Characterization Factors to Assess Land Use Impacts on Pollinator Abundance in Life Cycle Assessment

Elizabeth M. Alejandre; Laura Scherer; Jeroen B. Guinée; Marcelo A. Aizen; Matthias Albrecht; Mario V. Balzan; Ignasi Bartomeus; Danilo Bevk; Laura A. Burkle; Yann Clough; Lorna J. Cole; Casey M. Delphia; Lynn V. Dicks; Michael P.D. Garratt; David Kleijn; Anikó Kovács-Hostyánszki; Yael Mandelik; Robert J. Paxton; Theodora Petanidou; Simon Potts; Miklós Sárospataki; Catharina J.E. Schulp; Menelaos Stavrinides; Katharina Stein; Jane C. Stout; Hajnalka Szentgyörgyi; Androulla I. Varnava; Ben A. Woodcock; Peter M. van Bodegom

doi:10.1021/acs.est.2c05311

Characterization Factors to Assess Land Use Impacts on Pollinator Abundance in Life Cycle Assessment

Elizabeth M. Alejandre^*, Laura Scherer, Jeroen B. Guinée, Marcelo A. Aizen, Matthias Albrecht, Mario V. Balzan, Ignasi Bartomeus, Danilo Bevk, Laura A. Burkle, Yann Clough, Lorna J. Cole, Casey M. Delphia, Lynn V. Dicks, Michael P.D. Garratt, David Kleijn, Anikó Kovács-Hostyánszki, Yael Mandelik, Robert J. Paxton, Theodora Petanidou, Simon PottsMiklós Sárospataki, Catharina J.E. Schulp, Menelaos Stavrinides, Katharina Stein, Jane C. Stout, Hajnalka Szentgyörgyi, Androulla I. Varnava, Ben A. Woodcock, Peter M. van Bodegom

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Entomology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

While wild pollinators play a key role in global food production, their assessment is currently missing from the most commonly used environmental impact assessment method, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). This is mainly due to constraints in data availability and compatibility with LCA inventories. To target this gap, relative pollinator abundance estimates were obtained with the use of a Delphi assessment, during which 25 experts, covering 16 nationalities and 45 countries of expertise, provided scores for low, typical, and high expected abundance associated with 24 land use categories. Based on these estimates, this study presents a set of globally generic characterization factors (CFs) that allows translating land use into relative impacts to wild pollinator abundance. The associated uncertainty of the CFs is presented along with an illustrative case to demonstrate the applicability in LCA studies. The CFs based on estimates that reached consensus during the Delphi assessment are recommended as readily applicable and allow key differences among land use types to be distinguished. The resulting CFs are proposed as the first step for incorporating pollinator impacts in LCA studies, exemplifying the use of expert elicitation methods as a useful tool to fill data gaps that constrain the characterization of key environmental impacts.

Original language	American English
Pages (from-to)	3445-3454
Number of pages	10
Journal	Environmental Science & Technology
Volume	57
Issue number	8
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c05311
State	Published - 28 Feb 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
E.M.A. was funded by the National Council for Science and Technology of Mexico (CONACyT) in the form of an educational and scientific scholarship for graduate studies abroad. B.A.W.’s contribution was supported by the NERC consortium award “Restoring Resilient Ecosystems” (NE/V006525/1). C.J.E.S. was funded by the EU Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program through the project CONSOLE (grant agreement 817949). C.M.D. acknowledges the support of the Montana Department of Agriculture’s Specialty Crop Block Grant Program under the Wild Bees of Montana. D.B.’s contribution was funded by the Slovenian Research Agency (projects P1-0255 and V1-1938). D.K.’s contribution was made possible through funding by the EU Horizon 2020 Safeguard project (101003476). H.S’s. contribution was funded by the Institute of Botany, Jagiellonian University in Kraków (N18/DBS/000002). L.J.C.’s contribution was funded by the Rural & Environment Science & Analytical Services Division of the Scottish Government (Theme C). L.V.D.’s contribution was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (grant number NE/N014472/2).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.

Keywords

Delphi expert elicitation
agriculture
ecosystem service
impact assessment
pollinator abundance

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1021/acs.est.2c05311

Cite this

Alejandre, E. M., Scherer, L., Guinée, J. B., Aizen, M. A., Albrecht, M., Balzan, M. V., Bartomeus, I., Bevk, D., Burkle, L. A., Clough, Y., Cole, L. J., Delphia, C. M., Dicks, L. V., Garratt, M. P. D., Kleijn, D., Kovács-Hostyánszki, A., Mandelik, Y., Paxton, R. J., Petanidou, T., ... van Bodegom, P. M. (2023). Characterization Factors to Assess Land Use Impacts on Pollinator Abundance in Life Cycle Assessment. Environmental Science & Technology, 57(8), 3445-3454. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c05311

