Consistent trade-offs in ecosystem services between land covers with different production intensities

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Environmental Science
• Conservation Biology

Background:

• Sustaining ecosystem services requires understanding land use impacts.
• Data limitations and spatial variability hinder understanding of land-use effects on services.

Purpose of the Study:

• Quantify the supply of 17 non-production ecosystem services across 25 land covers in New Zealand.
• Analyze the consistency of service supply shaped by different land-use categories.
• Identify trade-offs, complementarity, and redundancy in service provision to guide sustainable land management.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature survey of published research from New Zealand (1970-2015).
• Quantification of 17 non-production ecosystem services.
• Analysis of service supply across 25 land cover types as proxies for land use.

Main Results:

• A consistent trade-off was observed between high-intensity production land covers (e.g., cropping) and those with extensive or no production.
• Forest cover did not show distinct patterns of ecosystem service supply.
• Complementarity and redundancy in service supply from different land covers were identified, suggesting potential for enhanced resilience.

Conclusions:

• Land-use intensity significantly influences the trade-offs in ecosystem service provision.
• Diverse land cover compositions, considering both production and non-production areas, are crucial for resilient ecosystem service supply.
• Findings provide guidance for landscape planning to sustainably support human well-being through effective land system design.