Abstract
Cultural ecosystem services, defined as the intangible benefits that humans derive from ecosystems, are at once self-evident and allusive to define, specifically because they are a function of culture and the interaction between two dynamic systems: human societies and natural ecosystems. Mediterranean pine forests, as a product of millennia of human–nature interactions are therefore an exemplary and challenging case study for assessing cultural services. In this review, I assess cultural ecosystem services supplied by Mediterranean pine and mixed forests. I first expand upon the challenges of assessing cultural ecosystem services, emphasizing the dynamic nature of social-ecological systems and their feedbacks. Cultural service assessments are considered highly context-specific, subject to change with changes in social context, shifts in ecosystem structure and function, and resultant changes in social and ecological interactions. Next, based on a review of the recent literature, I inventory the range of cultural services provided by, and relational values inspired by, pine and mixed-pine forests around the Mediterranean Basin. Then, the case of pine forests in contemporary Israel is used as an example of the challenges of assessing cultural services. I conclude by providing some consistent trends in cultural ecosystem provision, and finally look to the future of cultural service from pine forests, considering forecasted environmental changes in the Mediterranean Basin.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Cultural services are one of three types of ecosystem services commonly identified in the ecosystem service conceptual framework. The other two are provisioning services (tangible products, in the form of material or energy, obtained by humans from ecosystems) and regulating services (the contribution of ecosystem processes to moderating conditions of the biotic and abiotic environment for humans).
- 2.
In one comprehensive volume on Mediterranean-type ecosystems, there is only a single reference to naturally-occurring pine species in the Mediterranean Basin, with the remaining references to pines referring only to the negative ecological impacts of pine plantations in Australia and South Africa (Davis and Richardson 1995).
- 3.
Alternatively, when a pine forest is viewed as a threat due to its flammability (a regulating disservice), it can degrade one’s attachment to the forest (Depietri and Orenstein 2019).
References
Abu-Izzeddin F (2000) The protected areas project in Lebanon: conserving an ancient heritage. Parks 10:25–32
Almeida M, Loupa-Ramos I, Menezes H et al (2016) Urban population looking for rural landscapes: different appreciation patterns identified in Southern Europe. Land Use Policy 53:44–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2015.09.025
Amir S, Rechtman O (2006) The development of forest policy in Israel in the 20th century: implications for the future. Forest Policy Econ 8(1):35–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2004.05.003
Anaya-Romero M, Muñoz-Rojas M, Ibáñez B, Marañón T (2016) Evaluation of forest ecosystem services in Mediterranean areas. A regional case study in South Spain. Ecosyst Serv 20:82–90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2016.07.002
Arieli D (1997) Cultural construction of nature: the case of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel. Megamot 2:189–206. [in Hebrew]
Becker N, Choresh Y (2007) Economic valuation of nature recreation: estimating the Biria Forest value using the travel cost method. Ya’ar 9:27–34. [in Hebrew]
Ben-David O (1997) Tiyul (hike) as an act of consecration of space. In: Ben-Ari E, Bilu Y (eds) Grasping land: space and place in contemporary Israeli discourse and experience. SUNY Press, Albany, p 246
Bernetti I, Chirici G, Sacchelli S (2019) Big data and evaluation of cultural ecosystem services: an analysis based on geotagged photographs from social media in Tuscan forest (Italy). iForest 12:98–105. https://doi.org/10.3832/ifor2821-011
Blondel J (2006) The “design” of Mediterranean landscapes: a millennial story of humans and ecological systems during the historic period. Hum Ecol 34(5):713–729. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-006-9030-4
Blondel J, Aronson J (1995) Biodiversity and ecosystem function in the Mediterranean Basin: human and non-human determinants. In: Davis GW, Richardson DM (eds) Mediterranean-type ecosystems: the function of biodiversity. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, pp 43–119. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-78881-9_2
Braverman I (2009) Planted flags: trees, land, and law in Israel/Palestine. Cambridge University Press, New York
Buijs AE, Elands BHM, Langers F (2009) No wilderness for immigrants: cultural differences in images of nature and landscape preferences. Landscape Urban Plan 91(3):113–123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2008.12.003
Çaliskan S, Boydak M (2017) Afforestation of arid and semiarid ecosystems in Turkey. Turk J Agric For 41:317–330. https://doi.org/10.3906/tar-1702-39
