Evaluating social perceptions of ecosystem services, biodiversity, and land management: Trade-offs, synergies and implications for landscape planning and management

Previous studies have recognized the importance of social dimensions of ecosystem services and their incorporation into planning processes. However, understanding how people's management preferences relate to their perceptions of ecosystem services and biodiversity still needs further exploration in different geographical contexts. We aimed to examine spatial patterns and relationships between perceived ecosystem services, biodiversity and management preferences to illuminate possible synergies and trade-offs between them, and their relationships to protected areas. Empirical data on perceptions of eleven ecosystem services, biodiversity, and seven management preferences were collected using a paper-based participatory mapping technique in a case study in Khorasan Razavi, Iran. The results revealed that provisioning service hotspots were moderately associated with biodiversity (r = 0.39) and cultural service hotspots (r = 0.54), while cultural and biodiversity hotspots showed to be more highly associated (r = 0.71). The hotspot areas for development preferences had low spatial overlap with provisioning hotspots (r = 0.32) and high overlap with conservation preference hotspots (r = 0.66). The majority of service and biodiversity hotspots were located inside protected areas, which indicates that protected areas provide resources that support local livelihoods and social well-being. The findings provide an appropriate foundation for incorporating social perceptions, deriving from needs and interests of local communities, into planning and management.