Abstract
Multifunctionality refers to the capacity of an area to supply multiple ecosystem functions or services. While many conceptual and methodological advances have focused on defining and quantifying multifunctionality, the challenge of dealing with cross-scale dynamics of multifunctionality remains open. This study proposes a new way of measuring multifunctionality across spatial scales, illustrated with a European-wide dataset of 18 ecosystem services. Our assessment captures not only the diversity of ecosystem services supplied within each municipality (alpha-multifunctionality), but also the unique contribution of each municipality to the regional ecosystem service diversity (beta-multifunctionality). This cross-scale analysis helps better understanding the spatial distribution of ecosystem services, which is required to design management and policies at the right scale. Our analysis shows that alpha-multifunctionality follows a latitudinal gradient across Europe and strongly decreases towards the city centers of metropolitan areas. By relating alpha- and beta-multifunctionality to land use intensity, we show that low-intensity management systems support higher ecosystem multifunctionality across Europe. Municipalities of low alpha-multifunctionality often contribute significantly to regional multifunctionality, by providing ecosystem services of a specific value to the region. Our method to measure both alpha- and beta-multifunctionality thus provides a new way to inform reconciliation of competing land uses when maximizing alpha-multifunctionality is not reasonable.
Highlights
The concept of ecosystem multifunctionality emerged from the necessity to manage and use land for various purposes in order to satisfy different human needs and preferences (Wiggering et al 2003, Mander et al 2007)
Alpha-multifunctionality indicator does not inflate if a municipality supplies only few, but very high levels of ecosystem services (S3)
Spatial patterns of alpha- and betamultifunctionality The diversity of ecosystem services supplied within municipalities, here defined as alpha-multifunctionality, varied throughout Europe following a latitudinal gradient
Summary
The concept of ecosystem multifunctionality emerged from the necessity to manage and use land for various purposes in order to satisfy different human needs and preferences (Wiggering et al 2003, Mander et al 2007). It has recently been embraced by global (IPBES, FAO, OECD, TEEB), European Union (DG AGRI) and national (UK NEA) agricultural and environmental institutions and initiatives, especially to foster rural development (Sumelius and Bäckman 2008, see S1 for a Glossary is available online at stacks.iop.org/ERL/14/124083/mmedia). Multifunctional landscapes supply multiple ecosystem services, including provisioning (e.g. food production, water extraction), regulating (e.g. air purification, carbon sequestration, pollination) and cultural services (e.g. aesthetics, recreation potential) (Bennett et al 2015, Díaz et al 2015)
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