The global shift toward agricultural specialization in the 20th century led to unprecedented ecological and socioeconomic changes, both positive and negative, in rural landscapes. Economic theory describes comparative advantage and market participation as two important drivers of such changes. Landscapes in the Global South are still often characterized by subsistence agriculture and direct dependence on natural ecosystem processes. Agricultural specialization is part of the structural transformation process from subsistence to market-oriented agriculture. However, comparative advantage and market participation as major drivers for agricultural specialization remain understudied. In this paper, we assess the potential drivers of ecosystem service specialization in an Ethiopian smallholder landscape at the kebele level, the smallest administrative unit in Ethiopia. We measured specialization via the concentration of production for a range of locally important provisioning ecosystem services (beef, cattle, coffee, eucalyptus, honey, maize, sorghum, and teff). We measured comparative advantage based on productivity data, and assessed spatial flows of ecosystem services to local, regional, and global markets (i.e., telecoupling). To unpack the relationships between specialization, comparative advantage, and telecoupling, we used hierarchical clustering, principal component analysis, correlation analysis, and linear regression. More telecoupled kebeles (i.e., kebeles that produced more of ecosystem services that flow to broader spatial scales) were more specialized in their ecosystem service production, and the positive relationship between comparative advantage and specialization grew stronger with altitude. Wealthier kebeles and kebeles with higher population density were less specialized. Biophysical drivers, such as altitude and amount of forest cover, influenced the ecosystem services produced and the relationship between comparative advantage and specialization. Policy makers should therefore try to balance potential positive and negative consequences of specialization, and to account for fine-scale social and biophysical drivers underpinning diverse ecosystem service production profiles.

The post Drivers of ecosystem service specialization in a smallholder agricultural landscape of the Global South: a case study in Ethiopia first appeared on Ecology & Society.

20 世纪全球向农业专业化的转变导致乡村景观发生了前所未有的生态和社会经济变化，无论是积极的还是消极的。经济理论将比较优势和市场参与描述为这种变化的两个重要驱动因素。南半球的景观仍然常常以自给农业和对自然生态系统过程的直接依赖为特征。农业专业化是从自给农业向市场导向农业结构转型过程的一部分。然而，比较优势和市场参与作为农业专业化的主要驱动力仍然没有得到充分研究。在本文中，我们评估了埃塞俄比亚小农户景观中生态系统服务专业化的潜在驱动因素，埃塞俄比亚最小的行政单位。我们通过一系列当地重要供应生态系统服务（牛肉、牛、咖啡、桉树、蜂蜜、玉米、高粱和画眉草）的生产集中度来衡量专业化程度。我们根据生产力数据衡量比较优势，并评估生态系统服务向当地、区域和全球市场的空间流动（即远程耦合）。为了揭示专业化、比较优势和远程耦合之间的关系，我们使用了层次聚类、主成分分析、相关分析和线性回归。更多远程耦合的 kebeles（即，产生更多流向更广泛空间尺度的生态系统服务的 kebeles）在其生态系统服务生产方面更加专业化，比较优势与专业化之间的正相关关系随着海拔的升高而增强。较富裕的克贝勒人和人口密度较高的克贝勒人专业化程度较低。生物物理驱动因素，例如海拔和森林覆盖量，影响所产生的生态系统服务以及比较优势和专业化之间的关系。因此，政策制定者应努力平衡专业化潜在的积极和消极后果，并考虑支撑多样化生态系统服务生产状况的精细社会和生物物理驱动因素。影响了生态系统服务的产生以及比较优势与专业化之间的关系。因此，政策制定者应努力平衡专业化潜在的积极和消极后果，并考虑支撑多样化生态系统服务生产状况的精细社会和生物物理驱动因素。影响了生态系统服务的产生以及比较优势与专业化之间的关系。因此，政策制定者应努力平衡专业化潜在的积极和消极后果，并考虑支撑多样化生态系统服务生产状况的精细社会和生物物理驱动因素。

全球南方小农农业景观中生态系统服务专业化的后驱动因素：埃塞俄比亚的案例研究首次发表在《生态与社会》上。