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8 Pág., In a scenario of global change, with increasing temperatures and extreme climatic events, healthy forests are at risk. Forests have to fight several types of biotic and abiotic stress. Prospective scenarios warn of the negative effects that forests will suffer in upcoming decades (drought, fires, pests, diseases, etc.), consequently making it necessary to implement actions that can not only prevent the attack of biotic agents such as fungi and insects but also improve the resilience of forest systems. Such warning scenarios transcend the scientific sphere, and as such, Spanish society has previously expressed considerable concern about the appearance of pests and diseases caused by biotic agents. This article therefore analyzes the social preferences for pest and disease mitigation programs in Spanish forests. A discrete choice experiment was consequently carried out, and the willingness to pay was estimated for various characteristics of mitigation programs. The results show that society positively values these programs, mainly when they are applied in relatively nearby forests, when they are targeted at mixed forests, and when there is low uncertainty about their effectiveness. Conversely, the self-management of subsidies by forest owners is rejected, with a preference for funds being managed by regional public authorities., Authors are grateful to the project “Evaluation of relevant characters for the sustainable management of Pinus pinaster Ait. and their interaction under new climatic scenarios”, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and INIA (RTA2017-00063-C04-01), and the project “Adaptive BREEDING for productive, sustainable and resilient FORESTs under climate change (B4BEST)”, funded by the European Commission (H2020, ref. 773383). Thanks to Jesús Martínez for GIS support, and two reviewers for their helpful comments.

12 pages, 3 figures, 4 tables, This study deals with key elements for a better understanding of the management approaches of agroforestry systems in Niger. A contingent ranking was conducted to 399 Nigerien farmers in three agroecological zones based on their different socio-economic and environmental conditions. Results show that farmers are willing to improve their natural resources, taking actions to recover and conserve them. Significant differences are found with respect to not only the various agroecological zones where farmers live but also the socio-economic factors of the population. The Tamou municipality prefers to participate in an agri-environmental program based on the conservation of water thorough half-moons technique. Farmers’ preferences in the Maradi region differ from those in the Tillabéri region; the former rely on managed natural regeneration while the latter on tree plantations. Adansonia digitata and Ziziphus mauritiana are the two-priority species to be regenerated by improved seeds. The farmers of Aguié, Madarounfa, and Simiri would be willing to participate in actions scheduled for 9, 6 and 5 months, respectively. Socio-economic factors such as the life strategy of each ethnic group, the role of men and women, the seasonal migration of young people, and the rights to the resources, influence both the period and duration of participation. The results of this study are valuable to design agroforestry policies that involve participation of small-scale farmers, relying on the dynamism of local communities, This study has been financed by the project of “Access, Conservation, Management, and Assessment of Woody Food Species in Niger, funded by the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development (AECID 2014/ACDE/003520)"

Estudios recientes sugieren que las poblaciones de meloncillo (Herpestes ichneumon) podrían haberse expandido en la Península Ibérica. Al mismo tiempo, las quejas del sector cinegético han aumentado por el supuesto impacto de este depredador sobre las especies de caza menor, demandando en ocasiones que se autorice el control de sus poblaciones. Sin embargo, no se conoce la percepción del meloncillo que tiene la sociedad del mundo rural ni sus preferencias en torno a la gestión de esta especie. Para estudiar estos aspectos en Castilla-La Mancha distribuimos un cuestionario online a través de un panel de consumidores del medio rural de esta Comunidad Autónoma (n=452) que contempló cuotas de género y edad. Nuestros resultados mostraron un bajo conocimiento del meloncillo entre los participantes; más del 70% no conocía la especie o no estaba seguro de conocerla y menos del 6% consiguieron nombrarla correctamente. La mayoría de los participantes no asociaron al meloncillo con impactos (positivos o negativos) sobre los ecosistemas o actividades humanas. No obstante, algo más de la mitad estaba de acuerdo con que el meloncillo mantiene el equilibrio de las especies presa y un 45% con que su presencia ayuda a la conservación de la biodiversidad. Cerca del 25% respondieron que no sabían si debería hacerse algo para favorecer o evitar la expansión del meloncillo y el 36% opinaron que no se debería intervenir. En esta misma línea, en el cuestionario se incluyó un experimento de elección de escenarios de gestión y los resultados indicaron que los participantes no estarían dispuestos a pagar para favorecer o evitar la expansión del meloncillo, pero sí para que se permitiese una expansión natural de la especie. Esto se podría explicar porque la evolución de la especie no es preocupante en la actualidad para la sociedad rural manchega y/o por su desconocimiento de este mesocarnívoro.

