Assessing hydrological and provisioning ecosystem services in a case study in Western Central Brazil

Abstract

Introduction: Current land use in the Federal District, Western Central Brazil, causes problems related to the water supply which are linked to the regulation of ecosystem services (ES). In scope of an Integrated Water Resources Management concept, we further developed the web-based planning support tool GISCAME for the Pipiripau river basin case study. Methods: We introduced analyses on ecosystem potentials in the raster-based tool to assess, in a spatially explicit manner, the scenario impact on water purification, sediment retention, water retention, and provision of food and fodder in order to identify potential pathways for conserving water resources. To demonstrate the method, we assess ES depending on a number of land use/land cover change (LULCC) scenarios. Results: We found that a considerable increase of water purification and sediment retention is difficult to achieve with realistic small scale LULCC, mainly because in areas with a low potential to provide hydrological ES and thus with a high demand for sustainable land use, such as native Savanna (Cerrado) and natural forests (Mata), favorable land uses were often already existing. We observed synergies in the response of regulating hydrological ES to LULCC but at the same time also trade-offs with provision of food and fodder. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that further degradation and loss of Cerrado and Mata must be avoided and their restoration should be promoted in order to safeguard water resources. We suggest that restoration measures should be focused on arable land located at steep slopes near surface waters to effectively increase hydrological ES through the marginal reduction of provision services. © 2014 Koschke et al.; licensee Springer.