Forest management and future changes to ecosystem services in the Romanian Carpathians

Žiga Malek*, Veronica Zumpano, Haydar Hussin

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

This study investigates consequences of future changes to the provision of ecosystem services (ES) in the Romanian Carpathians. Two 2040 forest management scenarios were compared, using two indicators to describe the gains and losses of ES. Changes in landslide regulation potential were defined as changes to landslide susceptibility. High nature value grasslands characterized biodiversity support. The business as usual scenario results in a 8% lower loss of landslide regulation potential compared to the alternative scenario. It also results in a 29% higher regional net gain of landslide regulation potential. Both scenarios result in the loss of biodiversity support due to their prevalent transition of forest expansion. This type of information is crucial for informing decision makers on the locations of potential gains and losses of future development.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-17
Number of pages17
JournalEnvironment, Development and Sustainability
Volume20
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusAccepted/In press - 23 Mar 2017

Keywords

  • Ecosystem services
  • Forest management
  • GIS
  • Natural resources
  • Spatial assessment

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