THE GEOSYSTEM SERVICES CONCEPT - WHAT IS IT AND CAN IT SUPPORT SUBSURFACE PLANNING?

The subsurface is an important constituent of the physical environment. It provides physical space, water, energy, materials, habitats for ecosystems and acts as a repository for cultural heritage and geological history. As such the subsurface constitutes a multifunctional natural resource. However, the subsurface is often both “out of sight and out of mind” unless extraordinary opportunities or risks are presented. In the more ordinary but less spectacular cases favourable subsurface conditions are often taken for granted. Furthermore, a first-come-first-served principle is prevalent when accessing these resources, compromising fair inter- and intragenerational distribution and sustainable development.

To support a more holistic subsurface planning approach, the concept of geosystem services (GS) has been suggested as a tool to highlight services from the subsurface (or which the subsurface provides), as a complement or parallel to how ecosystem services (ES) acknowledge the contribution of the living part of nature to human well-being. We carried out a systematic literature review of scientific publications on GS using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol and the Scopus database to review current definitions of GS and their categorisation, establishing a starting point for a discussion on how GS can support subsurface planning.

The emerging picture from the reviewed articles is that the GS concept is both one of novelty and one currently showing inconsistency, with two prominent definitions: A) GS are abiotic services that are the direct result of the planet’s geodiversity, independent of the interactions with biotic nature – there is no differentiation between suprasurface and subsurface features, and B) GS provide benefits specifically resulting from the subsurface. Our study highlights that a unified definition of geosystem services is desirable and that such a framework has the potential to support systematic inclusion of GS in planning processes and contribute to improved subsurface planning.