Currently I am carrying out a doctoral research that aims at finding the dependencies between plant species and ecosystem services. Let me tell you why.

In policy and governance, the term ecosystem services is used to express the many different ways ecosystems or nature contribute to our wellbeing. Ecosystem services include important processes such as climate regulation, carbon storage and water purification as well as important goods such as timber, food and medicines.

With the increasing human pressure on our ecosystems, we are degrading our natural capital and with it, the services that we take for granted. To halt this degradation and to promote conservation of our ecosystems, the concept of ecosystem services can be a powerful tool. For instance, by expressing the many services that ecosystem provide, and what species are necessary to provide these services, ecosystems and their important species can be better appreciated and protected. However, ecosystem services turn out to be hard to measure and we find it hard to expose the many relations the services have to its supporting ecosystem.

Interestingly, I think plants seem to be very suitable to address these challenges. Plants stand at the basis of the terrestrial ecosystem because they capture and harness the energy of the sun and present themselves as food and habitat to other creatures. In doing so, plant biodiversity is extremely important in providing ecosystem services. For example, carbon is stored by plants, timber is derived from plants and non-timber forest products are for a large part derived from plants (such as medicines, fruits, seeds, oils and resins). Other services are derived indirectly from plants. For instance, bush meat and pollination services are derived from animals that use plants as a habitat. 

Therefore in this doctoral research I try to answer questions such as: How many plant species do we need to get certain services and in what amounts? Does this change over the year of over different places? Which kind of plants are more important than other, or are all plants important? If we want to focus on conserving certain plant-based ecosystem services, what are then the potential trade-offs or synergies with other plant-based services?

In this project I set out to answer these questions for the tropical ecosystem of the Guiana Shield, which are still largely intact and therefore have much to lose. What we know is that the Guiana Shield are very rich in plant species and around of which 40% is only found within it. For my research I collaborate with The Amazonian Tree Diversity Network (ATDN). My research is supported by the Utrecht University's platform The Academy of Ecosystem Services. My (Co-)Promotors are: Prof. Martin Wassen, Dr. René Verburg and Dr. Pita Verweij.