On the effects of scale for ecosystem services mapping.

Area of Science:

• Environmental science
• Ecosystem services assessment
• Spatial analysis

Background:

• Ecosystems provide essential services, but their degradation persists.
• Spatially explicit information on ecosystem services (ES) is vital for decision-making, particularly in sensitive mountain regions.
• The accuracy of ES mapping varies with scale and methodology.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify information gains and losses when mapping five ES at coarse versus fine resolutions in European and U.S. mountain systems.
• To analyze the effects of scale on ES estimates, spatial patterns, and their relationship with terrain and model properties.
• To provide recommendations for improving the comparability and reliability of ES maps for decision support.

Main Methods:

• Four case studies in mountainous regions (Europe and U.S.).
• Mapping of five ES (carbon sequestration, flood regulation, agricultural production, timber harvest, scenic beauty) at two resolutions (e.g., 250 m vs. 25 m).
• Analysis of scale effects on ES estimates, spatial patterns, terrain ruggedness, and model properties.

Main Results:

• ES estimates differed substantially between fine and coarse resolution analyses across all case studies and services.
• The scale effect was not uniform across all ES.
• Spatially explicit information for non-clustered, isolated ES was often lost at coarse resolutions, particularly in less rugged terrain.

Conclusions:

• Finer resolution mapping is crucial for capturing detailed ES information, especially in less rugged mountain areas.
• Scale dependency in ES mapping is influenced by ES type, terrain structure, and model characteristics.
• A four-step approach is proposed to address scale issues in ES mapping for more accurate and reliable decision support.