Focusing conservation efforts on ecosystem service supply may increase vulnerability of socio-ecological systems

LATERRA, PEDRO; BARRAL, MARÍA PAULA; CARMONA, ALEJANDRA; NAHUELHUAL, LAURA

PLOS ONE

PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE

Lugar: San Francisco; Año: 2016

1932-6203

Growing concern about the loss of ecosystem services (ES) promotes their spatialrepresentation as a key tool for the internalization of the ES framework intoland use policies. Paradoxically, mapping approaches meant to inform policydecisions focus on the magnitude and spatial distribution of the biophysicalsupply of ES, largely ignoring the social mechanisms by which these services influencehuman wellbeing. If social mechanisms affecting ES demand, enhancing it orreducing it, are takenmore into account, then policies are more effective. By developing and applyinga new mapping routine to two distinct socio-ecological systems, we show astrong spatial uncoupling between ES supply and socio-ecological vulnerability tothe loss of ES, under scenarios of land use and cover change. Public policiesbased on ES supply might not only fail at detecting priority conservation areasfor the wellbeing of human societies, but may also increase their vulnerabilityby neglecting areas of currently low, but highly valued ES supply.