Individual Ecosystem Services Research Articles

Understanding Landscape Multifunctionality in a Post-forest Frontier: Supply and Demand of Ecosystem Services in Eastern Amazonia

Sustainable food production requires approaches that reconcile agricultural production with the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources, biodiversity and associated ecosystem services. While the contribution of agriculture to the provision of individual ecosystem services has received considerable scientific attention, little is known about the extent to which tropical landscapes can meet societal expectations related to food production and environmental sustainability simultaneously. We assessed how the spatial configuration of pedo-morphology and land uses influences the provision of three soil-based ecosystem services in eastern Amazonia: carbon storage (CS), habitat for biodiversity (HB) and agricultural commodity production (CP). We use the Functional Land Management framework to assess the supply and demand of these ecosystem services in a spatially explicit manner to identify areas of (mis)matches and trade-offs in the municipality of Paragominas, Brazil. The supply of ecosystem services was informed by a literature review for the various combinations of pedo-morphological characteristics and land uses in the region. The demand for ecosystem services was mapped based on federal and state policy targets. Mapping the supply and demand of CS indicated that half of the carbon in the region is stored in remnants of undisturbed forest which cover only a third of the municipality. Demand for HB in terms of forested area is met but it does not guarantee safeguarding biodiversity. Roughly a third of the territory shows scarce quality of HB even when compliant with legislation. Concerning CP, we identified areas where both supply and the demand to increase production are relative high due to road access and lower intensification costs. The demand for agricultural production can eventually incentivize the expansion of agriculture on fertile soils, which could compromise environmental targets. Our results suggest that the simultaneous delivery of multiple ecosystem services may require land-use pathways that combine land sparing and sharing approaches. Our analysis can inform integrated land-use planning initiatives where, historically, the supply and demand for CP have been the single dominant driver for the current landscape configuration.

High ecosystem service delivery potential of small woodlands in agricultural landscapes

Abstract Global forest loss and fragmentation have strongly increased the frequency of forest patches smaller than a few hectares. Little is known about the biodiversity and ecosystem service supply potential of such small woodlands in comparison to larger forests. As it is widely recognized that high biodiversity levels increase ecosystem functionality and the delivery of multiple ecosystem services, small, isolated woodlands are expected to have a lower potential for ecosystem service delivery than large forests hosting more species. We collected data on the diversity of six taxonomic groups covering invertebrates, plants and fungi, and on the supply potential of five ecosystem services and one disservice within 224 woodlands distributed across temperate Europe. We related their ability to simultaneously provide multiple ecosystem services (multiservice delivery potential) at different performance levels to biodiversity of all studied taxonomic groups (multidiversity), forest patch size and age, as well as habitat availability and connectivity within the landscape, while accounting for macroclimate, soil properties and forest structure. Unexpectedly, despite their lower multidiversity, smaller woodlands had the potential to deliver multiple services at higher performance levels per area than larger woodlands of similar age, probably due to positive edge effects on the supply potential of several ecosystem services. Biodiversity only affected multiservice delivery potential at a low performance level as well as some individual ecosystem services. The importance of other drivers of ecosystem service supply potential by small woodlands in agricultural landscapes also depended on the level of performance and varied with the individual ecosystem service considered. Synthesis and applications. Large, ancient woodlands host high levels of biodiversity and can therefore deliver a number of ecosystem services. In contrast, smaller woodlands in agricultural landscapes, especially ancient woodlands, have a higher potential to deliver multiple ecosystem services on a per area basis. Despite their important contribution to agricultural landscape multifunctionality, small woodlands are not currently considered by public policies. There is thus an urgent need for targeted policy instruments to ensure their adequate management and future conservation in order to either achieve multiservice delivery at high levels or to maximize the delivery of specific ecosystem services.

