Browsing by Subject "Ecosystem services"
Now showing 1 - 9 of 9
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- PublicationOpen AccessActions for the Conservation and Restoration of the Dunes and Wetlands in the Salinas of San Pedro del Pinatar: LIFE-Salinas Project (Murcia, Southeast of Spain)(MDPI, 2022-09-28) Ballesteros Pelegrín, G.A.; García Marín, R.; Ibarra Marinas, D.; Sánchez Balibrea, J.; Belmonte Serrato, F.; Zamora López, A.; Fernández Ramos, J.F.; Martínez Arnal, N.; GeografíaThe LIFE SALINAS project, co-financed by the European Union, aims for the conservation and improvement of the protected area named the Regional Park of Las Salinas and Arenales de San Pedro del Pinatar (Region of Murcia, Spain). The main objectives are, among others, to stop the erosion of the dunes in front of a 500 m long beach and to expand the breeding habitat of aquatic birds. Between the dune and the beach, a barrier was placed to protect the dune from the effects of storms. The dunes were fenced, placed with sand traps and revegetation was carried out with native species in the most degraded areas. Within the salt pans, 1800 m of new sandy dikes were built to separate the salt ponds. The results have been the recovery of the dune ecosystem and the increase in the population of nesting aquatic birds and other species, as well as an increase in the quality and production of salt.
- PublicationOpen AccessDelimitando los rasgos biológicos de la vegetación de los ríos secos: el caso de las ramblas de la cuenca del Segura (SE de España)(Universidad de Murcia. Servicio de publicaciones, 2021) Martínez-Yoshino, Néstor; Suárez Alonso, María Luisa; Vidal-Abarca Gutiérrez, María RosarioLas ramblas (ríos secos) son ecosistemas de gran relevancia en la cuenca del Segura por la extensión que ocupan. Estos ecosistemas albergan comunidades vegetales caracterizadas por la diversidad y singularidad de especies que las componen. El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar los rasgos biológicos que caracterizan estas comunidades y relacionarlos con su capacidad para provee servicios ecosistémicos a la sociedad. Los resultados obtenidos indican que las comunidades vegetales de estos ecosistemas presentan rasgos biológicos claramente terrestres y xerófilos con dominancia de formas fanerófitas y caméfitas, con diversas adaptaciones a la sequía y total inexistencia de especies helófitas. Además, más del 90% de las especies estudiadas proporcionan algún servicio ecosistémico
PublicationOpen AccessEconomic valuation of allotment gardens in peri-urban degraded agroecosystems: the role of citizens’ preferences in spatial planning(Elsevier, 2021-02-15) Albaladejo García, José Antonio; Alcon, Francisco; Martínez Paz, José Miguel; Economía Aplicada; Facultad de Economía y EmpresaAllotment gardens (AGs), one of the basic types of urban gardening, provide goods and services to the urban population beyond food supply. Therefore, the efficient planning and management of AGs must take into account both the social welfare provided by the ecosystem services (ES) associated with these spaces and spatial considerations. The distance of the AGs from the citizens, their accessibility and the presence of substitutes are aspects that have not been studied extensively in the scientific literature. In this context, this paper evaluates the creation of AGs in a peri-urban degraded agroecosystem in Murcia (SE-Spain). To this end, the values of ES are quantified economically, as are the influences of the socio-economic and spatial characteristics. A survey was undertaken on a representative sample of households in Murcia city, from which the willingness to pay (WTP) for owning an AG and the factors influencing the valuation were determined. The results indicate that provisioning services are the ES valued most highly, followed by regulating and cultural ES. The valuation of the project for the whole population is 5.4 €/household/month, with a WTP of 17.2 €/household/month for owning an AG plot. Multivariate analysis showed the importance of ES and spatial factors in this valuation. This WTP spatial study shows the existence of local patterns to be considered in the evaluation of new AGs location alternatives. These results will be useful to urban planners in their decision making.- PublicationOpen AccessEvaluación del servicio ecosistémico de rendimiento hídrico entre los años de 1994 y 2016 en el municipio de Valle de Bravo, estado de México(2019-04-16) Lovera Pons, Vianney; Roldán Aragón, Iván Ernesto; Sánchez Robles, Jesús; Torres Lima, PabloEl servicio ecosistémico (SE) de rendimiento hídrico (RH) es vital para la generación de agua dulce y es definido como la redistribución de la precipitación en función de la vegetación. Los cambios en el uso del suelo y vegetación (USyV) tienen efectos directos sobre este tipo de SE. Se estudia el caso del Municipio de Valle de Bravo como una región relevante en materia hídrica y forestal para el Estado de México. Forma parte del sistema Cutzamala, el cual abastece de agua potable a la Ciudad de México. Por su importancia como fuente de agua y por las presiones antrópicas que tienen los bosques en esta región, se evalúo el SE de RH, a partir de un análisis comparativo de USyV de los años de 1994 y 2016, a fin de identificar los efectos de la dinámica de cambio. Se empleó el modelo de rendimiento hídrico anual InVEST® que utiliza diferentes mapas con los atributos biofísicos para cada cobertura, definidos para cada píxel del territorio. Se aplicó un modelo de ANOVA para determinar el efecto que tienen los cambios de USyV en las subcuencas y su interacción con el SE de RH. Los resultados indican que los bosques templados aún persisten en la mayor superficie del municipio, sin embargo, las zonas urbanas se han duplicado, provocando un incremento en el SE de RH. Estos resultados pueden ser útiles en planificación ambiental y programas de ordenamiento territorial.
