Ecosystem Services (SUMES): Towards a quantitative holistic sustainability impact assessment tool (SUMES)

The SUMES project aims to develop a comprehensive model to assess the impact of human-induced changes on the marine ecosystem and beyond. The model investigates the structure (e.g. biodiversity) and function (e.g. food chains, biogeochemistry) of the marine ecosystem, its capacity to provide goods and services (e.g. sequestration of carbon) and the effect of activities on the aforementioned aspects. The model integrates Ecosystem Services, Risk Assessment and Life Cycle Assessment methods and indicators, which will be aggregated at the level of ‘endpoints’ or ‘Areas of Protection’, and serves therefore as a decision support model. The objective is to gain improved knowledge of cause-effect chains, with human activities being the stressor or cause, and the effects are the impact on local (to a specific marine ecosystem), regional (e.g. the North Sea) and global (to humans and nature) scale. A thorough understanding and quantification of the mechanisms is currently lacking in scientific literature, especially for the marine environment. Validation of the model is based on case studies related to the Belgian Continental Shelf (BCS). More info on this project, and its research results, is to be found on the website: About SUMES | Sumesproject