Do protected areas networks ensure the supply of ecosystem services? Spatial patterns of two nature reserve systems in semi-arid Spain

Castro, Antonio Arjona; Martín‐López, Berta; López, Enrique; Plieninger, Tobias; Alcaraz‐Segura, Domingo; Vaughn, Caryn C.; Cabello, Javier

doi:10.1016/j.apgeog.2015.02.012

Cited by 122 publications

(83 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Similarly, in the Spanish semi-arid watersheds (Almeria, Spain) there is a strong body of recent work on the social-ecological issues surrounding water scarcity and the loss of ecosystem services [62][63][64], much of which has potential applicability to WaterSES sites in the USA, including insights as to the consequences of a future, drier climate. However, in this Spanish site, few scientific recommendations have been implemented because of poor communication and the lack of research co-design between policy makers, scientists, and stakeholders [65,66].…”

Section: Sustainability Challenge 3: Towards Transdisciplinary Socialmentioning

confidence: 99%

Applying Place-Based Social-Ecological Research to Address Water Scarcity: Insights for Future Research

et al. 2018

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Globally, environmental and social change in water-scarce regions challenge the sustainability of social-ecological systems. WaterSES, a sponsored working group within the Program for Ecosystem Change and Society, explores and compares the social-ecological dynamics related to water scarcity across placed-based international research sites with contrasting local and regional water needs and governance, including research sites in Spain and Sweden in Europe, South Africa, China, and Alabama, Idaho, Oklahoma, and Texas in the USA. This paper aims to provide a commentary on insights into conducting future solutions-oriented research on water scarcity based on the understanding of the social-ecological dynamics of water scarce regions.

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Section: Sustainability Challenge 3: Towards Transdisciplinary Socialmentioning

confidence: 99%

Applying Place-Based Social-Ecological Research to Address Water Scarcity: Insights for Future Research

et al. 2018

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“…Nevertheless enhancement of provisioning services may cause degradation of regulating and cultural services, with vital importance for sustaining ecological processes (Costanza et al 2016). To ensure sustainability in the long-term there is need to focus on multiple services within a given area of land (Eastburn et al 2017).…”

Section: Synergies and Or Trade-offs Among Esmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many scientists have assessed the ES of Protected Areas and their capacity to maintain ecological integrity (e.g. Castro et al 2015, Maes et al 2012a). There is a distinguished dependency between certain species or habitat types and ES, especially regarding socio-cultural and regulating services (Bastian 2013).…”

Section: Es Capacity In Areas Of Various or Multiple Designationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Under this framework many initiatives of mapping and assessing ES have been developed (HainesYoung et al 2012, Kandziora et al 2013, Brown and Fagerholm 2015. The incorporation of ES into an integrated environmental policy approach (deGroot et al 2010) follows the new era of sustainable management (Maes et al 2012b). The interactive and multidimensional relation between biodiversity and ES (Onaindia et al 2013) reveals the need for a well-established integrated policy plan embracing various elements of the natural environment to result in a cost and time effective strategy for biodiversity conservation and human well-being (Lafferty and Hovden 2003, Bennett 2004, Chan et al 2016.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ecosystem Service capacity is higher in areas of multiple designation types

