Evaluation of forest ecosystem services in Mediterranean areas. A regional case study in South Spain

Anaya‐Romero, María; Muñoz‐Rojas, Miriam; Ibáñez, Beatriz; Marañón, Teodoro

doi:10.1016/j.ecoser.2016.07.002

Cited by 73 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…The assessment of erosion protection as one ecosystem service in the studies has often been based on potential soil loss calculations with the USLE (García-Nieto et al 2013) or RUSLE models (Anaya-Romero et al 2016), or on the general assumption that dense forest on steep slopes > 30% supplies this service (Roces-Díaz et al 2018). The role of forest providing this service on steep slopes is certainly important although the risk of soil erosion is high even under forest cover due to orographic and climatic reasons.…”

Section: No Constraintmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trade-offs between economic profitability, erosion risk mitigation and biodiversity in the management of uneven-aged Abies alba Mill. stands

Selkimäki

Trasobares

Pukkala

2020

Annals of Forest Science

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& Key message Multi-objective forest planning methods were used to assess the trade-offs between three ecosystem services: timber production, erosion protection and biodiversity. The use of trade-off analysis helps to define proper weights for the management objectives and evaluate the feasibility of obtaining economic profit from timber while controlling the erosion risk and maintaining biodiversity of Abies alba Mill. & Context Forests provide several ecosystem services (ES), many of which are in trade-off. The assessment of relationships between ES helps to optimize forest management. & Aims This study analyses the trade-offs between timber production, erosion protection and biodiversity in uneven-aged mountain forest of Abies alba Mill. & Methods Multi-functional forest management was optimized using a simulation-optimization software. Timber production was measured with present value, erosion risk was modelled as a function of stand structure, and biodiversity was dealt with by setting a minimum number of 10 large trees (dbh > 60cm) per hectare as a requirement. Optimizations were conducted for slopes of 10%, 45% and 80% and cutting cycles of 10, 30 and 50 years. Discount rate 2% was used in all optimizations. Trade-offs were evaluated with production possibility boundaries. & Results We found relevant trade-offs between timber production and erosion protection, which depended on the slope steepness and the length of the cutting cycle. Trade-offs were marginal on 10% slope (50-year cycle) and large on 80% slope (10-year cycle). Biodiversity constraint reduced both economic profits and erosion protection values. & Conclusion In multifunctional mountain forest, defining proper weights for ecosystem services that are in trade-off is important for satisfying different management objectives in a sustainable way.

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Section: No Constraintmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trade-offs between economic profitability, erosion risk mitigation and biodiversity in the management of uneven-aged Abies alba Mill. stands

Selkimäki

Trasobares

Pukkala

2020

Annals of Forest Science

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“…This study, carried out on a large sample of FMUs representative of pure cork oak stands with composite structure in Sardinia, contributes to the ongoing debate on interactions and synergies between goods and services associated with the management of Mediterranean forests (Mavsar et al 2014). Few studies (Campos et al 2009, Ovando et al 2010, Bugalho et al 2011, Anaya-Romero et al 2016 can be found in literature specifically with regard to valuation of ecosystem production from cork oak forests, and none, at least to our knowledge, has investigated the effects of iForest 11: 660-667 664 Fig. 3 -Map of the economic values of total annual production of the considered goods and services in selected pure cork oak forest management units in Sardinia, under current conditions and simulated management scenarios: (i) OLDS, theoretical silvicultural option with reference to 350 trees ha -1 ; (ii) OHDS, theoretical silvicultural option with reference to 800 trees ha -1 ; (iii) CLDS, realistic silvicultural option with reference to 350 trees ha -1 ; (iv) CHDS, realistic silvicultural option with reference to 800 trees ha -1 (see text for explanation; coordinate system: GCS_International 1909 -Hayford).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bugalho et al (2011Bugalho et al ( , 2016 described cork oak savanna-related payment for ecosystem services mechanisms and identified areas for maximizing such services, but did not deal with valuation at the level of forest management unit, as this study has done. Similarly, Anaya-Romero et al (2016) provided an estimation of ecosystem production in south Spain at the large-scale level of the socalled eco-management units. On the other hand, Ovando et al (2010) dealt mainly with the estimation of the private net benefits from new afforestation on marginal shrubland and cropland with cork oaks in Spain, while the analyses from Campos et al (2007) focused on total income supplied by cork oak woodland activities in Tunisia, not taking into account unmarketed services (e.g., carbon sequestration) like this study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards the economic valuation of ecosystem production from cork oak forests in Sardinia (Italy)

