Mapping forest ecosystem service supply in two case studies in Latvia

Abstract

Forest ecosystems provide a wide range of goods and benefits for human survival and well-being. This includes materials, food and fiber and other goods and benefits. Ecosystem services (ES) paradigm is increasingly used in socio-ecological studies. ES generally include provisioning services, regulation & maintenance services and cultural services. Identifying and mapping areas important for ES supply in peri-urban forested landscapes is crucial for comprehensive spatial planning process which takes into account the needs and preferences of local inhabitants. This is in contrast to planning approaches which have focused on which have been focused on mapping and valuing ES supply but ignoring ES demand. The aim of this study was to identify and assess the benefits provided by peri-urban forest ecosystems in two case study regions in Latvia. For this study, we chose two case study areas in Latvia: the city of Daugavpils and its surrounding district. Daugavpils district is located in South-eastern part of Latvia and covers 1876.1 km2. Population in Daugavpils district is 19,553, city of Daugavpils – 80,627. We used 238 structured interviews to collect data on local inhabitants’ preferences and views. Interviewer asked to rank 21 types of forest landscapes using printed photographs of which were linked to particular ES. Later we mapped co-occurrences of desirable types of forest landscapes (selected by >20% of respondents) using 1 × 1 km grid and identified Hot- and Cold-spots of ES supply using Getis-Ord GI* analysis in ArcGIS Pro. We found that more than 70% of respondents, both urban and rural, saw thinned deciduous forest and middle-aged pine forest landscape as important for their well-being. Respondents also did not rank highly regulation & maintenace ES but focused on cultural and provisioning ES. Hot-spot analysis indicated multiple, statistically significant (α = 0.01) clusters of ES supply which were located in large tracts of mainly production forests and few in protected forest areas with significant restrictions. Overall, our approach demonstrated that our approach for identifying and mapping co-occurrences of desirable forest landscapes can be useful for spatial planning at local and regional levels. This approach is based on needs and preferences of local inhabitants and provide the perspective more relevant to local communities compared to imposed top-down planning approaches.