Campos P, Caparrós A, Oviedo JL et al (2019) Bridging the gap between national and ecosystem accounting: application in Andalusian forests, Spain. Ecol Econ 157:218–236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2018.11.017
Chan KM, Gould RK, Pascual U (2018) Editorial overview: relational values: what are they, and what’s the fuss about? Curr Opin Environ Sust 35:A1–A7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2018.11.003
CICES – Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (2018) Version v5.1 spreadsheet and guidance document. Available at: https://cices.eu/resources
Ciftcioglu GC (2018) Revealing major terrestrial- and marine species-based provisioning ecosystem services provided by the socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes of Lefke Region in North Cyprus. Environ Dev Sustain 20(1):197–221. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-016-9877-5
Collins SL, Carpenter SR, Swinton SM et al (2011) An integrated conceptual framework for long-term social-ecological research. Front Ecol Environ 9(6):351–357. https://doi.org/10.1890/100068
Davis GW, Richardson DM (eds) (1995) Mediterranean-type ecosystems: the function of biodiversity. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg
Depietri Y, Orenstein DE (2019) Fire-regulating services and disservices with an application to the Haifa-Carmel region in Israel. Front Environ Sci 7:107. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2019.00107
Derak M, Cortina J (2014) Multi-criteria participative evaluation of Pinus halepensis plantations in a semiarid area of Southeast Spain. Ecol Indic 43:56–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2014.02.017
Divinski I, Becker N, Bar (Kutiel) P (2018) Opportunity costs of alternative management options in a protected nature park: the case of Ramat Hanadiv, Israel. Land Use Policy 71:494–504. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.11.015
Eid R, Haller T (2018) Burning forests, rising power: towards a constitutionality process in Mount Carmel Biosphere Reserve. Hum Ecol 46(1):41–50. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-018-9968-z
Eizenberg E, Orenstein DE, Zimroni H (2018) Back to the (visualization) laboratory: using focus groups to generate qualitative and quantitative results. J Plan Educ Res 38(3):345–358. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X17700252
Falk JH, Balling JD (2009) Evolutionary influence on human landscape preference. Environ Behav 42(4):479–493. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916509341244
Fish R, Church A, Winter M (2016) Conceptualising cultural ecosystem services: a novel framework for research and critical engagement. Ecosyst Serv 21:208–217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2016.09.002
Fleischer A, Shaler M, Konijnenkijk CC (2014) Factors affecting the pattern of use of community forests – a case study of three forests in Israel. Discussion paper no. 8.14. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Gauquelin T, Michon G, Joffre R et al (2018) Mediterranean forests, land use and climate change: a social-ecological perspective. Reg Environ Chang 18(3):623–636. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-016-0994-3
Ginsberg P (2000) Afforestation in Israel: a source of social goods and services. J Forest 98(3):32–36. https://doi.org/10.1093/jof/98.3.32
Ginsberg P (2006) Restoring biodiversity to pine afforestations in Israel. J Nat Conserv 14(3–4):207–216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2006.04.003
Gragson TL, Leigh DS, Coughlan MR (2015) Basque cultural landscapes of the western French Pyrenees. Il Capitale Culturale 12:565–596
Holmgren M, Scheffer M (2017) To tree or not to tree: cultural views from ancient Romans to modern ecologists. Ecosystems 20(1):62–68. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-016-0052-5
Hughes JD (2011) Ancient deforestation revisited. J Hist Biol 44(1):43–57. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10739-010-9247-3
IPBES (2013) Decision IPBES-2/4: conceptual framework for the intergovernmental science-policy platform on biodiversity and ecosystem services. Available at: https://ipbes.net/system/tdf/downloads/DecisionIPBES_2_4.pdf?file=1&type=node&id=14649
IPCC (2014) Climate Change 2014: impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability. Part A: global and sectoral aspects. Contribution of Working Group II to the fifth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Field CB, Barros DJ, Dokken KJ et al (eds)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1132 pp
Jaouadi W, Naghmouchi S, Alsubeie M (2019) Should the silviculture of Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis Mill.) stands in northern Africa be oriented towards wood or seed and cone production? Diagnosis and current potentiality. iForest 12:297–305. https://doi.org/10.3832/ifor2965-012
Jucker Riva M, Baeza J, Bautista S et al (2018) How does land management contribute to the resilience of Mediterranean forests and rangelands? A participatory assessment. Land Degrad Dev 29(10):3721–3735. https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.3104
