Using the Ecosystem Services Framework in a Long-Term Socio-Ecological Research (LTSER) Platform: Lessons from the Wadi Araba Desert, Israel and Jordan - Earth Stewardship: Linking Ecology and Ethics in Theory and Practice - page 274

Chapter 18
Using the Ecosystem Services Framework
in a Long-Term Socio-Ecological Research
(LTSER) Platform: Lessons from the Wadi
Araba Desert, Israel and Jordan
Daniel E. Orenstein and Elli Groner
Abstract The establishment of Long-Term Socio-Ecological Research (LTSER)
platforms is part of a paradigmatic shift in the way ecosystems are studied and
managed: from a narrow species-level focus to a holistic socio-ecological systems
approach. The need for this shift is based on increasingly urgent global environmental
challenges and the realization that traditional ecological research methods and foci
have been insuffi cient for meeting these challenges. While the theoretical foundation
for this shift and guidelines for implementing it are increasingly well defi ned, there
is little actual experience in implementation on the ground. We recount our experi-
ences in establishing an LTSER platform in Wadi Araba, a hyper-arid desert in
southern Israel and Jordan, focusing on the challenges in establishing a cooperative
agenda between the two countries. We discuss the use of the ecosystem service (ES)
conceptual framework for guiding our research program and our efforts to create a
dialogue between research scientists and community members, and identify some of
the ethical issues inherent in trans-border research and in the application of the ES
framework.
Keywords Arava • Ecosystem services • Socio-ecological research • Transboundary