Abstract
Cultural ecosystem services (CES) have specific richness and diversity provision patterns related to particular landscape features and land cover forms. Studies of their spatial distribution, however, are quite rare in the Slovak Republic and surrounding countries. This paper links land cover information based on an ecosystem services (ES) matrix, field survey data and GIS method to assess CES supply in two selected Slovak regions. Our main focus is on the ecologically more valuable ‘hot-spots’ where socio-cultural values accumulate. We determined their spatial distribution, and our comparison with lower cultural value areas confirmed that mountainous landscapes have the highest capacity to provide CES. This especially applies to the landscapes under National Park protection. While Slovak forests, rocks and water areas also form essential ecosystems for overall CES provision, the lowest overall capacity is in areas with residential buildings, construction, industrial and other artificial habitats. Finally, a comparison of our results with the National Ecosystem Assessment indicates that our detailed CES assessment will be more effective in supporting future participatory planning and management processes.
Highlights
Ecosystem services (ES) is a globally recognized concept which highlights the material and non-material benefits humans gain from ecosystems [1]
Our results indicate the landscape benefits to tourism from the natural conditions and preserved cultural–historical buildings, the cultural establishments and cultural and sports facilities
The resultant maps show the spatial distribution of cultural ecosystem services supply
Summary
Ecosystem services (ES) is a globally recognized concept which highlights the material and non-material benefits humans gain from ecosystems [1] These services are combined in the following classes: (1) provisioning ES to provide services such as food and water, (2) regulating ES to monitor climate stability and disease control, (3) supporting ES to cover pollination and nutrient cycling and (4) cultural ES to provide the “non-material benefits people obtain from ecosystems through spiritual enrichment, cognitive development, reflection, recreation and aesthetic experience” [2,3]. Cultural ecosystem services (CES) express appreciation of aesthetic beauty in natural scenery and inspiration for culture, art and design. They provide a sense of place, belonging and spiritual and religious motivation. Most countries use ecosystem, land use, Corine Land Cover maps and ES assessment indicators derived from natural-environmental databases. Simple methods include the ‘evaluation matrix’ used in Russia [11,12,13] and studies addressing ES stock capacity and demand and current ES flows
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