Defining areas to assess ecosystem services provided by geodiversity: methodological analyses on the coast of São Paulo, Brazil

Ecosystem services are essential for life. Nature's biotic and abiotic elements provide goods and services, though this topic has traditionally been the focus of biodiversity research. In the last decade, some studies on geodiversity ecosystem services have been published, dealing with concepts and proposing some identification and quantification methodological procedures. However, one of the main problems in the assessment of geodiversity ecosystem services is related to the delimitation and zoning of the areas to be assessed. Furthermore, the services to be identified and assessed rely on the available data regarding the geodiversity elements in a region. Criteria for selecting potential areas to identify and assess geodiversity ecosystem services are presented, with the study case developed in Baixada Santista, central coast of São Paulo, Brazil. The criteria are organized in (i) characterization of the physical environment and (ii) description of the land use planning. In the first step, geology, landforms, soils and mineral resources maps were used to prepare the index map of geodiversity and to overlay it with the watersheds map. In the second step, land use, ecological economic zoning and protected areas maps were considered to identify potential services provided by geodiversity. Combining these two levels of information, a watershed (Aguapéu River) was selected, presenting a wide range of geodiversity indices and highdiversity of land uses. With this procedure, it was possible to select and discriminate areas considering territorial variations of geodiversity and its use, evidencing a higher diversity of ecosystem services. In addition, the watershed is a management unit already used by decision-makers and eases communication between geoscientists and managers.