A transnational perspective of global and regional ecosystem service flows from and to mountain regions

Abstract

The spatial relationships of ecosystem services are complex and poorly understood due to spatial mismatches between areas of provision and the areas that benefit. In this study, we assess the spatial flows of six key ecosystem services from and to mountain regions at the regional and global level. We identify major directions of spatial flow and illustrate different types and transfer mechanisms with detailed examples focusing on the European Alps and surrounding lowlands. Our results demonstrate that the spatial flows of ecosystem services range from local to global interactions and extend far beyond the regional level for most of the ecosystem services assessed. Transportation processes encompass passive biophysical processes and the active transportation of goods, distribution of information and traveling of people. Decision and policy-making can use this enhanced understanding to influence ecosystem service transfer and consequently manage natural resources in a sustainable way.

Design and implementation of a national ecosystem assessment – insights from the French mountain systems’ experience

“…This need has for instance been revealed by social network analyses of the mountain tourism sector in Switzerland, showing how more connected and modular stakeholder networks promote social resilience (Luthe and Wyss 2016). At regional and national levels, interactions between mountains on the one hand and valleys and distant regions on the other hand need to be considered when analyzing supply, flow and demand of ecosystem services and their biophysical and socio-economic drivers (Schirpke et al 2019a(Schirpke et al , 2019b. In France and other European countries, urban populations benefit from mountain ES like provision of quality food, clean water or recreation and tourism, creating a downward ES flow from mountains to valleys.…”

“…Further, we emphasize the originality of the French mountain assessment, which is to our knowledge the only European country where high altitude systems were considered in a dedicated national assessment report. Given the sensitivity of mountains to global and local changes, it appears critical to pay special attention to these fragile ecosystems that deliver ecosystem benefits to people far beyond their borders (Grêt-Regamey et al 2012;Palomo 2017;Klein et al 2019;Schirpke et al 2019b).…”

A Review of Changes in Mountain Land Use and Ecosystem Services: From Theory to Practice

“…Furthermore, mountain forests play a major role in lowland communities through water-regulating services [25]. Because mountain ecosystems provide goods and services to people who live in mountain regions [1] and the surrounding lowlands [26], it is important to better understand how the concept of ecosystem services can influence spatial decision-making processes [27]. For example, agriculture provides various ecosystem services in mountainous areas including nutrient cycling, habitat provisioning, aesthetics and cultural services [28,29], but mountain farming can also be a threat to the provision of other ecosystem services, through the use of chemical fertilizers to increase production.…”

Metacoupled Tourism and Wildlife Translocations Affect Synergies and Trade-Offs among Sustainable Development Goals across Spillover Systems

“…Tourism and wildlife translocations are two types of globally common and important flows, and share features with other metacoupled processes, such as international trade [17,19], ecosystem services [81,82], and migration [83], as many studies indicate [26,34,84,85]. For instance, various flows connect sending, receiving, and spillover systems, which are affected socioeconomically and environmentally by the flows.…”