Abstract
Carbon storage and sequestration are key ecosystem services critical to human well-being and biodiversity conservation. In a warming context, the quantification and valuation of carbon storage and sequestration is important in ensuring that effective incentives are put in place to tackle climate change. The quantification and valuation of ES such as carbon storage and sequestration requires the calculus of actual values and prediction, however, it usually does not include key processes that can indirectly influence carbon dynamics (i.e., risk, conservation or management). Here, we define a multifactorial approach to value ecosystem services based on two stages: (1) a biophysical approximation that integrates yearly supporting ecosystem services (i.e., quantification of carbon storage and sequestration) and (2) a weighing approach including factors that indirectly influence carbon storage and sequestration or that deserve specific attention (i.e., risk, conservation or management factors). The quantification of carbon storage and sequestration indicated that Spanish forests store on average 43 Mg C ha−1 and sequestrate on average 1.02 Mg C ha−1 year−1. Forest structure was a strong determinant of carbon storage and sequestration in Iberian forests, hence there was a strong spatial variation in the carbon sink. We adapted the weighting values to a financial cap and the monetary value of carbon increased more than four times when the weighting factors were taken into account. Finally, we argue that a multifactorial approach to value supporting ecosystem services incorporating aspects related to conservation and risk prevention can facilitate ecosystem service valuation and assist policy makers and stakeholders to establish payment service policies.
Highlights
Forests are critical ecosystems that provide multiple ecosystem services (ES) [1] including supporting [2,3], provision, regulation [5], and cultural services, which in many cases present synergies [6]
Total carbon stored in the tree component of Spanish forest had a mean value of 43.35 Mg C ha−1, from which the 73% was in aboveground biomass and 27% was belowground
Carbon storage had significant differences depending on the forest type (d.f. = 16, F = 1005.8; p < 0.001), being lower in Mediterranean pines and sclerophyllous forests and greater in mountain pine and deciduous forests (Figure 2a)
Summary
Forests are critical ecosystems that provide multiple ecosystem services (ES) [1] including supporting [2,3], provision (e.g., wood or non-wood resources, e.g., Reference [4]), regulation [5], and cultural services, which in many cases present synergies [6]. Forests are key components for climate change mitigation and adaptation with forest carbon storage and measurement being a priority at the international level [9,10]. Other ecosystem services and functions related to forest systems might be critical for climate change mitigation, for example, the conservation of biodiversity as it promotes multifunctionality and ecosystem resilience [20]. Valuing aspects of biodiversity that allows carbon sequestration might favor an effective management of forests that contributes to the Paris goals at the local and regional levels. The system of protected areas available in developed countries represents one of the largest biodiversity and conservation measures of natural ecosystems where management plans allow the protection from change in land use either in Nationally Designated Areas or in the Natura 2000 network in Europe [33,34]. By developing these aims we have estimated the primary production ecosystem services (i.e., support services) which are linked to the specific services such as carbon storage (i.e., regulation services)
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