A range of methods are available for assessing ecosystem services. Methods differ in their aims; from mapping and modelling the supply and demand of ecosystem services to appraising their economic and non-economic importance through valuation techniques. Comprehensive guidance for the selection of appropriate ecosystem service assessment methods that address the requirements of different decision-making contexts is lacking. This paper tackles this gap using the experience from 27 case studies which applied different biophysical, socio-cultural and monetary valuation methods to operationalise the ecosystem service concept towards sustainable land, water and urban management. A survey of the reasons why the case study teams selected particular methods revealed that stakeholder-oriented reasons, such as stakeholder participation, inclusion of local knowledge and ease of communication, and decision-oriented reasons, such as the purpose of the case study and the ecosystem services at stake, were key considerations in selecting a method. Pragmatic reasons such as available data, resources and expertise were also important factors. This information was used to develop a set of linked decision trees, which aim to provide guidance to researchers and practitioners in choosing ecosystem service assessment methods that are suitable for their context.

有多种方法可用于评估生态系统服务。方法的目的不同；从绘制和建模生态系统服务的供求关系到通过评估技术评估其经济和非经济重要性。缺乏针对处理不同决策环境要求的适当生态系统服务评估方法的综合指南。本文利用27个案例研究的经验解决了这一差距，这些案例运用了不同的生物物理，社会文化和货币评估方法，将生态系统服务概念付诸实施，以实现可持续的土地，水和城市管理。对案例研究小组选择特定方法的原因进行的一项调查显示，以利益相关者为导向的原因，例如利益相关者的参与，选择一种方法的关键考虑因素包括本地知识和沟通的便捷性以及以决策为导向的原因，例如案例研究的目的和所面临的生态系统服务。可用数据，资源和专业知识等务实原因也是重要因素。该信息用于开发一组链接的决策树，旨在为研究人员和从业人员提供指导，以选择适合其背景的生态系统服务评估方法。