Spatial patterns of cultural ecosystem services provision in Southern Patagonia

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

  • Guillermo Martínez Pastur
  • Pablo L. Peri
  • María V. Lencinas
  • Marina García-Llorente
  • Berta Martín-López

Context: Although there is a need to develop a spatially explicit methodological approach that addresses the social importance of cultural ecosystem services for regional planning, few studies have analysed the spatial distribution on the cultural ecosystem services based on social perceptions.Objective: The main objective of this study was to identify cultural ecosystem service hot-spots, and factors that characterize such hot-spots and define the spatial associations between cultural ecosystem services in Southern Patagonia (Argentina). Methods: The study was carried out in Southern Patagonia (243.9 thousand km<sup>2</sup>) located between 46° and 55° SL with the Andes mountains on the western fringe and the Atlantic Ocean on the eastern fringe of the study area. The study region has a range of different vegetation types (grasslands, shrub-lands, peat-lands and forests) though the cold arid steppe is the main vegetation type. We used geo-tagged digital images that local people and visitors posted in the Panoramio web platform to identify hot-spots of four cultural ecosystem services (aesthetic value, existence value, recreation and local identity) and relate these hot-spots with social and biophysical landscape features. Results: Aesthetic value was the main cultural service tagged by people, followed by the existence value for biodiversity conservation, followed by local identity and then recreational activity. The spatial distribution of these cultural ecosystem services are associated with different social and biophysical characteristics, such as the presence of water bodies, vegetation types, marine and terrestrial fauna, protected areas, urbanization, accessibility and tourism offer. The most important factors are the presence of water in Santa Cruz and tourism offer in Tierra del Fuego. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that this methodology is useful for assessing cultural ecosystem services at the regional scale, especially in areas with low data availability and field accessibility, such as Southern Patagonia. We also identify new research challenges that can be addressed in cultural ecosystem services research through the use of this method.

Original languageEnglish
JournalLandscape Ecology
Volume31
Issue number2
Pages (from-to)383-399
Number of pages17
ISSN0921-2973
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 01.02.2016

    Research areas

  • Sustainability Science - Landscape pictures, spatial distribution, Social perceptions, Aesthetic value, Existence value, Recreation

Recently viewed

Publications

  1. Das Langzeitpraktikum in Corona-Zeiten
  2. § 32 Republik Lettland
  3. Sustainable Management compensation and ESG performance
  4. Do red herrings swim in circles?
  5. Two cascaded and extended kalman filters combined with sliding mode control for sustainable management of marine fish stocks
  6. Export entry, export exit and productivity in German manufacturing industries
  7. Complexity of traffic scenes and mental workload in car driving
  8. Punitive Damages
  9. Surveying Southern Mongolia
  10. Österreich Tourismus vor Weichenstellung: Stagnation oder Wachstum?
  11. Rotating Barley, Sugar Beet and Wheat under Elevated CO2 Conditions:
  12. A Cultural Analysis of the Economy of Affection and the Uncaptured Peasantry in Tanzania
  13. Data retention in the European Union
  14. Wie gesprochen werden?
  15. "Der siebente Brunnen". Fred Wanders Versuch einer anderen Darstellung der Shoah in der DDR-Literatur
  16. Wissen im Recht
  17. Developments and analyses of alternative processes for the manufacturing of fiber metal laminates
  18. Too Scared to Fight Back? Affective Job Insecurity as a Boundary Condition Between Workplace Incivility and Negative Mood States in Temporary Agency Workers
  19. Farewell to the party model?
  20. Creep behavior of Mg-10Gd-xZn (x=2 and 6wt%) alloys
  21. Kirchengeschichte
  22. The Democratization of the European Union
  23. Bringing ecosystem services into economic decision-making
  24. Patients' and Physicians' Perceptions of Medical Services in Germany
  25. Partizipative Führung an Schulen in Hamburg
  26. Molecular analyses and species distribution models indicate cryptic northern mountain refugia for a forestdwelling ground beetle
  27. It pays to be active on many foreign markets
  28. NFDI4DS Infrastructure and Services
  29. Exploring teachers' mental health literacy: An exploratory study on teachers' experiences, cooperation partners, self-efficacy, and knowledge related to students' mental health problems