil Loss Due to Erosion . . . . . . . . . 18
9. 3.9 Net Primary Productivity (NPP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
10. 3.10 Covariables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
11. 3.11 Climate: Rainfall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
12. 3.12 Soil Moisture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

(https://regen-network.gitlab.io/whitepaper/Protocols.pdf)

More information

* Regen Network. Ecological State Protocols. B. Deriemaeker, G. Booman, T. Kazantsev, N. Assareh, M. Rada. May 13, 2018

URL = https://regen-network.gitlab.io/whitepaper/Protocols.pdf