Mapping ecosystem services

This chapter provides an overview of the latest developments in mapping ecosystem services. It aims to provide an answer to the following two questions: What aspects of ecosystem services can be mapped and what methods and tools are available for mapping? A mapping project should thus carefully consider what components of the ecosystem services supply chain to map. Luck et al. suggested that species populations represent the fundamental unit in the provision of ecosystem services. Quantifying and mapping ecosystem service demand is less common when compared to studies on ecosystem service supply. While mapping ecosystem service supply is dependent on biophysical data and models, mapping demand is dependent on socio-economic data. The simplest form of mapping is based on land cover and/or land use data or other environmental data that approximate ecosystem services. Accordingly, several methods have been developed to map supply of and demand for ecosystem services, with recent attention to the mapping of ecosystem service flows.