Koniak G, Noy-Meir I, Perevolotsky A (2011) Modelling dynamics of ecosystem services basket in Mediterranean landscapes: a tool for rational management. Landsc Ecol 26(1):109–124. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-010-9540-8
Leitão IA, Ferreira CSS, Ferreira AJD (2019) Assessing long-term changes in potential ecosystem services of a peri-urbanizing Mediterranean catchment. Sci Total Environ 660:993–1003. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.01.088
Liphschitz N, Biger G (2001) Past distribution of Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis) in the mountains of Israel (Palestine). Holocene 11(4):427–436. https://doi.org/10.1191/095968301678302869
Lopez-Santiago CA, Oteros-Rozas E, Martín-López B et al (2014) Using visual stimuli to explore the social perceptions of ecosystem services in cultural landscapes: the case of transhumance in Mediterranean Spain. Ecol Soc 19(2):27. https://doi.org/10.5751/es-06401-190227
Lorilla R, Poirazidis K, Kalogirou S et al (2018) Assessment of the spatial dynamics and interactions among multiple ecosystem services to promote effective policy making across Mediterranean island landscapes. Sustainability 10(9):3285. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10093285
Lotan A, Kost R, Mandelik Y et al (2018) National scale mapping of ecosystem services in Israel – genetic resources, pollination and cultural services. One Ecosyst 3:e25494. https://doi.org/10.3897/oneeco.3.e25494
MA (2005) Millennium ecosystem assessment. Island Press, Washington, DC
Maestre-Andrés S, Calvet-Mir L, van den Bergh JCJM (2016) Sociocultural valuation of ecosystem services to improve protected area management: a multi-method approach applied to Catalonia, Spain. Reg Environ Chang 16(3):717–731. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-015-0784-3
Marini Govigli V, Górriz-Mifsud E, Varela E (2019) Zonal travel cost approaches to assess recreational wild mushroom picking value: trade-offs between online and onsite data collection strategies. Forest Policy Econ 102:51–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foropol.2019.02.003
Martínez-Sastre R, Ravera F, González JA et al (2017) Mediterranean landscapes under change: combining social multicriteria evaluation and the ecosystem services framework for land use planning. Land Use Policy 67:472–486. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.06.001
Milcu AI, Hanspach J, Abson D et al (2013) Cultural ecosystem services: a literature review and prospects for future research. Ecol Soc 18(3):44. https://doi.org/10.5751/es-05790-180344
Misgav A (2000) Visual preference of the public for vegetation groups in Israel. Landscape Urban Plan 48(3–4):143–159. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-2046(00)00038-4
Misgav A, Amir S (2001) Integration of visual quality considerations in development of Israeli vegetation management policy. Environ Manag 27(6):845–857. https://doi.org/10.1007/s0026702353
Naveh Z, Carmel Y (2004) The evolution of the cultural Mediterranean landscape in Israel as affected by fire, grazing, and human activities. In: Wasser SP (ed) Evolutionary theory and processes: modern horizons: papers in honour of Eviatar Nevo. Springer Netherlands, Dordrecht, pp 337–409. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-0443-4_18
Naveh Z, Lieberman AS (1994) Landscape ecology: theory and application, 2nd edn. Springer, New York
Negev M, Sagie H, Orenstein DE et al (2019) Using the ecosystem services framework for defining diverse human–nature relationships in a multi-ethnic biosphere reserve. Ecosyst Serv 39:100989. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2019.100989
Orenstein DE, Silverman E (2012) The future of the Israeli environmental movement: is a major paradigm shift under way? In: Orenstein DE, Tal A, Miller C (eds) Between ruin and restoration: an environmental history of Israel. University of Pittsburg Press, Pittsburg, pp 357–382
Orenstein DE, Zimroni H, Eizenberg E (2015) The immersive visualization theater: a new tool for ecosystem assessment and landscape planning. Comput Environ Urban Syst 54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compenvurbsys.2015.10.004
Orenstein DE, Lew M, Porat Y, Tzuk A (2018) Landscape value in the eyes of visitors to the Biriya and Meron Forests following treatments for snow damage. Technical Report. Keren Kayemet L’Israel, Haifa. [in Hebrew; Unpublished, available from author]
Osem Y, Brand D, Tauber I et al (2012) The bible of afforestation in Israel, policy and directives for forest planning and management. Keren Kayemet L’Israel, Jerusalem. [in Hebrew]
Oteros-Rozas E, Martín-López B, González JA et al (2014) Socio-cultural valuation of ecosystem services in a transhumance social-ecological network. Reg Environ Chang 14(4):1269–1289. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-013-0571-y
Pedley SM, Barbaro L, Guilherme JL et al (2019) Functional shifts in bird communities from semi-natural oak forests to conifer plantations are not consistent across Europe. PLoS One 14(7):e0220155. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0220155
Peñuelas J, Sardans J, Filella I et al (2017) Impacts of global change on Mediterranean forests and their services. Forests 8(12):463. https://doi.org/10.3390/f8120463