Preservation and sustainable use of biodiversity brings multiple health, societal and economic benefits, including life-supporting services. Biodiversity indicators are important in framing the benefits of conservation and management programs and monitoring progress toward their outcomes. Biodiversity indicators therefore provide useful tools for policymakers in helping to communicate the benefits of conservation to society but also in garnering public support for conservation. This research aimed to help improve our understanding of the role of biodiversity indicators in the way that they influence preferences towards conservation programs. A discrete choice experiment was used to estimate relative societal preferences towards multilevel dimensions of biodiversity in relation to the conservation of pine forests in the Spanish Iberian Peninsula. Results show that (i) the level of biodiversity indicator (within species, between species and within ecosystems) matters, (ii) indicators related to the biodiversity within ecosystems are valued the most, and (iii) the use of several biodiversity indicators together is generally better at delivering benefits to society, but the value of these is reduced where there is redundancy between them. Overall, the most preferred indicators were the area of land covered by the conservation project, the status of keystone ecosystem components, and the number of native species. Some indicators such as invasive alien species and genetic diversity are least preferred and may be less helpful to how conservation efforts are perceived by the citizens. By careful consideration of which biodiversity indicators to use, policymakers and conservation managers can maximize societal acceptability of public investments in conservation efforts.

Management of natural forests in Costa Rica allows timber extraction in so far as it is guaranteed that the logging activities comply with diverse Sustainability Principles, Criteria and Indicators (PCIs). These are hierarchical and complex systems used, ex-ante in the formulation and approval of the Management Plan but have not been used for ex-post evaluation of managed forests. Development of sustainability evaluation systems that include few criteria is highly recommended. In that sense, the choice experiments contribute to simplification of the initial system of decision making, complementing a complex system of PCIs that permits detailed analysis of the management units. In this study, a choice experiment was included in a Delphi application and 5 key variables were identified to evaluate the sustainability of managed natural forests. These variables are, in order of importance&mdash, technical, legal and administrative conditions, external financing conditions, production performance, costs of preparing the Management Plan, and payment mechanisms for environmental services. The definition of these variables confirms not only that the technical, legal and administrative conditions are critical for sustainability but also that they could reflect the type of governance involved in sustainability forest management.

Biodiversity indicators are commonly monitored to ensure the sustainable management of ecosystems and the conservation of multiple ecosystem goods and services. Indicators are important for tracking the ecological outcomes of conservation programmes, but they are also important in a wider context such as monitoring progress towards broader sustainability goals and serving to generate public support and funding for these programmes. Little attention is usually given to the social and cultural dimensions of biodiversity indicators. In this paper, using a discrete choice experiment, we compare the impact of within-species, between-species and within-ecosystem level biodiversity indicators on public preferences for conservation programmes in Spanish pine forests. Specifically we show that preferences towards conservation programmes are significantly affected by the interaction between indicators and their perceived role in delivering ecosystem services. Genetic variation, the number of invasive species and keystone elements were associated equally frequently with provisioning, regulating and cultural ecosystem services, whereas population structure, the number of native species and the area of land conserved were more variable in how they were associated with different ecosystem services. Our results highlight the importance of considering the perceived social relevance of indicators alongside their ecological suitability in the design of conservation programmes and monitoring.

Trabajo presentado a la X Reunión de Ungulados Silvestres Ibéricos (RUSI): “Ungulate Rewilding: Challenges and Opportunities”, celebrada en Lousã, Coimbra (Portugal) el 18 y 19 de octubre de 2019.

