Ecosystem services potential is declining across European capital metropolitan areas

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Urban Ecology
• Sustainability Science

Background:

• Ecosystem services (ES) are crucial for sustainable development.
• Monitoring metropolitan ecosystem services potential (ESP) is vital for urban sustainability.
• Land use land cover (LULC) changes significantly impact ESP.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a procedure for long-term monitoring of metropolitan ESP dynamics.
• To compare ESP across 38 European Capital Metropolitan Areas (ECMA).
• To analyze the drivers of ESP changes, focusing on urbanization and population growth.

Main Methods:

• Utilized open-source land use land cover (LULC) data.
• Applied the expert matrix method for ESP assessment.
• Compared ESP for biodiversity integrity, water provision, flood protection, air quality, water purification, and recreation & tourism.

Main Results:

• Significant declines in ESP were observed across ECMA between 2006, 2012, and 2018 due to LULC alteration.
• ECMA in post-socialist countries (e.g., Warszawa) showed high land use transformation and ESP impact.
• Fennoscandinavian ECMA (e.g., Helsinki, Stockholm, Oslo) experienced the highest ESP reduction impact recently, despite leading in cumulative ESP.
• Inattentive urbanization processes were found to impact ESP more than population growth.

Conclusions:

• Metropolitan ESP is declining across Europe due to land use changes, driven primarily by urbanization.
• Findings have implications for European Nature Conservation Law and global Sustainable Development Goals.
• Targeted urban planning is necessary to mitigate ESP loss and ensure sustainable cities.