Piñol J, Terradas J, Lloret F (1998) Climate warming, wildfire hazard, and wildfire occurrence in coastal Eastern Spain. Clim Chang 38:345–357. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005316632105
Raviv O, Zemah Shamir S, Izhaki I et al (2020) The socioeconomic value of multiple ecosystem types at a biosphere reserve as a baseline for one holistic conservation plan. Ecosyst Serv 41:101043. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2019.101043
Roces-Díaz JV, Vayreda J, Banqué-Casanovas M et al (2018) Assessing the distribution of forest ecosystem services in a highly populated Mediterranean region. Ecol Indic 93:986–997. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2018.05.076
Rosário IT, Rebelo R, Cardoso P et al (2019) Can geocaching be an indicator of cultural ecosystem services? The case of the montado savannah-like landscape. Ecol Indic 99:375–386. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2018.12.003
Rotem G, Bouskila A, Rothschild A (2014) Ecological effects of afforestation in the northern Negev. Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, Tel Aviv, Israel
Rothschild A (2019) The need to stop afforestation in sensitive natural ecosystems in Israel, and conserve Israel’s natural landscapes. Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, Tel Aviv, Israel
Sacchelli S (2017) A decision support system for trade-off analysis and dynamic evaluation of forest ecosystem services. iForest 11:171–180
Schaich H, Kizos T, Schneider S et al (2015) Land change in eastern Mediterranean wood-pasture landscapes: the case of deciduous oak woodlands in Lesvos (Greece). Environ Manag 56(1):110–126. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-015-0496-y
Schiller G (2012) Growing forest trees and forests in Israel: a land on the desert’s edge. Beit Dagan, Israel
Schwartz E (2009) Shifting paradigms of environmental approaches. Heschel Center for Environmental Leadership, Tel Aviv, Israel
Shechter M, Reises B, Zaitsev N (1998) Measuring passive use value: pledges, donations and cv responses in connection with an important natural resource. Environ Resour Econ 12(4):457–478. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008397411466
Soga M, Gaston KJ (2016) Extinction of experience: the loss of human–nature interactions. Front Ecol Environ 14(2):94–101. https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.1225
Soliño M, Yu T, Alía R et al (2018) Resin-tapped pine forests in Spain: ecological diversity and economic valuation. Sci Total Environ 625:1146–1155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.01.027
Stamps AE (1997) A paradigm for distinguishing significant from nonsignificant visual impacts: theory, implementation, case histories. Environ Impact Assess Rev 17(4):249–293. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0195-9255(97)00008-5
Tal A (2008) Space matters: historic drivers and turning points in Israel’s open space protection policy. Israel Stud 13(1):119–151
Tal A (2013) All the trees of the forest: Israel’s woodlands from the bible to the present. Yale University Press, New Haven
TEEB – The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (2017) http://www.teebweb.org/resources/glossary-of-terms/
Teff-Seker Y, Orenstein DE (2019) The “Desert Experience”: evaluating the cultural ecosystem services of drylands through walking and focusing. People and Nature 1(2):234–248. https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.28
Tengberg A, Fredholm S, Eliasson I et al (2012) Cultural ecosystem services provided by landscapes: assessment of heritage values and identity. Ecosyst Serv 2:14–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2012.07.006
Vizzarri M, Tognetti R, Marchetti M (2015) Forest ecosystem services: issues and challenges for biodiversity, conservation, and management in Italy. Forests 6(12):1810–1838. https://doi.org/10.3390/f6061810
Zimroni H, Eizenberg E, Orenstein DE (2017) Between cultures of natures and communities of knowledge: expert knowledge and local knowledge regarding perceptions of Mount Carmel forest. Isr Sociol 2:123–144. [in Hebrew]
Zube EH, Pitt DG (1981) Cross-cultural perceptions of scenic and heritage landscapes. Landsc Plan 8(1):69–87. https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3924(81)90041-1
Acknowledgments
I thank Hila Sagie, Alon Lotan, and Carly Golodets for their reviews of this chapter and for their important suggestions and improvements, and Ronit Cohen for her assistance with the literature review. This research was funded by an Israel Science Foundation grant (No. 1835/16).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Orenstein, D.E. (2021). The Cultural Ecosystem Services of Mediterranean Pine Forests. In: Ne'eman, G., Osem, Y. (eds) Pines and Their Mixed Forest Ecosystems in the Mediterranean Basin. Managing Forest Ecosystems, vol 38. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63625-8_30
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63625-8_30
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-63624-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-63625-8
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)