Resumen del trabajo presentado al XIV Congreso de la Sociedad Española para la Conservación y Estudio de los Mamíferos (SECEM), celebrado en Jaca (Huesca) del 5 al 8 de diciembre de 2019., Los atlas de distribución de mamíferos constituyen la principal fuente de información sobre la distribución a gran escala de la mayoría de estas especies. Sin embargo, en algunas ocasiones, los mapas proporcionados en los atlas no reflejan fehacientemente la distribución de ciertas especies por diferentes motivos, como por ejemplo: 1) la dificultad de detección propia de determinadas especies; 2) la falta de muestreos u observadores en amplias zonas, que determina la escasez o incluso la total ausencia de citas; y 3) los cambios en la distribución de las especies en el tiempo. Un buen ejemplo de todo esto es el mapa de distribución del meloncillo (Herpestes ichneumon) que, en el caso de España, parece haberse quedado obsoleto desde la publicación del último atlas (SECEM, 2007). Por ello, el objetivo de este trabajo es actualizar la distribución del meloncillo en la península Ibérica combinando dos aproximaciones. Por un lado, se realizaron sendas encuestas a agentes medioambientales de Andalucía y Castilla-La Mancha en las que se preguntaba por observaciones de meloncillo dentro y fuera de su demarcación territorial. Por otro lado, se recopilaron citas de meloncillo proporcionadas por expertos de ambas Comunidades. En particular, se obtuvo información de avistamientos, foto-trampeo y atropellos. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que el meloncillo está presente en casi la totalidad de las provincias occidentales de Andalucía y Castilla-La Mancha. Su presencia es más ocasional en las provincias orientales, aunque se han registrado citas en algunas de ellas, como por ejemplo Cuenca y Guadalajara. Este trabajo pone de manifiesto la utilidad de las encuestas a determinados colectivos que trabajan en el medio natural y abarcan una buena cobertura geográfica para mejorar el conocimiento de la distribución de algunas especies de mamíferos para las que la información de citas ocasionales puede no ser suficiente. Además, una revisión exhaustiva de información recopilada por expertos puede contribuir también a la elaboración de mapas de distribución más precisos de estas especies.

Resumen del trabajo presentado al I Congreso Ibérico de Ciencia Aplicada a los Recursos Cinegéticos (CICARC), celebrado en Ciudad Real (España) del 1 al 4 de julio de 2019.

Resumen del trabajo presentado al XIV Congreso de la Sociedad Española para la Conservación y Estudio de los Mamíferos (SECEM), celebrado en Jaca (Huesca) del 5 al 8 de diciembre de 2019.

Resumen del trabajo presentado al 8th European Congress of Mammalogy, celebrado en Varsovia (Polonia) del 23 al 27 de noviembre de 2019.

En esta investigación se presenta en primer lugar la metodología aplicada en RECAMAN, que incluye el sistema de cuentas agroforestales simplificado (se omiten las actividades animales y agrícolas), el método de valor de cambio simulado y los métodos de valoración empleados para cada una de las actividades consideradas. El sistema de contabilidad de los ecosistemas presentado amplía el concepto de proceso productivo manufacturado admitido por el actual sistema de cuentas nacionales, al incorporar los procesos productivos naturales de las actividades públicas y las ganancias de capital. El objetivo es medir la renta total social, la renta ambiental y los capitales sociales privados y públicos. La renta ambiental se obtiene residualmente y representa la contribución de los servicios del ecosistema que se producen sin la intervención humana a su renta total social. Los valores comerciales se estiman directamente del mercado. Para las actividades actualmente fuera del mercado se aplican métodos de valoración ambiental para estimar las demandas de bienes y servicios no comerciales. Utilizando esta información y los costes implicados se utiliza el método del valor de cambio simulado para estimar los valores que se intercambiarían si el bien o servicio estuviera comercializado. Esto permite integrar estos valores de servicios y productos no comerciales de manera consistente en las cuentas con valores comerciales. Los resultados se muestran en forma de tablas, gráficos y mapas, al encontrarse todos los valores georreferenciados. Se obtienen valores para el conjunto de Andalucía, para las ocho provincias y para las vegetaciones principales. Los resultados muestran que el capital en los ecosistemas forestales de Andalucía es principalmente ambiental, siendo el servicio ambiental privado el componente principal, seguido de los servicios recreativos públicos. Respecto a la renta total, las actividades ambientales siguen siendo las que más contribuyen, en especial los servicios ambientales privados, el carbono y el agua forestal, aunque hay que resaltar la importancia de la renta total generada por la actividad forestal, especialmente por la mano de obra ligada a esta actividad. Las metodologías de valoración de las rentas de los activos individuales y las aplicaciones experimentales a escala regional en cerca de 4,4 millones de hectáreas de ecosistemas forestales de Andalucía representan una novedad entre las publicaciones que están apareciendo sobre la valoración de los servicios de los ecosistemas en la literatura internacional especializada. El contenido de esta investigación sigue una presentación de resultados a escala de Andalucía y por especies forestales principales individuales y agregadas por formaciones vegetales. Los resultados se presentan por cuentas privadas, públicas (del gobierno) y sociales. El análisis del texto se centra en los resultados sociales. Se presentan los resultados de renta ambiental por vegetaciones clasificada en servicios de suministro de materias primas (madera, corcho, leña, frutos industriales, pastos y bellotas, agua y setas), regulación (carbono, paisaje y biodiversidad amenazada) y culturales (residenciales, caza, autoconsumo ambiental, y recreativo público).

