Analysis of spatial scales for ecosystem services: Application of the lacunarity concept at landscape level in Galicia (NW Spain)

Abstract

Ecosystem services research has become important in fields such as ecology and land planning in recent years. Several authors have emphasized the need to evaluate these services from a spatial perspective. The spatial distribution of the resources and processes that provide ecosystems have also been considered in relation to landscape. Because ecosystem services are provided by different ecological processes, the spatial scales probably also differ; this aspect may be of interest for analyzing the provision flow. In this study, we analyzed the spatial pattern of six services that are important in the study area (in Galicia, NW Spain). We first identified the landscape elements associated with these services, defining them as ecosystem service providers (ESP). To represent the ecosystem, we initially used cartographic information based on land use/land cover (LULC) and then generated two different raster ESP data sets: (i) binary and (ii) greyscale. We then explored the spatial patterns of ESP by lacunarity analysis, which is often used to study fractal elements, and by selecting landscape metrics. The results suggest that the spatial patterns of ecosystem services occur at different scales. We observed a strong relationship between lacunarity values and the different distribution patterns of ESP. Multiscale effects were also associated with changes in lacunarity values. Application of different spatial analysis techniques to study the relationships between landscape structure and service providers should provide a better understanding of service provision and enable evaluation of the ecological integrity of landscapes.