Emergy-based evaluation of ecosystem services: Progress and perspectives

This review investigates the potential of the emergy analysis (EMA) as a new perspective and approach to the worldwide used ecosystem services (ESs) framework to quantify and analyse the potential benefits people obtain from ecosystems. Based on bibliometric analysis method, the study systematically investigates the latest developments and issues of application of EMA in ESs in conjunction with thematic analysis. The analysis includes an evaluation of its application in nine different types of ESs. The results show that the number of publications and cited frequency in this field grows exponentially. The application of emergy analysis is relatively well established for agriculture, urban, industrial and wetland ecosystems, but the application for forest, grassland, costal, marine and other ecosystems has yet to be advanced. Finally, current limitations and future research directions, including policy and strategy are further discussed. This study found that addressing incomplete data and parameterization, improving the accuracy of emergy accounting for different ecosystems in changing environments, and combining emergy with other methods and policy scenarios remain the long-term directions in the future related studies. These results can pave the way for further use of EMA in ESs research and provide guidance for decision-makers in the future.