Non-Monetary Assessment and Mapping of the Potential of Agroecosystem Services in Rural Slovakia

Abstract

The updated Slovak National Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 is a key document in the field of biodiversity protection, and assessment together with mapping of the value of different ecosystem services is one of its most important objectives. This study applies the first non-monetary assessment and pilot mapping of agroecosystem services in the Slovak Republic at seven model sites located in the main climatic areas and estimates the agroecosystem services potential of Slovakia as a rural country with a transformed multi-criteria approach used at national level. It suggests that the distribution of the value of agroecosystem services is geographically different probably due to climatic conditions, slope and soil texture. Our assessment provides a suitable basis for further investigation of agroecosystem services and contributes to optimizing sustainable land use management in Slovakia.