Developing a global economic valuation function for nitrogen impacts on coastal and marine ecosystem

The ecological and economic importance of coastal and marine systems is widely recognised. Yet, excessive nutrient loads can lead to eutrophication, impair ecosystem services (ES), and cause significant economic costs.

This work reviews existing studies to develop a spatial valuation function for nitrogen (N) impacts on ES provision, using the Baltic Sea as an initial example. Recreation and water quality improvements are the most frequently valued ES in the Baltic Sea. However, the use of different N-related indicators and unit values proves to be challenging. Future work will standardise N-indicators to develop a global valuation function for marine ES.