Effects of Ground Cover Management on Biotic Communities, Ecosystem Services and Disservices in Organic Deciduous Fruit Orchards in South Africa

Organic orchards may have higher biodiversity and levels of ecosystem services compared to conventionally managed orchards. However, it is not well understood how management decisions within organic orchards alter biotic communities and ecosystem service levels. The simultaneous provision of individual ecosystem services and mitigation of disservices is crucial for organic growers who cannot replace natural regulatory processes by artificial inputs. This study addresses one of the major constraints for organic fruit production in South Africa, namely the availability of strategies for pest control and nutrient management in soils. A field experiment was established to study the impact of a treatment with dead organic mulch compared to controls on the composition of biotic communities, the simultaneous provision of ecosystem services, and the mitigation of disservices in organic pome fruit orchards in the Western Cape Province. Mulching did not significantly reduce weed cover or alter the taxonomic composition of weed communities, but affected soil organisms. Mulched subplots had significantly higher densities of Collembola and phytophagous nematodes and lower microbial activity and woodlice numbers. Independent of mulch treatment, both orchard type (conventional: apricot & organic: apricot, peach, plum and quince) and weed cover had pronounced effects on the composition of biotic communities and associated ecosystem service and disservice potentials. The community composition of plants, microbes and web-building spiders differed significantly between organically and conventionally managed plots. The composition of communities and levels of ecosystem service and disservice potentials also differed significantly between organic orchards of different fruit type. The two potential pest groups (phytophagous nematodes and arthropods) were most abundant in peach subplots with high weed cover and tree age and least abundant in conventionally managed apricot plots. These results emphasize the crucial importance to consider weed-microbe-animal interactions when developing management practices in organic orchards. Management decisions in organic orchards hold the potential to affect biotic communities to the benefit of pest control and soil nutrient services, but can also result in unexpected detrimental effects on ecosystem services.

Assessment of spatial variability of multiple ecosystem services in grasslands of different intensities

Grasslands provide multiple Ecosystem Services (ES) such as forage provision, carbon sequestration or habitat provision. Knowledge about the trade-offs between these ES is of great importance for grassland management. Yet, the outcome of different management strategies on ES provision is highly uncertain due to spatial variability. We aim to characterize the provision (level and spatial variability) of grassland ES under various management strategies. To do so, we combine empirical data for multiple ES with spatially explicit census data on land use intensities. We analyzed the variations of five ES (forage provision, climate regulation, pollination, biodiversity conservation and outdoor recreation) using data from biodiversity fieldwork, experimental plots for carbon as well as social network data from Flickr. These data were used to calculate the distribution of modelled individual and multiple ES values from different grassland management types in a Swiss case study region using spatial explicit information for 17,383 grassland parcels. Our results show that (1) management regime and intensity levels play an important role in ES provision but their impact depends on the ES. In general, extensive management, especially in pastures, favors all ES but forage provision, whereas intensive management favors only forage provision and outdoor recreation; (2) ES potential provision varies between parcels under the same management due to the influence of environmental drivers, related to topography and landscape structure; (3) there is a trade-offs between forage provision and other ES at the cantonal level but a synergy between forage provision and biodiversity conservation within the grassland categories, due to the negative impact of elevation on both ES. Information about multiple ES provision is key to support effective agri-environmental measures and information about the spatial variability can prevent uncertain outputs of decision-making processes.

Application of vegetation index time series to value fire effect on primary production in a Southern European rare wetland

Fire disturbance is an intrinsic component of the Mediterranean biome playing an important role in ecosystem dynamics and processes. However, frequent and severe anthropogenic wildfires can be detrimental to natural ecosystems, particularly in small natural protected areas, where they may hamper the flow of ecosystem services (ES). While post-fire dynamics of individual ES are heavily context-dependent, the primary productivity of the ecosystem can be regarded as a generic driver of several provisioning and regulating ES, as it represents the amount of energy available to plants for storage, growth, and reproduction, which drives future ecosystem structure and functions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of anthropogenic wildfire on the primary productivity of a rare wetland ecosystem in the Natura 2000 site “Torre Guaceto” in Southern Europe. Productivity was estimated by calculating a 15-year time series of vegetation indices (EVI and NDWI) from remotely sensed MODIS imagery. Our results in terms of PP trends may be relevant to assess the change in ecosystems services provided by wetlands. Interactions between wildfire, ecosystem productivity and climate were then analyzed. During the selected period, climate did not play a significant effect on primary productivity, which was mainly driven by post-fire vegetation recovery. Findings of the present study demonstrate that the wildfire affecting the Natural Protected Area of Torre Guaceto in summer 2007 had a major effect on primary productivity, inducing the regeneration of Phragmites australis and the replacement of old individuals by structurally and functionally better ones.

