Abstract
Maass, J., P. Balvanera, A. Castillo, G. C. Daily, H. A. Mooney, P. Ehrlich, M. Quesada, A. Miranda, V. J. Jaramillo, F. García-Oliva, A. Martínez-Yrizar, H. Cotler, J. López-Blanco, A. Pérez-Jiménez, A. Búrquez, C. Tinoco, G. Ceballos, L. Barraza, R. Ayala, and J. Sarukhán. 2005. Ecosystem services of tropical dry forests: insights from long-term ecological and social research on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. Ecology and Society 10(1): 17. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-01219-100117
Highlights
Ecosystem services are the benefits that people receive and obtain from ecosystems (Daily 1997, Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) 2003)
In the search for an integrated understanding of the relationships among productive activities, human well-being, and ecosystem functioning, we evaluated the services delivered by a tropical dry forest (TDF) ecosystem in the Chamela Region, on the Pacific Coast of Mexico
In our study we focused on the following aspects: (1) definition of boundaries and scales of analysis; (2) identification of biophysical and socioeconomic constraints and drivers of ecosystem change, as well as the definition of socioecological units; (3) the most important services delivered by the tropical dry forest ecosystem (TDF), the stakeholders who benefited from them, and their degree of awareness of such services; (4) integrated analysis of spatial and temporal patterns of service delivery and tradeoffs among services and among stakeholders; and (5) construction of alternative future scenarios analyzing the delivery of ecosystem services and human well-being
Summary
Ecosystem services are the benefits that people receive and obtain from ecosystems (Daily 1997, MA 2003). The search for sustainable development in tropical dry forest areas requires an integrated understanding of the relationships among productive activities, human well-being, and ecosystem functioning. We synthesize information gathered for the past 20 years as part of a long-term ecosystem research study (Maass et al 2002) This synthesis includes the structural and functional aspects of the natural and transformed ecosystems, and a more recent understanding regarding social dimensions of ecosystem management (Castillo et al, in press). Through this integration, we attempt to provide information useful for developing management strategies toward the sustained delivery of ecosystem services aimed to ensure human wellbeing in the Chamela Region
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