140 - Yeovil Scarplands : Natural Capital and Key Ecosystem Services

Introduction

The Yeovil Scarplands NCA provides a wide range of benefits to society. Each is derived from the attributes and processes (both natural and cultural features) within the area. These benefits are known collectively as ‘ecosystem services’. The predominant services are summarised below. Further information on ecosystem services provided in the Yeovil Scarplands NCA is contained in the ‘Analysis’ section of this website.

What is Natural Capital?

Natural capital means “the elements of nature that directly or indirectly produce value to people, including ecosystems, species, freshwater, land, minerals, the air and oceans, as well as natural processes and functions” (Natural Capital Committee, 2017).

It is helpful to consider natural capital in the form of a logic chain that represents the links between ecosystem assets, services, benefits and value to people. The figure below displays that logic chain. The quantity and quality of ecosystem assets (woodland, bogs, etc) support different types of ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration or water filtration. These ecosystem services then provide different benefits to society, providing value for people. The figure also shows how management interventions, as well as pressures and drivers of change, influence this chain. Other capital inputs are also often needed for people to obtain the benefits from ecosystem services (a simple example is the processing of trees to produce wood products).

As an example, an area of woodland (ecosystem asset) may reduce air pollution created by traffic on a nearby road. This woodland is therefore improving air quality (ecosystem service) in the local area which results in cleaner air and improved health in the adjacent residential street (benefit). This cleaner air has a value because we know it impacts the health and wellbeing of communities.

Sometimes for ease of understanding, economic framing is used to give these benefits a monetary value. The figure below shows how natural capital assets support the provision of ecosystem services, benefits and value. The roots of the tree show how aspects of asset quality are critical to the provision of ecosystem services. The roots also show that geodiversity underpins the ecosystem assets and therefore the ecosystem services and benefits they can provide. It is important to remember that this diagram, and natural capital frameworks more generally, are a simplification of how nature works in practice.

Natural Capital within this NCA

In 2018, Natural England published ‘Natural Capital Indicators: for defining and measuring change in natural capital’ (Lusardi et al., 2018). This report identified key properties of the natural environment vital for the long-term sustainability of benefits, which can act as indicators of change.

These indicators are designed to inform our understanding of the state of our natural assets. The indicators highlight the importance of our natural assets for delivering which ecosystem service and the benefits they provide for society. The indicators and datasets identified in Natural England’s Natural Capital Indicators Project provide the foundation for the Natural Capital Atlas Profiles.

Natural England’s Natural Capital Atlas Profiles provide an “off the shelf” natural capital evidence base for each county or city region. They have a wide variety of uses with more information in the How to Start Using Your Natural Capital Atlas.

The Natural Capital indicators are presented on the map below by broad asset theme, displaying the natural capital within the NCA.

It is noted that not all indicators listed within the Natural Capital Atlas Profiles are included within the map as data is not yet available to measure them. Refer to the “Indicator Gaps and Limitations” of the Natural Capital Atlas Profiles for further information.

Natural Capital Atlas Profiles

The following Natural Capital Atlas Profiles cover counties within this NCA:
 

• 10: Dorset
• 34: Somerset

Provisioning services (food, fibre and water supply)

Food provision: The area is important for food provision, particularly extensive grazing stock, specialist poultry and pigs and, despite a significant decline, dairy.

Water availability: Sutton Bingham Reservoir provides Yeovil’s water supply. It is the only public water supply reservoir in the NCA. For information regarding the current state of water availability within this NCA, refer to the Environment Agency (Abstraction Licensing Strategy).

Regulating services (water purification, air quality maintenance and climate regulation)

Climate regulation: The large expanses of pasture and the frequent woodlands, hedgerow network and individual trees all contribute to carbon storage.

Regulating soil erosion: The area has a high percentage of soils vulnerable to erosion; some current land use trends may, along with increasingly frequent extreme weather, lead to increased erosion and subsequent issues such as siltation in watercourses.

Regulating soil quality: As with regulating soil erosion, the quality of the soil can be affected by over-cultivation, compaction and poaching, which cause structural damage.

Regulating water quality: For information regarding the current state of water quality within this NCA, refer to the Environment Agency (Draft river basin management plan maps).

Regulating water flow: This NCA has several rivers that flow into the Somerset Levels and Moors. As such, it exerts an important influence on the flooding cycles that affect these areas during periods of high rainfall.

Cultural services (inspiration, education and wellbeing)

Sense of place/inspiration: East Coker was the home of T.S. Eliot. He is buried in the village church. Local vernaculars, particularly the various stones used, create a strong sense of place, often between individual villages.

Sense of history: The NCA plays host to a high density of mansions and manor houses with their associated parks, and many deer parks, with veteran trees and wood pasture habitats. The area is generally one of long-established occupation and agriculture, with abandoned settlements indicating population shift and reduction.

Tranquillity: Away from the bustling A roads and Yeovil, there are many areas of quite intense tranquillity. An area to the south of the NCA was designated as part of the Dorset AONB in 1959, recognising the high- quality landscape and the tranquillity of this area.

Biodiversity: The NCA’s biodiversity is quite fragmented and there are few designated sites. However, an SAC and part of another are found here, along with a several SSSI and a widespread suite of local wildlife sites that principally represent grassland and woodland interest.

Geodiversity: The NCA features several geological SSSI noted for their Jurassic stratigraphy, as well as a range of building stones that have played a fundamental role in setting the vernacular and sense of place across the NCA and into neighbouring areas.