Dynamics of Urbanization and its impact on Urban Ecosystem Services (UESs): A study of a medium size town of West Bengal, Eastern India

The continuous urban expansion changes the urban ecological landscape pattern and urban ecosystem functions that possess serious challenge before urban environmental and ecological management. In this context, assessing the relationship between rapid urban expansion and ecosystem services play an important role for the urban sustainability and development related to planning and policies. This study mainly focuses on the assessment of the dynamic nature of urbanization and its impact on urban ecosystem services through land use and land cover (LULC) changes of Old Malda Municipal town, Eastern India. The ecosystem service values (ESVs) are analyzed using Remote Sensing data and GIS techniques corresponding with the global Value Coefficient (VC) for four-time periods (1990, 2000, 2010 and 2017) to estimate total ecosystem service values (ESVt) and individual ecosystem service function change. Coefficient of Sensitivity (CS) is also applied to test the reliability of the estimated VC used as proxies for each LULC categories. The result of the study landscape reveals that the ecosystem service values (ESVs) decreased by 25% from US$ 1.33 million to US$ 1.07 million because of losing cropland and vegetation cover by 34% and 35% respectively during 1990–2017. In case of individual ecosystem service functions, regulating services increased by 12% since 1990–2017 with highest contributing services of water regulation (57%), water supply (22%) and waste treatment (8%) respectively while maximum decline is recorded in soil formation (33.33%) followed by climatic regulation (31.82%) and nutrient cycling (31.25%). The decline in total and some individual ESV in the study landscape requires for urgent measures to be taken to enhance the urban ecosystem sustainability through effective planning and policies.

Estimation of Ecosystem Services (EESs) loss due to transformation of Local Climatic Zones (LCZs) in Sriniketan-Santiniketan Planning Area (SSPA)West Bengal, India

Accessing the impact of land use/land cover dynamics on the Ecosystem Service Values (ESVs) is necessary for sustainable development at regional and global scale. Estimation of changes in Ecosystem service value (ESV) in response to local climatic zones (LCZs) are performed using GIS technique and corresponding with the global value coefficient for the year 2000 and 2017 in SSPA. Coefficient of Sensitivity (CS) is also used to access the reliability of the estimation process for using the LCZ classes as a proxy with the equivalent biomes. During the study period, the compact low rise (LCZ 3), open low rise (LCZ 6), bare soil/sand (LCZ F2) increased by 22.35%, 23.76% and 0.35% per year. On the other hand cropland (LCZ F1), water (LCZ G) and sparsely built (LCZ 9) decreased by 1.36%, 1.62% and 1.78% per year respectively. The overall result also shows a decreasing trend of total ESV since 2000–2017 from US$ 1 million and US$ 3.5 million when value coefficient of 1997 and modified value coefficient of 2014 is applied. The significant changes are also recorded in individual ecosystem service function such as water regulation, water supply, soil formation, nutrient cycling, food production, genetic resource which are the highest contributor to total ESVs for both the unit values used.

Is the expansion of sugarcane over pasturelands a sustainable strategy for Brazil's bioenergy industry?

Biofuels are fundamental for meeting societal energy needs within the next few decades, but the sustainability of large-scale land use conversions to supply feedstock crops remains unclear. Quantitative data documenting how biofuel crop expansion will affect ecosystem services (ES) is needed to develop sustainable energy policies. Using pairwise comparisons of published and novel environmental, social and economic indicators, we quantitatively assessed the provision of critical ES related to key aspects of the sustainability of pasture-to-sugarcane transitions in Brazil. We found that with the exception of maintaining biodiversity, conversion of pasturelands to sugarcane fields enhanced many ES. Based on the Sustainability index, aimed to capture changes on key sustainability aspects by considering multiple ES and properly integrating them, we concluded that pasture to sugarcane transitions would increase the sustainability by 78% in south-central Brazil. Our results provide science-based empirical evidence that the expansion of sugarcane into degraded pasturelands is a suitable strategy to enhance Brazil's biomass feedstock supplies for producing bioenergy. Moreover, facing the complex and multidimensional concept of sustainability, our study also illustrates the importance of considering holistically land use change effects rather than individual ESs when establishing sustainable land management practices and bioenergy policies.

