Spatial aspects of ecosystem research in a biodiversity hot spot of southern Ecuador – an introduction

Resumen

2006). The mo-tivation of the people for clearing the native forest is to improve their living standards by gaining pasture and/or arable land. Degradation of the natural eco-system, mostly by slash and burn, impairs its eco-system services, a term that encompasses the trade-offs from the resources and processes of the (origi-nal) ecosystem for human livelihood and well-being (see e.g. d