Ecosystem services research in contrasting socio-ecological contexts of Argentina: Critical assessment and future directions

Abstract

In Argentina, agricultural expansion and intensification has stimulated the utilization of the ecosystem services (ES) approach to understand the consequences of land-use and land-cover changes. However, Argentina´s increasing trends of environmental degradation and social conflict due to agriculture continue unabated. We qualitatively analyzed 24 published ES studies done in either the temperate Pampean (context of consolidated agriculture) or subtropical extra-Pampean regions (context of expanding agriculture), in order to identify country-level and context-specific research needs and gaps, and propose ways to address them. We observed that ES studies in both contexts: (i) tended to focus much more on the biophysical, supply-side of the ES cascade than on the assessment of cultural ES and benefits, (ii) invested more effort in describing coarse ecological patterns/processes than in producing locally-adapted knowledge through stakeholder participation, and (iii) were poorly articulated with decision-making processes regarding sustainable ecosystem management. Despite this, some ES studies performed in the context of expanding agriculture showed incipient efforts to recognize, disaggregate and involve stakeholders, and to understand ES values. To increase the applicability of ES knowledge in decision-making, "strong" transdisciplinary approaches should be implemented so that changes in ES delivery and values feedback on management decisions for reverting environmental degradation.

Servicios Ecosistémicos en Latinoamérica. De la investigación a la acción

“…En ese marco, la capacidad de los ecólogos para lograr una mayor incidencia del enfoque de SE en la toma de decisiones exige necesariamente una progresiva integración con otras disciplinas, así como con los saberes, la percepción, las preferencias, la legitimación y el compromiso de otros actores sociales, entre los que se incluyen afectadores (propietarios), afectados (propietarios y no propietarios) y tomadores de decisiones públicas (legisladores y funcionarios) (Albert et al 2014;Cowling et al 2008;Daily et al 2009;Posner et al 2016). La necesidad de esa integración inter y transdisciplinaria también ha sido puesta de manifiesto para nuestra propia región (Balvanera et al 2012;Cáceres et al 2016;Mastrangelo et al 2015).…”

Integrating Social Values and Ecosystem Services in Systematic Conservation Planning: A Case Study in Datuan Watershed

“…It is essential that ES values are prioritized to quantify ES benefits for human well-being and to inform management-level policy decisions [26,44]. To date, there have been a number of approaches developed to generate social-ecological values in spatially explicit, informative, and representative ways [69].…”

“…Nevertheless, quantitative SV information is notably excluded from most existing ES valuation efforts. Various studies from numerous fields have drawn attention to the need for SV inclusion in ES valuation [9][10][11][12][13][24][25][26][27][28][29][30].…”

Los servicios ecosistémicos como soporte para la toma de decisiones ambiental y socialmente sustentables

“…Assessments of the capacity of ecosystems to provide ES say little about the benefits people effectively derive from those services, and the flow of benefits say little about the sustainability of these benefit flows (Haase et al 2014). To advance in this direction, tools that explicitly link management decisions with the condition of ecosystems and the level of ES generation, need to be developed (Mastrangelo et al 2015).…”