Bridging the Gap Between National and Ecosystem Accounting Application in Andalusian Forests, Spain

National accounting either ignores or fails to give due values to the ecosystem services, products, incomes and environmental assets of a country. To overcome these shortcomings, we apply spatially-explicit extended accounts that incorporate a novel environmental income indicator, which we test in the forests of Andalusia (Spain). Extended accounts incorporate nine farmer activities (timber, cork, firewood, nuts, livestock grazing, conservation forestry, hunting, residential services and private amenity) and seven government activities (fire services, free access recreation, free access mushroom, carbon, landscape conservation, threatened biodiversity and water yield). To make sure the valuation remains consistent with standard accounts, we simulate exchange values for non-market final forest product consumption in order to measure individual ecosystem services and environmental income indicators. Manufactured capital and environmental assets are also integrated. When comparing extended to standard accounts, our results are 3.6 times higher for gross value added. These differences are explained primarily by the omission in the standard accounts of carbon activities and undervaluation of private amenity, free access recreation, landscape and threatened biodiversity ecosystem services. Extended accounts measure a value of Andalusian forest ecosystem services 5.4 times higher than that measured using the valuation criteria of standard accounts.

Impacts of urbanization-induced land-use changes on ecosystem services: A case study of the Pearl River Delta Metropolitan Region, China

Ecosystem services value has decreased rapidly caused by land use/land cover changes driven by urbanization during the past decades. Expanding urbanization not only changes the spatial distribution of areas of ecosystem service demand but it also changes the potential functions of ecosystem services. It is necessary to undertake a quantitative analysis of historical changes in land use/land cover in the context of the urban land sprawl to better understand existing relationships between ecological services and land use/land cover change. The methodology for this study was derived from an established knowledge base on the importance of land use/land cover types for the supply of each of nine identified ecosystem services extracted from a review of the literature. We selected the Pearl River Delta as the object of our study and used a land-use dataset entailing a resolution of 100 m to analyze the land use/land cover change trends and the values of ecosystem services in this region from 1990 to 2015. Furthermore, we compiled a summary of changes in the values of ecosystem services caused by changes in land use/land cover. We found that the change trend of land use/land cover in the Pearl River Delta, which is dominated by forests, reflected a highly dynamic context. Construction land increased from 2909.77 km2 to 7486.89 km2 over the study period. The total value of ecosystem services increased by 4.5 × 1021 seJ during the period 1990–2015. Individual ecosystem services that contributed the greatest value were hydrological regulation, climate regulation, and soil formation and retention. In light of our findings, we developed a matrix of ecosystem service values in relation to land use transitions and explored its policy implications for ecosystem management. This matrix can help decision makers to better understand tradeoffs between ecosystem services caused by land use/land cover changes.

Capacity as “virtual stock” in ecosystem services accounting

Interest in ecosystem services accounting is growing exponentially. There are many un-solved issues that need to be addressed, the notion of capacity is among them. International guidelines suggest that capacity should constitute the link between the ecosystem assets accounts and the ecosystem services accounts. In order to address this issue, the authors use Supply and Use table for ecosystem services to show the relationship between (i) ecosystem assets and (ii) capacity, intended as “virtual stock” of individual ecosystem services. It is in fact important to distinguish ecosystem assets from capacity as “virtual stock”: a comparison between asset accounts for natural resources and capacity is presented to clarify this difference. This novel approach is described together with its implications in order to feed further developments and discussion.

A novel management-based system of payments for ecosystem services for targeted agri-environmental policy

Agricultural policy should recognize the farmers’ role in delivering ecosystem services (ES) to society, for which both farmers and policy makers need improved tools to set objective environmental targets and fair distribution of subsidies. We aimed to quantify the effect of beneficial agricultural practices on ES delivery, and to develop and apply a generic framework of management-based payments for ES (PES). We carried out a Delphi expert consultation (researchers and technicians/managers) on the interface agriculture-environment by which we measured the contribution of current agricultural practices at farm level to relevant ES in Mediterranean agroecosystems. Next, we designed a novel framework of PES that used these contributions to rank the practices that satisfied three agri-environmental policy objectives (equal importance of ES, focus on biodiversity and climate, and focus on social demands). We found that the relative contribution of practices to individual ES delivery was rather similar, especially for those ES influenced by many agricultural practices. However, when considering different objectives in the PES framework, differences in practice prioritization were apparent. The framework was able to reward farmers according to their objective contribution to conservation priorities. The PES system also showed that grazing management practices were multifunctional and delivered ES in bundles.