@article{63bdd0e08734446ea16e191a4f56d86b,

title = "Characterization Factors to Assess Land Use Impacts on Pollinator Abundance in Life Cycle Assessment",

abstract = "While wild pollinators play a key role in global food production, their assessment is currently missing from the most commonly used environmental impact assessment method, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). This is mainly due to constraints in data availability and compatibility with LCA inventories. To target this gap, relative pollinator abundance estimates were obtained with the use of a Delphi assessment, during which 25 experts, covering 16 nationalities and 45 countries of expertise, provided scores for low, typical, and high expected abundance associated with 24 land use categories. Based on these estimates, this study presents a set of globally generic characterization factors (CFs) that allows translating land use into relative impacts to wild pollinator abundance. The associated uncertainty of the CFs is presented along with an illustrative case to demonstrate the applicability in LCA studies. The CFs based on estimates that reached consensus during the Delphi assessment are recommended as readily applicable and allow key differences among land use types to be distinguished. The resulting CFs are proposed as the first step for incorporating pollinator impacts in LCA studies, exemplifying the use of expert elicitation methods as a useful tool to fill data gaps that constrain the characterization of key environmental impacts.",

keywords = "Delphi expert elicitation, agriculture, ecosystem service, impact assessment, pollinator abundance",

author = "Alejandre, {Elizabeth M.} and Laura Scherer and Guin{\'e}e, {Jeroen B.} and Aizen, {Marcelo A.} and Matthias Albrecht and Balzan, {Mario V.} and Ignasi Bartomeus and Danilo Bevk and Burkle, {Laura A.} and Yann Clough and Cole, {Lorna J.} and Delphia, {Casey M.} and Dicks, {Lynn V.} and Garratt, {Michael P.D.} and David Kleijn and Anik{\'o} Kov{\'a}cs-Hosty{\'a}nszki and Yael Mandelik and Paxton, {Robert J.} and Theodora Petanidou and Simon Potts and Mikl{\'o}s S{\'a}rospataki and Schulp, {Catharina J.E.} and Menelaos Stavrinides and Katharina Stein and Stout, {Jane C.} and Hajnalka Szentgy{\"o}rgyi and Varnava, {Androulla I.} and Woodcock, {Ben A.} and {van Bodegom}, {Peter M.}",

note = "Funding Information: E.M.A. was funded by the National Council for Science and Technology of Mexico (CONACyT) in the form of an educational and scientific scholarship for graduate studies abroad. B.A.W.{\textquoteright}s contribution was supported by the NERC consortium award “Restoring Resilient Ecosystems” (NE/V006525/1). C.J.E.S. was funded by the EU Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program through the project CONSOLE (grant agreement 817949). C.M.D. acknowledges the support of the Montana Department of Agriculture{\textquoteright}s Specialty Crop Block Grant Program under the Wild Bees of Montana. D.B.{\textquoteright}s contribution was funded by the Slovenian Research Agency (projects P1-0255 and V1-1938). D.K.{\textquoteright}s contribution was made possible through funding by the EU Horizon 2020 Safeguard project (101003476). H.S{\textquoteright}s. contribution was funded by the Institute of Botany, Jagiellonian University in Krak{\'o}w (N18/DBS/000002). L.J.C.{\textquoteright}s contribution was funded by the Rural & Environment Science & Analytical Services Division of the Scottish Government (Theme C). L.V.D.{\textquoteright}s contribution was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (grant number NE/N014472/2). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.",

year = "2023",

month = feb,

day = "28",

doi = "10.1021/acs.est.2c05311",

language = "American English",

volume = "57",

pages = "3445--3454",

journal = "Environmental Science & Technology",

issn = "0013-936X",

publisher = "American Chemical Society",

number = "8",

}

Alejandre, EM, Scherer, L, Guinée, JB, Aizen, MA, Albrecht, M, Balzan, MV, Bartomeus, I, Bevk, D, Burkle, LA, Clough, Y, Cole, LJ, Delphia, CM, Dicks, LV, Garratt, MPD, Kleijn, D, Kovács-Hostyánszki, A, Mandelik, Y, Paxton, RJ, Petanidou, T, Potts, S, Sárospataki, M, Schulp, CJE, Stavrinides, M, Stein, K, Stout, JC, Szentgyörgyi, H, Varnava, AI, Woodcock, BA & van Bodegom, PM 2023, 'Characterization Factors to Assess Land Use Impacts on Pollinator Abundance in Life Cycle Assessment', Environmental Science & Technology, vol. 57, no. 8, pp. 3445-3454. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c05311

TY - JOUR

T1 - Characterization Factors to Assess Land Use Impacts on Pollinator Abundance in Life Cycle Assessment

AU - Alejandre, Elizabeth M.

