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Using ecosystem services valuation to measure the economic impacts of land-use changes on the Spanish Mediterranean coast (El Maresme, 1850–2010)

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Abstract

Over the last few decades, Mediterranean coastal areas have experienced profound land-use changes due mainly to urban sprawl and reforestation at the expense of former traditional agrarian mosaics and natural resources, such as beach areas or freshwaters streams. These changes have had severe negative consequences on the biodiversity and ecological state (i.e. function) of the territory. The overall objective of this study was to evaluate the economic impacts of these consequences on ecosystem services (ES). By reconstructing the landscape of El Maresme County (Barcelona Province, Spain) for three historical points in time (1850, 1954 and 2010), we were able to assess how these land-use changes have affected the total ecosystem value (TEV) by estimating the ES non-market and market values provided by each land-use through market prices and benefit transfer methods. Results show an important decrease in the value of TEV since the 1950s (23.6 million Euros per year) due to urban sprawl. Despite the major changes occurring between the 1850s and 1950s, non-market values did not alter very much due to the type of agricultural practices. Our results show the necessity to take into account the value of non-market ES when designing land planning policies, and especially those concerning beaches and coastal systems to fully integrate the contribution on natural systems into decision-making processes.

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Notes

  1. There was a large increase in unproductive areas between 1954 and 2010, a land-use type that was almost non-existent before this time. This land is largely abandoned, in the process of urbanization. For our calculations, we considered and valued it as urban.

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Acknowledgments

This work has been developed in the international project on Sustainable farm systems: long-term socio-ecological metabolism in western agriculture funded as a Partnership Grant by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. We would like to thank Mahbubul Alam, Jean-François Bissonnette, Bronwyn Rayfield, and Rebecca Tittler for their revisions, and two anonymous reviewers for their comments, which helped to improve the final version of the article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut des sciences de la forêt tempérée, Université du Québec en Outaouais, 58, rue Principale, Ripon, QC, J0V 1V0, Canada

    Jérôme Dupras & Lluìs Parcerisas

  2. The Nature Conservancy, 205 N. Carrizo St., Corpus Christi, TX, 78411, USA

    Jorge Brenner

Authors
  1. Jérôme Dupras
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  2. Lluìs Parcerisas
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  3. Jorge Brenner
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Correspondence to Jérôme Dupras.

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Editor: Elena M. Bennett.

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Dupras, J., Parcerisas, L. & Brenner, J. Using ecosystem services valuation to measure the economic impacts of land-use changes on the Spanish Mediterranean coast (El Maresme, 1850–2010). Reg Environ Change 16, 1075–1088 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-015-0847-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-015-0847-5

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