Corona¹,

Quatrini²,

Schirru³

et al. 2018

iForest

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A spatially explicit approach for stand-scale economic valuation of current and future potential of cork forests with respect to ecosystem production is developed and presented. The approach, which relies in large part on the mensuration of stand top height and number of trees as main drivers, has been tested on the pure cork forests of Sardinia (Italy). The test was conducted to assess the effects of alternative silvicultural options on cork and fodder production, carbon sequestration, and water yield. Under current conditions, the surveyed pure cork oak forest stands in Sardinia are characterized, on average, by an annual economic production of 93 euro ha -1 yr -1 as concerns cork, 37 euro ha -1 yr -1 as concerns carbon sequestration and 261 euro ha -1 yr -1 as concerns water yield. The value of cork production on an 11-year cycle equals 1023 euro ha -1 on average. The total economic production values among the tested silvicultural alternatives have proven to be characterized by relatively small differences, due to the trade-offs among the considered goods and services. Therefore, at least under conditions similar to those surveyed, managers may safely rely on different stand density options, without any relevant detrimental effect on total economic production. The tested spatial visualization of the economic values of goods and services production can be useful in supporting forest management planning, e.g., to identify priority areas in order to maximize ecosystem production for local communities. The approach proposed here and tested to this end proves to be readily applicable to other cork contexts with similar characteristics under Mediterranean conditions.

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“…In other cases, assessment of soil protection ES is based on potential soil loss calculation using the USLE (e.g. García-Nieto et al 2013) or RUSLE model (Anaya-Romero et al 2016).…”

Section: Risk Assessment and Forest Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrating erosion risk into forest management in Catalonia, Spain

Selkimäki¹

2020

Diss. For.

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Soil erosion processes are common in Mediterranean areas due to its climatic conditions, abrupt topography, and its long history of human influence and intensive land management. Forests have a fundamental protective role in combatting soil erosion and land degradation. This research focused on i) assessing soil erosion on forest lands linked to forest variables, and ii) integrating erosion risk into forest management and planning. In more detail, the first goal focused on the relation between erosion occurrence and possible influencing factors such as forest structure and composition, site and land-use characteristics, and, based on this, integrating erosion protection as an objective into multi-functional forest management. The data source was the Spanish National Forest Inventory, which provided erosion records as well as traditional tree and plot measurements. The modelling methods used included classification trees and binary logistic regression analysis. Models were developed for the stand and landscape levels to predict the probability of erosion. Erosion risk was also studied spatially by producing maps based on the predictions of the models. Finally, the models were integrated into a simulation optimisation system in order to assess management alternatives. The results show that, at the stand level, a higher probability of surface erosion occurrence was strongly related to the forest type and stand structure. For example, sparse stands on slopes in semiarid areas and dense stands with large trees in pure Abies alba and Facus sylvatica forest had higher erosion probability. At the landscape level, a low stand basal area, andisol and cambisol soil types, large size and steep slope of the drainage area, the presence of unpaved roads and increased urban land use resulted in a higher probability of gully erosion. Based on the developed models, erosion protection was used as the management objective in multi-functional forest planning at the stand level, together with timber production and structural diversity. The results demonstrated evident trade-offs between these ecosystem services, depending on the steepness of the slope. The results of this work can help to identify forest areas vulnerable to soil erosion. It provides tools to integrate erosion risk into forest planning, thus enhancing the use of forests in erosion protection in sensitive Mediterranean areas.

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Evaluation of forest ecosystem services in Mediterranean areas. A regional case study in South Spain

Cited by 73 publications

References 39 publications

Trade-offs between economic profitability, erosion risk mitigation and biodiversity in the management of uneven-aged Abies alba Mill. stands

Trade-offs between economic profitability, erosion risk mitigation and biodiversity in the management of uneven-aged Abies alba Mill. stands

Towards the economic valuation of ecosystem production from cork oak forests in Sardinia (Italy)

Integrating erosion risk into forest management in Catalonia, Spain

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