Ecosystem services research in Latin America 2.0: Expanding collaboration across countries, disciplines, and sectors

Abstract

Ecosystem services research in Latin America has been steadily growing and has advanced conceptual understandings, methodological approaches, and global policy applications. One key element for the success of ecosystem services research is expanding collaboration across disciplines, countries, and sectors. This paper sets thestage for the special issue on The state of the art of Ecosystem Services Research and Practice in Latin Americathat resulted from such collaborations and the resulting insights. To do so we: 1 - present a recent overview ofecosystem services research in Latin America, 2 - assess the role of the network organizing InternationalCongresses on Ecosystem Services in the Neotropics (CISEN, from its initials in Spanish) in fostering collaborations across countries, sectors, research topics, and disciplines, 3 - describe how this special issue wasconceived and operationalized to further break collaboration silos and advance understanding, and 4 - presentan overview of the papers included in this special issue. Finally, we discuss the challenges and opportunities forfuture contribution of Latin American research to the rapidly evolving Ecosystem Services literature.