- PublicationOpen AccessExploring the complex relations between water resources and social indicators: The Biobío Basin (Chile)(2018) Díaz, M.E.; Figueroa, R.; Suárez, M.L.; Vidal-Abarca Gutiérrez, María Rosario; Ecología e HidrologíaBasins are one of the bio-geo-physical areas where the ecological processes that generate the ecosystem services (ES) and contribute to human well-being (HWB) are more evident. They are also the physical scenario where the nature-human interaction is more intense. The explicit relationships that link biodiversity, ES and HWB, and the direct and indirect causes responsible for their degradation, have been rarely explored. We used the Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework to explore the relationships between the river ecosystem and the Biobío Basin’s social system. We selected 65 basin and regional-scale indicators to analyse the existing trends and associations among the different DPSIR components. The trend analysis results showed major biodiversity loss and how the regulating services and non-material goods of the HWB component deteriorated, while cultural services, direct and indirect pressures and institutional responses increased. The relationships among the different DPSIR components revealed biodiversity loss to be positively associated with cultural services, the material goods of the HWB component and pressures. Indirect drivers were negatively associated with regulating and cultural services, non-material goods and pressures. Institutional responses did not correlate with any DPSIR component. However, these results do not reflect the complexity of the Biobío Basin’s socio-ecosystem. We estimate that the DPSIR framework shows a corseted and reductionist vision of a greater complexity than merely a unidirectional nature-human relationship.
- PublicationOpen AccessIntegrating socio-spatial preference heterogeneity into the assessment of the aesthetic quality of a Mediterranean agricultural landscape(Elsevier, 2023-07-22) Albaladejo García, J.A.; Zabala García, José Ángel; Alcón, Francisco; Dallimer, Martín; Martínez Paz, José M.; Economía AplicadaAssessing ecosystem services associated with agricultural landscapes is of growing interest to the research and policy/practice communities. One particularly challenging aspect to understand is the value of the aesthetic quality of such landscapes, even though this is one of the main contributions that agricultural landscapes make to cultural ecosystem service provision. Indeed, as increasing demands are placed on agricultural landscapes for food production, infrastructure development and urbanisation, aesthetic qualities can be severely affected, particularly if those landscapes are used for traditional agricultural practices. Here we assess the aesthetic quality of an agricultural landscape by integrating social preferences heterogeneity and spatial aspects of the provision, combining subjective and objective perspectives. We work in landscapes dominated by irrigated flowering fruit trees in Cieza, in south-east Spain as it is an excellent example of a semi-arid Mediterranean agroecosystem that delivers multiple ecosystem services, including aesthetic quality, in addition to food production. Using GIS tools and a choice experiment, we assess the social utility function for this landscape, and demonstrate social preferences heterogeneity for demand for the aesthetic qualities of the landscape. Latent class modelling distinguished three populations, with the majority preferring diversified agricultural landscapes and management policies based on a more natural-looking agricultural landscape. These results provide agroecosystem managers with an additional vision focused on enhancing the combination of the most diverse and natural-looking elements in the landscape in order to underpin the delivery of cultural ecosystem services that also increase social well-being.
