Assessment of provisioning ecosystem services in terrestrial ecosystems of Santa Cruz province, Argentina

Abstract

Provisioning ecosystem services play an important role in the developmentof regional economies. Traditional managements usually intensify the supplyof provisioning services, without consideration of other services (e.g. cultural andsupporting) and biodiversity. The objective of this chapter was to characterize mainprovisioning ecosystem services and potential biodiversity in different terrestrialecosystems (native forests, shrublands and grasslands) of Santa Cruz Province(Southern Patagonia, Argentina) and to identify potential trade-off areas betweenprovisioning ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation values. We foundthat non-forested areas exhibited higher supply of provisioning ecosystem servicesand biodiversity values than forested areas, where potential trade-off areas werelocated in humid steppes and shrublands. Particularly, in Nothofagus forests landscape,provisioning ecosystem services and biodiversity increased with forest cover,where N. antarctica forests type showed more potential trade-off areas than otherNothofagus forests type, while new potential protected areas were located when differentforest types were combined (N. antarctica and N. pumilio). These results canbe used by decision-makers to improve management and conservation strategies onprivate lands.