The trend of forest ecosystem services assessment in eastern India: a review for future research insights

Abstract

Ecosystem services (ES) are becoming a burgeoning topic presently playing a crucial role in sustaining human well-being, socioeconomic growth, and addressing environmental management and sustainability. The purpose of our review was to overview research trends of the forest ecosystem services (FES) in eastern India and the research methodologies adopted to evaluate them. To systematically study the FES literature, 127 articles pertaining to the term FES during the period 1991 to 2021 were reviewed through a quantitative analysis. The analytical outcome emphasized (1) the research aspects of FES and its types along with regional distribution, (2) the scenario of FES in eastern India with respect to other ES and India, (3) the quantitative trend of FES research over 30 years period, (4) the employed methodological approaches, and (5) the existing research gaps and prospects. Our findings suggest that the publication numbers are quite low in eastern India, as only 5 peer-reviewed articles were found on FES. The result also indicated that the majority of studies primarily focused on provisioning services (85.03%) and the survey/interview method gained more popularity as a primary data source. Most of the earlier studies employed basic assessments like product values or individual income. We also discussed the advantages as well as limitations of the employed methodologies. These findings further highlight the significance of valuing various FES collectively rather than individually and contribute to providing pertinent information for the FES literature scenario, which may help to strengthen forest management as well.

Keywords: Ecological process; FES literature; Forest management; Valuation.