PROTECT BALTIC - Deliverable 4.1 - Conceptual causal framework for ecosystem components, ecosystem services and pressures

This deliverable presents the conceptual framework developed within the PROTECT BALTIC
project to support the identification, mapping and quantification of ecosystem services in
the Baltic Sea. The framework establishes the relationships between ecosystem
components, their ecological functions and the ecosystem services they provide, while also
enabling these relationships to be connected to pressures affecting the marine
environment.

The methodology developed through this work led to the creation of the Baltic Sea
Ecosystem Service Model (BALM) Tool, which links ecosystem components (species) to the
ecological functions they perform and, subsequently, to the ecosystem services they provide
through the integration of species-specific trait information.

In practice, this process resulted in the development of a series of matrices based on an
extensive literature reviewing and expert elicitation. The literature review was used to
compile information on species traits across different taxonomic groups. Expert elicitation
was then used to establish the strength of the relationships between these traits and
selected ecological functions, and subsequently between those functions and the resulting
ecosystem services.

The methodology produced two datasets, which are provided as accompanying files.