How to Detect Scale Effect of Ecosystem Services Supply? A Comprehensive Insight from Xilinhot in Inner Mongolia, China

Spatial scale plays a crucial role in the assessment and management of ecosystem services (ES), yet explicit information for identifying and understanding the scale effect on ES supply remains limited. In an attempt to detect scale effect on ES supply from a comprehensive perspective, this study developed a framework for integrating scale effect in three aspects, including individual ES patterns, pairwise ES interactions, and ecosystem service bundles (ESB). The framework was tested in Xilinhot, a prairie landscape city of Inner Mongolia, at four different levels of spatial scale. The results indicated that, most ES showed a decreasing clustering at coarser scales in terms of spatial pattern. At the same time, coarser scales resulted in fewer trade-offs and stronger synergies between pairwise ES. The identification of ESB varied greatly with scale, and this change reflected in the composition of ES variables and spatial distribution of bundles. We attributed the scale effect of the above three aspects to differences in social-ecological factors and their driving mechanisms at different scales. This comprehensive framework could support local managers to coordinate the management of multiple ES at different scales.

Ecosystem multifunctionality is highly related to the shelterbelt structure and plant species diversity in mixed shelterbelts of eastern China

Global change induced biodiversity loss has greatly affected ecosystem functioning, and thus the multiple services delivered by the ecosystem. Considerable recent works have focused on evaluating how species diversity changes impacts multiple ecosystem functions and services simultaneously (called ecosystem multifunctionality, EMF), but none of these evaluations were conducted in mixed shelterbelt ecosystems, which are valuable in providing multiple ecological benefits for coastal human settlements. Here, we measured the shelterbelt structure, plant species diversity, major individual ecosystem services and the EMFs of four single-species dominated mixed shelterbelts and a non-forested land along the coastal area of Eastern China and quantified how shelterbelt structure and plant species diversity affected EMF in a natural coastal scenario. Among the four mixed shelterbelts, the Populus nigra (PN) dominated mixture had significantly higher shelterbelt porosity and height, while Ligustrum compactum (LC) and Koelreuteria bipinnata (KB) dominated mixtures both had higher species richness. Concerning individual ecosystem services, the PN dominated mixture is statistically better at windbreak, C fixation and O2 releasing, plant diversity maintenance, nutrient transformation and cycling services, while the Taxodium distichum (TD) dominated mixture does better in soil and water conservation, therefore we observed the highest EMF in the PN dominated mixture. Also, we found that both shelterbelt porosity and height had significant positive effects on EMF, while no relationship was detected between shelterbelt permeability and EMF. Plant species richness and Shannon-Wiener index had significantly positive effects on EMF, but Pielow index had no significant effect on EMF. This indicated that the vertical structure of shelterbelts played a more important role than horizontal structure concerning ecosystem functioning, and EMF was not only positively affected by species richness but also species heterogenicity. These results will be informative in the policy-making and functional management of the shelterbelts and deepen the understanding of the biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationship under alternative environmental scenarios.

Changes in Ecosystem Service Values in Response to Changes in Landscape Composition in the Central Highlands of Ethiopia

Land use/land cover (LU/LC) changes are pervasive having impacts on the total ecosystem service valuation (ESV) at the landscape as the conversion of near natural environments bring about drastic changes in certain ecosystem services. In this study, we first analyzed LU/LC changes over four decades by the use of GIS. LU/LC values were used along with global data sets developed for biomes to estimate the amount of total and individual ESV change for the study landscape and period. Sensitivity analysis was used to test the reliability of our estimation for the use of proxies. We found that, natural forests reduced by 40.21% whereas cultivated land increased by 32.42%. Other land use changes ranged within these two extremes. The increase in shrub land (9.44%), bare land (8.32%) and settlement (3.49%) were also enormous. We found a decrease in grass land (7.11%) and wetland (6.74%) followed by natural forest. Due to the change in land uses at the landscape scale, a total of $ 43.7 million/ha/yr ESV declined in the period 1973–2017. In terms of individual ecosystem services, the regulating services were substantially reduced, with climate regulation (3.15%) and water regulation (1.79%) contributing the highest value, while food production (3.03%) and soil formation (0.77%) increased. Sensitivity analysis of the use of proxies revealed that our estimation is robust and inelastic to the estimation technique used. The decrease in total and individual ESV in the study area and period calls for urgent action to be made to enhance the sustainability of ecosystem service provision at the landscape level with appropriate land management practices.

