The Role of Cultural Landscapes in the Delivery of Provisioning Ecosystem Services in Protected Areas

Ana D. Maldonado, Darío Ramos-López and Pedro A. Aguilera
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Ana D. Maldonado: Department of Biology and Geology, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain
Darío Ramos-López: Department of Applied Mathematics, Rey Juan Carlos University, 28933 Madrid, Spain
Pedro A. Aguilera: Department of Biology and Geology, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 9, 1-18

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to assess and highlight the significance of cultural landscapes in protected areas, considering both biodiversity and the delivery of provisioning ecosystem services. In order to do that, we analyzed 26 protected areas in Andalusia (Spain), all of them Natural or National Parks, regarding some of their ecosystem services (agriculture, livestock grazing, microclimate regulation, environmental education and tourism) and diversity of the four terrestrial vertebrate classes: amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds. A cluster analysis was also run in order to group the 26 protected areas according to their dominant landscape. The results show that protected areas dominated by dehesa (a heterogeneous system containing different states of ecological maturity), or having strong presence of olive groves, present a larger area of delivery of provisioning ecosystem services, on average. These cultural landscapes play an essential role not only for biodiversity conservation but also as providers of provisioning ecosystem services.

Keywords: biodiversity; Natural Parks; cultural ecosystem services; regulating ecosystem services; drivers of change (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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