New publication: Finding the Green Grass in the Haystack? Integrated National Assessment of Ecosystem Services and Condition in Hungary, in Support of Conservation and Planning

Scientific article contribution of the Restoration Ecology Group

Human well-being needs healthy ecosystems, providing multiple ecosystem services.Therefore, the assessment of ecosystems on large scales is a priority action. In Hungary, this work(MAES-HU) took place between 2016 and 2022. Twelve ecosystem services (ES) were mapped andassessed along with several ecosystem condition (EC) indicators. Their integrated spatial analysisaimed to identify patterns of ES multifunctionality, reveal relationships between EC and ES anddelineate ES bundles. The results show outstanding multifunctionality of natural ecosystem typescompared with the more artificial types, emphasizing the importance of natural areas in order tofulfil human needs. Native forests provide the most varied range of services, which underlinesthe importance of forest management to consider multiple services. There is a positive correlationbetween condition and multifunctionality in forests; areas in better condition (in terms of speciescomposition and structure) provide more services at an outstanding level. ES bundles mainly reflectthe major ecosystem types, topography and forest condition. Our analysis represents an exampleof synthesizing national MAES results with a combination of methods. Finding ES hotspots on anational scale and connecting them with an assessment of EC may help in finding optimal strategiesto balance conservation targets and competing land uses.

Read the whole article here:  https://doi.org/10.3390/su15118489

Published by Eszter Tanács, Ágnes Vári, Ákos Bede-Fazekas, András Báldi, Edina Csákvári, Anett Endrédi, Veronika Fabók, Lívia Kisné Fodor, Márton Kiss, Péter Koncz, Anikó Kovács-Hostyánszki, János Mészáros, László Pásztor, Rita Rezneki, Tibor Standovár, Zita Zsembery and Katalin Török in the Journal of Sustainablity.