National accounting either ignores or fails to give due values to a country´s ecosystem services, products, total income and environmental asset variations. To overcome these shortcomings, we develop a spatially-explicit extended ecosystem accounting framework, which we test in the Mediterranean forests of Andalusia (Spain). This framework goes beyond the production boundary of standard national accounting by considering four private activities (forestry, hunting, residential and private amenity) and six public activities (mushroom, carbon, water, recreation, landscape and threatened biodiversity). To keep valuation consistent with standard accounts, we simulate exchange values for non-market goods and services. Manufactured capital and environmental assets are also integrated. Upon comparing extended to standard accounts, our results are 3.7 and 2.9 higher for gross value added and total income, respectively. These differences are explained primarily by the undervaluation of recreation, landscape and threatened biodiversity, and the omission of private amenity, carbon and water activities in standard accounts. Extended accounts, with their implementation of simulated exchange values, demonstrate that standard accounts measures only 17% of Andalusian forest ecosystem services. Published

National accounting either ignores or fails to give due values to a country´s ecosystem services, products, total income and environmental asset variations. To overcome these shortcomings, we develop a spatially-explicit extended ecosystem accounting framework, which we test in the Mediterranean forests of Andalusia (Spain). This framework goes beyond the production boundary of standard national accounting by considering four private activities (forestry, hunting, residential and private amenity) and six public activities (mushroom, carbon, water, recreation, landscape and threatened biodiversity). To keep valuation consistent with standard accounts, we simulate exchange values for non-market goods and services. Manufactured capital and environmental assets are also integrated. Upon comparing extended to standard accounts, our results are 3.7 and 2.9 higher for gross value added and total income, respectively. These differences are explained primarily by the undervaluation of recreation, landscape and threatened biodiversity, and the omission of private amenity, carbon and water activities in standard accounts. Extended accounts, with their implementation of simulated exchange values, demonstrate that standard accounts measures only 17% of Andalusian forest ecosystem services.

Aim of study: We aim at (i) developing a reference definition of mixed forests in order to harmonize comparative research in mixed forests and (ii) review the research perspectives in mixed forests.Area of study: The definition is developed in Europe but can be tested worldwide.Material and Methods: Review of existent definitions of mixed forests based and literature review encompassing dynamics, management and economic valuation of mixed forests.Main results: A mixed forest is defined as a forest unit, excluding linear formations, where at least two tree species coexist at any developmental stage, sharing common resources (light, water, and/or soil nutrients). The presence of each of the component species is normally quantified as a proportion of the number of stems or of basal area, although volume, biomass or canopy cover as well as proportions by occupied stand area may be used for specific objectives. A variety of structures and patterns of mixtures can occur, and the interactions between the component species and their relative proportions may change over time.The research perspectives identified are (i) species interactions and responses to hazards, (ii) the concept of maximum density in mixed forests, (iii) conversion of monocultures to mixed-species forest and (iv) economic valuation of ecosystem services provided by mixed forests.Research highlights: The definition is considered a high-level one which encompasses previous attempts to define mixed forests. Current fields of research indicate that gradient studies, experimental design approaches, and model simulations are key topics providing new research opportunities. Aim of study: We aim at (i) developing a reference definition of mixed forests in order to harmonize comparative research in mixed forests and (ii) review the research perspectives in mixed forests.Area of study: The definition is developed in Europe but can be tested worldwide.Material and Methods: Review of existent definitions of mixed forests based and literature review encompassing dynamics, management and economic valuation of mixed forests.Main results: A mixed forest is defined as a forest unit, excluding linear formations, where at least two tree species coexist at any developmental stage, sharing common resources (light, water, and/or soil nutrients). The presence of each of the component species is normally quantified as a proportion of the number of stems or of basal area, although volume, biomass or canopy cover as well as proportions by occupied stand area may be used for specific objectives. A variety of structures and patterns of mixtures can occur, and the interactions between the component species and their relative proportions may change over time.The research perspectives identified are (i) species interactions and responses to hazards, (ii) the concept of maximum density in mixed forests, (iii) conversion of monocultures to mixed-species forest and (iv) economic valuation of ecosystem services provided by mixed forests.Research highlights: The definition is considered a high-level one which encompasses previous attempts to define mixed forests. Current fields of research indicate that gradient studies, experimental design approaches, and model simulations are key topics providing new research opportunities.