Abstract
The aim of this paper is to assess and highlight the significance of cultural landscapes in protected areas, considering both biodiversity and the delivery of provisioning ecosystem services. In order to do that, we analyzed 26 protected areas in Andalusia (Spain), all of them Natural or National Parks, regarding some of their ecosystem services (agriculture, livestock grazing, microclimate regulation, environmental education and tourism) and diversity of the four terrestrial vertebrate classes: amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds. A cluster analysis was also run in order to group the 26 protected areas according to their dominant landscape. The results show that protected areas dominated by dehesa (a heterogeneous system containing different states of ecological maturity), or having strong presence of olive groves, present a larger area of delivery of provisioning ecosystem services, on average. These cultural landscapes play an essential role not only for biodiversity conservation but also as providers of provisioning ecosystem services.
Highlights
Biodiversity conservation has been the cornerstone of conservation strategies in protected areas (PAs)
The study area is Andalusia, a region located in southern Spain, which occupies an area of 87,000 km2 and whose latitude and longitude is between 36◦ N–38◦44 N and 3◦50 W–0◦34 E
According to the consulted experts, the agricultural ecosystem service is provided by herbaceous crops, woody crops, greenhouses, and heterogeneous lands
Summary
Biodiversity conservation has been the cornerstone of conservation strategies in protected areas (PAs). The Convention on Biological Diversity [1] considers PAs as “geographically defined areas, which are designated or regulated and managed to achieve specific conservation objectives (article 2), focused on biological diversity (article 8 a, b)”. In this sense, until the 1990s to mid 2000s, the conservation values considered in PAs were intrinsic values of ecosystems, biodiversity and cultural values [2]. This approach was taken into account in the definition of PAs by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) [3] as “clearly defined geographical spaces, recognized, dedicated and managed, through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values”
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