Are similar ecosystem services valued differently across different water body types: A discrete choice analysis of rivers, lakes and sea attributes?

As demands on the environment and associated ecosystem services increase, the need for amore integrated approach to managing the exploitation of these natural resources alsoincreases. This is particularly true for the alternative types of water bodies such as a sea, riverand or a lake. The purpose of this paper is to explore the preferences of residents in theRepublic of Ireland for a number of ecosystem services provided by Irish water bodies. Inparticular the paper examines whether, and how, preferences for the same ecosystem servicesdiffer when the public is asked to consider the alternative water body types (sea, river andlake). This is relevant as the ecosystem services economic benefits are not necessarilyuniform across water bodies, a factor that has not been explored in detail previously.