Effects of human demand on conservation planning for biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Safeguarding ecosystem services and biodiversity is critical to achieving sustainable development. To date, ecosystem services quantification has focused on the biophysical supply of services with less emphasis on human beneficiaries ("demand"). Only when both occur do ecosystems benefit people, but demand may shift ecosystem service priorities towards human-dominated landscapes that support less biodiversity. Here, we quantify how accounting for demand impacts the efficiency of conservation in capturing both human benefits and biodiversity. We map supply and benefit for three ecosystem services (flood mitigation, crop pollination, and nature-based recreation) and identify conservation priorities for each. We find that, particularly for flood mitigation and crop pollination, supply serves as a poor proxy for benefit because demand changes the spatial distribution of ecosystem service provision. Including demand when jointly targeting biodiversity and ecosystem service increases the efficiency of conservation efforts targeting ecosystem services without reducing biodiversity outcomes. This highlights the importance of incorporating demand when quantifying ecosystem services for conservation planning. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.