Multiple ecosystem services landscape index: a tool for multifunctional landscapes conservation.

The contribution of ecosystems to human well-being has been widely recognised. Taking into account existing trade-offs between ecosystem services (ES) at the farm scale and the dependence of multiple ES on processes that take place at the landscape scale, long-term preservation of multifunctional landscapes must be a priority. Studies carried out from such perspective, and those that develop appropriate indicators, could provide useful tools for integrating ES in landscape planning. In this study we propose a new integrative environmental indicator based on the ES provided by the landscape and named "multiple ecosystem services landscape index" (MESLI). Because synergies and trade-offs between ES are produced at regional or local levels, being different from those perceived at larger scales, MESLI was developed at municipality level. Furthermore, in order to identify main drivers of change in ES provision at the landscape scale an analysis of the relationship between the environmental and the socioeconomic characteristics of the municipalities was carried out. The study was located in the Basque Country and the results demonstrated that the MESLI index is a good tool to measure landscape multifunctionality at local scales. It is effective evaluating landscapes, distinguishing between municipalities based on ES provision, and identifying the drivers of change and their effects. This information about ES provisioning at the local level is usually lacking; therefore, MESLI would be very useful for policy-makers and land managers because it provides relevant information to local scale decision-making.

[1]  T. Koellner,et al.  An African account of ecosystem service provision : use, threats and policy options for sustainable livelihoods , 2012 .

[2]  R. O'Neill,et al.  The value of the world's ecosystem services and natural capital , 1997, Nature.

[3]  R Leemans,et al.  A multi-scale modelling approach for analysing landscape service dynamics. , 2012, Journal of environmental management.

[4]  Grazia Zulian,et al.  Synergies and trade-offs between ecosystem service supply, biodiversity, and habitat conservation status in Europe , 2012 .

[5]  M. Onaindia,et al.  Can understorey native woodland plant species regenerate under exotic pine plantations using natural succession , 2013 .

[6]  James R.A. Butler,et al.  An analysis of trade-offs between multiple ecosystem services and stakeholders linked to land use and water quality management in the Great Barrier Reef, Australia , 2013 .

[7]  P. Laterra,et al.  Spatial complexity and ecosystem services in rural landscapes , 2012 .

[8]  P. Gutman,et al.  Ecosystem services: Foundations for a new rural-urban compact , 2007 .

[9]  R Core Team,et al.  R: A language and environment for statistical computing. , 2014 .

[10]  Rudolf de Groot,et al.  A conceptual framework for selecting environmental indicator sets , 2008 .

[11]  H. Zhang,et al.  Impacts of land use/land cover change and socioeconomic development on regional ecosystem services: The case of fast-growing Hangzhou metropolitan area, China , 2013 .

[12]  Daniel C. Miller,et al.  Payments for ecosystem services and the financing of global biodiversity conservation , 2013 .

[13]  Elizabeth Shapiro-Garza.  Contesting the market-based nature of Mexico’s national payments for ecosystem services programs: Four sites of articulation and hybridization , 2013 .

[14]  A. Ausseil,et al.  Tradeoffs between soil, water, and carbon -- a national scale analysis from New Zealand. , 2012, Journal of environmental management.

[15]  E. Díaz-Varela,et al.  Analysis of spatial scales for ecosystem services: Application of the lacunarity concept at landscape level in Galicia (NW Spain) , 2014 .

[16]  E. Gómez‐Baggethun,et al.  Classifying and valuing ecosystem services for urban planning , 2013 .

[17]  William F. Vásquez,et al.  The viability of local payments for watershed services: Empirical evidence from Matiguás, Nicaragua , 2012 .

[18]  Benjamin Burkhard,et al.  Mapping Ecosystem Services , 2017 .

[19]  Julia Martínez-Fernández,et al.  Trade-offs between maintenance of ecosystem services and socio-economic development in rural mountainous communities in southern Spain: a dynamic simulation approach. , 2013, Journal of environmental management.

[20]  A.P.E. van Oudenhoven,et al.  Framework for systematic indicator selection to assess effects of land management on ecosystem services , 2012 .

[21]  S. Wunder,et al.  Taking stock: A comparative analysis of payments for environmental services programs in developed and developing countries , 2008 .

[22]  S. Polasky,et al.  Measures of the effects of agricultural practices on ecosystem services , 2007 .

[23]  Matt Walpole,et al.  Developing ecosystem service indicators: Experiences and lessons learned from sub-global assessments and other initiatives , 2011 .