AU - Scherer, Laura

AU - Guinée, Jeroen B.

AU - Aizen, Marcelo A.

AU - Albrecht, Matthias

AU - Balzan, Mario V.

AU - Bartomeus, Ignasi

AU - Bevk, Danilo

AU - Burkle, Laura A.

AU - Clough, Yann

AU - Cole, Lorna J.

AU - Delphia, Casey M.

AU - Dicks, Lynn V.

AU - Garratt, Michael P.D.

AU - Kleijn, David

AU - Kovács-Hostyánszki, Anikó

AU - Mandelik, Yael

AU - Paxton, Robert J.

AU - Petanidou, Theodora

AU - Potts, Simon

AU - Sárospataki, Miklós

AU - Schulp, Catharina J.E.

AU - Stavrinides, Menelaos

AU - Stein, Katharina

AU - Stout, Jane C.

AU - Szentgyörgyi, Hajnalka

AU - Varnava, Androulla I.

AU - Woodcock, Ben A.

AU - van Bodegom, Peter M.

N1 - Funding Information: E.M.A. was funded by the National Council for Science and Technology of Mexico (CONACyT) in the form of an educational and scientific scholarship for graduate studies abroad. B.A.W.’s contribution was supported by the NERC consortium award “Restoring Resilient Ecosystems” (NE/V006525/1). C.J.E.S. was funded by the EU Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program through the project CONSOLE (grant agreement 817949). C.M.D. acknowledges the support of the Montana Department of Agriculture’s Specialty Crop Block Grant Program under the Wild Bees of Montana. D.B.’s contribution was funded by the Slovenian Research Agency (projects P1-0255 and V1-1938). D.K.’s contribution was made possible through funding by the EU Horizon 2020 Safeguard project (101003476). H.S’s. contribution was funded by the Institute of Botany, Jagiellonian University in Kraków (N18/DBS/000002). L.J.C.’s contribution was funded by the Rural & Environment Science & Analytical Services Division of the Scottish Government (Theme C). L.V.D.’s contribution was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (grant number NE/N014472/2). Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.

PY - 2023/2/28

Y1 - 2023/2/28

N2 - While wild pollinators play a key role in global food production, their assessment is currently missing from the most commonly used environmental impact assessment method, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). This is mainly due to constraints in data availability and compatibility with LCA inventories. To target this gap, relative pollinator abundance estimates were obtained with the use of a Delphi assessment, during which 25 experts, covering 16 nationalities and 45 countries of expertise, provided scores for low, typical, and high expected abundance associated with 24 land use categories. Based on these estimates, this study presents a set of globally generic characterization factors (CFs) that allows translating land use into relative impacts to wild pollinator abundance. The associated uncertainty of the CFs is presented along with an illustrative case to demonstrate the applicability in LCA studies. The CFs based on estimates that reached consensus during the Delphi assessment are recommended as readily applicable and allow key differences among land use types to be distinguished. The resulting CFs are proposed as the first step for incorporating pollinator impacts in LCA studies, exemplifying the use of expert elicitation methods as a useful tool to fill data gaps that constrain the characterization of key environmental impacts.

AB - While wild pollinators play a key role in global food production, their assessment is currently missing from the most commonly used environmental impact assessment method, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). This is mainly due to constraints in data availability and compatibility with LCA inventories. To target this gap, relative pollinator abundance estimates were obtained with the use of a Delphi assessment, during which 25 experts, covering 16 nationalities and 45 countries of expertise, provided scores for low, typical, and high expected abundance associated with 24 land use categories. Based on these estimates, this study presents a set of globally generic characterization factors (CFs) that allows translating land use into relative impacts to wild pollinator abundance. The associated uncertainty of the CFs is presented along with an illustrative case to demonstrate the applicability in LCA studies. The CFs based on estimates that reached consensus during the Delphi assessment are recommended as readily applicable and allow key differences among land use types to be distinguished. The resulting CFs are proposed as the first step for incorporating pollinator impacts in LCA studies, exemplifying the use of expert elicitation methods as a useful tool to fill data gaps that constrain the characterization of key environmental impacts.

KW - Delphi expert elicitation

KW - agriculture

KW - ecosystem service

KW - impact assessment

KW - pollinator abundance

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U2 - 10.1021/acs.est.2c05311

DO - 10.1021/acs.est.2c05311

M3 - Article

C2 - 36780611

AN - SCOPUS:85148349731

SN - 0013-936X

VL - 57

SP - 3445

EP - 3454

JO - Environmental Science & Technology

JF - Environmental Science & Technology

IS - 8

ER -

Characterization Factors to Assess Land Use Impacts on Pollinator Abundance in Life Cycle Assessment

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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