The environmental valuation literature has, to date, been governed by the single ontology/epistemology of neoclassical environmental economics and monetary valuation, which has led to a mis- or un-representation of other ways of understanding and conceptualising environmental value. Consequently, calls have been made to better represent plural values in environmental valuation studies. Additionally, the environmental valuation literature has been characterised by a prevalent focus on the assessment of total or absolute value of ecosystems. Yet, there appears to be a consensus that the examination of marginal or relative changes in value would in fact be more informative.

In this study, we address these gaps in environmental valuation by presenting Environmental Value Functions (EVF), a new valuation framework that accounts for value-pluralism and develops value analysis at the margin. Our framework is based on the estimation and application of value functions, each of which describe the relationship between the value and quantity (or quality) of an ecosystem component of interest. In EVF, values are estimated in terms of change relative to the current level, instead of calculating absolute values. Recognising that some environmental values likely cannot be conceptualised in terms of marginal changes, we introduce the concept of binary/categorical value and thereby develop EVF to also account for non-marginal value conceptualisations. In sum, EVF simultaneously enables 1) the recognition of value-pluralism; 2) the integration of multiple valuation methods (monetary and non-monetary); 3) marginal and non-marginal value analysis. The coupling of EVF and ecosystem modelling can offer novel insights to the study of temporal environmental value dynamics, including the prediction and analysis of volatility, long-term trends, and temporal trade-offs.

迄今为止，环境估价文献受新古典环境经济学和货币估价的单一本体论/认识论的支配，这导致了对其他理解和概念化环境价值的方式的错误或未表述。因此，有人呼吁在环境评估研究中更好地代表多元价值。此外，环境评估文献的特点是普遍关注生态系统总价值或绝对价值的评估。然而，似乎有一种共识，即检查价值的边际或相对变化实际上会提供更多信息。

在这项研究中，我们通过提出环境价值函数 (EVF) 来解决环境价值评估中的这些差距，这是一种新的评估框架，可以解释价值多元化并在边缘进行价值分析。我们的框架基于价值函数的估计和应用，每个价值函数都描述了感兴趣的生态系统组件的价值和数量（或质量）之间的关系。在 EVF 中，根据相对于当前水平的变化来估计值，而不是计算绝对值。认识到某些环境价值可能无法根据边际变化概念化，我们引入了二元/分类价值的概念，从而开发了 EVF 以解释非边际价值的概念化。综上所述，EVF同时实现了1）价值多元化的认同；2）多种估值方法（货币和非货币）的整合；3）边际和非边际价值分析。EVF 和生态系统建模的耦合可以为时间环境价值动态的研究提供新的见解，包括对波动性、长期趋势和时间权衡的预测和分析。