摘要：The concept of ecological structure (ESt), as implemented through spatial planning, has beenrecently used to protect ecosystem functions (EFs) and services and their contribution tohuman well-being. This study intends to provide an exploratory analysis to operationalize theinclusion of EFs in the design of ESt in territories lacking detailed individual studies on EFs.The objective is to advance this concept in small island ecosystems and use Pico Island(Portugal) as case study. The proposed methodology identifies EFs contributing to theobjectives of ESt. It uses (i) geographic data available from studies on individual EFs and (ii)definition of territorial units (TUs), based on biophysical features, used as cartographic unitsto assign and map remaining EFs. A total of 15 EFs were selected among three maincategories: natural regulation (10), support (3) and cultural (2) functions. Geographic dataare available for carbon storage and groundwater recharge. To assign the remaining EFs, atotal of 86 TUs were defined. The performed analysis suggested that the use of EFs, alongwith multi-criteria decision-making techniques, could successfully contribute to define EStand integrate it into spatial planning on Pico Island and other small islands systems.
