Relation between ecosystem-services perception and environmental performance assessed by LCA and emergy accounting: a case study of pond farming in France Joël Aubin1,2, Aurélie Wilfart1,2, Killian Chary1,2, Syndhia Mathé3, and Hélène ReyValette4 1
INRA, UMR1069, Sol Agro et hydrosystème Spatialisation, F-35000 Rennes, France Agrocampus Ouest, F-35000 Rennes, France 3 CIRAD, UMR 85, Innovation, F-34398 Montpellier, France 4 Université de Montpellier 1, LAMETA, CS 79606, F-34960 Montpellier, France 2
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1. Introduction In France, fish pond farming is performed on large areas with extensive practices, more of a traditional activity than a productive activity. Its continuation or development involves a variety of issues associated with environmental constraints, biodiversity support, landscape maintenance and economic return. The framework of ecosystem services proposed by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) is suitable for representing the multiple roles of fish ponds; nevertheless, assessment of these services remains difficult and controversial. Furthermore, environmental assessment methods such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) or Emergy Accounting (EA) have been developed in the aquaculture sector to highlight the environmental performance of fish farming. However, no relations have been established between the environmental performance of farming systems and perception of their ecosystem services. These perceptions reflect the degree of knowledge that the actors have of ecosystem services. Local ecological knowledge is an important element in the design and structure of natural management strategies [1, 2].
2. Materials and methods Our study was conducted in the PISCEnLIT project, which aims to adapt the concept of ecological intensification to aquaculture systems. Our study was conducted in two different fishpond farming areas of France: Brenne and Lorraine. We surveyed 29 fish farms, combining its Life Cycle Inventory with a ranking of its ecosystem services as perceived by the fish farmer. In each farm, the ranking of ecosystem services was transformed into scores, and a Life Cycle Impact Assessment (using CML 2 and Recipe end-point characterization methods) and EA were performed. Correlation analysis (using R software) was performed to analyze relations between the indicators and ecosystem-service perceptions.
3. Results and discussion As revealed by a previous study [3], EA and LCA give complementary results. The LCA is especially sensitive to yields (tonne fish/ha) and to the inclusion of inputs from the technosphere. In contrast, EA better reflects the inclusion of natural resources and their transformation inside the production system. Perceptions of ecosystem services by fish farmers are driven by provisioning services (fish production) but also by regulation services (hydrological regulation and biodiversity support) and cultural services (especially recreation). Significant correlations (p
