OUP accepted manuscript

Abstract

Cultural ecosystem services (CES) are associated with diverse and profound values, such as spiritual fulfillment, cultural heritage, and identity-related phenomena. Early ecosystem services research often omitted these deep meanings, but they are increasingly explored in recent studies through a range of disciplinary and epistemological perspectives. In the present article, we distill emerging frontiers of CES research. These frontiers help to characterize varied sources of meaning that are central to the CES ethos. They represent both advances in and opportunities for CES research, especially as related to justice and equity. The frontiers are: broadening definitions and conceptualizations of CES; addressing collective aspects of CES and attending to process; acknowledging that CES are reciprocal, relational, and dynamic; embracing narrative; and better connecting CES to biophysical attributes. We focus on the implications of these frontiers for equity and justice and suggest future research that can help ecosystem services work better address both legacies and current manifestations of injustice.