Analysis of Bundles and Drivers of Change of Multiple Ecosystem Services in an Alpine Region

Abstract

Approaches based on the concept of ecosystem services need analyses of the sets of spatially correlated services (i.e. bundles) and of the external factors that modify the ecosystem service supply (i.e. drivers of change). At present, appropriate methods to analyse bundles and drivers of change are still under development. This study proposes a method based on a combination of spatial and statistical analyses to define bundles and to explain the drivers of change of 24 ecosystem services in Trentino, an Alpine region of Italy. Results show that multiple services can be grouped in a few number of bundles with a complex shape. When mapping multiple services across the territory, the spatial units of representation are a combination of the intrinsic units of representation of single ecosystem services and land use classes. Land use management was found as the external factor that causes the greatest variability of the ecosystem services distribution across the region.