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Natural ecosystems are life-supporting systems providing diverse ecosystem services (ESs) and benefits to human societies: e.g., food and clean water, recreation opportunities or climate regulation. The contribution of natural and semi-natural ecosystems to the provision of such services depends to a large extent on vegetation structure and composition, which, in turn, change as a result of interactions between human decisions about land management, and spontaneous biological and environmental processes. Rational management of these dynamic ecosystems requires an ability to predict short- and long-term effects of management decisions on the desired ESs. The vegetation then contributes to, and modifies, the products and services obtained from the land. We applied mathematical modeling to study these complex relationships. We developed a model for a Mediterranean ecosystem which predicts the dynamics of multiple services in response to management scenarios, mediated by vegetation changes. Six representative ESs representing different groups were selected, based on available scientific information, for a detailed study: (1) density of geophytes, (2) potential contribution to honey production, (3) energy density of fleshy fruits foraged by birds, (4) forage for goats, (5) forage for cattle, and (6) carbon retention in woody plants. Mean contributions to each service by different vegetation cover types were estimated, and the overall service provided by the site was calculated as a weighted mean of these contributions. Services were measured in their appropriate units and subsequently standardized to a percentage of the maximum value observed in the study area. We attempted to combine all studied ESs, despite their different nature, into one 'ESs basket'. This paper presents the dynamics of simulated vegetation composition and values of services in response to management scenarios involving grazing, fire and their combinations. Our approach can help land managers to evaluate alternative management scenarios by presenting the 'services basket' obtained from the entire managed area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecosystems of the Mediterranean region are characterized by a heterogeneous and dynamic landscape mosaic of vegetation formations that provide diverse benefits: agro pastoral products, ecosystem services, and other utilities. Valuation of these benefits in different states of the ecosystem is an important step towards conservation, decision making, and land management. Yet, studies of this kind are scarce, especially cases dealing with more than one benefit. Multiple benefits evaluation is not straightforward; it involves many difficulties and questions which have no agreed solutions, e.g. estimation, common currency, and optimal solution. In this study we present a methodology for the estimation of three benefits in different components of Mediterranean woody vegetation in Israel. Densities of geophyte wildflowers, honey flowers, and fleshy fruits as food for birds were measured within five vegetation components defined by dominant plant functional types, in four sites with different disturbance histories. Each benefit was measured in its own units. The results showed significant differences between vegetation states in values of each benefit. Therefore, it is possible to calculate the contributions of different cover components for these three benefits. Furthermore, this indicates that it is possible to estimate the level of benefits at larger scales as a first approximation, by considering only the composition of the vegetation cover. The values for the three benefits were standardized to illustrate the question of multiple benefits valuation. This method does not lead to an optimization, but can nevertheless provide a useful tool toward conservation and rational management by land managers and policy makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]