- PublicationOpen AccessLandscape restoration in a mixed agricultural-forest catchment: Planning a buffer strip and hedgerow network in a Chilean biodiversity hotspot(Springer Nature, 2019-02-15) Rey Benayas, José María ; Altamirano, Adison ; Miranda, Alejandro ; Catalán, Germán ; Prado, Marco ; Fulgencio Lisón; Bullock, James M. ; Lisón Gil, Fulgencio; Ecología e HidrologíaGuidance for large-scale restoration of natural or semi-natural linear vegetation elements that takes into account the need to maintain human livelihoods such as farming is often lacking. Focusing on a Chilean biodiversity hotspot, we assessed the landscape in terms of existing woody vegetation elements and proposed a buffer strip and hedgerow network. We used spatial analysis based on Google Earth imagery and QGIS, field surveys, seven guidelines linked to prioritization criteria and seedling availability in the region’s nurseries, and estimated the budget for implementing the proposed network. The target landscapes require restoring 0.89 ha km−2 of woody buffer strips to meet Chilean law; 1.4 ha km−2 of new hedgerows is also proposed. The cost of restoration in this landscape is estimated in ca. USD 6900 per planted ha of buffer strips and hedgerows. Financial incentives, education, and professional training of farmers are identified as key issues to implement the suggested restoration actions.
- PublicationOpen AccessPercepción de los servicios ecosistémicos en áreas verdes urbanas : un caso en el altiplano central mexicano.(Universidad de Murcia, Servicio de Publicaciones., 2023) Gutiérrez Cedillo, Jesús Gastón; Granados Espíndola, Jacaranda; Espinosa Rodríguez, Luis MiguelEsta investigación tiene como objetivo el análisis de las percepciones ciudadanas acerca de los servicios ecosistémicos culturales, de regulación y de soporte que derivan de la existencia de áreas verdes urbanas, como estudio de caso en los municipios de Metepec y San Mateo Atenco, Estado de México. Las áreas verdes en las ciudades desempeñan una importante función de suministro de beneficios sociales y ambientales; y resulta crucial el conocer y analizar las percepciones sociales sobre los mismos. El método consistió en la realización de entrevistas estructuradas a una muestra poblacional de 138 personas en once áreas verdes, siete en Metepec donde se entrevistaron a diez personas en cada área verde; y cuatro en San Mateo Atenco donde se entrevistaron a 17 personas en cada área verde. El instrumento fue un cuestionario en escala de Likert, con un coeficiente Alpha de Cronbach de 0.88 que alude a un buen nivel de confiabilidad, los datos se procesaron por medio del paquete estadístico SPSS Statistics 25.0. Los resultados muestran una alta similitud entre las percepciones de los entrevistados de Metepec comparadas con los de San Mateo Atenco; se concluye que la producción de oxígeno fue el servicio ecosistémico con la mejor percepción social.
- PublicationOpen AccessTranshumance in Sierra de Segura (Spain): a resilient traditional grazing system(Elsevier, 2024) Contreras de Vera, Antonio; Gómez Martín, Angel; Maestre, Teresa; Rincón Madroñero, Marina; Magalhaes Barbosa, Jomar; Velamazán, Mario; Sanidad AnimalTranshumance is tending to continuously decline globally, despite persisting in certain regions. Due to marked lack of knowledge about this practice and its cultural, economic, and environmental significance, our study aimed to identify the factors that contribute to the persistence of transhumance. We focused on ruminant herds of a transhumant community in the Santiago-Pontones municipality in Sierra de Segura, Spain. We processe d offi-cial data from ruminant livestock enterprises and incorporated insights gained as observer-participants durings even transhumant displacements from 2016 to 2023. . The census included 55042 ruminant heads and 118 herds,and 70% of animals and 61% of herds practiced transhumance. These herds wintered in pastures located withina range from 33 to 176 linear kilometers from their respective origins that span 15 municipalities. Significant diferences were observed between sedentary and transhumant farm sizes (363 vs. 533 heads, respectively). Transhumance correlated significantly with herd size, number of sheep, percentage of female goats and number of ruminant species in herds. Women owned 19 % of ruminant enterprises, with no differences in herd structure or displacement type compared to those owned by men. Of the transhumant herds, 66% traveled on foot, with no significant differences in herd structure parameters or distances based on their transport system, except that on-foot transhumant herds commenced their displacements earlier than those using trucks. In conclusion, our study outlines an active transhumant community in southeast Spain, whose resilience isa noteworthy asset that de-serves recognition and safeguarding.