Cultural Ecosystem Services of Geodiversity: A Case Study from Stránská skála (Brno, Czech Republic)

Lucie Kubalíková

doi:10.3390/land9040105

Abstract

The concept of ecosystem services developed in the second half of the 20th century, and the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment was crucial for its acceptance. This assessment identified the services that ecosystems provide to society, but geodiversity (as an indispensable component of ecosystems) was somewhat underestimated. At present, geodiversity is intensively used by human society and it provides numerous services including cultural as a resource for tourism, recreation, as a part of natural heritage, and to satisfy matters of spiritual importance. The main purpose of this paper is to present the geocultural issues of Stránská skála (a limestone cliff with caves and an anthropogenic underground) in Brno (Czech Republic) and to evaluate the cultural ecosystem services of geodiversity by using the abiotic ecosystem services approach. This assessment of cultural ecosystem services of the Stránská skála enables the identification and description of the functions and services which are provided by geodiversity and confirms the high cultural and geoheritage value of the site.

Highlights

Geodiversity is defined as the natural range of geological, geomorphological, soil, and hydrological features including their assemblages, structures, systems, and contribution to landscapes [1,2]
People have benefited in many ways from cultural ecosystem services, including aesthetic enjoyment, recreation, artistic and spiritual fulfillment, and intellectual development, cultural values of ecosystems are as important as other services [25,54]
The application of a cultural ecosystem services concept on ecosystems where the abiotic component plays a crucial role helps us to identify the importance of the geocultural aspects of the geological and geomorphological localities

Summary

Introduction

Geodiversity (of an abiotic or inanimate nature) is defined as the natural range (diversity) of geological (rocks, minerals, fossils), geomorphological (landforms, topography, physical processes), soil, and hydrological features including their assemblages, structures, systems, and contribution to landscapes [1,2]. Within this broad concept, geodiversity is a non-evaluative entity that encompasses all the diversity of abiotic nature, regardless of the partial diversity of its individual components [3]. Geodiversity provides resources or background settings for tourism, sporting activities, and recreation [16,17,18], and has numerous cultural functions [19,20,21]

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