Assessing terrestrial vertebrates as potential biodiversity indicators of ecosystem services in multifunctional landscapes

Abstract Combining ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation is critical for evaluating the benefits of nature to society. However, research gaps have led to a conservation dilemma in determining which biodiversity groups should be selected in ecosystem service assessments. To contribute to the ongoing debate on the role of biodiversity in supporting ecosystem services, we assess the performance of terrestrial vertebrates as biodiversity indicators of ecosystem services based on their spatial alignment across landscapes. Using mainland Portugal as a case study, we model the spatial supply of eight ecosystem services with the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade‐offs (InVEST) toolkit and related land cover‐based spatial models. Using a transferable spatial framework, we apply the indicator value index to map how biodiversity and ecosystem service targets co‐occur in multifunctional landscapes where natural and semi‐natural ecosystems coexist with long‐term human land uses. Based on species distribution data for amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals, we identify reptiles as the vertebrate group most strongly associated with ecosystem services. Our results show that reptiles are spatially associated with all eight ecosystem services assessed and account for around 40% of the total indicator value scores. In contrast, the other vertebrate groups are each associated with four services, and habitat quality is the only ecosystem service common to all groups. These findings suggest that terrestrial vertebrates, especially reptiles, may serve as potential biodiversity indicators of multiple ecosystem service supply patterns. Under the Post‐2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, our findings introduce a GIS‐based approach for a better understanding of relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem services, including their representativeness in protected areas, according to the European Natura 2000 network. The study also contributes to an ongoing national effort to map the supply of multiple ecosystem services based on sets of possible indicator values derived from the landscape. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.