4. BIOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE OF THE HOTSPOT
4.7 Ecosystem services in the Mediterranean Basin Hotspot
Atriplex lanfrancoi at Malta, etc. Many of these taxa are Critically Endangered (Montmollin and Strahm 2005).
In the Macaronesian islands, good information is available for the Spanish and Portuguese autonomous regions (Reyes-Betancort et al. 2008, Regional Ecosystem Profile – Macaronesian Region, 2016; Borges et al. 2005), but data from Cabo Verde are scarce (e.g., Bonn Duarte et al. 2008; Romeiras et al. 2016). The Macaronesian region hosts a high number of plant species, many of them endemics, with the Canary Islands outstanding in this regard (of 2,091 vascular plant species, 539 (26%) are endemic). A majority of the endemics are relict species with affinities with the flora of the Tertiary era, and they are typically isolated or have relatives in remote geographical areas. For example, a Macaronesian endemic, the Canary Island pine Pinus canariensis is closely related to chin pine P. roxburghii in the Himalayas (EEA, 2008), and the endemic aderno Heberdenia excelsa is closely related to H. penduliflora in Mexico.
Most of the endemics are perennial trees and shrubs, with lower rates of endemism among annuals (Regional Ecosystem Profile – Macaronesian Region, 2016). The Macaronesian islands (excluding Cabo Verde) have 792 species of bryoflora (mosses and liverworts), corresponding to about 5% of species globally and thus making Macaronesia a hotspot for bryoflora (Sérgio et al, 2008).
Ecosystems also provide nectar, essential for beekeeping and honey production, and browse and pasture, for livestock. Overall it has been estimated that NTFPs in the Mediterranean provide an average revenue of US$41/ha of forest (Croitoru 2007).
Table 4.2 Services provided by Mediterranean Basin ecosystems Type of
service Ecosystem service Beneficiaries
Relative importance within the hotspot Provisioning Water (artisanal and run-off) for
drinking, irrigation, industrial use, energy generation
Entire population Very important as the area is water stressed Fisheries in freshwater
and marine systems
Local fishers, fish consumers, associated economic activity
very important for coastal communities within the hotspot Wood for firewood, charcoal Rural communities Minor, but significant for
some remote communities Timber, poles and other
construction material
Timber traders, forest owners, crafts-people
Significant in some areas
Non-timber forest products (e.g., cork, resins, fruits)
Rural communities, forest owners, crafts-people
Minor, but significant for some remote
communities Grazing and fodder for livestock Local livestock herders and,
indirectly, consumers of milk, meat
Significant in some areas
Regulating Absorption of nutrient pollution, other pollutants in wetlands
Local populations, economic activity
Significant in some areas
Reduction of disaster risk (flooding, landslide) through absorption of run-off
Local populations, economic activity, especially in mountainous areas
Significant in some areas
Reduction of soil erosion and desertification through stabilization of soils
Local populations, economic activity, especially in mountainous and arid areas
Significant in some areas
Control of pest species through predation, natural limits on populations
Farmers, livestock herders Significant in some areas
Supporting Source of novel genetic material for crops (e.g., olives, fruits)
Global potentially significant
Carbon sequestration Global Minimal
Cultural Recreation (including sport hunting)
Local populations, especially urban populations using natural areas
Important mainly in coastal/urban areas Tourism using natural spaces
(beaches, coastal habitats)
Global tourists, local people engaged in the tourism economy
Important mainly in coastal areas
Subsistence hunting and fishing would once have been a major source of animal protein for local populations, but are now less important except in some areas of the Balkans. Commercial fishing, especially in coastal and marine areas, is an important economic activity and a major food source, with estimates of between 140,000 and 280,000 people directly employed by the fishing industry in the hotspot (Farrugio 2013; Di Franco et al. 2014).
Regulating services can be expected to become more important as climate change impacts on increasingly densely populated areas. Between 2000 and 2009, more than 2 million people were affected by drought in the Mediterranean countries and more than 1.1 million by floods (including over 2,000 deaths). The cost of these events was estimated to be US$19 billion for drought (Mediterranean Wetlands Observatory 2012). Wetlands and other habitats provide important protection for coastlines and mountainous regions, mitigating the impact of increasingly intense storm and rainfall events.
Supporting services include the provision of renewable energy from solar and wind power, which will be increasingly important as energy demand rises and needs to be met from sources that are carbon-neutral. Sequestration of CO2 is an important supporting service, mitigating the increased levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and thus slowing climate change. The arid climate of most of the region limits the direct carbon sequestration potential of the forests, however.
The cultural aspects of ecosystem services include its importance for the tourist industry, one of the three principle service sectors on which much of the hotspot relies for its income (Chapter 6). However, in addition to this modern, economic significance, Mediterranean landscapes and species form the backdrop for the development of some of the world’s most important civilizations and religions. The region is also known globally for its culinary uniqueness and diversity, and this is based on the wild plants and animals of the region as well as the products of traditional farming and livestock.
For many people hunting has changed from being a source of food to become a leisure activity in recent decades. Closely bound up with local identity and recreation, the intensity of some hunting activities, especially of migrant birds, make it a serious environmental concern (BirdLife 2016).
Despite the tremendous importance of ecosystem services to the economy and livelihoods, they are frequently unrecognized and undervalued and, as a result, may be damaged or destroyed in the process of economic development. In other cases, the value of communal resources was recognized, but traditional systems for maintaining these services (e.g., the hima system for managing pasture) have broken down as a result of state-imposed land categories, cultural and economic modernization and urbanization. A challenge with many services (e.g., water supply) is that there is spatial or temporal separation between land managers who can influence the quality of ecosystem services and the beneficiaries who may be willing to pay for the service.
In other cases, the services (e.g., clean air, clean beaches) are difficult to quantify or manage, and may be perceived differently by, for example, local people and foreign visitors. Tourists are often willing to pay directly to governments to invest on natural and cultural ecosystem services (Seidl 2014).
Key to the integrating the protection and management of ecosystem services into government land use and development planning is information on the values of these services, and the impacts of change. Detailed information is available in Europe, but it is much less comprehensive in the hotspot countries covered by the ecosystem profile update. The mandate of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) includes producing Regional IPBES assessments which will present a thorough analysis of Ecosystem Services for Europe, Central Asia and Africa. They are due to be completed in 2018. There are also useful models of participatory, local valuation of ecosystem services from biodiversity protected areas in Madagascar (Neugarten et al. 2016) which could be adapted for implementation in areas where the ecosystem services issue is key to making the case for conservation.
The Mediterranean basin is one of the most vulnerable regions of the world to climate change (see Chapter 10), and this will impact on the capacity of ecosystems to provide goods and services to human society (Bangash et al. 2013), which is especially concerning given the increasing demands placed on ecosystems. Water availability for drinking and hydropower production will decrease, while water demand for irrigation and tourism will increase.
Mediterranean forests will shrink as conditions become drier and fires more intense and more
frequent. In combination, these changes will contribute to increasing erosion and loss of agricultural potential, and higher costs to manage the problems (Schröter et al. 2005; Bangash et al. 2013; Terrado et al. 2014).