3 Assess and value
Objectives of this section
This section develops the presentation of three sets of methodologies which may be implemented and/or selected during the triage process: ecological, social and economic methods and offers a toolbox for marine ecosystem services assessment and valuation.
Numerous methods can be used to assess marine ecosystem services. Basically, these methods belong to natural sciences or social sciences, and for some of them try to cross concepts and principles from both realms. A systematic review of the ecosystem services assessment methods has been recently carried out by the US Environmental Protection Agency [EPA, 2009].
This section of the e-learning module develops the presentation of the sets of methodologies which have been implemented in the VALMER case study sites. These sets of methodologies include: ecological assessment methods (habitats-functions-services relationship assessment, sensitivity assessment), social sciences methods (interviews, surveys, multi-criteria analysis), economic methods (transport costs, choice experiment, ecosystem accounting, Bayesian belief networks) and cross-methods (INVEST, system dynamic modelling).
Section outline
3 ASSESS AND VALUE 
Section coordination by J. Ballé-Béganton11, M. Philippe11 and D. Bailly11 based on written contributions from R. Mongruel5, N. Beaumont8, T. Hooper8, H. Levrel5, P. Somerfield8, E. Thiébaut10 and M. Charles1
3.1 Building a common language: definitions and nomenclatures 
3.1.1 Natural habitats, ecological functions and marine ecosystem services 3.1.2 Do natural habitat, ecological functions and ecosystem services always match? 3.1.3 Disentangling complexity of the relationships between ecosystems, their features and the provided services 3.1.4 Main categories of services provided by marine ecosystems 3.1.5 Nomenclatures for stakeholders and management bodies 3.1.6 Indicators for the assessment of marine ecosystem services 3.1.7 Concept of values
3.2 List of assessment and valuation methods
3.3 Ecological assessment 3.3.1 Habitat mapping: the EUNIS nomenclature 3.3.2 Habitats-functions-services relationship assessment 3.3.3 Sensitivity assessment
3.4 Social science methods 3.4.1 Surveys, interviews and focus groups 3.4.2 Multi-criteria analysis 3.4.3 Behavioural observation
3.5 Economic methods 3.5.1 Revealed preference: Travel costs method 3.5.2 Revealed preferences: Hedonic pricing 3.5.3 Revealed preferences: Averting-behaviour methods 3.5.4 Stated preferences: Contingent valuation and Contingent behaviour 3.5.5 Stated preferences: Choice experiment 3.5.6 Stated preferences: Benefit transfer 3.5.7 Ecosystem accounting
3.6 Civic valuation
3.7 Ecosystem benefit indicators and biophysical ranking methods
3.8 Methods using cost as a proxy for value
3.9 Cross-methods 3.9.1 Natural capital project InVEST 3.9.2 Bayesian belief networks 3.9.3 System dynamic modelling 3.9.4 Companion modelling for common pool resources
1 Agence des Aires Marines Protégées
2 Cornwall Council
3 Devon County Council / Devon Maritime Forum
4 Dorset County Council/Dorset Coast Forum
5 Ifremer
6 Marine Biological Association of the UK
7 Parc Naturel Régional du Golfe du Morbihan
8 Plymouth Marine Laboratory
9 Plymouth University
10 Station Biologique de Roscoff – Université Pierre et Marie Curie
11 Université de Bretagne Occidentale – Brest/ UMR AMURE
