More than wine : cultural ecosystem services in vineyard landscapes

Sammanfattning: Problem area: Ecosystem services, the benefits that people obtain from nature, are essential for human well-being, but are declining globally. Even though research on ecosystem services has increased in the last decade, knowledge on cultural ecosystem services (CES), which are the non-material benefits people gain from ecosystems, is still limited. Wine production shapes special landscapes that provide not only grapes, but also a variety of CES to the people surrounding vineyards. Methods: Conducting a literature review, I illustrated the knowledge gap on CES connected to wine production. To fill this gap, I assessed wine producers’ and residents’ perceptions of CES of vineyard landscapes in England, an emerging wine area, and in California, a more traditional wine area. I used Q-Method, which is a qualitative approach using factor analysis to identify social perspectives. To reveal these perceptions, I analyzed Q-sorts by 20 participants from England and 22 from California, who each ranked 44 Q-statements on eleven classes of CES provided by vineyards. Main findings and implications: I found 28 peer-reviewed publications on the topic, most of which focused on ecological questions and only four of them using the term ecosystem services not only as buzzword, but also as concept for their paper. By analyzing the Q-sorts, I identified four English perspectives on the CES provided by vineyards (termed: Science, Experience, Conservation, and Wine culture) and four Californian perspectives (termed: Terroir, Tradition, Instrumental, and Entertainment). In California, all perspectives assessed wine production as important for their region, whereas there was no CES that was important to all English perspectives. Wine producers in California had different perspectives than residents; wine producers placed more value on CES more directly connected with wine production, while residents focused more on CES that benefit nature conservation or leisure activities. Furthermore, the Conservation and the Tradition perspectives highly valued heritage and symbolic services, and feared land use change. Interestingly, representatives of these perspectives are part of the groups that benefit most from the currently dominating landscape, which in England is non-vineyard landscape (Conservation) and in California is a vineyard landscape (Tradition). These findings emphasize the variety of perceptions on CES as experience- and context-dependent. They imply that CES are an important part of ecosystem services provided by nature and thus, that they should be more considered in policy-making or planning when assessing ecosystem services.