摘要：Compensation to landowners for forest-derived environmental services has gained internationalrecognition as a mechanism to combat forest loss and fragmentation. This approach is widely promoted, althoughthere is little evidence demonstrating that environmental service payments encourage forest stewardship andconservation. Costa Rica provides a unique case study in which a 1996 Forestry Law initiated environmental servicepayments and prohibited forest conversion to other land uses. We examined these novel policies to determine theirinfluence on landowner decisions that affect forest change, carbon services, and connectivity in a 2425 km2 biologicalcorridor. We used Landsat images to compare land-cover changes before and after 1996, and linked these data tolandowner surveys investigating land-use decisions. Carbon stocks and storage in secondary forests were alsoexamined. Forest change observations were corroborated by landowner survey data, indicating that the 1996 ForestryLaw and environmental service payments contributed positively to forest retention and recruitment. Socioeconomicconditions also favored forest protection. Rates of natural forest loss declined from -1.43% to -0.10%/yr after 1996.Forest cover and connectivity were maintained through tree plantations and secondary forest recruitment, althoughforest heterogeneity increased as these forest types sometimes replaced natural forest. Carbon storage in secondaryforest approached levels in primary forest after 25–30 yr of succession, although few landowners retained naturalregeneration. Secondary forests will persist as minor landscape components without legal or financial incentives.The Costa Rican experience provides evidence that environmental service payments can be effective in retainingnatural forest and recruiting tree cover within biological corridors
关键词：biological corridor; carbon storage; Costa Rica; environmental service payments; forest change;landowner decision making; Sarapiquí; secondary forest
