Assessment Method and Scale of Observation Influence Ecosystem Service Bundles

Abstract

The understanding of relationships between ecosystem services and the appropriate spatial scales for their analysis and characterization represent opportunities for sustainable land management. Bundles have appeared as an integrated method to assess and visualize consistent associations among multiple ecosystem services. Most of the bundle assessments focused on a static framework at a specific spatial scale. Here, we addressed the effects of applying two cluster analyses (static and dynamic) for assessing bundles of ecosystem services across four different scales of observation (two administrative boundaries and two sizes of grids) over 13 years (from 2000 to 2013). We used the ecosystem services matrix to model and map the potential supply of seven ecosystem services in a case study system in the central high-Andean Puna of Peru. We developed a sensitivity analysis to test the robustness of the matrix. The differences between the configuration, spatial patterns, and historical trajectories of bundles were measured and compared. We focused on two hypotheses: first, bundles of ecosystem services are mainly affected by the method applied for assessing them; second, these bundles are influenced by the scale of observation over time. For the first hypothesis, the results suggested that the selection of a method for assessing bundles have inferences on the interactions with land-use change. The diverse implications to management on ecosystem services support that static and dynamic assessments can be complementary to obtain better contributions for decision-making. For the second hypothesis, our study showed that municipality and grid-scales kept similar sensitivity in capturing the aspects of ecosystem service bundles. Then, in favorable research conditions, we recommend the combination of a municipal and a fine-grid scale to assure robustness and successfully land-use planning processes.