Mapping ecosystem services in urban and peri-urban areas.A systematic review

Urban and peri-urban ecosystems are subjected to an intense impact.The demand for ecosystem services(ES)is higher in these areas.Nevertheless,despite the anthropogenic pressures,urban and peri-urban ecosystems supply important ES.Mapping is a crucial exercise to understand ES dynamics in these environments better.This work aims to systematically review mapping ES in urban and peri-urban areas studies,following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-alpha Methods.A total of 207 studies were selected.The results show increased work between 2011 and 2023,mainly conducted in Europe and China.Most work were developed in urban areas and did not follow an established ES classification.Most studies focused on the ES supply dimension,the regulation and maintenance section.Regarding provisioning ES,most studies focused on Cultivating terrestrial plants for nutrition,regulating and maintainin g Atmospheric composition and conditions,and for cultural ES on Physical and experiential interactions with the natural environment.Quantitative methods were mostly applied following Indicator-based(secondary data:biophysical,socio-economic)models.Very few work validated the outputs.Several studies forecasted ES,primarily based on land use changes using CA-Markov approaches.This study provides an overview of the most mapped urban and peri-urban ES globally,the areas where more studies need to be conducted,and the methods developed.

Urban green spaces accessibility in two European cities:Vilnius(Lithuania)and Coimbra(Portugal)

Urban green spaces(UGS)are essential for human well-being,contributing towards quality of life and promoting social interactions and inclusion.Accessibility to recreational UGS is key to human well-being in urban areas.However,there is a lack of works focused on recreational UGS accessibility in cities from different countries,using different types of transport.In this work,we studied the accessibility to recreational UGS in Vilnius(Lithuania)and Coimbra(Portugal)through four transport modes(foot,bike,bus and car)within 5-and 10-minute distance.The results showed important differences between cities.Vilnius had higher accessibility to recreational UGS than Coimbra in all transport modes.In both cities,the accessibility was highest by car and lowest by bus.Also,the percentage of population covered by 5-and 10-minute distance UGS accessibility in Vilnius is higher than in Coimbra,despite the lower population density in Vilnius.A large number of recreational UGS,their geographic distribution,the dispersed population pattern,and the location of several urbanizations near recreational UGS increased the inhabitant’s accessibility to recreational UGS in Vilnius.The differences in accessibility between cities were mainly attributed to the large number of recreational UGS and higher road network density,cycleways and footways density,and bus lines in Vilnius,compared to Coimbra.This work identified the areas where recreational UGS accessibility is difficult in using different transport modes and need to be improved in study areas.This is essential to support urban planners and increase cities’well-being.The findings of this work will be important for the management of the studied urban areas.

Ecosystem services and legal protection of private property.Problem or solution?

Ecosystem services(ES)delivery in quantity and quality are essential to improve human wellbeing.Nevertheless,often a considerable part of ES provisioning depends on the use of private land(e.g.,flood retention,carbon sequestration,water purification).In this context,the operationalization and implementation of ES concept may collide with legal property rights.Therefore,it is essential to find constructive mechanisms to engage and encour-age private owners to implement sustainable land uses to reduce the onsite and offsite impacts of their activities.This paper aims to identify if ES delivery can be constrained by legal private land and how it can be tackled.It is undeniable that land-use changes(e.g.,urbanization,agriculture intensification,and land abandonment)affect the territory’s capacity to deliver ES in quality and quantity.These changes,especially land abandonment,are in-creasing the tradeoffs among ES(e.g.,between carbon sequestration and water yield).Land-use planning should consider these aspects.Therefore,incorporating ES into spatial plans is crucial for stakeholders to understand the impacts of land-use change in the loss of ES value.This information can be transmitted through maps that communicate the message in a simplified way.Private owners can easily perceive the ES relevance that their land can provide if an understandable message is delivered.Although this can be a good solution,conflicts can appear even with the implementation of schemes such as Payment for ES(PES).PES is not always effective and can im-pose losses to farmers,disregard their cultural traditions,or not prevent poverty alleviation.In this context,it is crucial to consider local specificities to safeguard PES’s success,create a“win-win”and transform a problem into a solution.Private owners’active participation in implementing sustainable practices or a determined land-use in their properties is vital to achieving global targets such as sustainable development goals.

Ecosystem services of the Baltic Sea:An assessment and mapping perspective

The Baltic Sea is essential for marine ecosystem services(MES)provision and the region’s socio-economic dy-namics.It is considered one of the busiest and most polluted regional seas in Europe.In recent years a collective effort in enforcing European and regional environmental policies and directives(e.g.Water Framework Direc-tive 2000/60/EC,2000;Marine Strategy Framework Directive 2008/56/EC,2008;Maritime Spatial Planning Directive 2014/89/EU,2014)has been carried out.Ecosystem Services assessment and mapping is integrated into these directives.An increasing number of scientific studies,projects,and other works were developed in this context,generating a vast body of knowledge.Despite all efforts to improve the Baltic Sea’s environmental status,the targets established were not fulfilled.It is also important to analyze if current methodological approaches for assessing and mapping MES are robust enough to provide the needed results.This perspective paper analyses the status of assessment and mapping methodologies.The results showed that most of the studies were focused on qualitative assessments,with limited validation and reliability.Although the number of robust and quantitative works is increasing,more are needed.It is vital to carry out quantitative assessments to inform decision-makers better and standardize MES practices across the Baltic Sea.