Nikolaidou¹,

Votsi²,

Sgardelis³

et al. 2017

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The implementation of the Ecosystem Service (ES) concept into practice might be a challenging task as it has to take into account previous "traditional" policies and approaches that have evaluated nature and biodiversity differently. Among them the Habitat (92/43/EC) and Bird Directives (79/409/EC), the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC), and the Noise Directive (2002/49/EC) have led to the evaluation/designation of areas in Europe with different criteria. In this study our goal was to understand how the ES capacity of an area is related to its designation and if areas with multiple designations have higher capacity in providing ES.We selected four catchments in Greece with a great variety of characteristics covering over 25% of the national territory. Inside the catchments we assessed the ES capacity (following the methodology of Burkhard et al. 2009) of areas designated as Natura 2000 sites, Quiet areas and Wetlands or Water bodies and found those areas that have multiple designations. Data were analyzed by GLM to reveal differences regarding the ES capacity among the different types of areas. We also investigated by PCA synergies and trade-offs among different kinds of ES and tested for correlations among landscape properties, such as elevation, aspect and slope and the ES potential. Our results show that areas with different types or multiple designations have a different capacity in providing ES. Areas of one designation type (Protected or Quiet Areas) had in general intermediate scores in most ES but scores were higher compared to areas with no designation, which displayed stronger capacity in provisioning services. Among Protected Areas and Quiet Areas the latter scored better in general. Areas that combined both designation types (Protected and Quiet Areas) showed the highest capacity in 13 out of 29 ES, that were mostly linked with natural and forest ecosystems. We found significant synergies among most regulating, supporting and cultural ES which in turn display tradeoffs with provisioning services. The different ES are spatially related and display strong correlation with landscape properties, such as elevation and slope.We suggest that the designation status of an area can be used as an alternative tool for environmental policy, indicating the capacity for ES provision. Multiple designations of areas can be used as proxies for locating ES "hotspots". This integration of "traditional" evaluation and designation and the "newer" ES concept forms a time-and cost-effective way to be adopted by stakeholders and policy-makers in order to start complying with new standards and demands for nature conservation and environmental management.

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“…On these areas water demand has undergone a significant increase due to the expansion in agriculture and tourism (Benoit and Comeau, 2005). Nevertheless, the Mediterranean water regime, by itself, does not support this high demand (Castro et al, 2015), and remote carbonate karst areas, often act as recharge areas. An example is Campo de Dalías, a coastal plain in SE Spain with a highly profitable horticulture and tourist industry that result in an overexploitation of deep aquifers which are recharged by Sierra de Gador (Campra et al, 2008;Pulido-Bosch et al, 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vertical and lateral soil moisture patterns on a Mediterranean karst hillslope

Cantón

Rodríguez‐Caballero

Contreras³

et al. 2016

Journal of Hydrology and Hydromechanics

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Abstract:The need for a better understanding of factors controlling the variability of soil water content (θ) in space and time to adequately predict the movement of water in the soil and in the interphase soil-atmosphere is widely recognised. In this paper, we analyse how soil properties, surface cover and topography influence soil moisture (θ) over karstic lithology in a sub-humid Mediterranean mountain environment. For this analysis we have used 17 months of θ measurements with a high temporal resolution from different positions on a hillslope at the main recharge area of the Campo de Dalías aquifer, in Sierra de Gádor (Almería, SE Spain). Soil properties and surface cover vary depending on the position at the hillslope, and this variability has an important effect on θ. The higher clay content towards the lower position of the hillslope explains the increase of θ downslope at the subsurface horizon throughout the entire period studied. In the surface horizon (0-0.1 m), θ patterns coincide with those found at the subsurface horizon (0.1-0.35 m) during dry periods when the main control is also exerted by the higher percentage of clay that increases downslope and limits water depletion through evaporation. However, in wet periods, the wettest regime is found in the surface horizon at the upper position of the hillslope where plant cover, soil organic matter content, available water, unsaturated hydraulic conductivity (K unsat ) and infiltration rates are higher than in the lower positions. The presence of rock outcrops upslope the θ sampling area, acts as runoff sources, and subsurface flow generation between surface and subsurface horizons also may increase the differences between the upper and the lower positions of the hillslope during wet periods. Both rock and soil cracks and fissures act disconnecting surface water fluxes and reducing run-on to the lower position of the hillslope and thus they affect θ pattern as well as groundwater recharge. Understanding how terrain attributes, ground cover and soil factors interact for controlling θ pattern on karst hillslope is crucial to understand water fluxes in the vadose zone and dominant percolation mechanisms which also contribute to estimate groundwater recharge rates. Therefore, understanding of soil moisture dynamics provides very valuable information for designing rational strategies for the use and management of water resources, which is especially urgent in regions where groundwater supports human consume or key economic activities.

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Do protected areas networks ensure the supply of ecosystem services? Spatial patterns of two nature reserve systems in semi-arid Spain

Cited by 122 publications

References 48 publications

Applying Place-Based Social-Ecological Research to Address Water Scarcity: Insights for Future Research

Applying Place-Based Social-Ecological Research to Address Water Scarcity: Insights for Future Research

Ecosystem Service capacity is higher in areas of multiple designation types

Vertical and lateral soil moisture patterns on a Mediterranean karst hillslope

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