Abstract

The spatial extent of ecological processes has consequences for the generation of ecosystem services related to them. However, management often fails to consider issues of scale when targeting ecological processes underpinning ecosystem services generation. Here, we present a framework for conceptualizing how the amount and spatial scale (here discussed in terms of extent) of management interventions alter interactions among multiple ecosystem services. First, we identify four types of responses of ecosystem service generation: linear, exponential, saturating, and sigmoid, and how these are related to the amount of management intervention at a particular spatial scale. Second, using examples from multiple ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes, we examine how the shape of these relationships can vary with the spatial scale at which the management interventions are implemented. Third, we examine the resulting scale-dependent consequences for trade-offs and synergies between ecosystem services as a consequence of interventions. Finally, to inform guidelines for management of multiple ecosystem services in real landscapes, we end with a discussion linking the theoretical relationships with how landscape configurations and placement of interventions can alter the scale at which synergies and trade-offs among services occur.

Keywords

agricultural landscapes; ecosystem function; management interventions; multifunctional landscape; scale mismatch; spatial extent; synergies; trade-offs

Published in

Ecosphere
2017, Volume: 8, number: 4, article number: e01741
Publisher: WILEY

SLU Authors

• Bengtsson, Jan

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • Stellenbosch University

• Bommarco, Riccardo

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG15 Life on land


UKÄ Subject classification

Ecology


Publication Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.1741

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/83476