FUNCTIONS AND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES

The protection of wood-pastures requires management compatible with local, traditional land use and the establishment of a systematic long-term monitoring programme.

Ecosystem functions are defined as the capacity and/or potential to provide ecosystem services. Ecosystem services in turn derive from ecosystem functions and represent the existing flow of services for which there is a demand. For the purposes of this conceptual framework, ecosystem services additionally include ecosystem-derived goods. Unlike ecosystem functions, ecosystem services require human access and demand. Healthy or ‘pristine ecosystems’ and wilderness areas, which are in excellent (or near-excellent) ecological conservation status, are highly functional but may provide fewer ecosystem services than less ‘pristine ecosystems’ (such as pastures, scrubs, agro-forestry systems, etc.), simply because there is little demand for these services. An illustrative example would be a remote forest that may provide fewer recreational services than a green urban area, such as an urban park. It is therefore important to include a full set of functions and services, as well as the ecosystem value assessment, in ecosystem services assessments (European Commission, 2011).

Due to their multi-functionality and the wide range of ecosystem services they provide, wood-pasture systems are receiving increased attention by scientists and policy makers involved in agriculture and forestry, but also in the fields of rural development, tourism, and nature conservation (Mattison and Norris 2005; RigueiroRodriguez et al. 2009; Terzi and Marvulli 2006).