Ecosystem services are the economic benefits provided to humans for free by ecosystems, and they provide a framework for managing public lands as a socio-ecological system. Ecosystem services allow managers to ask questions such as ‘does developing public land and enhancing its use for tourism ultimately create benefits to its stakeholders that outweigh the impacts of the development itself?’ Understanding how new developments in public lands impact the full set of market- and non-market ecosystem services will allow for strategic growth that preserves ecosystem services such as biodiversity and carbon storage, while optimizing tourist revenue and benefitting local businesses.
In 2015, ANP opened the Schoodic Woods Campground which hosts 97 campsites, accompanied by 7 miles of new gravel bicycle paths, 5 miles of hiking trails, a visitor center, and parking for 100 cars (National Park Service). These developments have greatly increased visitor access to Schoodic Peninsula, increasing the valuation for recreational experiences. However, increased development may negatively influence other ecosystem services such as biodiversity and carbon storage.
With this project, we estimated the valuation of ecosystem services provided by Schoodic Peninsula focusing on its three greatest contributors: 1) biodiversity and wildlife habitat, 2) recreation and tourism, and 3) carbon storage, and estimate how these valuations have changed since the developments of the Schoodic Woods Campground.
Results/Conclusions
Since May 2017, we have led a project to quantify the ecosystem services of Schoodic Peninsula and how they have changed since the development of Schoodic Woods. After collecting 184 avian point counts, 19 vegetation transects, 790 visitor surveys, and 15 stakeholder interviews, our preliminary results show that Schoodic Woods has increased both recreational and business opportunities in the area, as well as altered patterns of biodiversity in ANP.
Preliminary results suggest that bird species richness is highest near human developments, especially the campground, and decreases moving away from it. The results of this project will inform the evolution of development on Schoodic Peninsula, creating an opportunity for strategic growth that preserves ecosystem services such as biodiversity and carbon storage, while optimizing tourist revenue and benefitting local businesses.