Integrating ecosystem services within spatial biodiversity conservation prioritization in the Alps


METADATA ONLY
Loading...

Date

2020-10

Publication Type

Journal Article

ETH Bibliography

yes

Citations

Altmetric
METADATA ONLY

Data

Rights / License

Abstract

As anthropogenic degradation of biodiversity and ecosystems increases, so does the potential threat to the supply of ecosystem services, a key contribution of nature to people. Biodiversity has often been used in spatial conservation planning and has been regarded as one among multiple services delivered by ecosystems. Hence, biodiversity conservation planning should be integrated in a framework of prioritizing services in order to inform decision-making. Here, we propose a prioritization approach based on scenarios maximising both the provision of ecosystem services and the conservation of biodiversity hotspots. Different weighting scenarios for the α-diversity in four taxonomic groups and 10 mapped ecosystem services were used to simulate varying priorities of policymakers in a mountain region. Our results illustrate how increasing priorities to ecosystem services can be disadvantageous to biodiversity. Moreover, the analysis to identify priority areas that best compromise the conservation of α-diversity and ecosystem services are predominantly not located within the current protected area network. Our analyses stress the need for an appropriate weighting of biodiversity within decision making that seek to integrate multiple ecosystem services. Our study paves the way toward further integration of multiple biodiversity groups and components, ecosystem services and various socio-economic scenarios, ultimately fuelling the development of more informed, evidence-based spatial planning decisions for conservation. © 2020 Elsevier B.V.

Publication status

published

Editor

Book title

Volume

45

Pages / Article No.

101186

Publisher

Elsevier

Event

Edition / version

Methods

Software

Geographic location

Date collected

Date created

Subject

Economic valuation; α-diversity; Human-nature trade-off; Spatial prioritization; Conservation planning; Decision support tool; Zonation software

Organisational unit

09553 - Pellissier, Loïc / Pellissier, Loïc check_circle
02722 - Institut für Terrestrische Oekosysteme / Institute of Terrestrial Ecosystems

Notes

Funding

Related publications and datasets