Potential of Regulating Ecosystem Services in Relation to Natural Capital in Model Regions of Slovakia

Abstract

The growing demands of satisfying human well-being call for a sustainable way of managing the landscape, which requires the introduction of tools for evaluating and assessing ecosystem services. The aim of the study is to evaluate regional differentiations in the values of regulating ecosystem services in relation to natural potential in four small pilot regions of the Slovak Republic with the application of the modified matrix approach. The results in the pilot regions of the Slovak Republic indicated that the spatial distribution of individual ecosystems in the country, in combination with a higher altitude and a larger area of forests and protected areas, can represent significant factors influencing the potential of the territory to provide benefits resulting from regulating ecosystem services. Mountain areas generally have a higher capacity to provide regulating ecosystem services, mainly due to their rich forest vegetation. Regulating ecosystem services, to the greatest extent, reflects the multifunctionality of the territory.