Projections of future land use changes: Multiple scenarios-based impacts analysis on ecosystem services for Wuhan city, China

Urbanization alters the supply of ecosystem services that are vital for human well-being. The loss of ecosystem services is particularly challenging in rapid urbanization areas where economic development needs to consume substantial natural resources. The quantitative and spatial optimization of land use provides an effective tool for rationally allocating land use structure and pattern to ensure the provision of expected ecosystem services. In this paper, we combine the Multi-Objective Programming and the Dyna-CLUE model to project land use changes in 2030 for Wuhan city under three scenarios, i.e., Business As Usual (BAU), Rapid Economic Development (RED), and Ecological Land Protection (ELP). The coupled model that integrates “top-down” and “bottom-up” processes is capable of obtaining the optimized land use patterns under different scenarios and examining the potential impacts of land use changes on ecosystem services in a spatially explicit way. We find that built-up land will continue its remarkable growth during 2015-2030 under the BAU scenario (grows by 96%) at the expense of ecological lands (decreases by 18%). Meanwhile, the predicted losses of ecological lands are 11% and 6% under the RED and ELP scenarios, respectively. Projected land use changes result in varying magnitudes of declines in ecosystem service values for BAU (11%), RED (6%) and ELP (2%) scenarios from 2015 to 2030. The ELP scenario, which incorporates ecological protection policies and spatial restrictions, plays a positive role in altering land use trends and mitigating ecosystem degradation. Finally, we establish an ecosystem service value change matrix to explain how interactions between land use types give rise to trade-offs among multiple ecosystem services. We find that conversions between ecological land use types can trigger trade-offs among ecosystem services, but the conversion from ecological lands towards urban land leads to a net loss of all individual ecosystem services. By linking land and ecological systems, the coupled modeling framework in this study can be useful for obtaining optimal ecosystem-based land use allocation strategies and provide scientific support for sustainable land use management.

Changes in land-use and ecosystem services in the Guangzhou-Foshan Metropolitan Area, China from 1990 to 2010: Implications for sustainability under rapid urbanization

Rapid urbanization is resulting in large-scale land-use conversion and the impact on ecosystem services value is a key issue for sustainability—particularly in China—a global urbanization hotspot. Impacts of land-use change on ecosystem services value in China have been varied, ranging from strong decreases to modest increases, suggesting that bespoke analyses are required to support local and regional planning for sustainability. We quantified land-use change and valued the impact on ecosystem services from 1990 to 2010 in the rapidly urbanizing Guangzhou-Foshan Metropolitan Area, southern China. We quantified land-use change from Landsat satellite imagery and calculated the value of ecosystem services using the well-established unit-value transfer method. Over one quarter of the study area changed land-use between 1990 and 2010 with Built-up, Orchard, and Waterbody land-uses expanding, and Cropland and Forestland contracting. However, the net decline in ecosystem services value was only 4.4% (US$201.5 million). This modest overall decline masked more complex and extreme dynamics in the value of individual ecosystem services. Substantial declines occurred in the value of gas regulation (US$115.4 million, −28%), soil formation and retention (US$90.5 million, −16%), and climate regulation (US$44.6 million, −8%), while waste treatment (US$68.5 million, +10%) and recreation and culture (US$45.7 million, +12%) increased in value. Decision analysis is required to support land-use planning to ensure the sustainability of ecosystem services for the wellbeing of the people of Guangzhou-Foshan and other rapidly urbanizing areas in China and globally.