[24]  Carlos Montes,et al.  Effects of land-use change on wetland ecosystem services: A case study in the Doñana marshes (SW Spain) , 2014 .

[25]  F. Bravo,et al.  Evaluating different harvest intensities over understory plant diversity and pine seedlings, in a Pinus pinaster Ait. natural stand of Spain , 2009, Plant Ecology.

[26]  Manasi Kumar,et al.  Valuation of the ecosystem services: A psycho-cultural perspective , 2008 .

[27]  Benjamin Burkhard,et al.  Interactions of ecosystem properties, ecosystem integrity and ecosystem service indicators—A theoretical matrix exercise , 2013 .

[28]  D. Geneletti.  Assessing the impact of alternative land-use zoning policies on future ecosystem services , 2013 .

[29]  C. S. Holling,et al.  Resilience and Sustainable Development: Building Adaptive Capacity in a World of Transformations , 2002, Ambio.

[30]  F. Müller,et al.  The indicator side of ecosystem services , 2012 .

[31]  Dan van der Horst,et al.  Adoption of payments for ecosystem services: An application of the Hagerstrand model , 2011 .

[32]  Philippe C. Baveye,et al.  Monetary valuation of ecosystem services: it matters to get the timeline right , 2013 .

[33]  M. Onaindia,et al.  Use of native species to improve carbon sequestration and contribute towards solving the environmental problems of the timberlands in Biscay, northern Spain. , 2013, Journal of environmental management.

[34]  Esteve Corbera,et al.  Problematizing REDD+ as an experiment in payments for ecosystem services , 2012 .

[35]  R. D. Groot,et al.  The history of ecosystem services in economic theory and practice: From early notions to markets and payment schemes , 2010 .

[36]  H. Wittmer,et al.  “Maps have an air of authority”: Potential benefits and challenges of ecosystem service maps at different levels of decision making , 2013 .

[37]  R. D. Groot,et al.  Challenges in integrating the concept of ecosystem services and values in landscape planning, management and decision making , 2010 .

[38]  M. Onaindia,et al.  Perception, demand and user contribution to ecosystem services in the Bilbao Metropolitan Greenbelt. , 2013, Journal of environmental management.

[39]  B. Martín‐López,et al.  Exploring the knowledge landscape of ecosystem services assessments in Mediterranean agroecosystems: Insights for future research , 2014 .

[40]  M. Onaindia,et al.  Co-benefits and trade-offs between biodiversity, carbon storage and water flow regulation , 2013 .

[41]  Michael J. Crawley,et al.  The R book , 2022 .

[42]  M. Walpole,et al.  Indicators from the global and sub-global Millennium Ecosystem Assessments: An analysis and next steps , 2012 .

[43]  F. Müller,et al.  Mapping ecosystem service supply, demand and budgets , 2012 .

[44]  G. D. Koning,et al.  Modelling the impacts of payments for biodiversity conservation on regional land-use patterns , 2007 .

[45]  Sarah Schomers,et al.  Payments for ecosystem services: A review and comparison of developing and industrialized countries , 2013 .

[46]  R. DeFries,et al.  Anthropogenic Drivers of Ecosystem Change: an Overview , 2006 .

[47]  Christina V Haaren,et al.  Integrated landscape planning and remuneration of agri-environmental services. Results of a case study in the Fuhrberg region of Germany. , 2008, Journal of environmental management.

[48]  Pushpam Kumar,et al.  The economics of ecosystems and biodiversity : mainstreaming the economics of nature : a synthesis of the approach, conclusions and recommendations of TEEB , 2010 .

[49]  K. Wallace.  Classification of ecosystem services: Problems and solutions , 2007 .

[50]  Igone Palacios-Agúndez,et al.  Integrating stakeholders’ demands and scientific knowledge on ecosystem services in landscape planning , 2014, Landscape Ecology.

[51]  P. Hostert,et al.  Is there a forest transition outside forests? Trajectories of farm trees and effects on ecosystem services in an agricultural landscape in Eastern Germany , 2012 .

[52]  S. Carpenter,et al.  Global Consequences of Land Use , 2005, Science.

[53]  Stefano Tarantola,et al.  Handbook on Constructing Composite Indicators: Methodology and User Guide , 2005 .

[54]  Adrienne Grêt-Regamey,et al.  Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services : Indicators for ecosystem assessments under Action 5 of the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 , 2014 .

[55]  P. Legendre,et al.  vegan : Community Ecology Package. R package version 1.8-5 , 2007 .

[56]  Ralf Seppelt,et al.  Form follows function? Proposing a blueprint for ecosystem service assessments based on reviews and case studies , 2012 .