A framework to identify indicator species for ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes

Improving our understanding of the relationships between biodiversity and the delivery of ecosystem services is crucial for the development of sustainable agriculture. We introduce a novel framework that is based on the identification of indicator species for single or multiple ecosystem services across taxonomic groups based on indicator species analyses. We utilize multi-species community data (unlike previous single species approaches) without giving up information about the identity of species in our framework (unlike previous species richness approaches). We compiled a comprehensive community dataset including abundances of 683 invertebrate, vertebrate and plant species to identify indicator species that were either positively or negatively related to biological control, diversity of red-listed species or crop yield in agricultural landscapes in southern Sweden. Our results demonstrate that some taxonomic groups include significantly higher percentages of indicator species for these ecosystem services. Spider communities for example included a higher percentage of significant positive indicator species for biological control than ground or rove beetle communities. Bundles of indicator species for the analysed ecosystem service potentials usually included species that could be linked to the respective ecosystem service based on their functional role in local communities. Several of these species are conspicuous enough to be monitored by trained amateurs and could be used in bundles that are either crucial for the provision of individual ecosystem services or indicate agricultural landscapes with high value for red-listed species or crop yields. The use of bundles of characteristic indicator species for the simultaneous assessment of ecosystem services may reduce the amount of labour, time and cost in future assessments. In addition, future analysis using our framework in other ecosystems or with other subsets of ecosystem services and taxonomic groups will improve our understanding of service-providing species in local communities. In any case, expert knowledge is needed to select species from the identified subsets of significant indicator species and these species should be validated by existing data or additional sampling prior to being used for ecosystem service monitoring.

Assessing the capacity and flow of ecosystem services in multifunctional landscapes: Evidence of a rural-urban gradient in a Mediterranean small island state

Distinguishing between the ecosystems’ capacity to generate ecosystem services (ES) and the actual use of these service (ES flow) in ES assessment and mapping is important to develop an understanding of the sustainability of ES use. This study assesses the spatial variation in ES capacity and flow in the Mediterranean small island state of Malta. The services included in this study were crop provisioning, beekeeping and honey production, fodder and livestock production, crop pollination, air quality regulation, and aesthetic ES. This assessment develops different spatial models, which make use of available datasets, causal relationships between datasets, including a generated land use land cover (LULC) map, and statistical models and indicators based on direct measurements. Individual ES indicators were mapped to visualise and compare their spatial patterns across the case study area. Subsequently, an analysis of ES associations and bundles was carried out using Pearson parametric correlation test, for both ES capacity and flow indicators generated from this study, and through Principal Component Analysis. Results demonstrate several significant synergistic interactions between ES capacity and flow in rural landscapes characterised with agricultural and semi-natural LULC categories, indicating high landscape multifunctionality. In contrast, predominantly urban areas tend to be characterised with a low ecosystem capacity and ES flow, suggesting that ES delivery in the landscapes of the study area is determined by land use intensity. These findings support the notion that multifunctional rural landscapes provide multiple ES, making an important contribution to human well-being, and that land use planning that develops green infrastructure in urban areas can significantly contribute to support biodiversity and ES delivery.

Impacts of rapid urbanization on ecosystem services along urban-rural gradients: a case study of the Guangzhou-Foshan Metropolitan Area, South China

ABSTRACTBased on land-use data collected every five years from 1990 to 2010, we quantified land-use dynamics and resultant effects on the ecosystem services along urban-rural gradients of the Guangzhou-Foshan Metropolitan Area, South China. The urban-rural gradients were set around the urban core cohesion zone with a 10-km-wide buffer zone and the value of each ecosystem service was calculated using a well-established benefit transfer method. The areas of construction land, water body and orchard expanded, while cropland, forestland and unused land contracted. The total value of ecosystem services decreased by US$ 200.33 million (or 4.3%) from 1990 to2010. Along the urban-rural gradients, the average value supplied by cropland, orchard and water body generally demonstrated a ‘first-rise-then-fall’ trend, while forestland and construction land presented an ever-increasing trend. For individual ecosystem services, raw material, gas regulation, climate regulation, soil formation and retention, biodiversity protection, recreation and culture increased steadily along the urban-rural gradients, while food production showed a fluctuating ‘first-rise-then-fall’ trend; water conservation and waste treatment increased from the core cohesion zone to the third concentric ring, and then had a sudden surge in the seventh concentric ring in both 2005 and 2010.